Boat-Building Brothers

In the last few weeks, my big guys have embraced a new project.

It started with lots of conversations involving paddle boat designs
and aspirations of building a kit airplane.

Dad humored the dreaming, but every time talk turned practical
he gently steered in the direction of baby steps. "Why don't you build
something simple first?"  He'd say.  "How about a row boat?"

I'm pretty sure Zachary was hoping "simple" would include jet engines
or submarine power, but eventually he was won over by a set of actual
plans for a Portuguese Dinghy.
Once the boat design was settled on, a fever of activity ensued.
Despite the fact that Clay had been working diligently on his own  model
for a paddle boat, he bought in and took ownership of this new endeavor
right along with his brother.

The boys made a list of supplies, called local building supply stores to check
prices and availability of the plywood they'd need, and talked their dad into
hauling a trailer to pick it up.

Once pieces were cut out, the boys spent several evenings assembling
the boats.  Here are some pictures to document the work up until this point.

Awesomeness.

I am so proud of these fellas!

Next step is fiberglass and epoxy.  Right now they are in process
of building sawhorses to set their boats on for that phase of the project
('cause I guess dad doesn't want his sawhorses covered in permanent goo).

You could ask them how this whole boat-building thing is working out so far,
but really, the smiles tell you pretty much everything you need to know :-)