Excitement Builds

The kids and I played around with some color ideas for the boat. I'm intrigued by the forest green, and red, but I keep coming back to the navy blue w/ red bottom, as depicted in the simple renderings on the Bateau website. (boatbuildercentral.com)

I also ordered my motor... although it'll be 7 months before it arrives! (No problem, obviously... this will be a years-long build.) A lot of folks (including myself) are confounded by a 3,000 lb boat being propelled by a 9.9hp outboard, when most boats of similar size are fitted with over ten times that power. But I'm assured by the (very knowledgeable) designer that this will be completely adequate for this hull design. This is not a "planing hull" (a boat designed to come up on plane at speed, skimming over the water, which takes a lot of power and fuel); it's a displacement hull, designed for large loads, low speed (about a jogging pace), and fuel efficiency.

It's getting real now!