The TOOL......

Not sure why, but it seems worth noting that one of the best things I have going for me is a hand-me-down Shop Smith from George Magan (Stairbuilder) that has been and will be the back bone of this process. Here it is in its disc sander configuration. It is also a table saw, lathe, drill press, joiner etc.

redemtion

If you get the big sheets of foam you have plenty of material to practice with and you may finally end up with something that looks like this. It also means it looked like it snowed INSIDE your garage.

that was fast......revisited!

So I am learning to blog AND build a boat. Here is the picture of that first skrew up mentioned below.

Why it is at all possible........

As I was flipping through the garage photos I came across this particularly lovely shot of my wife, Molly. I couldn't help but post it as I MUST give her a HUGE amount of credit for putting up with me and my hair-brained ideas over the years. You know, things like, "Honey, I want to build a sailboat in the garage!"

In the almighty words of Ricky Bobby, "I thank the sweet baby Lord Jesus for my SMOKIN' HOT WIFE!!".

Start to Finish.........

I wanted to document this process from start to finish. It was only fitting that you see where it all began: in the garage, full of all the stuff that a guy in his 40's (and family) collects. Notice the multi-functional clothes hanging storeage rack in the middle of the picture that doubles as a fitness machine. The greatest joy of this build so far has been cleaning out the garage!

that was fast!

It didn't take long for my first "cock-up" as the ausies would say. I am cutting the foam for the mold of the bulb (at the bottom of the keel....this will all make more sense soon) and trying to glue the cross sections together. Seems simple enough, no? Unfortunately, the foam doesn't like the contact cement.....see picture. Glad I tried a "sample" first!

Getting started.........

The idea is to build an i550, a very sexy little 18' sailboat. I will post some links to the blogs of the brave people who have started this process before me. Their work is impresive. It will also give you an idea of where I am hopefully headed.
But first, an explanation of the name: you see, my boys and I (JP, 5 yrs and Mickey, 7 yrs old) have a hard time talking about boogers with out laughing at least a little. This process can be a bit intimidating and I wanted to remind myself at each turn that it is supposed to be fun. It is also a process that is bound to get messy at some point. And I am hoping that the finished product is, "SLICKER THAN SNAIL SH___". Finally, it helps solve one of the million little decisions I need to make along the way, that is, what color to paint the boat when I'm done.