High Schooler Buids Mini-Yacht

High Schooler Builds Mini-Yacht

Mike Bailey's deep blue pocket cruiser, the Patricia Ann, is an eye-catching little pocket-yacht based on the graceful lines of a traditional Friendship Sloop. But what impresses a bystander more than its looks are the ingenious features specially built into the boat. Complex electrical systems allowing variable lighting to suit the mood, custom engine mount, multiple bilge pumps, handy deck lockers for stowing running tackle, and custom-made hardware, are a few of the one-of-a-kind features that set the boat apart stem to stern, from the off-the-shelf plastic sailboat you can buy. You can tell in a few minutes someone has put a lot of thought into this boat. In this case the someone was fourteen years old.

The Patricia Ann was built from the plans for the Weekender, shown here.

"I didn't touch a screwdriver. He did the whole thing himself with no help from anybody," his father admits with a hard-to conceal grin of pride. "On a project as big as this, things are bound to go wrong, All we supplied was moral support. He did the rest. He stuck with it and now he's skippering his own boat that he can go cruising in. I wonder how many guys fourteen years old can say that?"
Getting the job done on a 14 year-old's budget often involves the fine old American art of scrounging, and Mike is fast becoming a master.
On a visit to his grandparents, Mike's roving eye spotted what many would think of as throwaways, but which were obviously supplies and material that would be perfect for the boat project. On the way back home, his luggage was bulging with treasures bound to start a new life as part of his new boat. His grandmother's tarp, destined to become a set of sails, was his carry-on. The trailer for the boat was spotted at a yard sale. Mike got it for $45, a little more than the cost of the boat's registration fees. In Shop, when the rest of the class was yawning its way through the usual pipe racks and jack stands, Mike was quietly using the facilities to grind out turned posts for the ship's wheel and casting up his own cleats in aluminum.

(The capable Mr. Bailey is the fellow in the hat)

After a few turns around the Patricia Ann, it was obvious she was the product of one savvy young skipper. The only criticism we could come up with was over the name, and we took Mike aside and explained to him the folly of naming a boat after a girlfriend, considering the variable nature of human affections, and the high price of paint.

"No sweat," he smiled back patiently, "Patricia Anne is my mom," The guy thinks of everything.