My dad was a car mechanic, amateur engineer and a keen model boater. When I was very small he scratch built a R/C Perkasa, and when I was about seven or eight he scratch built me a R/C Vosper MTB - I loved it and still have it. He had many plans and ideas for his retirement but unfortunately died suddenly and unexpectedly in February this year, and left a Caldercraft Talacre just started and an Island Class OPV as little more than a marked out GRP hull.
I felt compelled to do something - despite my own model making experience being limited to Lego, a few balsa models and plastic kits as a teenager - over twenty years ago. I remembered pulling a set of Glynn Guest plans and a build article for "Arcady" out of Model Boats magazine with my Dad when I was about ten, with the idea that he would help me build it - sure enough I found them dated September 1985!
I had an unusually quiet day on Good Friday, with none of the usual DIY tasks seeming urgent, so I popped into the model shop in town and bought two sheets of balsa wood (1 x 3mm and 1 x 6mm), and started building. I followed Glynn's overall build approach, but decided to adapt the design slightly to resemble a UK harbour tug rather than a US river tug. There were an awful lot of learnings along the way, late night scouring this forum and others for tips and ideas, but I finished it in time for its maiden voyage on Fathers Day a couple of weeks ago.
The Little Boat is not perfect - the paintwork is a bit disappointing in places, and the soldered joints on the upper deck railings would have my dad shaking his head in despair, but overall I'm proud of it. I've now got the bug and am now planning the next one!
I've added a few pictures, but also wanted to say thanks to all the users here who's ideas and tips I read, to Glynn Guest for a brilliant 30 year old set of plans and to my dad for everything he taught me.