Where to start - Project Boat - Ken Bassett Rascal

Now I've got what I've always wanted. A project boat, in my garage, in the dead of winter in Rockford, Illinois. What was I thinking?

First order of business is finding a way to get my 2 cars in the garage with the Rascal. I didn't want either of them outside for the winter. Fortunately, the boat came with a rather modestly fashioned cradle. By bulking it up a bit I found it to be quite adequate. Down to the home center and back with 4 large, lockable caster wheels. Perfect for the bottom of the cradle. I then recruited a couple of my neighbors to help me lift the Rascal hull off the trailer and onto the cradle.

My wife watched in disbelief as I spun the boat perpendicular to the garage entry and pushed it up to the back wall of the garage. The cars both fit with 1 foot at front and 1 foot at back to spare. Piece of cake, I claimed. She long ago learned that I always had a plan. She shook her head as she turned and went back inside to get warm.

My neighbors were quick to leave since the temperature was in the teens. I quickly pushed the trailer around to the back of my home where it would sit for the duration of the project. I hustled back into the garage, pulled both cars in and made my way into the house.

While the Rascal came with a set of plans, they happened to be a very crude set, not the ones you would purchase today. It's my opinion that Ken Bassett may have actually copied them for the original builder. I rolled them out onto the dining room table. Studying them intensely. I'm in the business of capital equipment engineering and manufacturing. I know how to read a blueprint. These were different than I'd ever reviewed. A "table of offsets"? What's this? After reviewing for a bit, it's not to difficult to understand. In fact, it makes sense. But there was still the "essense" of the design I was missing.

I mulled it over for a couple days. I often dwell on things before I act. Like the years I mulled over a project boat. Ultimately, I logged onto the Wooden Boat magazine web site and ordered an new, complete set of plans. As you might imagine, over the years, I'd accumulated numerous catalog sources for information on parts and components. I spent the next few days in my normal chair (yes, just like Archie Bunker) and scanning as I always had.