Sensible construction

One of the nice things about some of Phil Bolger's older work is that it was so easy to build and even a master procrastinator like myself could build a seaworthy boat in a reasonably short time. On both of the Loose Moose designs, the fact that the interior could be completed before the upper side panels were installed made for very easy interior fit out and saved hundreds of hours of labor in the process.


Here is a photo of Sheila checking out the progress on the interior of the Jessie Cooper design that was to become Loose Moose. As you can see, the boat is being built at floor level and getting in and out of the boat is just a step in or out, and a lot of the work can be done from outside just reaching in.


It might not seem like a real advantage to some, but the other guys in that hanger were having to climb up ladders and then try and get pieces of plywood or lumber in through a hatch climb a ladder down inside and then try and manipulate stuff inside the confines of a closed up hull. Over the course of construction, all those extra steps add up and not having those extra steps is one of the reasons that Loose Moose only took four and a half months to build.