While a couple of builders have reported in 6-week and 8-week
building times on the se micro yachts, there seem to be quite
a few who are struggling with much longer building times. On the
other hand, when we see shots of the new Weekenders being sent
in, they seem to be exquisitely finished. Maybe too exquisitely
finished.
When we get into a project, the first or second thing we seem
to lose (after the measuring tape) is our sense of perspective.
To combat this we sometimes put mottoes up on the wall to remind
us that what we're really after here is good sailing adventures,
-not endless weeks in the garage. Get it onto the water, is something
we need to keep in mind. So we're going to make a plea here for
a simple concept: -Don't over-finish or over innovate until after
you've had at least one good season on the water.
Many changes happen to a boat when it leaves the garage and reaches
the billowies. For one thing (strangely enough) it will seem to
swell up bigger once you get it out on the water by itself. You'd
think you'd feel like you're on a postage stamp with a boat this
small on an ocean that big, -but somehow, just the opposite happens
and the boat becomes your universe that your mind expands in great
detail, as you get to know every nook and cranny on the water.
Another thing happens. All those little goofs that you thought
were so shameful when something slipped or spilled or, you just
never got around to fixing, slip into a finished whole that tends
to look at LOT trimmer and neater than it did in the shop.
So these are two bonuses you'll get simply by moving the boat
to the great outdoors, nature, and all that.
We're making a plea for not overdoing the fine finish (at first)
for another reason:
Any boat goes through some rough handling once you get it out
in the real world, and if you've spent too much time polishing
certain parts, you're going to pull your punches when it comes
to the rough and tumble world of sailing. You see this at marinas
everyday of the year: boats that should be out on the water, sitting
neglected because their owners read too many cautionary articles
and made everything just a tad too prissy to risk on the great
water.
And here's another bonus we can promise: If you leave off all
those endless smoothing and varnishing jobs until after you've
gotten a few good sail-adventures under your belts together (you
and your boat) -then all those slow finishing jobs will suddenly
become fun to linger over as you improve your boat as you go,
instead of stretching out endlessly.
We make a point of getting our boats wet as soon as we possibly
can. By their third season, they're starting to look pretty finished.
And when we see a perfectly finished boat rolling out of a shop
to its first sail, we think, "This guy's going to miss all
the fun of gradually making his boat nicer and nicer, while at
the same time getting some adventures out of it because he didn't
take forever to finish up everything all at once."
Which brings us to an argument we find ourselves blathering about
more and more, lately: Our plea is, -don't over-worry about clever
upgrades until you've tried our dumb old way of doing it. You'd
probably be surprised how many of the same clever upgrades we've
already tried in the course of forty years of creating original
boat designs and over thirty new brainstorm boats we've gotten
excited about. There's just a chance that we know what we're talking
about when it comes to small plywood boats. So, as long as you've
paid good money for the results of these forty years of experimentation,
-why not give our way a try before you change everything? (And
when you DO come up with breakthroughs, be sure to tell us all
about them).
We hear nervously about cracking keels, and falling masts, and
swamping boats; -and then, on closer look, we find the builder
has done something that we learned never to do many years before.
Or, if you have a brainstorm you just can't resist, give us a
call and make sure we haven't already tried and rejected it.
Just remember, -the boat is going to get beaten around in the
real world, so don't make it a violin that 's going to make you
cringe (or start yelling) every time something silly garfs it
up. We're looking for maximum adventure fun, divided by investment
of money and effort.
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