The Carioca was chosen after about five years of armchair boatbuilding. I personally prefer sailing to power boating but my youngest son wants a "motor boat like Grampa's but with beds for us to sleep on". Now, how could I say no to the only other boating enthusiast in my household. I can always buy a sail boat, right?

The plans were ordered through the Glen-L web site on February 6. They arrived on February 9. For the next eleven days I read and re-read the construction notes and studied the plans. Forty board feet of framing stock was acquired on February 20. I went back to the lumber shop and purchased more mahogany, two sheets of 3/4 inch marine plywood and 1 sheet of 1/4 inch marine plywood. At that time I also ordered 12 sheets of 3/8 inch (full measure) boat builders grade plywood for the planking and the white oak for the stringers and stringer uprights. My first boat, Mattian, was built using the least expensive materials I could get away with. I have since sworn to use the absolute best materials I could afford. I can tell you that it is much nicer and easier using quality.

March 23 I began cleaning and rearranging the garage. I finished on Sunday, March 28. This encompassed relocation of workbench, storage cabinets, stored lumber (lots of it), reorganizing all the yard equipment, and the removal of my old motorcycle, (passions change).

I would really love to correspond with other boat builders out there. I would also like to set up a page linking to other boatbuilders pages. Let me hear from you.

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