Doug’s Award-Winning Ocean Pointer
When the announcement came at the WoodenBoat Show at Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut, “Best in Show, Owner-Built Power,” Doug’s first thought wasn’t about the award. It was about the ten classmates who worked alongside him, the instructors who shared decades of expertise, and the WoodenBoat School that gave the group the opportunity to build something extraordinary together.
That award-winning boat, an Ocean Pointer named Forever B, was the culmination of nearly a decade of learning, building, problem-solving, and saying yes to the next challenge after retirement.
How Doug Started Building Boats After Retirement
Since retiring in 2016, Doug has spent part of each summer at the WoodenBoat School in Brooklin, Maine, typically taking two-week courses that started out simple and gradually grew more complex over time. Readers may remember his earlier wooden boat project; a sailing skiff featured in our 2021 CIA quarterly update.
Doug’s sailing skiff project from 2021
What began as a retirement hobby has become something much bigger: a way to continue learning, creating, and moving forward. Rather than slowing down, his retirement opened the door to new skills, new friendships, and projects with real meaning for him and his family.
The Ocean Pointer was his biggest challenge yet and, ultimately, his most rewarding build.
How the Ocean Pointer Build Began at WoodenBoat School
The project started in class, where eleven students and three instructors built the basic hull in just 14 days. Typically, when a course build is completed, the school offers the boat for sale at the cost of materials, with interested students entering a drawing.
This time, there was only one name in the hat.
Fastening the first strips of eastern white pine to the hull frames at WoodenBoat School.
The hull nearly complete, the team cleans up before turning the boat upright.
The hull nearly complete, the team cleans up before turning the boat upright.
As the two-week class wraps up, the team laminates and fits the coaming around the cockpit.
Fourteen days after the class began, the hull is trailered and ready for the trip home to Georgia.
Doug brought the Ocean Pointer home and set out to finish it himself. It was a natural fit for his family’s routine: Maine summers spent exploring coves and tidal pools, spotting seals on the rocks, crossing the bay for ice cream, or heading into Boothbay Harbor for lunch, dinner, or shopping. With room for four adults, or two plus a handful of grandchildren, it was built for making memories. With the option to trailer it back to Georgia, Doug knew it could extend the boating season well beyond summer.
How Long It Took to Build Forever B: 2,000 Hours
From August 2025 through June 2026, Doug estimates he put about 2,000 hours into Forever B: roughly half alongside the class and half on his own. He rarely worked eight-hour days. More often, he spent two to four hours at a time in the shop, always trying to make a little progress. That steady rhythm became part of the satisfaction: another challenge solved, another piece fitted, another step closer to launching the boat.
Doug’s home workshop, where center console pieces took shape and mahogany trim hung to dry between coats of varnish.
On a sunny February day, dozens of individually varnished pieces cure outside in the sun.
The most difficult part came near the end: fabricating and installing two flexible, 20-foot mahogany rub rails. He needed them to follow the boat’s changing curves while sitting properly along the hull, which is no small feat. After all, the angles at either end of the boat work in opposite directions. Nevertheless, careful measuring, planing the wood, and some inventive clamping eventually got the job done.
Installing the rub rail: a flexible, 20-foot mahogany piece screwed and epoxied into the frames. Builders can never have too many clamps.
Doug’s son helps install the boat’s electronics: radio, navigation, compass, engine controls, and lighting.
The finished center console, with a custom ship’s wheel made and donated by one of the class instructors.
The finished boat, ready to head to the water for sea trials, about ten days before the Boat Show.
The finished boat is more than a beautiful object. Every line reflects patience, persistence, and countless small decisions made along the way.
Ocean Pointer Design: A Modern Maine Lobster Skiff
An Ocean Pointer attracts attention. The tall bow rises above the water, and the hull sweeps back in a graceful curve as its stern turns inward into a classic tumblehome shape. In Doug’s words, the lines are complex and can “trick the eye,” but they all come together the right way.
Interestingly, the design also has deep Maine roots. A modern take on the traditional Maine lobster skiff, the Ocean Pointer is a working boat style that traces back to the early 20th century. These boats were built for coastal waters, with a sharp, high bow to handle waves and a low stern that made it easier for lobstermen to reach their traps.
Forever B riding quietly on her mooring in Five Islands, Maine.
Why Doug Named His Boat Forever B
The boat’s name carries just as much heart as its craftsmanship.
Over the years, Doug built smaller boats with grandchildren in mind. Once that list was covered, he decided this boat would be for his wife, Bobbie: known simply to family as “B.” After more than 44 years of marriage, the name practically chose itself: Forever B.
It’s a boat made with care, intended for adventures together, and built to remain part of the family story for years to come.
How Forever B Won Best in Show at Mystic Seaport
Forever B on display at the WoodenBoat Show at Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut.
The class brought together builders of different ages, backgrounds, and experience levels, and everyone had something to teach. As Doug puts it, boatbuilding is full of problem-solving: wood can bend and twist beautifully one moment, then break with the slightest bit of pressure the next. Working through those challenges together was part of what made the project so rewarding.
That sense of community is part of what makes retirement projects like this so meaningful. Mastery is rarely a solo pursuit. It grows through shared knowledge, encouragement, mistakes, and the willingness to learn from people who may see a problem differently.
For Doug, boatbuilding has become a way to create something tangible for the people he loves: something handmade that his children and grandchildren may one day look at and wonder how “Gran-D” made Forever B so smooth. It has also given him a reason to keep learning, thinking, planning, and building.
Retirement didn’t close the door on ambitious work; it gave him the time and freedom to take on a project that will carry his family’s stories forward for years to come.
Doug’s story is a reminder that retirement can be a beginning, not an ending. At Capital Investment Advisors, we work with families to develop financial plans designed to support their individual goals, priorities, and vision for retirement. Thoughtful planning may help provide clarity as you consider the projects, experiences, and family moments that matter most to you.
Doug is a client of Capital Investment Advisors, LLC (“CIA”) and received no compensation or other benefit for participating in this article. Photos and personal information are used with permission. His participation is not a testimonial or endorsement of CIA or its advisory services. His story is shared solely to illustrate his personal boatbuilding and retirement experience and should not be interpreted to suggest that any client will achieve similar financial results, retirement experiences, awards, or lifestyle outcomes. The ability to pursue retirement goals depends on many factors, including an individual’s financial circumstances, savings, investment performance, spending needs, health, and personal objectives.
CIA did not arrange or provide the boatbuilding instruction, products, events, or services described and is not affiliated with or compensated by WoodenBoat, WoodenBoat School, Mystic Seaport Museum, or any other organization referenced. Publication does not imply an endorsement of CIA by any organization referenced. Any comments regarding those organizations reflect Doug’s personal experience and should not be interpreted as a recommendation or guarantee that others will have a similar experience. This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
