PORT ORFORD - Building a replica American clipper ship isn't easy. Getting started can be even more of a challenge. Mark Feldhaus has surmounted the first hurdle, but he's struggling with a lack of manpower to complete the second.

The Port Orford cook got the idea after returning home from work one day. He had downed a shot and was sipping on a beer when his wife asked if he had any ambitions for the rest of his life.

"I said, 'I want to be captain of my own vessel,'" he recalled while sitting in an easy chair in his workshop.

And so began the construction of the Lauralee. Before he could get his wife's permission to undertake such an endeavor, he agreed to rebuild their house. That's how Feldhaus met Vince Cutri, who initially came out to help with a bathroom remodel. Once that project was completed, Cutri joined in the construction of the Lauralee, a 57-foot replica of the American clipper ships of the 19th century.

Work has been slow-going in part because Feldhaus and Cutri are pretty much going at it alone. They've made a stern post and bow stem, cut from the same spruce tree, as well as a keel made of Douglas fir. They've started putting in stern post frames and ribs, which Feldhaus hopes to have finished by the end of the summer.

The boat's skeleton takes up a good portion of the front yard. The ribs, painted white, provide some idea of what shape the final product will have.

It's not just a problem of manpower, though. When he's by himself, Feldhaus gets distracted. He'll think about design rather than revving up his chain saw or sliding wood into place.

"If it's just me, I spend a lot of time contemplating," he said.

He says he does a little work on the boat every day, with about six to eight hours of physical construction completed each week. He's done his homework, researching the rules and regulations for building such a vessel and has consulted a naval architect, too.

He's also kept his eye out for good deals on supplies. When a hardware store went out of business in Bandon, he got coils of cable, epoxy and paint. And when someone hadn't pick up an order of wood from Cutri's employer at the time, Bandon Supply, they got bracing material for the boat's ribs.

Most of the components for the boat are sitting around his yard waiting to be assembled, though he hasn't got the two diesel engines he needs to power the boat.

He's also looking out for some extra helping hands.

His pleas for assistance have mostly fallen on deaf ears. He has a sign at the end of his driveway a little ways north of town on U.S. Highway 101. Since he set it out, he's had two people stop to ask about what work he wants help with, but neither returned.

"No one wants to work for free," he said. "Of course, I don't consider it work, I consider it a labor of love."

That's readily apparent when he starts talking about his designs for the boat as well as how he would market it as a floating restaurant that could provide extended cruises along the west coast and even around the world.

When he learned that the city of Coos Bay is considering a wooden boat building school for its Hollering Place project, Feldhaus got excited and said he could see his home as a satellite campus of sorts.

Initially, Feldhaus thought he'd be able to finish the work in less than a year and have the vessel bobbing along the coast by the Fourth of July, 2005. He admitted Saturday that that time frame was a little bit of wishful thinking.

Even though he missed the first Fourth of July deadline for completing construction, Feldhaus still dreams of putting the ship in water on the nation's birthday. With Port Orford's Fourth of July parade, the road would be more accommodating for a 57-footer. Feldhaus isn't sure when that day will come.

"I just hope to have it done before I die," said the 57-year-old.