Jim Wharton built his Handy Billy launch singlehandedly over the course of seven years in an unheated barn, so the work was confined to warm weather months. Working part-time for most of the years, he reports that much progress was made in the first spring and summer after he retired. He used the three-part how-to-build article in WoodenBoat [Nos. 159-161] as a construction guide and says that this was his first attempt at a planked boat.