Four years ago I got caught up in a boat building saga that continues to this day. Called The Arctic Tern Project, it chronicles Peter Gron of Gabriola Island, BC, Canada's odyssey which began in the autumn of 2004 when he built a boat shed and started building the 23' sloop Arctic Tern.
The Arctic Tern is of composite construction using the "Stitch-and-Glue" technique and was designed by Sam Devlin of Olympia Washington.
Already taking shape in 2004_
Since then I have been faithfully tuning in at the start of each month for the latest report on his project. Peter has persisted through cuts and bruises, missteps and miss-cuts, winter and summer to where he can now see the finish line.
Many of the photos of the gleaming varnish, bright brass and fine lines are a real pleasure to see.
If you are interested in do-it-yourself boat building, I highly recommend taking a look and guarantee that you will be quickly hooked. Many thanks to Peter for allowing me to reproduce some of his photos here.
To see where Peter is on the project today, see the Epilogue> click here.
