The Goal in the Offing

Without setting checkpoints, I've discovered I never get anything done, so the first order of business is setting a short-term goal.

Goal 1:
I will complete my first wooden boat by the end of August 2010.

Problems to overcome:
1. Lack of knowledge. I really need to study up on how to build a boat. I've looked at the basic building techniques, and I think my first project will be a strip-planked boat. Although the most basic technique would be stitch-and-glue, I don't feel like that technique would teach me very much... and it doesn't seem very "legit" to me.

2. Lack of time. I'm a full-time college student, and I plan on going to college this summer. Thanks to picking an awful undergraduate major, I will also have to complete an (unpaid) internship this summer as well. Nevertheless, I will have weekends to work on my boat.

3. Lack of resources. This is probably the biggest problem. I am not independently wealthy, and the money I do have is completely going towards my education. Aside from money, I don't have the equipment or space required for building a boat.

If anyone has ideas as to how I could go about conquering any of these hurdles, fire away! I'll probably go further into depth on each of these issues later.

Also, I think it would be fun to have a nautical word/term of the day, so here's the first one.

Term of the Day: In the Offing
In the offing is a term that is now used by some people to mean "imminent", although I have to admit that I have never used this phrase until this post. The original use of this term is from nautical origins. The offing refers to the area of the ocean that can be seen from shore, so once people on land could see a ship, it was said to be "in the offing" and was likely to dock soon.