Ok. I live in a small coastal town in New England where the Dory was
invented (at least that is what I have read). Ever since we moved here, I
have wanted a boat. But we really can't afford one. It is very low on the
financial needs list. But I have two kids (5 and 7 yr old) and I think it
would be great to have them grow up sailing with me and maybe even on their
own. But enough with the hopes and dreams....

A little background on potentially pertinent skills...I did some sailing as
a teen in a tiny sailboat called a Laser (??) and I loved it but only had
the chance a few times. My woodworking/building experiences consist of shop
class in 8th grade and 3 years of drafting class in high school. These days
I do not own any power saws. Once in a blue moon I might pick up my hand
saw and cut a 2x4 for some reason. As for other experiences, I majored in
and taught high school physics. Eventually, I found myself in a computer
tech job.

I have been trawling the internet for plans, advice, building materials
costs, building journals, etc. I actually started this little obsession 2
years ago but then it went away for a while. My wife is not sold in this
idea at all. Anyway, this is what information I've got so far:

-The boat has got to have an LOA of 17' or less. I want to build it in my
garage and keep it there for storage (haven't considered the length of a
trailer though). It is a two car garage and is 17'10" in length. One of
the doors is 5'10" in height, and 7'8" in width.
-I want the boat to hold two adults and 2 kids.
-I want a sailboat not a powerboat.
-I think I should build a small boat first.
-I also think it should be a plywood boat. I would prefer the first boat use
less than 6 sheets of 8'x4' plywood. It looks like the initial big cost
will be in buying plywood sheets and around here that looks like $50 a sheet
for marine ply. So if I could do this with 4 sheets to start the first
boat, then if my wife saw me build a cool boat with 4 sheets, then I could
go bigger in the years to come. (At least it sounds like a good plan...)
-I realize the sail will also cost. So, adding oars to the first small boat
might be the way to go and experimenting with plastic tarp material for
cheap.
-Plans I have considered for the first little boat:
*Some of stevenprojects.com plans
(http://www.stevproj.com/SailDingh.html) as well as the 11' skipjack
Stevenson published an a book in the 70's Sailboats You Can Build.
*Optimist Dinghy (http://www.optiworld.org/ioda-intro.html)
*Canoe (but I do not think I want to do this one since I couldn't
sail it) - http://www.bateau2.com/free/cheapcanoe.htm

-Plans I have considered for the bigger boat:
*Weekender http://www.stevproj.com/PocketYachts.html
*Bolger's Micro - This one seemed better then the Weekender
http://www.boatdesign.com/micro/
*Sztrandek (probably not a good one since the plans are free and
there will be no support)
http://www.zeglarstwo.3miasto.pl/sztraeng/sztrengl.html

Please comment and advise. I am looking for boat plan recommendations,
similar experiences, tips, tricks, help with making it cheap,

--Jim B.