And that’s a kinda/Sorta maybe kind of maybe anyway.
So yeah : i’m thinking about building another boat although only kinda/sorta thinking about it although I came close to ordering the plans last week only the boat’s designer doesn’t seem to be answering his Emails this week. The designer is of course John Welsford and the boat in mind is what he even said was his best design : SCAMP of course. For those of you that are very surprised that i’m even thinking about another boat build then I apologize as I did say once that iv’e retired from sailing and largely given up on that side of my life : so what’s new and why now? I hear you ask.
The reason why, I would answer by saying ‘why not’? : after all, building small boats or modifying them is the only maker skill that I have that i’m even slightly good at and one in which I mostly know the steps to take. If I do then i’m even more confident that this one is most likely my (definitely) last boat even though many boatbuilders have said the same thing,just before a new set of plans appear in the post. My excuse, or at least one excuse, is that I almost have a dry workshop now – the roof is finally being done – and i’m kinda/sorta trying to work out what to do in there. When I measured up in there to build my 1/12 scale model I noted that it was just big enough to build a Welsford SCAMP in there : it would even come out as long as I build a pair of sliding doors although then getting it out from under the shelter might require the removal of one it’s vertical supports.
My primary reason for building a second boat – I always said that I thought I had one boat in me – is that I had it in mind that I would complete a boat and actually use it for voyages that I had in mind. So yes : I did build a boat although it was barely competent, an absolute bear to handle in the yard, and ultimately only got used for one trip immediately before I had yet another stroke episode. I never did get used to handling and reversing the big trailer either so you might ask ‘how would you go about the same problem all over again?’. My answer is to not keep the boat at home except during the winter and instead keep it ashore, on it’s trailer and have the yard run it up and down the slip with the yard tractor. A SCAMP is a much shorter and lighter boat than the big Pathfinder and will not only fit in our yard but can be turned around without banging into tree or fence or getting bogged down in the gravel.
Preparation, planning & Preconditions.
As of the end of April 2026 I have a workshop with a hard and level enough floor to move a boat dolly around on and as I write we’re about to start work on the roof. That just happens to coincide with a dry, warm and windy spell but also happens against the background of me potentially needing a replacement knee replacement – if you get my meaning. A SCAMP sized build will go in there in terms of length, width and total ground space and as I don’t intend to start the project until the autumn and winter the early stages would get done in there and then get moved outside onto my Pathfinder build strongback. When I was feeling unusually confident and upbeat recently I even planned there to be two parallel projects going on at the same time : this one and the building of a teardrop style camping trailer.
My build planning has only got as far as deciding that I want to start with pre cut plywood panels : from what I know it’s possible to buy the CNC cutting file from the boat plans supplier although the first sticking point is in finding a company with a CNC cutter willing to cut the panels for me – I haven’t thus far and that might be the sticking point as I don’t want to go through the rigmarole of marking out and cutting all of the components.
However and whatever : this potential project comes with a load of personal baggage in the form of the preconditions that iv’e set for starting the project, completing the build and one day hopefully taking it on it’s maiden voyage and only then the sailing expedition that iv’e long had in mind. Although iv’e already pulled the trigger on ordering a set of plans i’m only going to continue into the first stage of the build if I achieve certain personal goals first. Then, if I start the build then other conditions that iv’e already set have to be in place before I start the expensive stage : completing the build, fitting it out and buying in the expensive parts such as sail, motor, batteries and trailer – the kind of thing that nearly killed the Pathfinder project.
I won’t say too much about any of that because most of it only becomes relevant if and when later on. For now I feel I have to make my first personal goal regarding my health and weight before I go any further : the first target trigger moment is me achieving a 10% loss in my overall body weight – as I write i’m just over halfway there.
I almost can’t describe how it felt to get to this stage of the Pathfinder build and it’s almost my favorite reminder of the project today.
Must I go down to the sea again ? (my take on Masefield)
To mix my metaphors even more I would ask the question : Must I go down to the sea again (Masefield) and my immediate answer would be ‘He who hath desired the sea’ (Kipling). In other words the person that goes to sea is mostly the one that has the desire : and iv’e certainly had lots of that. So yes it’s really another question entirely ; more Hamlet on one of his off days – To be or not to be, rather than a means, method and simple desire. If you like it’s have I done with the sea and has the sea done with me ? and I happen to think that the answer to both is maybe not although that’s not a definitely maybe not either.
Well, I was definitely the bloke that hath desired the sea – except that I desired mountains (Mountains Gandalf) before I went anywhere near the sea – except for paddling in it and swimming in it. As readers will know I have a long history with the sea : from racing around it and then going back for a cruising version as well. Only near the end did I sniff the coffee, grew up quite a bit and finished with a quirky little centerboarder that would slip up and down creeks – if you could see water then it would float. My best year’s sailing was at the end when I lived aboard that little boat while I cruised around some of the best sailing waters (Brittany) anywhere in Europe.
The for and against.
Iv’e really had to think this one through, again and again : that’s meant a lot of time walking slowly around these lanes while I chew the fat a bit finer. As I write iv’e almost made a decision so…..
Next time then : will he or won’t he ?
Dirty Wet Dog, the great adventure. 