Fruits Of My Labor (A-113)

[Tony G]

Wow! it's the end of April allready! I finally got to go up and see the love again. Spent some time just sitting in different spots wiping away the accumulation of dust, dirt and any unsavory sign of Old Man Winter's recent visit. I'm still okay with the fatter, taller cockpit coamings. The dodger coamings are still 'on', although I wish I had installed a MUCH larger conduit for the instrument bundle wiring and may have to do a 'radical, post-attached, ectomy of some sort. And the cockpit stowage in the forward section of the footwell? Still leaning in that direction in a not-quite-so-obtrusive design. I know, Craig, I know...

But down below I still don't have a place to lie down comfortably. And that's a very big thing if one is hoping to gain any restorative powers from sleep. The hard, cold fact of the matter is I've screwed-up! The good thing is all those hours of studying (looking at pictures of) larger boats exposed me to design features I liked and thought useful. The bad thing is I tried to duplicate a +/-40 foot boat in a 25+ foot boat. Maybe it can be done but I haven't done it here. It might look good through a camera lens but doesn't wear well when you're in it. Crap! Crud! Which ever.

The long and short of it is I'll have to remove a good deal of the work I've done and start over. Hey, it's not such a bad thing. Could be worse. I'll just look at it from the stand point of this boat deserves better and I know I can do better. Realisticly it's going to be a few years before she gets to meet the briney anyway. Besides, with all the captains on this forum doing all work that's going on there will be some really cool ideas to steal!

Thanks for listening to me snivel and drone on.