It's been a few months since I decided I was going to build one of these boats. Since that time my wife and I have moved into a new house, and I've been busy doing all the sorts of things that don't have much to do with boat building. I also was starting to question why I was going to bother; I didn't know of anyone else in the Portland area who was building, and I wasn't really sure this boat could fit into any of the other fleets in Portland. I didn't really want to be in a fleet of one. I was starting to consider just buying a J/24 and being satisfied with that. Well, things have all of a sudden changed dramatically...
A week ago I was contacted by Eric Rimkus, who is well known in the Portland sailing scene, with a proposal to join four other guys in building a fleet of at least 5 of these things. All of a sudden I've gone from being alone to being in the middle of what I believe is the largest group build there is. I met most of the guys last Wednesday at Rivers West, which is a boat building facility on the Columbia River that is open to the public. I'm planning on doing most of my building in my garage, but some of the others already have a space rented out and are considering renting another so there can be builds going on in parallel.
I also just happened to be travelling to Evanston for Thanksgiving shortly after this all came together, so I contacted Kevin and got to check out Pipe Dream on Saturday. Jeff from Madison was there as well to compare rigging notes with Kevin, so I got to see the boat almost fully rigged. It looks awesome and is almost completely ready to go except for the minor detail that his local launch ramp is closed for the winter - bugger! I did however get to ask a bunch of questions and finally get to see one of these things up close and personal. I now have a much clearer picture in my head of how the whole thing comes together.
So now I've got the inspiration, I've got a kit on the way, and I've got a local group of guys who are doing the same crazy thing as me. I'm ready to go...
By the way, if there is anyone else in the greater Portland area who is curious about building one of these things, get in touch!
