Reply With Quotehave not done it personally, but have 'helped" in some way on a 55 foot steel trawler, did a lot of work on a 14 foot ally punt, and also a bit of help on two big ally centre console and a bigger (23 foot) cabin model.
Hi All,
I'm just curious as to how many people out there have considered building their own boat, and if you have,
What size of boat you ave considered
What material you have considered (eg. alloy, timber/glass, full glass etc)
What has kept you from starting the process.
cbs
have not done it personally, but have 'helped" in some way on a 55 foot steel trawler, did a lot of work on a 14 foot ally punt, and also a bit of help on two big ally centre console and a bigger (23 foot) cabin model.
one thing you need to remember is that it will take you 10 times longer than you thought, and it will cost 10 times more than your budget and you MAY end up with a sub standard boat, (depending on your skills and tools!) OH and it will almost cost you your marriage, and maybe your neighbors if you do it your back yard, all your grinding and banging will drive them nuts, it is also a fair outlay for specialist tools if you do not already posess them for the material you chose to use. Fibre glass is by far the easiest if you have a mould (which will be a miracle), steel is cheapest (usually) Aluminium is kind of best for home handy man build, and timber is good for "real" boats, but is slow and time consuming.
I don't agree with everything you've said here. My own experience of homebuilding is different.Originally Posted by Noelm
Yes it will definitely take longer than you might think. Not 10 time though. It is pretty quick to build a hull. The time is in the finishing/fitting out, and depending on the level of finish you aim for, and the amount of gear you put in.
Budget wise, 10 times is an exageration, unless of course you don't know how to add up numbers. Most of the boats here would be less than 7m or so. They contain an outboard which is probably the most expensive bit, and is well known. The cost of the hull is a little harder, but can be worked out from a set of plans. All equipment is pretty easy to price as is trailers etc. Add a bunch for miscellaneous stuff/consumables (don't under estimate here) and you have a number.
The final standard is dependant on the builder. We've all seen examples of boats that would put pro's to shame.
The easiest material to build from would be stitch and glue plywood/glass. Anybody with basic skills could do it.
My own experience: I'm not a boatbuilder by trade (I don't have a trade of any kind) yet built a 25ft boat in grp/foam sandwich. It definitely took longer than initially anticipated. (We did lots of curvy stuff which needed moulds) but the cost when complete was about bang on our budget. Incidently, this was well below the retail cost to have something similar.
Whether or not your marriage will hold up is something that I can't quite tell you....
Besides, there is a magic feeling of being on the water in a boat put together by yourself.
OH sorry for the 10 times statement, I was only making a point and in fact have no idea if the time or costs are/were 10 times, you took me a but too literal I guess, just trying to get the idea across that to build a boat is something you do not take lightly and expect it to be done quick or cheap!
Don't worry about it.
I'm not suggesting that anyone should strap a few sheets of ply together with a bit of epoxy and head out to sea expecting to come back. I'm saying that with the right plan/design, just about anybody with basic skills could do a good job with a successfull outcome.
cbs
there is also the 'kit" path if you want an Aluminium boat, quite a few are available in various designs and are computer contolled cut to fit exactly together, that would take a lot of the tricky bits out of the equation as well, but it still requires a bit of alloy welding skills to take on a job like that, I have seen a few done from kits and the come out really good, there is a guy around my area that makes one and fits it out and uses it, but has it foe sale, then he does another one, in the end he will make enough to get his (and last) one for free.
Computer cut kits are done in alloy, ply, and even balsa sandwich. Pretty much any sheet material can be cut like that.
All it does is increase the initial accuracy, and saves you from manual cutting and lofting.
This goes way back,,,, late 60s-early 70s, Does anyone remember the Ferro-cement craze that took hold back then.?
Iwas about 14-15 and started off-siding for my older brother's mate ( he was a builder) and together we built a 48 ft "Hartley Tahitian " ketch.
It took 2 years and about half way through it we were commissioned to build a 38 ft launch for a rich bloke up Samford way.
Then just as we were getting to the fit out stage a couple of coppers who had seen our work asked if we would do a couple of 38ft hulls for them . Kev said no he wanted to finish his boat but convinced them to hire me as a labourer as i knew the system well by then.
