Jerry Price sent me these photos in Jan 04 showing that he is about finished building his 38′ DUCK out of wood. He’s doing a beautiful job; the boat is a little ship and shows a simple and seamanlike approach that has an appeal of its own. Don’t get me wrong! I love the high end professionally built boats. But I also love the home built ones. They are every bit as valid a sea goin’ cruisin’ ship as the pro built one and fire our imagination. Why with “just a little work,” why I can be out there too! OK, so I’ll plead guilty to being a “Dream merchant” as a very irate spouse of a client called me. But what’s wrong with that? Seriously, look around at the world today and tell me what’s so terrible about immersing oneself in stout cruisin’ boats……

She’s about ready to go in. All she needs is her bottom paint, and I hope Jerry paints a fine sweeping white boot top to set the WL off.

Here’s the stern view. I love the outboard rudder and the windows in the transom are a fine touch.

The ladder rungs bolted to the rudder is a very sensible idea.

I’m sorry, but fiberglass can’t ever look this cool! And note the heavy pipe rails!

I especially like the inside of this boat. The layout is simple but being all natural wood, with exposed frames and beams, really looks great. As you can see there isn’t a great deal of “fancy stuff.” This sort of approach is reminiscent of yachts built up through the 1960s but isn’t seen much today. Note how spacious the interior feels. It isn’t crammed with stuff. A big person can function in here.

A fine helm, worthy of the name!

From the front of the fwd. cabin looking aft. The boat has a usable galley.

The couch in the photo above pulls out to make a guest bunk. This is far more sensible to me than devoting an entire area to a guest cabin….