AWOOGA

Four sections of Meranti marine plywood became AWOOGA's bottom. I laid out the curves with a fairing strip, cut the panels, and routed shallow channels at the joints so the fiberglass tape could sit cleanly in the surface.

The first attempt at glassing the bottom did not bond properly. The cloth's fine weave would not wet out the way I expected, so I pulled it all off, sanded the surface back, and started again. It was an early and memorable lesson: wet the wood first, then lay the cloth.

The rebuilt bottom was sealed and glassed successfully. I fitted and epoxied the chine logs, set the bulkhead bases, flipped the assembly to expose the water side, and finished it with two layers of fiberglass cloth and epoxy.

Work moved to the keel and side keels. I built the keel frame, dry-fitted its plywood skins, and glassed the inside faces. The enclosed space would later be filled with foam for flotation before the skins were sealed for good.

The keel cavity received flotation foam, then the keel and side keels were closed, sealed, faired, and glassed. Sanding the cured cloth was not a favorite job. I also coated the underside with three coats of truck bed liner for extra abrasion protection and rebuilt the trailer with new carpeted bunks.

With the bottom on the trailer, the stem went in and the port and starboard hull sides were bonded to the chine logs and held by side and stern jigs. Deck shelves, stringers, the forward deck, and the beginnings of the rub rail made the flat plywood finally read as a boat.

The stern skin needed patience and a recut from a template when the plan dimensions did not fit quite right. Once those pieces were on, every hull skin panel was complete. Fir rail caps and the forward rub rails finished the sheer, with thickened epoxy filling the inevitable imperfections.

This was the scariest cut of the build: opening the finished stern and bottom for the motor well. I laid it out, cut the hull, glassed the well components, and installed the assembly. Final trimming would wait until the outboard was mounted and could be swung through its full range.

The exterior received a sealing coat followed by two layers of fiberglass cloth. The port side behaved better than the starboard side, but both were wetted out, wrapped, and ready for the long cycle of fairing, sanding, primer, and paint.

After months spent making the cabin bulkheads, hatch, and other pieces, I joined the cabin sides in jigs and raised the house on the hull. Roof beams, visor, roof skin, and helm station followed. AWOOGA had acquired the unmistakable profile of a pocket tug.

The exterior moved through fairing and primer into its finish colors - some lipstick on this pig, as the build notes put it. The hatch top and scuppers went on, and the cabin and helm components were laid out for final installation.

The build gallery records this stage to September 2024; the individual workdays were not retained. The 20 HP Tohatsu was hung, the motor well trimmed for steering clearance, and the throttle, steering cable, controls, and wiring harness installed. I also redesigned the folding mast as a lever-action arrangement, following a tip from TooT TooT, so it could be raised and lowered more easily.

The build gallery records this work from October through December 2024; the individual workdays were not retained. I built the aft cockpit seating over the gas-tank space and shaped a cover around the motor well. The fit-out turned the open after end into usable passenger space while keeping the mechanical installation accessible.

The build gallery records this final push to April 2025; the individual workdays were not retained. Window and door frames went in, the vinyl cabin floor was laid, the name decals and registration plate were installed, and St. Brendan the Navigator came aboard. A custom bow pudding from Mystic Knotwork was waiting for its place at the stem.

The build gallery records these additions to September 2025; the individual workdays were not retained. AWOOGA gained perforated cartoon eye decals, logo stadium seats on folding supports, a mascot, and a working bubble stack made from PVC pipe, a toilet flange, and custom 3D-printed parts. The boat was finished; the personality was still under construction.