Noah

I come to the readership seeking advice, guidance and sanity. If you don't have any of the latter perhaps you could borrow some from a passing SWMBO? They're usually very good at cutting to the bones of the matter, often to the woodworker's misfortune... It's like this:

We were just finishing up lunch and I was wondering whether to exert myself to go to a very local car boot sale that has probably the most picturesque location you'll ever see, when the doorbell went. T'was Peter, the next-door neighbour - very nice fellow, ex-pro boat builder of the traditional variety but now earning his crust doing "process engineering", whatever that may be. He has, he says, a proposition for me.

Ooo-er.

Apparently four or five years ago, while he was still working at the local shipyard (well technically one of the local shipyards - not talking building the Titanic here, of course, but in this case luxury yachts, repairing the lifeboat etc. The other one does refits for ferries, RFA vessels, all sorts). Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, well he'd bought these plans for a boat, made up the moulds to build it on, and then life had intervened and nothing further had happened. Now I diagnose a serious case of a man missing the work he enjoyed and wanting to get back to it even if just as a hobby, but yet again I digress. Trouble is while he has the plans, the moulds and the desire to have the boat, he doesn't have the space in which to build it. Which is where I come in.

In short, do I fancy collaborating on building it - he (presumably - we haven't gone into detail) provides the materials and I provide the space and get to build a boat (which is quite near the top of my "One day I want to..." list) with someone who knows what they're doing. Anyway, here are the plans, have a look and see if you fancy it and you might find it interesting even if you don't want to do it. I say calmly I'll have a look, make positive noises etc and somehow manage to restrain myself from doing a dance out of sheer excitement.

Eeek!

It's an Iain Oughtred design - the Acorn 12 skiff. Strictly the rowing option - no sail. Just as well 'cos with the sail it's all too reminiscent of Swallow or Amazon and then I'd be a helpless babbling idiot up to my neck in a childhood fantasy - on a par with someone who always said they wanted to be an astronaut when they were 8 now being invited to the International Space Station and then required to make a rational decision about whether to go...

So I'm trying to stay rational. I think it could be done in the workshop - and still be got out of the door. The Maxi could be a problem though. And it's a heck of an opportunity - I was resigned to waiting for a mid-life crisis before I even seriously considered anything on the "One day I want to..." list. On the other hand it'd essentially turn the workshop into a boat shed and nothing else - all other woodworking bar the smallest stuff would be curtailed with a great boat sitting in the middle of it. And for how long? I daresay we all know someone, or someone who knows someone, that has a project-that-never-ends story. But perhaps the biggest thing is am I actually capable of making something with someone else? I'm very much a me, myself and I kinda woodworker - all self-taught etc etc. You can't get half-way through a boat on your premises and find the owner can't bear to work with you any more.

So some sane, rational, considered opinions please, folks. Do we proceed to a cautious affirmative stage subject to details? In short - Noah or No Noah?