Well, five long months after that last post we are finally making some sawdust...It was becoming obvious that trying to grab an hour or two here and there to start the project just wasn't happening, so I just booked this week off work, dragged the kid out of his dim video-gaming den and we set off for the boat shop....
Now, here I need to provide a bit of an update. Affter perusing the plans for the Minimost hydro, I came to the conclusion that it was a bit small. Our lake can kick up some good chop and - while there are certainly calm periods - having one eye on the wind direction would be critical...plus, once the thing was built, it could only be enjoyed by one person at a time.
So I contacted the seller of the plans and asked if they could recommend a slightly larger boat that still had the charachter of this little hydro. As it happens, he had come to the same conclusion and was in the process of adapting the design into a two seat configuration - basically 25% bigger in all dimensions. He had not begun selling plans in earnest yet as there were a few details to work out but asked if I would be willing to be one of the first builders.
In exchange for a set of plans provided at his printing cost we would have a go at putting it together and provide feedback on the build process.
Well....sold I say! (There are actually three prototypes on the water already, built by this guy, his brother and cousin...so I at least can be assured they float!)...