Boatbuilding materials in S.E. Asia?

[zembekiko]

Long time (20+ years) boat builder/repairer from the states currently living in HCMC Vietnam (teaching English) and have found myself with that nagging wish to build that last boat. Fifty foot edge glued. Planking material no problem, plywood for bulkheads same. Can't (won't) pay for imports from the states, leery of experimenting with epoxies from china developed for concrete sealing, does anyone know of a supplier from S.E. Asia who could provide epoxy (need barells) and dynel cloth (need miles) who could match the qualities of West System, MAS, et al? Also would need fasteners and other stuff. Promise....last boat.

[sabahcat]

Worth a call?
http://www.corsairmarine.com/sales-enquiries

[welder/fitter]

LOL How does one go from being a boatbuilder to being a "bushiban whore"?(What we used to call ourselves -ESL- in Taiwan)

If you join "Linkedin" http://www.linkedin.com/ you should be able to track down contacts & gear, as well.

[zembekiko]

Allways been an erodite chap. Helped when dealing with the rich folk and their woodenboats in New York City, Long Island and Hilton Head. Just needed to get away from crawling around in bilges. Making good money here and the cost of living is acceptable.
Still looking for epoxy resin in my neck of the woods. Vietnam has a 25% VAT on imports, not to mention the shipping costs from overseas. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.
P.S. How does one go from teaching English to Welding/fitting?

[welder/fitter]

I was a welder/fitter/fabricator long before I ever taught ESL! I took some time off to check out Asia & ended up staying for a few years! I was joking, of course, ESL was a much easier way to fill the bank account & I hit Kaohsiung, Taiwan, at the right time. Even met/married my wife there. I recommend the experience to anyone!

I'll e-mail a buddy who is involved in marine supplies in Asia & ask his opinion. I suggested Linkedin because there are several Asia-based industry insiders, who'll know where you can find what you need. In fact, this friend is one. He's based out of Philippines, but does business in Vietnam & other places.

[zembekiko]

There you go. Same story. Only with a twist. The U.S. military requested my presence in Vietnam in 1968, which I disrespectfully declined. At that time I was headed cross country to San franscisco to attend a 2 year boatbuilding degree. Put that on hold until I hitch hitched up to Vancouver Island, where I stayed on the west end on a beach in Port Renfrew in a driftwood shelter.
Later I finished the boatbuilding course, made it back to the East coast where I started my practice in the early eighties when money was flowing into the newly found woodenboat rennaisance. Thank you Woodenboat Magazine, Gougeon Bros and 3m 5200!
Got a Land Surveying Degree while chewing tobacco in West Virginia, took all my electives to a small private colledge and finnished up with a B.A. in English. All the while fixing boats. Some crazy German enthusiast brought me over to Germany to restore his 1957 C.C. Capri. Summers found me chartering the Greek islands off the coast of Turkey; all plastic fantastic boats, a different one each week. Got fed up with living with the Germans and headed back to America where I built some boats for bankers and such on Hilton Head Island.
Allways meant to go to Vietnam. Afterall, my government requested I do so....Only I did it thirty years later.
So the bug is back to build. This one, I say, is for my retirement, LOL.