Skiff in TV drug ad...what is it???

[Ric_Bergstrom]

Saw a nice little lapstrake skiff in a Welbutrin XL ad on TV the other day.

Clearly a wood boat. But looked like a "new" boat.

Anyone see it or know what it was?

Ric

[Rick Tyler]

I'm afraid I'm not of much help, except to note that when I saw the ad I was thinking, "I wonder how long until this shows up on the WBF?"

[Steve Lansdowne]

I haven't seen that ad, but since I've been interested in smallish wooden boats it is simply amazing how often I see them in all kinds of print and TV ads. There is something very relaxing about the image of being in a boat on calm water on a sunny day that the advertisers try to use to their advantage.

[almeyer]

Having a small wooden boat is probably the main reason that I'm not on Welbutrin.

[Ric_Bergstrom]

Originally posted by almeyer:
Having a small wooden boat is probably the main reason that I'm not on Welbutrin.

Probably a whole lot cheaper qith less side effects.

We should do a warning label for woodenboat.

I'll kick it off.

USES:

wooden boats is a combination narcotic and intoxicant that can be habit forming. Wooden boats works by binding to your nautocortical receptors and triggers release of endorphins. These endorphins can cause grown men to act in strange ways.

HOW TO USE:

As often as possible, read about, touch, work on or sail wooden boats. The dosage is based on your weight and the degree of your sickness. (this explains Dennis Conner)

If used for a long period of time do not suddenly stop without your boatyards permsission as others may be dependant upon you for income.

SIDE EFFECT of wooden boats include, Nausea, lightening of wallet, splinters, and liver problems (all that rum). Divorce and spousal irritation may continue for a period of time and then the condition will acclimatize or cease.

I know you all can do better...run with it!!!

Ric

[Skiff Junkie]

There was a commercial for a corporation called Capgemini that I saw a few times that showed Andre Agassi's (sp?) coach fly fishing from a Simmons Sea Skiff.

[ken.bryant]

Yeah yeah, tell yourself you "need it for your nerves", but listen: you start out with small doses (12, 14 feet maximum), but once you're hooked it just takes more and more to get the same high. Before you know it you're mainlining 47 foot ketches, then you show up at work after weeks away "sick", with that telltale tan all over your face...Now you've lost your job and you can't even pay for a dinghy to take the edge off. There's nothing left but the last step: a life of crime, knocking off marine hardware stores to feed your habit. I've been there, boys, and believe me, it isn't pretty...

[almeyer]

Okay, Ken, so tell us the down side.

[Rick Tyler]

Hi, my name is Rick, and I've built a boat.

It started simply. A little plywood dinghy to go with the mast and spritsail my father gave me from his old Bolger Elegant Punt. I even got the blades from the old punt.

I was chatting with some friends at church, and it turned out that four of us were thinking of building boats. We started in the fall, and every Thursday night we went to someone's house and helped them with their boat. Tom built a driftboat (and has since built a San Francisco Pelican and an 11-foot stripper rowboat), Skip built a pretty 12-foot rowboat (as you can tell from his name, Skip has been building and sailing his whole life -- including years as a professional mate and skipper on a variety of big yachts including John Wayne's Wild Goose), Wes built a driftboat, and my sons and I built a Jacques Mertens PK78 dinghy. It didn't cost much, and it went together without too much trouble.

The following summer I went insane and volunteered to teach a group of Boy Scouts how to build their own pirogues (see one, do one, teach one). Thirteen Scouts, a handful of dads, and I built seven Mertens NC-16 plywood pirogues. One was built by my then-12-year-old son and another 12-year-old Scout. I still wasn't into the hard stuff -- the whole project was done in less than a month.

This last summer John, David and I built a 17-foot touring canoe to plans from Matt Langenfeld of JEM Watercraft. It is an 8-panel S&G design, and is the first boat I would be unashamed to show you all. It came out pretty nice. You can see a picture of it (before painting) at http://www.jemwatercraft.com/proddet...prod=Issaquah. After construction, Matt and I agreed that the sheer is a little too high, so the final plans have cut it down a couple of inches. The canoe has been used a lot, including a week-long 60+ mile Boy Scout trip on Murtle Lake in British Columbia. I inhaled.

The next boat is going to be big enough to sleep on -- and to cruise the Sound and the Inside Passage. If anyone has a good tip on how to raise $10,000 or $20,000, and have enough building time and enough room?

My name is Rick. I've built a boat. I am not yet recovering.

[Thorne]

There's this great little program called...

...BOAT-ENDERS!

12-step program involves cancelling subscriptions to any boating or boat-building publications, then a gradual weaning away from tool catalogs and online purchases. Next you actually give away a perfectly good pipe-clamp and see if the support group can get you through the separation. After that comes some enforced TV-watching instead of shop-time, leading to a gradual reconciliation with spousal and child-units.

[Ellis Rowe]

Don't bother, that program has a 99.98% recidivism rate

[Thorne]

Hey, worked for me for nearly a decade, then I fell off the dory bigtime!

;- )