Back in the early 1990's I started looking for a cruiser plan to build. I wanted a family boat that would be quiet, protected from the elements, fuel efficient and able to take rough water without pounding the way a planing hull does. The Surf Scoter caught my eye in a Woodenboat magazine article and I took the plunge. The first challenge was to find a place to build. I was living in a typical suburban house with a typical attached garage on a 1/4 acre lot. The solution was to build a "temporary" 24 x 16' shed roof onto the back of the house and start building, (When the boat was done, I tore it all down,)

I ordered a big pile of plywood from Maryland, 30 gallons of epoxy from System Three, stainless square drive screws from McFeeleys, and the little bit of solid wood came from some 100 year old rafters removed from an old house. For the keel, I felled an Indiana Black Locust tree, had it milled and let it air dry for most of a year. It ended up a full 2-1/2" thick and I didn't have any way to plane it, so I just mounted that big heavy sucker on there. She's solid! For the rub rails, I'm going to use native white oak, Construction took about 5 years, working evenings and weekends as available. I pretty much stuck to Sam's plans, except for the following changes: I enlarged the pilothouse 2" higher (because I'm 6'4" tall) and 4" wider. This is a good change, I believe. She still looks right and there is more room inside.

I left out the little bulkhead up in the anchor well. I didn't see the purpose of it and the open well allows kids to sit up there, kind of like a bow rider.

During construction, I split the aft pilothouse bulkhead (the one with the rear door in it) horizontally instead of vertically like the plans said. This allowed the boat to lay flat on the ground when it was inverted, making it much easier to work on. I added the top half of the bulkhead when I flipped it over.

I did the roof with just two layers of 1/4" plywood instead of three. It's plenty strong and it takes a bit of weight off the top.

I chose a 45 hp Honda for power and I'm very pleased. Fuel economy is great and the speed seems quite good, especially when lightly loaded. I will say the motor makes more noise than I'd hoped when cruising. It seems to resonate with the boat and you need to talk quite loud to be heard while underway. Of course, at idle speed you can't even tell it's running, it's so quiet. We've been using "FLOW" now for a full season on the Ohio River and she's everything I hoped she'd be. She handles all manner of waves and wakes with aplomb, and she's easy to get on and off the trailer. My family of four has overnighted on her (a bit snug) and we've done plenty of lazy afternoon cruises just watching the riverbank roll by.