Why, you ask, do I want to build a boat?

It's not a bad question.

To tell the truth, I've been asking myself the same thing.
And, in fact, it has several answers. I've alwas wanted a boat. There's just something about boat-having that appeals to me.
'What did you do this weekend, Tom?'
'Oh, took my boat out. I went boating. I boated.'
You have to admit, there's some appeal there.

So why not buy a boat?
Well, the impracticality of it, for one. Maybe the deep-seeded longing to have a boat--to be able to say 'I boated'--is itself rooted in the fact that boating (unless you are employed in some type or sort of seafaring commerce to earn your livelihood - say, for example, a commercial fisherman or ferry captain), is a frivolous way to spend your time. In twenty-first century America, there is no practical reason for a 38-year-old suburban father of two to need a boat. And in a society in which so much emphasis is put on results, engaging in a pursuit that in itself creates no result is appealing. All that being said, in a world of limited resources, when there is an imperative to put food on the table and crystals on the chandelier, one cannot reasonably say 'I decided to buy a boat' and expect together away with it.

However, one can say 'I decided to build a boat' and, well, not have it accepted as a reasonable statement, but at least not sound as if you fancy yourself a distant relative of Thurston Howell III.