Twelve months ago, with a few sheets of rubbish plywood and a length of pine (sorry, rimu), I started construction on two mighty vessels. At times, the journey has being longer than it is interesting, often interrupted by frequent sojourns around New Zealand, and beyond. Indeed, Decembers post went completely AWOL somewhere in the Nevada desert:
Whilst in the land of the free, we became fond of the local, profoundly philosophical statement, “Git ‘er done”. This can be deployed against friends, work colleagues and significant others whenever doubts are expressed on the viability of a plan or request.
On returning home, inspired by this productive outlook on life, I proceeded to get ‘er done and made the boats ready for sea trials. Thankfully, over the past year I had already done most of the work, and just needed to finish up a couple of extra layers of paint (outdoor pavement paint is cheap and durable) and install carry handles and oarlocks.
With the assistance of friends with a trailer, at high tide we drove the 500m to Sandy Beach, located in Governors Bay.
In the extremely unlikely event of a leak or maritime disaster, my neighbor helpfully provided life jackets. I am happy to say that neither boat foundered, or even leaked. All four watertight compartments remained dry and the boats were extremely stable.
With the initial trials successful, I can now proceed to make masts, sail rigs and oars. Inspired by their stability, we are now considering a small outboard to facilitate minor fishing expeditions. But that can wait till next month*!
*If only I had stopped eating ham for a few minutes and posted this yesterday, I could have used the timeless joke of “next year”
Zeehan Manse 
Hi, Damo!
Your boats are absolutely wonderful! They not only look perfect, they are functional, too. The launch video was great, but the video of your U.S. trip was outstanding. You have seen more – and had a better time, I reckon – than I have had even living here. I loved your choice of theme song, too.
I didn’t know that one could rent Teslas – even foreigners, eh? In my opinion, you showed great courage in driving one into the hinterlands.
Pam
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Hi Pam,
Thank you for the kind words on the boats. They are *literally* the simplest boat design out there, but I am still very happy with my handiwork 🙂
The renting of expensive (to buy) cars surprised me as well. And to foreigners as well 🙂 It worked out at about $100 a day for the Tesla, which was quite reasonable shared 3 ways. By comparison, a *normal* car would be 40-50 a day.
To be honest, it wasn’t that tricky driving into the hinterlands. The onboard navigation system showed us exactly where all the free charge stations were and would give suggested routes so you don’t get stranded. Even the national parks often had charging stations!
Cheers,
Damo
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Damo:
Thanks so much for the info about the Tesla. I know somebody who might like to try that.
Pam
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Hi Damo,
The boats are looking good and are apparently sea-worthy, but the life jackets were a tidy idea. 🙂
Loved the Tesla All-American-Adventure too.
Hey, that ratchet tool with the hole boring bit in the photo. Fascinating. Can you attach larger bore sizes to it? I assume it works like a socket set. Never seen one before
Cheers
Chris
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Hi Chris,
The ratchet and drill bit arrangement was only because my electric drill chuck could not fit the large diameter bit 🙂 Bit of a hack job, but got it done!
Cheers,
Damo
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