Staying within a set budget of time and money can be the toughest of all goals for a boat builder. The beach cat I wrote about in this issue is the 19th boat I’ve built from scratch. From these projects, and from talking to many folks building similar projects, I’ve learned some elements of maintaining a budget of time and money. Continue reading
By Robert H. Monroe
My garage was full of projects in various states of completion or abandonment. The sailboat was in the driveway, cocooned in a tarp. I had a desperate need to build a kayak. The neighbors were much too complacent. The time was right to build a blue tarp shelter.
I decided to build a 32’ x 14’ shelter so I could house the 25’ sailboat plus have room for the kayak project. The layout suggested bents or frames every 4’. The design developed into a standardized frame of two 10’ lengths of 1″-diameter conduit for rafters and half-lengths (5’) of conduit for the uprights. Conduit connectors would hold the pieces together. I initially considered ¾” diameter conduit but decided it was not stiff enough for the job. Continue reading