Well the first boat turned out great but the hull out at Samford ran into problems with water supply.
You needed to cure the concrete with a flow of water over it so it did not develop micro-cracks. The owner had assured us he could pump from his creek but his water supply failed .
The two coppers decided that I was just a kid and the advise i gave them on how to make a good frame was too slow, so they cut every corner in the book ,I don't think those boats ever made it to the water , and if they did I pity the poor bastard who put his faith in them. I reacon the first wave that hit them would have shattered them open like glass bottle, they were that poorly constructed.
I quit after about three weeks as I could not work that way.
My mate Kev asked me to help him sail his yacht around the world just before it was to be launched, I was 17. I was STOKED, you beauty, I just had to convince the oldies !!!!.
The day before it was to be launched a spark from a welder fell through the open hatch and went down into the bilge where paint fumes ignited , the boat exploded and burnt to the ground in 20 minutes.
There was a similiar hull at Manly too just before the Birds Eye factory, it was there for twenty years+, I don't think it ever got finished.
Yeah Id love too build a boat !!! but it takes a shit load of work to pull it off and do a good job.
Sorry for the rant it not exactly what you are after I know .
You just struck a nostalgia chord for me.
Cheers
rando
yeah I don't know how many home builders get part way through and then just loose interest or go broke or whatever, but the hulls just sort of "rot" away in the yard, there is a big yacht being built near me (about 70 feet long I guess) and the guy started it about 20 years ago, it is just about beyond repair now from rust damage. but there is a lot of quality boats built by "back yarders" and still in service today.
It depends how you value your time.
If you put a price on your time that is higher than the boat builder will be paid to do then it makes no sense at all.
If your time is worth less than the boat builders wage then do it yourself remembering that they will be more efficient than the novice.
Scott
The thing that has stopped me from attempting such a project, is the enormity of it and the lack of any significant price saving.
I have looked at this option a few times over the years, however, have decided that the only real saving in the project is the boat builders labour and mark up cost, as the cost of all the alloy, paint job, motor, accessories etc will be the same price, if not dearer than the builder will pay for them.
Out of that saving, I would have to allow for the purchase of a fairly expensive welder, plus a few other tools that I would require. You would also need suitable workshop space for the project.
Also, if anything goes wrong, you are on your own. There would be nothing worse than welding yourself a lump of expensive scrap alloy. At least if the builder mucks it up, he will have to fix it.
Doesn't mean that I won't consider the option again in the future though, as the pleasure out of starting and finishing such a project would far outweigh the saving, whether it was big or small.
Look forward to hearing from anyone that has successfully started and finished something like this.
Hats off to people who manage to complete a huge project like a yacht. I got boat building out of my system early - built a glass kayak in a shed at boarding school. Finish wasn't too bad, but "more is better" doesn't apply to glass and resin in that application, especially if you need to hoist it onto your shoulder to get to the water.
At the end of the day it was pretty satisfying, but realistically I could have bought a reasonable second hand craft for the same money and it would have been better for my purpose. I suspect the same would apply even today.
Cheers
Carl
I am of a differing opinion than some, I think the total cost to produce a boat all factors condidered by any business that has the ability (big enough) to negotiate the price of materials with supplyers, the out the door cost to them is less than 1/3 the dealer sticker value (bare hull) would be.
The cost to make an outboard was in vacinity of less than 20% sale price 10 years ago, I would consider this to be less today expressed as a %.
If a person can get the materials for a fair price but nothing like the manufacturers get it for, building any boat yourself will will be less half the cost of new, if paying full retail then somewhere near 1/2 to 2/3 new when all and sundry is added up.
my2c
cheers fnq
I built my last ski boat and came out 10,ooo dollars in front when i sold it after using it for 2 years,i borrowed the moulds and we had the hull and deck laid up in 2 days,this was a 20 foot ski boat,and by memory materials were only around 3000 dollars and that was using two different colours in jell coat.It was a very satisfying feeling and you know its done right,but if i had to start fresh and make a plug and mould first i would have never done it,ive been there before and its a long expensive process,would be allright if you were going to knock up a few though.
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