From my brain to the world

[Petros]

Tom,
Do not let the naysayers diswade you, designing is as much a part of the learning process as building it. It is part of the creative process, and you can not always buy what you want. Just do not expect it to always go easy, you will have to rework some ideas, or build parts of it over again. That is always part of the learning process.

If you do not want to take that much risk with your own ideas you can start with purchased plans for a boat about the size and design you have in mind and modify it. Or even less costly is buy a used boat cheap that needs extensive repairs and maintainable, and rebuild it or modify it to test your ideas. BTW you can get wood Torando plans for free off the internet, and studying them is a good place to start, and gives you ideas on how other designers solved design problems.

good luck.

[Tscott]

Thanks for all the advice guys. As a few have suggested, I think I am going to cut my teeth on a boat built from a set of plans to get a feel for what can be done. I am in an area with a ton of lakes and shallow rivers, so I think I am going to build a skiff type flats boat with plans I can buy. The site has a help forum and seems to have a pretty good following. A number of these boats have been built, and there is even a one a few miles from my home I may be able to look at and pick the owners brain. Once completed I will revisit my idea of designing my own.

Tom