| People keep telling me to design my own boat | | | | you. And even though I'm small fry compared to |
| from my own wooden boat plans. It is because I | | | | the commissions they're angling to get I'm certain |
| keep complaining that although I want to build a | | | | that they won't take me for a ride and have me |
| family day sailboat, I can't find any plans that are | | | | paying through the nose for something that |
| suitable. I'd say there were at least three reasons | | | | nearly matches the sort of wooden boat design |
| not to attempt it. | | | | I'm looking for. |
| 1. There are hundreds of really good free wooden | | | | 3. I haven't done six years' training in nautical |
| boat plans on the Internet | | | | design |
| First I had a scoot round the Internet. Being a bit | | | | To design a small family dinghy must take a lot of |
| of a cheapskate, I searched for 'free wooden | | | | skill and training. Hey, the guys that design ships |
| boat plans' and 'free dinghy plans'. There a lot of | | | | and boat must be very skilled. Like those people |
| stuff out there in the world of free wooden boat | | | | who designed the Titanic, for example. They |
| plans. Lots of designs: scanned copies of old | | | | must have had years of training to be able to |
| 1930's craft. They look a bit odd and not very | | | | design a boat like that. And I just don't have the |
| seaworthy but they might do. There are some | | | | time either. When I get home from work I want |
| sites that take you round in a circle of links and | | | | to chill out in front of the TV for about four |
| don't really get you anywhere but I'm sure they | | | | hours a night - where am I going to get the time |
| have their reasons. | | | | to do something like draw up my own wooden |
| 2. A professional designer would do a really good | | | | boat plans for a family dinghy? |
| job | | | | See what I mean, I couldn't possibly draw up my |
| I could get a professional boat designer to design | | | | own wooden boat plans, if you're anything like |
| it for me. I'm sure they're very skilled at what | | | | me, you couldn't design your own boat either. But |
| they do. OK they're expensive and they may not | | | | maybe I've got it all wrong, perhaps those people |
| follow my brief because they often have their | | | | telling me to draw up my own wooden boat plans |
| own ideas that they like to include in their plans. | | | | might know something I don't... |
| But these guys always want to do the best for | | | | |