OPENING THOUGHTS... (2004)

I have been spending my time of late looking for a boat design that may or not get built in the not too far distant future. Boatbuilding for me is certainly an addiction which I am usually able to keep under control with various upgrades to the current boat (So It Goes), dinghy building, or going off to a war zone and shoot some film for that Kevlar fix... But every few years it is a done deal that I need a REAL fix with lots of wood, epoxy and the screaming noise of money being sucked out of my bank account like wind in the rigging during Hurricane Marilyn.

Face it, I am not really a sane man... My name is Bob and I build boats!

Funny thing is I don't even really like building boats... Let’s be honest building boats is a LOT of WORK and you can ask just about anyone who knows me and they'll tell you I am one lazy dude of somewhat mythic proportions but they also might add that I am pretty cheap as well and maybe there lies the key to the conundrum.

Now don't get me wrong I do enjoy a bit of carpentry from time to time and take quite a bit of pride in a joint well made or a crafty shim, but the ten hour days of building for months is just not fun if you get my drift... Folks who do love to spend years and years crafting boats are the sort that I can't actually fathom... I like getting the job done, getting on the water and going someplace where, with any luck, I'm not going to run into a whole lot of boat folk (make mental note new boat should have a small cannon or at least a very powerful stereo and at least one copy of Trout Mask Replica by Capt Beefheart for chasing bareboaters away because in my version of Paradise there are no weenies anchoring too close in their Bendy Toy bareboats...).

Plus, there is a good chance I will just live with our most excellent Cal 34 and put a bit of the old boatbuilding urge in to some crafty projects to improve its livability and cruising amenities or hell, I might get lucky and find the holy grail of a perfect CAL 40 being sold for a giveaway price... But I digress as I still don't have a design to build and this space on the internet will be partly about my fumbling attempts in finding the "right" design as well as likely rants and caustic comments related things about or around this evil habit we call boatbuilding and hopefully sailing.