Making It Happen

One of the neatest things about having a blog is finding out that people actually read the damned thing and a quite a few of them take the time to write a comment. Recently Michael Bowman commented on my Budget Houseboating blog that he was building a shanty boat for use on the St. John’s River in northern Florida.

Michael has modified Phil Thiel’s “Escargot,” a design I always admired myself.

We started exchanging emails and he wrote:

Talisa (Creek Indian word for “Beautiful Waters”) was designed with Plil Thiel’s ‘Escargot’ as the idea. I had to have some standing headroom somewhere and more than 2′ width to sleep. I added a foot to the beam and 18″ to the main cabin’s headroom.  The rest has just been sweat and $$. It has been a WONDERFUL experience and I’m heading towards a charter “business”.

He also included these photos from his idea to the completed boat…

Idea:

Construction:

Interior:

Just a couple of days ago Talisa was “splashed” in the St. John’s and Michael reports that she handles “beautifully.”

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the St. John’s, at 310 miles, it is the longest river in the State of Florida. Most of it is scenic and much of it is in its natural state. When my mom died, my dad took their two mutts, got on his 26′ Stamas in Venice, FL and disappeared. Six months later we found out he’d voyaged across the state and up into the St. John’s where he mourned the loss of his wife, his companion and his partner.

You can charter Michael’s boat, starting in October, and find out why the St. John’s had the ability to sooth my father’s soul and may just give you some great memories for your life. Contact him at: rajahcat1@gmail.com.