Thread: Storm 15 Build

In some previous posts I discussed building a boat and the various plans out there. Since then the debate ended and the building began! If you are like me and skip straight to the photos... I thought I would start a thread about building a S15, as when I was googling during this decision I never found much about home-builders of Swallow boats.

After a myriad of factors were taken into account and various plans purchased, I settled on the Swallow Storm 15. Beautiful boat, good boat for my wallet & needs, pre-cut panels for this very novice woodworker, and local support.

Denman Marine is the Australia distributor for Swallow and I've been working on the boat with their help. On a side note, I can't say enough good things about Andrew & his crew. Great people to do business with! As this S15 was the first Swallow kit sold in Aus, we struck an arrangement to start building the boat. Denman would probably call it a partial build, I'm calling it boat building lessons. The hull and a bit more was built in their shop with me working alongside. Now the hull has moved to a mate's home workshop where I will continue.

I will post some more photos soon and during the rest of the build. First impressions though. 15ft doesn't sound like much, but it is a lot more boat than I anticipated (in a good way). When proceeding step-by-step, boat building isn't as scary as it sounds. Buying tools is verrry addictive. And cost & time over-runs are just part of the process, expect them!

I'm happy to hear from any other Swallow builders out there, if your listening.....