When their old GRP yacht was devastated by a Southern Ocean storm, Jill Schinas and her husband, Nick, resolved to build something stronger. Gaily and without having researched the matter to the least degree they threw themselves into the work of designing and constructing the ultimate, ocean-proof, eco-friendly, dream cruising yacht. On their side they had a wealth of sailing experience, which provided a perfect knowledge of what was required, but their only other weapons were irrepressible enthusiasm and the mindset which enables a man to build a radio from a potato or a mast from a lamppost.

Had this been a business enterprise no bank would ever have lent the capital, for ranged against the dreamers was a whole battery of forces any one of which would have deterred more realistic people. For a start, neither Jill or Nick had any experience with a welder and yet they were proposing to build a steel boat. Secondly, they seemed only to have enough money to buy a couple of masts and the sails. Worst of all, they had two kids and a new baby in tow and no one with a young family ought to attempt anything more ambitious than the washing up. Regardless of these drawbacks, Nick and Jill went ahead.
It'll only take a year and a half, said he, confidently.
Fifteen years down the line, Mollymawk is afloat and the family have cruised all over the Atlantic; but the boat is still not finished.

This is the tale of what went wrong and what went right. Packed full of advice about such things as ocean-worthy design and sail plans, it will also tell you how to operate a cutting torch, how to avoid a leaky stern-gland, how to pour your own rigging sockets, how to handle a ferocious gander, how to sandblast, how to weld in mid-Atlantic, how to amuse three young children in a cabin space the size of a phone booth and much, much more besides.