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"Never to land on an island from a boat of one's own building,
is to miss one of life's great moments." -- Arch Davis
All plans from Arch Davis Design are backed by a free advisory service. If you have a question or a problem when you are building your Arch Davis designed boat, call 207-930-9873 between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm, including weekends, for advice from the designer.
Bill Conley, of Raleigh, North Carolina, won this award for best sailboat at the NC Maritime Museum’s Wooden Boat Show this year. He tells us that he built the hull of Little Blues, “in a 9 day class at the NC Maritime Museum Boat shop in Beaufort, NC. I then finished it at home in Raleigh, eight months and about 2000 hours later. This was my first attempt at building a boat, and the experience was wonderful. My wife sewed the sails from a Sailrite kit, but everything else, including the oars and the hollow spars, was built from scratch with guidance from Craig Wright, the master boat builder at the Boat shop.” He adds that, “The boat is a delight to row and sail in the sounds around Beaufort.”
Hein Olivier got his boat back from having the 60 HP four stroke Yamaha fitted, and has had her out a few times on Moreton Bay. He reports a top speed about 35 mph, cruising at 20 – 22 mph at 4.2 thousand revs. He writes, “I am very pleased with the boat. On a previous run, I was accompanied by a very experienced pilot, who took the boat through some tight turns, speed tests etc. (as the mechanic that fitted the motor also did on a previous occasion), and he also had only praise for the boat.”
We have had several photos of Duane Kelm’s boat under construction on this page. This spring she was launched. Duane reports that the 50 HP Honda gives a top speed of about 27 mph, and a cruising speed around 20 mph. He says that he is very pleased with the performance of the boat, but he is concerned that the boat trims a bit high at the bow at cruising speed. He will experiment with moving some weights forward, and fit a wedge on the transom to allow the motor to be trimmed down a few more degrees. We expect that this should be enough to bring the bow down to where it should be.
Bill Waters, of Pensacola, Florida, sent these pictures. He writes:
Chris Sawyer, of Carmel Valley, California, whose boat appears below, sent some more photos. He writes, “We finally made it to the water and our Penobscot performed beautifully.” He describes the plans as easy to understand and use. He adds, “Your DVD and instruction manual answered all the questions that occurred during construction. I loved the project and as a result am now building a 16’ strip planked Cape Cod catboat. Thanks Arch for giving me the confidence and experience to undertake this new endeavor.”
Eben Marsh, of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, recently launched his Sand Dollar. He sent these photos and comments.
Christopher Sawyer, of Carmel Valley, CA sent these photos of his Penobscot 14. He writes, “This project was finished last fall and I just realized that I had not sent you any pictures. I think the project was highly successful and I loved the process. Your plans and video were perfect and the building went without a hitch. I am so excited about wooden boat building that I am now working on a 16' Fenwick Williams's catboat. This on is now in the strip planking stage. The positive experience I had on your design gave me the confidence to go on to my next effort.
Robert Mason, of Gulf Breeze, Florida, sent these pictures. He writes, “My name is Robert Mason. I built Laughing Gull in 2004. She came out
great and has been set aside for grandchildren. I just finished The
Jiffy V-22 and I love this boat. She runs great! Yamaha 115 EFI, 3 blade 17. I am getting 35 mph 5800 rpm. She cruises at 25, turns in her own length and runs very dry. Thank you for two beautiful designs. I will send better pictures as they become available.”