First Things First

My main debate over whether or not to build the Night Heron was related to space.

WHERE, oh where could I build this boat? 18 feet is a long stretch of space and you need sufficient room to walk around the ends of the boat so, 22 feet clear would be about the absolute minimum. Well, the sun room which served as my shop last winter was definitely not going to fit that bill.

Okay then, the only other space that did not require knocking down walls in my house was the garage.

Alright, now that we have that solved, this being a "winter project" whose car would be parked outside covered by ice and snow? Iris said: That's easy: YOURS! Oye! ...but I cannot deny her impeccable logic. Plus: my wife is always right!

Snow has not yet arrived in these parts but rain has been pouring in abundance. And this explains my being somewhat premature with my "winter project".

The manual recommends building a sturdy 4' x 16' working platform. Had to give that some thought before coming up with a way of joining two 4x8 boards in a manner that there would be no sagging so that I could work on a perfectly level surface.

Once this was accomplished the project was ready to go.