This website went live in November 2011. See details of updates.

Ever since I was 15 I have wanted to build a yacht. Now that I am 60 it is now or never! The dream was kindled swinging on a mooring in the River Yar, Isle of Wight in my father's clinker-built motor-sailor called Doodle. Next to us was the famous Wanderer III owned by the legendary cruising couple, Eric & Susan Hiscock.

Back then I dreamed of a ferrocement monohull; imagine the result - heavy, slow and streaked with rust. Since then I have done some sailing and my ideas about a suitable craft have evolved. This website documents one man's obsession to build and sail a 10m ocean-going catamaran; it will document the what, why and how with a few cruising articles and poems thrown in for light relief. There is also a time-lapse "movie" of the build so far and a guest book where you can leave comments.

I have been inspired by the sailing and self-build websites of many people. Here, I strongly argue the benefits of catamarans and the self-build route for acquiring one. I hope this website will, in turn, inspire others who love "messing around in boats".

Updates

First update 1st January 2012:   hulls-to-knucklenow finished; do not miss the picture of cute, curious kittens watching the boat building; Owenhas joined the boat builders. The time-lapse moviehas also been updated.

Second update 15th April:   bulkheads, stringers and gunwalehave now been added to the hulls; the daggerboardsare almost finished; the time-lapse moviehas also been updated. The guestbook has fallen victim to a spam attack and has been temporalily removed - I will return it when fixed. We were fortunate to have Eclipse's designer and catamaran legend Richard Woodsvisit to inspect progress.

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