I got married in Jan of 1989. My new bride was in college and taking a LOT of classes in the evening. So I thought I could use the 3-4 hours in the evening when she was at school to build a boat . . . and then when she got home I could erect something more useful for the two of us to enjoy!

This is the garage I started the project in. I had 6" between the bow and the garage door when closed, and 18" behind the transom to the wall.

After flipping her onto the trailer, I moved her to a boat yard to do the inside. Most of you already know this, but isn't weird how close to being DONE you THINK you are before you flip the dam boat???!!! And then when you look inside for the very first time - you begin to realize that building the hull was only the beginning!!


This image is not coming up! Sorry!
Honduran mahagony decking, with a band of philippean mahagony (not installed yet) with cherry strips between the honduran. That's a casting platform with an ice hold below and the anchor locker forward. I installed a bronse hauspipe on the fore deck, then finished it with SS railing about a year later.

Built solely for fishing coastal waters of So Cal, it is a center console with a T-top for shade and an electronics box built into the top. Johnson 110 hp OB, twin 25 gal saddle tanks for 50 gal of fuel, 2 scoop bait tank and a lean post. Eventually added trim tabs and hydraulic steering.
Here she is getting wet for the first time. Launched at Newport Dunes - back bay, and ended up keeping it there in dry storage for a couple years.

The varnish really made the mahagony deck POP. Those fish are Yellowtail caught off the newport coast. The ice hold works REALLY well as you can tell by the BLUE color of the fish that were just pulled from the hold for the photo.

After 10 years of service, I sold her to a young man who loves to work with wood. He fished it the same day he bought it and caught some nice halibut than evening. I miss that old boat, but I am proud to say I build her from scratch - and actually FINISHED her.
For those of you who dream of building your own boat, or who have aactually begun, don't give up! Take it one piece at a time and you will get there!
JB