WEEK ONE

                                                            

 

 The brand new concrete floor was perfect as a base on which to build, and was covered in plastic to minimise the effects of resin spills. The main bulkhead was z-joined, cut out and prepared for installation.

                                                                                

THE COCHRANES BUILD A CATAMARAN

   From this…..

                             

                                                                                       To this….          

                                                                                     

                                                                                                                        

  In nine months!!!!!

Yes, the top picture shows a Spirited 380 kit complete with all the panels needed to construct the complete yacht in the lower picture.

And, in nine months??                                     Why so quickly??                               

Thereby hangs a tale……..

 

Paul Cochrane, an engineer in the Royal Australian Air Force, has been interested in sailing since an early age, competing in a Mirror dinghy, a Cherub and later a Cole 32.

He and his wife, Ann-Maria, and boys Tim (11) and Ben (9) made the decision to take a year off in 2008 and sail around Australia.

Much research was done into what would be an adequate vessel, with mono-hulls top of the list at the beginning.  

Enter Paul’s friend and boat-builder, Chris Morgan, who came up with the idea of building a boat rather than buying one, and why not a catamaran? (Actually TWO catamarans. When Paul’s was finished, Chris would build a second for himself.)

So it evolved, and by the time all was ready to commence, it was March, 2007 and 2008 was only nine months away!!!!