In October of 2006 I started building my third boat. My first boat was a canvas covered kayak
The Jawbone Kayak . This was a great boat, so light and easy to launch and paddle.
The only problem was of course the canvas was easy to tear on the many stumps and rocks in Oklahoma Lakes.
One one occasion my son and I experienced such a leak on the far side of a lake and it was a rough patch
job and paddle back home. My second boat was a little more substantial. It was a classic.
Gloucester Light Dory This is a wonderful and nice looking boat. Very sea worthy
It rows well. Even though the boats designer claimed it could not be sailed, i converted it to a Proa and
had a blast sailing it! . Dory to Proa conversion
My desire for this boat were as follows:
- An open boat less than 16 feet long, so it is trailaerable and buildable in a garage
- Holds four people comfortably
- Easy to row and capable of utilizing a lite 2HP to 5HP engine
- Good flotation for safety
- Single Sail rig. Rig that can be raised and lowered while underway with out difficulty
- Less than 250lbs.
- Good initial stability, so one can stand up in the boat
- Boom height above passengers
- Storage for day supplies, but enough room for camping (not that I ever would use it that way)
- Quick rig up time, less than 15 min. at the dock
- Cost less than $2,000 to build. Heck, I can buy a soulless piece of fiberglass/plastic
junk for less than that
- Easy to maintain
- A safe boat in protected waters and rivers
With these considerations in mind and flipping through lots of my back issues of Wooden Boat Magazine
I chose a design by Ken Swan called Sunshine. I made a scale model (always a good idea) and I liked the looks of the
boat. Not as classic as the Dory, but nice.
The Plans are in a book "Ten Boats You Can Build, Second edition 2002."
It has a chapter "How to build Sunshine - A 15 1/2 - Foot Sailing Skiff by Ken Swan" on pages 26 to 30. I have
not run across anyone who has build this boat, but Mr. Swan is a well respected designer and so I figured
this would be a safe bet.
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