1. That's what I named my boat.

the "Grebe" took about 4 months to build, I had 2 weeks off work to get the Grebe started (lofting) and then it was evenings and weekends after that. Am I done?... No... (more on that later), I was however fortunate enough to get her completed to a rowing stage and have her on the water before summer ended.

A couple years ago my wife and son and myself went up to Jasper National Park for a weekend. Having owned a Canoe for many years my wife and son rented a canoe. I for some reason decided to try out a aluminum row boat. I loved it. I'm not sitting on my knees, the boat seems somewhat more stable and was reasonably fast, also the exercise felt comfortable. so I thought... I should buy a row boat!

So onto the net and off to my local outdoor waters-sport stores I go. Only to find, the day of a wooden row boat has gone by way of the dinosaurs. There are indeed a few really nice ones out there (on the net) if you have an extra 10 to 20+ grand sitting around. I for one don't even come close to that option. what to do? I know ... I'll build one.

Now I'm not the most talented carpenter out there for sure *L*, I can build a deck/fence and crappy saw horses, and I am not as gifted as say that of a Cabinet maker. I have a skill saw, a jig saw, a hand saw, an electric drill/screw drivers/hammers and a level. I do not have a table saw.

After some searching, I decided on http://www.boatplans.dk/ A web site by Morton Olesen whom sales boat plans and understands "the common" mans skill level. So... I bought the plans for a 12 row boat for very little money, and was quite happy and surprised after receiving the plans at how simple the process really was. Excited about building a boat I decided to see if anyone had written about there row boat experiences/adventures. It was tough to find, but I did manage to find a couple. And it is here that my journey really begins ...

There were 2 books that really had a profound effect on my visions of rowing.
1. "A Speck on the Sea" by William H. Longyard
2. "3 years in a 12 Foot boat" by Stephen G. Ladd.

http://ginnyandsteve.blogspot.com/

3. Also there is David Lockhardt's Web Page.

http://www.luckhardt.com/dory2.html
(Here's someone living my dream!)

So... as I read I start to ponder the possibilities, and with that came the usual questions. Where will I use my boat? How many people will come with me? What is my budget? Where can I store it? Can I car top it or will I need a trailer? Where can I build it? Obviously there is a lot to consider. I thought about the above question for a few months and new what I wanted to do...

I wanted to customize my row boat!

I then started drawing up my boat ideas. Draft after draft... idea on top of idea, and when I was done, I emailed Morton and asked him to Design/Engineer my boat for me. That my friends... was a  very smart decision! After months of corresponding, Morton created the "Water Pod" for me. Absolutely Fantastic! A dream come true!
Check out the link below to find out more and get to know Morton!
http://boatbuildingarticles.com/2011/06/09/13-water-pod-being-build/

In the end ...
I am hoping this blog will be about time spent "in" the Grebe.