The goals I have set for myself appear huge to say the least, so to make it appear not quite so large I have broken my plans into stages (and some of the stages into mini-stages lol ).

Step one is to get my family on a sailboat (after all I have to make sure they don't altogether hate sailing), they have been on powerboats but never on a sailboat. It has also been years since I have sailed, last time I sailed was when I was stationed in Great Lakes NTC back in '92. Our local body of water here, not counting the main channel and all its traffic, has depth issues, so my "starter" boat needs a shallow draft.

After hours and hours of looking through boat ads to find a boat that will fit my needs I have decided to build one. With winter approaching I figure it would be a great time to do this, even if I bought a ready to sail boat I wouldn't really be able to use it till spring anyway. I have decided, and ordered, the plans for the Hartly 18 Fast Twin and am just waiting for my order to arrive.

I am hoping that while I, and my family, build this cat it will be much easier teaching my kids about the parts and function of each part as we install them instead of just a point and tell demonstration. My kids love doing stuff out in the shop with me so I would not be building a boat by myself, I have lots of hands to help in the process.

Now I just wish they could speed up the delivery from NZ....

For my first post I am at a loss for words,or to be more exact I have a multitude of words that I can't decide which would be best to use. I hope this gets easier as I go along.

Basically I have been doing everything that has been expected of me for the past 15 years. I have been holding down a steady good paying job, paying for a house, cars, cellphones, you know all the things that most people normally strive for. In doing so I have had to work night shift to make the most money I could to provide all these things for my family, and in doing so I have missed quite a lot.

The past year though, I have had this feeling that I cannot shake. After much reading and researching I have had this idea, I'd almost hazard to say an epiphany, instead of trying to give my family things, I will instead give them my time, and hopefully along the way show them the world.

I have a lot to get done, it will be a long, and more than likely, slow journey, but I hope you will join along for the bumpy ride.