Michael's Phoenix III

Hi Scott and Dave,

Well after nearly 20 months of building I decided to make one big push to get “Ellen” in the water for Australia Day. Unfortunately the purchase of the sails has not been completed yet, so I bought an electric trolling motor for the interim.

The launch was at Port Hacking RYMC to my mate’s house opposite Gunnamatta Park, where there was a large gathering of family and friends to witness the event. Much to my delight the little boat floated beautiful in the water and didn’t leak even with 3 heavy guys, battery and safety gear aboard! She cut a great little wake with the electric outboard and had power to burn, even on setting 3/5.

I couldn’t have been more proud of myself that day, the achievement of building it myself. The finish using Bote-Cote products turned out first class and it wasn’t till I moved the boat out of the garage and into the sun for the first time before I could really appreciate how good she turned out.

I have a couple of things to tidy up, and a couple of minor adjustments to make and then we will be ready for the sails.

So thank you to Drive Marine for your guidance and service over the past 20 months in helping make that great day happen.

I’ll get some better photos in the near future hopefully with sails and under her own-power, then start planning on my next boat project.

Regards

Michael