I’ve dreamed about yesterday for a long time. After many hours (ok, years) of work behind schedule and over budget, the Andante made her maiden voyage yesterday. She survived the shake and vibe test on the way to the launch site and made three successful trial voyages on Lake Sammamish. It was a beautiful day and lots of fun with our sons and their girlfriends.

I’d like to thank all who contribute to this forum. Your ideas, hints, feedback, and encouragements were beyond value. Thanks to Nick Schade for the Guillemot design, the book and this forum, Joe Greenley for the R2K’s you’ve held (I got the disease at R2K5, I blame this on you!), Vaclav Stejskal for some great practical ideas on his site, my wife for putting up with me during the process, Ted Henry, Pedro Almeida and many, many others for inspirational photos and ideas. What a great community, I'm thankful to be part of it!

This is my first hobby since we became empty nesters and I found myself working on it at the beginning like a job, stressing about progress or lack thereof. My wife noticed this and we came up with slogan I have on my garage wall:

“A hobby does not have a schedule”

Much more fun after that was figured out. For all out there working on boats, especially first timers, stay with it. Paddling something you’ve made with your own hands is hard to describe. You must experience it yourself!

Don J.

(hope the pictures link works....)