Well, I've had the hoophouse and sawhorse tables set up for about a month and a half now, the Anuri kit has been unpacked and stored mostly behind my couch for a week or so less than that. I've gotten so busy with freelance design work that I simply have not had time to begin building it.

The good news is that the kit all arrived in great shape, despite what I thought was pretty flimsy packing, and the guys at WD accommodated all my special requests for altering the contents of the kit without missing anything. They were also EXTREMELY helpful and prompt answering e-mail questions about the boat and kit when I was making up my mind. (Thanks Jeff!) The manual is VERY thorough and pretty well illustrated (I've read it cover to cover), and they included an entire color West Systems manual for the epoxy, which I've never used before. The panels of okoume got laid out on the floor for inventory, and it looks like I have some nice book matched grain, with good consistent coloration of the panels. Never done this before, but the kit looks great to my inexperienced eye. Should be a pretty boat if I can do a good job.

The other good thing is, that by the time I get my work caught up enough to start the boat, the temps outside should be warming up again! So maybe I won't have to use the milkhouse heater I bought outside so much. I was really nervous about leaving a heater on outside all night.

Another positive note: I built the entire 20' x 10' hoophouse for under $100, have plenty of 6 mil visquene plastic left over, and it is very roomy inside. It has withstood some pretty strong storms with no problems so far. We had wind gusts up to about 60mph the other night when a warm front came through. But it is in a pretty protected spot, bordered fairly close by the house and privacy fence. Against some folks advice, I did seam the plastic with duct tape, since I could not find any 20' wide sheets anywhere, and it seems to be holding up very well. I am not achieving as much "greenhouse effect" inside as I'd hoped, mostly I guess because I have many trees around, but since I won't get to start until at least February, maybe that wont matter so much to epoxy curing out. And the shade will probably help lessen the inevitable UV deterioration of the plastic.

Can't wait to get started!