Paradox Building Sequence

In any related series of activities, the sequential order of doing them is likely to be crucial for success.

As I type this, the astronauts are about to repair some external damage on their spacecraft, with the purpose of making a safe re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere. You can imagine that the best brains at Mission Control have been working overtime to devise a sequential order for the procedure with the safety of the crew being paramount.

Less crucially, a boat builder needs to think through the order in which he will make and assemble the various parts of his boat.

Quite a few people have built Paradoxes, and as a result of their experiences, they have put together useful information on her construction. Alastair Law is one such person who has made available a super web site showing how he built his ‘Little Jim’. The address of Al’s site is http://www.as4jg.freeuk.com/little_jim/little_jim.htm .

Don Elliott has produced a building manual in PDF format, which gives tons of advice on how to build the little boat. For $14 you can obtain the files for this from Don at DElliott@Tomah.com , alternatively you can write to him at, 711Wisconsin Ave, Box 202, Tomah, Wisconsin, 54660, USA. Being in PDF format, the diagrams and illustrative drawings are in super detail.
Needless to say, individual boat builders will arrange an order of sequence according to their situations; for example, I’m restricted by the size of my garage which is just large enough to have a finished boat within it, giving little room to spare - only 2 feet on either side; likewise at the bow and stern. That means it would be best for me to make all the small parts at the beginning, so as to give room for working on them under cover prior to making the larger items and assembling them.
In view of my situation, I’m likely to start with the deck beams, followed by the cabin and hatch beams. I could then build the spars, including the mast, the tiller and rudder. All of these should be done while the air temperature is warm enough for the epoxy. Next, the bulkheads could be cut out and assembled with their cleats, blocks and floors. When the spring of next year arrives, I should be in able to assemble the boat on a mobile platform which can be shunted in and out of the garage. Meanwhile, I’ll probably have the sail cut and sewn by a professional sail maker.