GIS build in Kamloops, BC, Canada

Hello all! This is just a quick introduction...
My name is Mike and I just downloaded my plans and instructions and I'm excited to get started building my own "Goat". I have been doing a lot of prowling on the internet looking for a boat that my wife and I can use on the beautiful inland lakes we have here in British Columbia, Canada. I just celebrated my 60th birthday last weekend. I have been sailing for almost 20 years, including living aboard full-time on an Ericson 35 MkII (5 years) and a Reliance 44 ketch (1 year) on the west coast of Canada in Vancouver, BC. I swallowed the anchor 6 years ago and my new wife and I moved inland to Kamloops, where we live on a small off-grid, hobby ranch we are building. It is a beautiful area but we both miss being on the water. Carol enjoys sailing, boats of all kinds, and fishing and we were hoping to find a boat that could be all things to us - sailboat, rowboat, fishing boat - and we are confident that the Goat Island Skiff will fit the bill perfectly.
I intend to photograph and carefully document the build and will post updates here as we go. I suspect that we will have a lull for a couple of months while I absorb all the information available and source the materials for our project. After that, I anticipate a build cycle of several months, hopefully finishing before winter sets in. I have most tools known to man already so that shouldn't hold us up!
Thank you, for reading and I hope you follow along as we build our Mountain Goat!

Mike & Carol Gritten

Theodor,
I'm not quite sure what you want to see pictures of...surely, not me! I am uploading a couple of shots you might like. My Reliance 44 ketch, Wanderlust V, was the cover boat for Pacific Yachting mag a few years ago (before she was mine). She was a very pretty boat! Sadly, a divorce meant she had to go. She was purchased by a nice young Aussie and he sailed her back home to Sydney where she is currently undergoing a significant re-fit.
Attachment 375310

I don't really have any nice images of our Ericson 35, Papillon, but I did find this one, which shows her under main and cruising spinnaker while cruising the Canadian Gulf Islands. The other one is taken from Papillon's helm while motoring into Desolation Sound cruising grounds, north of Vancouver, BC.
Attachment 375311Attachment 375312

As I start our build, I promise to take lots of images! Hope you enjoy the pics of my boats.
cheers,
Mike

It was just an encouragement for your build. I look forward to seeing how you progress.

Theodor,
Thank you, for the encouragement! I spent yesterday checking some local lumber dealers and have found a supplier of the 6mm marine okoume plywood, clear fir, and cedar. Now I just need to work on saving my pennies.
Mike

It is possible to start building many of the smaller parts of the boat without a large investment in lumber, ply, and epoxy. For example, the mast, centreboard, rudder, tiller, etc can all be constructed with less than 1L of epoxy and a minimal amount of wood (of course the mast does require some long, straight timber). You can make the centreboard and rudder using normal woodworking glue as well, and then shape and coat them with epoxy and fibreglass later. So you can distribute many expenses over a period of months while still having construction jobs to do.

I'll second what Theodora said. Whilst I'm nearing completion of my goat I'm yet to shape and finish the centreboard, rudder and spars. Although I had intended to do them first months beforehand, I didn't and now I eye them off as a chore. I wish I did them sooner so they were ready to add when needed. I also used Selleys exterior PVA glue on the rudder and spars as my epoxy supply ran low. The equivalent would be Titebond II, I think, a cross linking PVA. Although epoxy is still the best for parts being submerged I figured that everything is going to be epoxy encapsulated and the rudder glassed so the PVA glue will never get wet.

Interesting read Mike and happy birthday for last weekend. I'm nearly 20yrs your junior and am doing things in reverse, build the goat then would love to get serious in years to come and around retirement do live aboard. I bought the GIS plans a few years ago and quickly progressed from watching small boat videos to being hooked on videos and tales of live aboard, island hopping and ocean crossings. Probably won't happen but one can dream. :U

Anyway good luck, I look forward to watching your progress.

Canoath,
Thank you for the encouraging words. It makes sense - I will try and do exactly as you suggest and build some of the ancillary stuff sooner rather than later.
As per your cruising aspirations...go now! Or, at least go soon! My plan was always to learn to sail, buy a boat, learn more, buy THE boat, refit the boat in time to sail away just as my cruising kitty maxed out. But as the saying goes, "Life is what happens while you're making other plans". Anyway, THE boat is now gone...without me, and barring a big lottery win, that ship has sailed! So, I will get my sailing fix on the beautiful fresh water lakes we have around here. That's not a bad thing, but it is not what I had originally planned. There are no south Pacific beaches in my future. The moral is...go simple, go small, go NOW!

That's so true. You've given me the kick I need this morning to put down the iPad, slurp my coffee down and get back to sanding and try and finish my goat!