Huge sailboat being built in Valley by retired couple

CLAY COUNTY, Ind. (WTHI) - Some call him Noah. Others call him nuts.

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Hundreds of miles from any ocean, a Wabash Valley man builds his dream sailboat you have to see to believe.

It's project that few could accomplish with a whole team of sailors. But Tom West from Clay County is pretty much doing it himself with help from his wife of 52 years, Marsha.

Building a 57-foot long, 33-ton sailboat on a converted tennis court in his front yard.

"I know I'm not nuts but it is a big undertaking," said West.

He's never built a boat before. In fact, he's never even sailed on the ocean. But being called crazy doesn't bother him. Just don't call him Noah.

Although, he said with a laugh, "this global warming, maybe I'm not so far off,"

The scale of the interior matches the size of the exterior. It's 6.5 feet tall and about 600 square feet inside. That's the same size as a one bedroom apartment.

Finishing the interior is the biggest job left now that the frame is more or less complete. Just getting to this point has taken two years, which is twice as long as he thought it would take.

"You keep dreaming of sailing it," said West. "That keeps you motivated."

The name of the boat is Faith. Faith that it won't have a hole when it hits water for the first time. Faith that he can sail the globe with Marsha. Most of all, faith to keep coming out here day after day, under the hot sun or a blanket of snow.

"I don't want to be the guy that got laughed at because he didn't finish it," West said laughingly.

Because spending two years building a boat and not finishing? Now that would be nuts.

West hopes to have everything complete by spring. He plans to haul it to Kentucky Lake, then navigate by the Tombigbee waterway to the Gulf of Mexico. From there, see the world.