15 April, 1998	The contract with Put Veini, Ltd. of Riga, Latvia was signed in Vastervik, Sweden. Sven Petersson, Victor Tchaburko, and Ben Smith toast the project. The scheduled delivery date is 1 May, 1999.
1 May, 1998	Construction officially begins. Steel is ordered.
5 June, 1998	Blasted and preprimed steel begins to arrive at the Put Veini boatyard.
13 June, 1998	Transfer of lines to steel for floors completed.
20 June, 1998	First ten floors are cut.
11 July, 1998	Construction proceeding at three frames a day.
6 September, 1998	Frame and keel completed. Keel spashed with wine in a ceremony.
8 October, 1998	Ben Smith visits the Put Veini yard for the first time. The plating of the hull is 90 percent complete. The engine has been delivered and is sitting on a cradle. Dorads, stainless steel bolards, and hatches are on site.
24 October, 1998	The plating of hull is completed.
20 November, 1998	All deck beams and stringers completed. Rudder blade complete. Bulkheads around engine room are framed.
30 November, 1998	Bowsprit complete. All hull joints completely ground and tested. Anchor box constructed and hot dip galvanized.
18 December, 1998	Davits completed. Inside of keel final painted and ballast started with 1900 kg of cast iron and concrete at midships.
26 December, 1998	Rub strike made. Hull inspection by Swedish Marine Authority. Hatch cover above engine made. More ballast added; now up to 4.2 tons.
31 December, 1998	Ben Smith and Gretchen Forbes visit Put Veini and inspect Mother of Perl. The deck was complete except over the pilot house which had been left open for ease of access with cranes. The cockpit seats were framed. The galvanized chain locker was in place. The engine, stern tube, and shaft were in place. The fuel tanks (two 150 gallon tanks) were completed and in place. Most bulkheads were either complete or, at least, framed. All skylights and hatches were complete. The only problem that had developed was that the stern lockers were so deep that it would have been impossible to have a full length berth in the aft cabin. The port side stern lockers will be shortened for the berth. The starboard side will remain deep so that they can hold fenders and S.C.U.B.A. tanks. All of the work was beautiful and impressive.
2 January, 1999	Ben Smith and Gretchen Forbes meet with Arvet Tetsmann and Boris in Tallinn and sign a preliminary contract for the interior and wood work.
19 March, 1999	All steel work is complete. Second coat of primer applied to interior and exterior.
Images from mid March, 1999
29 April, 1999	Mother of Perl is launched!!!!
7 May, 1999	The boat arrives in Tallinn, Eesti (Estonia)
16 May, 1999	Work begins in earnest on interior
6 June, 1999	Floor framing is complete. Bulkheads complete. Cabinets in aft cabin are begun.
1 July, 1999	Review of the height of the gallows showed that it should be shortened or removed. The pilothouse windows still have not been install. The original white deck paint was of the wrong kind and needed to be removed.
16 August, 1999	Aft Cabins are complete, except for headliner. Galley and navigation station are begun
26 October, 1999	All but the forward (Thomas's and Kristen's) cabins are substantially complete. We motor to Vastervik, Sweden for rigging and sails. We sail back to Tallinn, Estonia for final interior work.

There are more photographs of the construction in the Photos pages.