Boat plans

 The research

This all started from researching plans on the internet. I originally wanted to build a Catamaran of fiberglass. I quickly came to the realization that transporting such a thing would be insanely priced. So I went on researching monohull sailboat plans. While I found many that seemed to be suited for what I wanted to build, they were a bit costly in my opinion.

The source

I happened across George Buehler Designs. Here is his plans page: http://georgebuehler.com/photothumbs.html While still a bit pricey for me, there was a lot of good information there.

George takes a no nonsense approach to boat building. His boats are designed to take almost anything that can be thrown at them. Designed with simple systems that a sailor should be able to repair at sea. I bought two of his books. The Troller yacht book, and Buehlers backyard boat building. Both have great information in them, and they can be found on Georges website.

 In Georges boat building book, he also includes several free plans of successful and tried boat designs. The plans have been scanned but some of the details are very small. George states in his book that he will send more legible copies of the plans if you just ask. To be fair, you should really buy the book first.

The plans

The plans to be used for SV Sojourn will be based on the 35 foot "Juno" plans designed by George Buehler. These plans are in his book and is a trusty design. Here is the page for Juno http://georgebuehler.com/juno.html

These are the particulars:    

LOD: 35'6" Beam: 10'7" Draft: 5'6" Displ.: 22,000 lbs

 I am still trying to decide whether to go with store bought dimensional lumber or buy a chainsaw mill and cut my own trees here on my property and mill to the sizes I need. The problem with milling them myself will be the drying process of almost a year. I am also still deciding whether to go with a conventional sailing rig or junk rig. I plan to be single handing the boat so ease of operation is the primary concern.

In any event it should be an exciting project. I know it will take lots of time as not only does the materials need to be obtained and assembled but also I need to acquire the tools to do the task at hand. I don't have much of a budget but I will do what I can with what I have.