The Eagle Has Landed

Building a boat from a kit is no different than when you built a model airplane when you were a kid. You think, this time I’m going to really take my time, do it right, and not get glue all over the place. Fast forward 30 years and the bigger version is pretty much exactly the same, but instead of model glue that you were tempted to sniff, it’s epoxy and it ends up everywhere.

First order of business, read the manual and get a shopping list together. I can’t remember the numbers for sure, but Heath and I put a bet on how much we thought we’d spend at Home Depot on our initial visit to get all the tools and little things that we’d need to make this cardboard box full of wood turn into a boat. Well it was waaaaay more than I had guessed, and we hadn’t even got into the part of the building where you stopped shopping at hardware stores and started going to marine supply ones. Just a head up, boat supply stores sell only the most expensive shit you’ve ever seen. You cannot walk out of a West Marine without spending 500 bucks.

Our kit can be explained easiest by calling it a stitch and glue process. You stitch the hull together with copper wire and then you glue the seams to hold it, eventually taking the stitches out. The hull itself with the bulkheads, the lateral parts that hold the shape, go together really fast. Probably less than a couple hours, and it lulls you into thinking that this process is going to be a lot faster than you thought. Not the case.

One of the better parts about building something like a boat is that it’s a perfect chance to have people come over and have a few beers with you while they lend a helping hand in building it. Hanging out, man cave style. John Santos from the GC trip came up from San Diego and it turns out he’s an absolute wood working nerd and our project was right up his alley. He brought up every tool we could possibly need, and we did out best over the next several months to prove to him that we should never be lent anything that you want back in the same shape, or want back at all for that matter.