Modern day Noah builds ship of dreams

TIPP CITY, Ohio (WDTN) - The crane is lifting one man's dream and many others curiosity.

"First I thought maybe it's an auction," says Roddy Keish. "I really have no idea."

What those who ventured up the road to a Tipp City barn discovered looks like something of biblical proportions, but you can bet Noah never had to deal with all this.

"I've had people stop and say, what is it?," says builder Don Theobold. "I say, it's an ark. They say, well it does look like an ark. I say didn't you see all the animals up the road."

But forget two by two, this boat is meant for only two, Don Theobold and his wife Doris.

"If we're gonna live on our boat the rest of our lives she said it had to be as big as a house," Don says.

That's right, the boat isn't designed for a rainy day, but instead a sunny retirement.

Don and Doris' home will now be on the 45,000 lb., 960 sq. ft., one bedroom boat.

"We had parts of this project that took so long I was tired of doing it but you have to hang in there," Don says.

All it took for Don to put it together was an engineering background, 15 years of work and most importantly, a patient wife.

"It's good to have my husband again," Doris says.

Before Don and Doris can set sail, they have to move the boat from the barn it was in and onto a truck.

"This is just a little bit out of the ordinary," says Hollis Shiffllett.

Hollis Towing will pull the boat to the Ohio River, where the finishing touches will be put on it.

Then it's off to Florida and eventually other waterways around the country.

"We're just looking forward to be able to see them in different places and be able to experience their dream with them," says Don's daughter Tammy.

Don's neighbors say it won't be the same without his nightly boat building sessions, even though living next to Noah can be a bit noisy.

"Yeah, I'm going to miss him," says Dennis Pope.

While the idea isn't everybody's plan for retirement, sometimes it's whatever floats your boat.

"We're happy with it and anxious to get it in the water and go boating," Don says.