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Building Sea Minor
by Kent Georgeson
https://www.georgesons.net

Sea Minor is a name stolen from a boat in one of my daughters books. I am not musical but instead chose the name as I hope to one day have a Sea Major!

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It all started when I moved to Auckland (New Zealand). Auckland is the City of Sails. I did not want to miss out. Thus, my quest started…. I needed a boat.

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At the time of making this decision my wife was 7 months pregnant with our first child. I figured that if I bought a boat, I wouldn’t get much time on the water until our first child was a little older. So if I had some time, why not build one.

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Well, last weekend I just finished painting the hull… my first child, a girl, is now 2 and ½ years old and my second child, a boy, is now 7 months. As it turns out, having kids didn’t leave much time for building either.

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In the early days, it was cosy and comfortable working in my garage. It was not until I had the bulkheads standing on the bottom panel that I discovered that the garage just wasn’t big enough to be practical. I also found when the stem went on, the boat was about 3 inches too long. Therefore, I relocated to the carport outside. Working outside on a boat is a lot less fun… especially in a wet Auckland winter.

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About half way through the build, we bought a new house. Relocating a half built boat, even one as small as Sea Minor, was not something I wanted to tackle alone. Best leave it to the experts, so I called in a boat haulage company.

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This is the first time I understood the true value of a John Welsford design. We stopped at some lights and another car pulled alongside me. The driver wound down the window and asked “Mate, that your boat?”, “Sure is” I replied. “Navigator is it?”, “Sure is” I replied… slightly stunned. “How did you know?” I asked. “Recognise a John Welsford design anywhere” he replied.

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In the new house, my garage is much larger, and cosier. I have Sea Minor all painted now and have begun the procrastination around how I will manage to rig her. Each option with their own advantages, but none that stand out enough to make the decision easy.

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Sea Minor needs to get onto the water soon… or at least before the kids move out of home!

More photos can be found at https://www.georgesons.net/photos/index.php?cat=3

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