After 18 years of work, South Hill man completes sailboat built from scratch

Tom Crout spent 18 years working on his sailboat, America, at his South Hill home. He single-handedly made every piece of the 30-foot craft, down to the pulleys and wheels © Steve Bloom

Tom Crout was waiting for something to go wrong the day he was to launch his new sailboat.

America wasn't just any sailboat. The 66-year-old South Hill resident built the 30-foot-long wooden craft from scratch entirely by himself.

It took him 18 years.

On July 19, Crout brought the boat to the Swantown Marina & Boatworks dock in Olympia, where it would touch water for the first time.

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