Captain Jack Collins has two more years of work on his 25-foot houseboat. Nearly a dozen friends came by late last week to flip the 800-pound plywood hull structure so he could start work on the upper deck and cabin.

"I always built things all my life. I had it in my mind to build a boat," Collins explained. "A boat you can use like a travel trailer. Even take it to a campground and park it on the trailer. It is a travel trailer. Or you can put it in the water."

Using plans, he expects it will weigh 3,500 pounds, sleep four in bunks with dinette, refrigerator, head and a sunroom on the front. 

The complete story appears in the Friday, Sept. 16, 2011 edition and is available at coldwaterdailyreporter.mi.newsmemory.com.

http://www.thedailyreporter.com/communities/coldwater/x462627592/Collins-continues-labor-of-love