Glen-l 15 Minuet Specs

Length overall (on deck)	15'-0"
Length overall (with bowsprit)	16'-8"
Length waterline	13'-0"
Beam	6'-6"
Depth amidships	3'-6"
Draft (board up)	12"
Draft (board down)	2'-11"
Height (board up to cabin top)	4'-3"
Displacement (at D.W.L.)	1124 lbs.
Hull weight (approx.)	400 lbs.
Centerboard weight (1/2" steel)	120 lbs.
Cabin headroom	37" max.
Cockpit size	6'-5" x 5'-0"
Average passengers	2-4
Sleeping capacity	2

Pocket Cruiser Plans Arrive.

The pocket cruiser plans have arrived. So lets give it a review. Put simply, the plans are very very good for a beginner.  They come on two large sheets printed front and back then folded into a book. With plenty of instructions that make them into a type of builders manual. There is some lofting required, but that isn't very difficult. From what I'm  seeing I have no doubt that anyone that has ever used a circular saw, or jig saw to some degree of success will be able to build this boat, but it won't be me.

The plans call it a pocket motor/sailer. If i wanted it just for motoring then I wouldn't have a problem building it without sails. I want a sailboat though, and since it lacks ballast, a self bailing cockpit, and a centerboard it just won't do for me. My reasoning is I just feel like it will be a real struggle going windward. I'm also worried about the lack of ability to recover from a knockdown with no ballast or flotation.

To summarize, I can recommend the plans and the motored version of the pocket cruiser, but I can't recommend the pocket cruiser in its sailing configuration. So, as I said in previous posts, I'm going with the Glen-l minuet.

Reconsidering the Pocket Cruiser.

I still haven't received the plans which isn't a big deal for only being a couple of days, but I also haven't recieved anything indicating that they know I've paid or have made an attempt at shipping. So I've started to look at other designs and the 15 foot Glen-l Minuet really stood out to me. I will feel much more comfortable sailing her than the stevenson pocket cruiser, and think the boat will be a  bit more capable weekender. So, after 12 hours of thought and searching the Minuet turned out to be the best compromise, and I purchased the plans. Now I wait some more.

Day 1. Buy Sailboat plans and Graduate!

Let's start from the beginning. This sailboat project is starting at a turning point in our lives. Over the last 8 months my wife's and my own life has been turned upside down and finally for the better. We moved to a town in Florida just a couple miles from the ICW, bought our first house, got new jobs, got married,  and today have both finally graduated with our Associate in Arts Degrees. We also finally settled on a sailboat to build and bought the plans. Since we didn't have enough time to go on a honeymoon, our first long trip on it will be the honeymoon.

The major criteria for the sailboat was shoal draft(trailer-able), a wide beam, and a decent amount of cabin space to sleep two overnight comfortably in a marina with bathrooms and showers. We also had to remember it needed to be easy to build and relatively low cost. So, we had a lot of choices, and I've agonized over them for several weeks before finally settling on the Pocket Cruiser from Stevenson Projects. It's a Flat bottom Cat Boat with a Gaff rig that meets all the requirements. Now we wait for the plans to arrive....