Hello. I've been sailing in my younger years on small craft (and building a few smaller wooden boats) in the atlantic and then moved to iowa where i thought i was landlocked. about 5 years ago i visited
hawaii and went surfing again among other things. within a year i was building my own coastal sailboat. this is my fourth year building and i'm almost finished. i went to lake michigan and took
sailing lessons to see if i remember things; and i did. aced it. guess one never forgets. anyway i can't
work in
winter cause of
heating issues and
epoxy setup. so i am waiting for spring. i have a fabricator working on my
aluminum parts this
winter and hopefully they will be finished sometime this summer. the main
hull is so beautiful. !! its a Farrier 22 only 22 feet long,
trimaran. have the
mast and
sails. the only thing i didn't build were the ama or connections between the main
hull and the floats. the rest is from scratch.
fiberglass foam and
epoxy. i will never do this again. but i have learned about this type of construction for sure. and it was worth it for me every step of the way. i tend to enjoy building more than using.
but in this case i have developed a goal. in my
research i have come across the
Coral Restoration Foundation. last year i got my open
water certificate and am ready to help plant
coral. actually i am in the process of building a
remote robot to do that as
diving seems to be rather taxing on the body and somewhat dangerous. openrov has a robot cheaper than what most
diving rigs cost but i have to develop arms for it. so 3d printing will probably be involved. but the first trip i will dive and learn.
i plan to use the great american waterway and inland waterway via the tom bigbee river system to access
florida keys. that is where CRF is;
key largo.
my
boat is not made for sailing across an ocean. but some have. my model has made the run to
hawaii from
california. i don't know if i will ever try that. probably not. perhaps i will find a larger deserted hull of which there are a lot on the
east coast because of the depression of recent, i hear. or at least that was making the news last year. anyway i should be able to find a deal and
refit it if i get the inclination to visit hawaii again, which i do regularly.
i've only been retired for 6 months. but it is a working
retirement so far. i could ply my
trade onboard as i am a graphic artist. my main client is in miami! goodness sake. its been a wonderful journey so far and the
research is vibrant. beware of gross statements of "you can't do that" kind or massive assumptions based on experience. while you should heed that sort of
advice, in the end you have to
work with what you have. you can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes; you get what you need.