The construction of the Pirate Ship began in April 2012 after seeing a smaller "Noah's Ark"

playground set for sale.  The design started with a cardboard model and later

progressed to a full up CATIA CAD model (why not use the tools I have?)

The initial keel took about 1 week to build and was fit to be played on after about 4 weekends. 

It had to be finished to the kids liking before I departed for Afghanistan and we left for our mid-May trip to

Disney so it was quite the scramble.  By May 15th, it was a very large pirate ship in the back yard!

After taking a few months off in Afghanistan, I returned in September to add the crows nest and a few other little details. 

So, here it is from start to finish: