First posting...with my modification of Compact III

[Cliffmeister2000]

Mike, that is just so awesome, I don't have words.

How many years did it take to build? 10? 15?

[myoung]

How many years did it take to build? 10? 15?

I'll never forget the day. It was July 4, 1976 when my Father and I cut the frames and attached the stringers that formed the mold. We ended our work that day listening to Fiedler and the Boston Pops celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Launch day was Mother's Day in May 1985. Nine years of construction with virtually all the design and details in my Father's brain developed over a lifetime on the water and most heavily influenced by experiences as a teenager on barges and tugboats. That design looks fairly commonplace among trawler-type yachts today, but back then it was rare.

My parents lived aboard all but one week for the next 19 years until my Mother developed the early stages of Alzheimer's.

The Rachel J. is still in the family in the good care of a second cousin and her husband. We are all happy with that.

[steve smoot]

Mike, you have brought tears of joy to my old eyes..thank you for sharing with us...needless to say, the boat is beautiful...

[S. Heisley]

Amazing pictures! I especially like the one with your father standing in the belly of the unfinished boat and the one of it being lifted over the house!

When he first started building it in his backyard, I'll bet your father got nicknamed 'Noah'!

[myoung]

Amazing pictures! I especially like the one with your father standing in the belly of the unfinished boat and the one of it being lifted over the house!

When he first started building it in his backyard, I'll bet your father got nicknamed 'Noah'!

Well, some of the neighbors had less flattering names, but most were supportive. On the day that the boat was to be lifted out of the backyard, the 160-ton crane was put in the front yard. The angle across the roof of the house was such that the crane couldn't lift the boat. They tried different spots for hours and we were fast approaching the time when the State allowed oversized loads to be towed on roads.

Finally, the somewhat obnoxious and reclusive neighbor next door allowed the crane to back in between the houses so we could get a better lifting angle. That proved successful and you can see the result.

Nothing is easy when building boats in difficult spots. Our first boat, an 18-foot sailboat, was built in the basement and required demolition of about 4 feet of poured concrete wall to get it out. I remember the day when the wall was breached. It was the hottest day of the year 1962 in Reading, MA.