Most certainly "A Man In Full" - and the EPIC one-man-build he completed
 

Do we still produce men like these?

BLUF - A So Cal native with little education and only some training pulls himself up from rather meager beginnings to become a true man-in-full.

Tom Wolfe, in his novel A Man In Full, committed to the Stoics' philosophy that improving one's choices and emotions can lead one to be hopeful, satisfied and complete.

Or as Kipling wrote:
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss...
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

A long preamble I know, but if you take the time to watch (or to ust listen to the interview as I did on my commute) I have a question for you: Do we still create such men as Clyde Stires?

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In the event you only wish to listen, I'll include some of the very few stills from the video below.

A few shots of the yacht - to inspire myself and others to start, or complete, the build that's buried in the depths of your consciousness...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1662309264.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1662309097.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1662309097.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1662309097.jpg

I only skimmed through the video but here is what I suspect happened:
-The builder had a lot of time and money to be able to afford the materials etc.
-He was evasive about his build cost receipts but specific about all other documentation.
-That build money may have been 'gray' ie theft, drugs etc. Or not. That part of the video I did not see.

-He had a lot of good use out of it with celebrities and all.

-The unknown 'friend of friend' who helped him was probably the same cartel that stole it.
-That cartel 'f-o-f' recognized his effort and decided to turn it into a game.
-f-o-f kept him around as a pet americano to see what he was made of and how determined he was. And to find out how he afforded it.
-But he kept the builder off guard the whole time while helping him.
-And to test the loyalty of his own people. And to reveal who in the government was going to challenge him over this minor situation such as the judge or military who seized the boat.

-In the end, the f-o-f was going to get the boat one way or another. Steal. Use government. Or simply pay for it. That is why the builder sold at the end. It wasn't about money as f-o-f was cartel rich. It was about the process.

911 content at 2:08:41. Pretty cool. Wonder what he (they) did with the 911.

Prolly should watch - not my take at all. A serious self-made man; the cartel stuff was just background noise.

Incredible build. Wouldn’t think that’s even possible. Tim Hancock has met his match!

Surprisingly little Internet info about it, strange.

Here’s one with some info and videos

https://www.riverdavesplace.com/forums/threads/homemade-backyard-100%E2%80%99-catamaran-build-video%E2%80%A6-pretty-cool.245181/

Yeah, it was all done prior to youtube and the internets. Which meant he had much fewer resources than today, but also he really had little reason to photo/video document the build. Apparently he's recently started to post some of the videos, and the comments thereto prompted the in-depth explanation in the video I posted above.

But what a bad-ass. An autodidact with a tremendous work ethic - well, I guess there's no end to what a man like that can do!

In the video he goes into the details of why he chose the desert east of LA. It ended up being far cheaper in the long run than using a boat yard (closest-to-the-water solution), vs a mile or two away vs Perris, CA. I think he rationale was correct.

Hahaha - you def know. And a lot more than I do!