The few of you that really know me, and FOR SURE my family and friends here in Indy, KNEW,I would not be long without a new big project.

I am building from scratch a 1950's Cabin Cruiser so to speak, small Crusier. WWW.glen-l.com offers copies of the orginal plans of this boat. It is called "SEA KNIGHT" It is an outboard and will be 20' in length after I stretch and I will widen the beam to 8'. Probably a Mercury 4-stroke 115 H.P. White hull, and Walnut deck and cabin sides. White cabin roof, with a 50's interior, that we will pull behind our Buick street rod. We can sleep in it, and call it our VERY STRANGE BARTH.

I met a fellow in Wisconsin that just finished his second Sea Knight three weeks ago and he has offered me all his patterns for widening of such. It is easy to add length, but when you change the beam it is much more involved. Many things change. This fellow has made for HIMSELF 38 wood boats over the past 55 years, and at 75 is still going strong. He has given to me a CD of 365 constructions progress pictures to aid in the building of our FIRST BOAT.

Our daughter and son-in-law live on the water 10 minutes from us and has a slip waiting for such.

Yes, I KNOW MANY SAY THE TWO DAYS OF ENJOYMENT ARE THE DAYS YOU BUY, AND THE DAY YOU SELL, but we will see.

I peek in now and then, and DO MISS YOU ALL.
WELL, maybe not you ron. GOT TO LOVE THAT ron.

Dale & Sharon Smith
Indy

P.S. We are calling it " DASH " DAle-SHaron, Thanks to Dave for the suggestion. Remember Dave?

"A boat is a hole in the water, surrounded by wood, into which you pour money."

Rusty, OH, I am so sorry I didn't call you for advise on how I should spend MY money. You would would have told me, I'm sure.

Dale
Indy

Great to hear from you Dale. I'm not spending my money, I'm spending my kids inheritance. Won't be nuthin left to argue about.
Jim

------------------

No offense meant - that joke's been around a long time. I've owned seven boats, and the biggest problem I had was supplying them with little gifts - fathometer here, knotmeter there.

Gifts? Good way to say it, and sounds like another big item I owned not to long ago. That was FUN TOO.

Dale
Indy

Dale, always good to hear from you. A fellow down here in east Englewood has been building a boat for the last several years. I pass by his house quite often and always check the progress. When I first saw it he had laid the keel and was fabricating the framework, [upside-down], then he started laying the wood for the hull. After about 2 1/2 years he had it uprighted and began the deck work. That was a good 2 years ago and it now looks like he is very close to launching this thing. It appears to be a motor trawler, about 60 feet, and it is one of the most beautiful pieces of workmanship I've ever seen. I can't imagine the hours and materials that went into this project, but the love most certainly shows. I'll take my little digital camera to work with me and see if I can get a decent shot to post here.
Good luck with your new project, and let's see some pix along the way!

------------------
Dan & Suzy Z
'81 Euro 28

quote:

Gifts? Good way to say it, and sounds like another big item I owned not to long ago. That was FUN TOO.

Dale
Indy

Yeah, this is my first motorhome, and I've noticed the parallel!

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:
Yeah, this is my first motorhome, and I've noticed the parallel!

Your first motor home and you got yourself THE BEST motor home! I got lucky also with buying a Barth as my first. Have not had the opportunity to buy a wooden hole yet to throw my money into.

There isn't a lot to buy to keep a CANOE up and running.

Dale
Indy

quote:

first motor home and you got yourself THE BEST motor home! I got lucky also with buying a Barth as my first. Have not had the opportunity to buy a wooden hole yet to throw my money into

Unfortunately, I'm just a Barth wannabe - I have a Fleetwood Class C, and need "just a bit more room". I got the Fleetwood to use a while to figure out what features I wanted and what I didn't for my next M/H.

If anyone is interested I have a 44' sailboat that I lived on and cruised for 10 yrs. It would make someone a real nice project. This vessel has much the same quality as our barth. I will send photos to interested partys.

Hey Don, I am really interested, could you sail it up the Mississippi for me to take a look. I could meet you in St. Paul..

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:
- I have a Fleetwood Class C, and need "just a bit more room". I got the Fleetwood to use a while to figure out what features I wanted and what I didn't for my next M/H.

Everyone should have a Fleetwood product to make them appreciate a Barth. I had three......Slow learner.

I would also advise sitting in other motor homes a lot. We formed very definite ideas on floor plans that way. I didn't find the plan I wanted in our Barth, but I was able to convert it. Six years later, we still are happy with the plan.

I like the floorplan in the Fleetwood, as far as it goes. It's not big enough for a sofa, so I let down the dinette for the dogs to ride on. That leaves me with only a portable table. My large telescope's case takes up a portiion of the dinette, and it's about 100 lbs., so I'd rather slide it into a basement compartment, along with the other astro-gear that ends up everywhere.

So I want a sofa and basement storage. Otherwise, I'm not too particular about layout. I do wish Fleetwood's interior dsigner wasn't color-blind (Mauve upholstery, pale green walls and brown carpets? Even an old swabbie like me could do better).

The only truly stupid thing about the layout is putting the fuse panel under the overhang for the rear bed.

So thanks to this forum, I'm tending towards a 93-94 Breakaway 30' or a smaller Regency DP.