Cheapest cost to self-design & self-build a 45ft sailboat

Looking to design and build own custom sailboat. Very tight budget. Aware there are cheaper ways, but want me OWN DESIGN. Are my estimates bonkers even for a brain dead zombie-lover like me?

To be built in haunted barn on cursed ground near a pet cemetery.
Mostly high lat sailing.
Naval Arch to generate minimal drawings to my design
Prices in thousands, words in English.
Resemble dufour 12000ct ketch with modded butt-area.
Willing to buy used crap, except for hull and engine

Boat: Alum or Fiberglass Hull, 45ft, monohull, ketch or schoony, beam 13.5.
3300 hrs = Est. build time
05 = Naval Arch
30 = Hull and deck
08 = keel
18 = Engine + Accessories
05 = Electrical (gen, batts,solor, wiring, panel, the bla)
03 = Water(maker, tanks, bla)
03 = Heads and stuff
03 = Interior wood/textiles (min)
03 = Galley stuff
01 = Heating crapoola
02 = Trans to wawa from barn(10mi)
04 = Masts, rigging, sails...
04 = Autopilot, charts, all electonical thingys
00 = Everything else that I left out.

89 = Stupid Total

Can this be true? Can it be done for 89 thousand smackerooos?????

 

I'm thinking 3300hrs only if you are already a bonfide $100/hr tradesman.

To produce at that nominal "$100/hr" rate you need a $25/hr helper, just for cleanup, running to store, as well as admin and "semi-admin" tasks like keeping track of all the parts that arrival on their own schedule out of sequence.

Figure on $100,000 worth of tools and shop rigging (at least $20K of weird new stuff even if you think you "have everything") and supplies like cleaners, thinners, sandpaper, bits, blades, dustmasks, gloves, etc.

Never built a boat that size but first thing I'd do is pour nice concrete slab in the old barn.

Maybe find TWO different exp boatbuilder guys to act as "build consultants" to come over and give the project the once-over at critical points. I say TWO because chances are one will give up or otherwise not work out and I'm sure they will have diff approaches to earning their consulting fee. Try to get one Design Guru and one Build Guru.

How spartan will interior be?

As reference, new kitchen cabinets (2uppers, 2lowers, fake stone, sink, stove, microwave, dishwasher, etc) from Home Depot cost $15,000 installed in San Jose in 2002 (during downturn when labor was cheap). That was for a rental home, LL not wanting anything weird or fancy, buying whatever was on sale.

 

I'm in Michigan. No way that for a kitchen here without going the fancy-smancy road. I can do my own wood-working and re-purpose as I need. The main goal is to see how cheaply person X can get their own design built and on the water. That would be the challenge or theme of the whole project. Great for videos, I think. I'm willing to scrounge around for stuff to use including cannibalizing old very cheap sailboats that I can get my hands on. My opinion of sailboat is that it is a boat and should have the look and feel of approximating old frigates, carracks, pirate ships. It should not have the feel of a space ship or race car or some 21st century advanced technological contraption. I think those kinds of boats (e.g., Garcia Exploration 45) are disgusting. So, "spartan" in the sense of no extraneous electronics or motors to open and close doors. No draw after drawer after drawer and cabinet after cabinet. It can all be done so much more simply. You also have to have the ability to "get lost" below deck. By this, I mean, you want to be out of sight of everyone else gathered in that saloon without being forced to retreat to your berth. A "nook" must be designed into the plan. Furthermore, even if it means subtracting a square foot or two from the living space, I want GOOD maintenance access to nearly everything and not just through stupid "technical doors". I believe that I have accomplished this. Now I want to build it. I'm hoping that 3300 hours is the minimum to get it in the water and sailing. I can add over the months thereafter as I continue to work on it. I'm looking for it to eventually be my new home.

 

What method was used to arrive at the 3300 hours figure ?

 

‘‘ Cheapest cost to self-design & self-build a 45ft sailboat ’’​

Well, it depends on your standards, plus your skills, and your work ethics and work speed, and available work time, and the choice of materials and their local costs, and the availability of a almost free or free building spot, in 2012 a 72' sailing cat took only four months and a few $ to sail away from a beach near Banjul in Gambia, so everything is possible, or not . .

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‘‘ This is a time-lapse video of a wooden sailing ship being built in Gambia, West Africa, 2012. We went from a stack of planks to a sailable vessel in just four months. ’’

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‘‘ This is the story of how Bill Probert took 37 years to build his Alan Buchanan 1949 Wild Duck. Please share this tale of an amazing man who never gave up his passion to build his first classic yacht. ’’

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‘‘ We joined Bill for the first sail on the Wild Duck that took him 37 years to build. ’’​

 

Anything that resembles a Doufour will require expensive materials and high skills. None of which you have. For the price you are estimating, a barebones workboat type can be built; but not in 3300 hours by an inexperienced person. The masts and standing rigging will cost more than $4,000. Add sails, running rigging and deck hardware to that. Finally, and most important, your design will likely be poor and have structural problems. After working on the build for a couple of years, you will learn enough to see the defects. That will lead you to undo a large part of what you built to do it properly. At the very least, find a design by an experienced person. There are plenty of classic designs that can be had for free.

 

One man working 8 hour days pencils out to approximately 2000 hours a year, so you will be finished in a year and a half !
Don’t buy the champagne just yet...

 

Hi,
If you are looking at a common hull design you are better off searching for a used hull / boat. Your budget seems like a bit on the low end, I would expect the NA to be more to get complete CAD files for cutting (Aluminium)... don't think fiberglass is a home build material.

Cheers,
Mark

 

Think about these kind of designs, maybe they're at least good for some inspiration...

Dudley Dix: 52¼' Steel Cargo Schooner

Tad Roberts: 52' Steel Cargo Schooner - - 54½' Steel Cargo Schooner

George Buehler¹: 50' Melquiades (in the below vid) - - 60½' Melquiades



See also Tom Colvin's¹ designs (those are Wayback Machine links)

Here mentioned measurements is LOD, all can be converted to alu I think, the rigs can be converted within what suits the boat if you like to do so.

¹ decedent

 

If you have not designed or built a boat before allow (at least) about 25% of your time for the learning process plus about 15% of your time for correcting mistakes and 10% for cleaning up, etc.
An idea: find a 'good deal' used boat you like and buy it. Faster, probably cheaper (in the long run). If you cannot afford it, you probably would not be able to build the equivalent for much less.
(updated 18-12-31)

 

Like for example the poor man's ocean cruiser, the about 45' version has ample standing headroom, but since Tom passed away in 2014 his plans are not available till to date far as I know, so just posted here for the general idea...

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‘‘ This design does not have full headroom, but has everything else going for it as far as comfort is concerned. It is seaworthy, fast, simple to build, inexpensive to rig, and can use an auxiliary engine of minimal horsepower. This vessel can be built in aluminum or steel. The 37-footer (shown here) sleeps two, and has a 9' 3" beam and a 3' 6" draft. She is double-ended, and carries the simple three-sail schooner rig. As long as simplicity is acceptable, this type of hull has much to offer. ’’

 

If you have never built a boat before build a dinghy first. Seriously.

 

That's good advice, also thinking of a own recipe without the how to knowledge, and even without ever having baked a cake at all, is a disaster waiting to happen, which isn't so bad if it only concerns $ 2 for cake ingredients and a first time effort for this of only ½ an hour, but even then I've never heard of it happening successfully that way...

 

I am building a 32' powercat and the time budget is 4000; dollars $100k, all my work and some help; so 80% is materials.

It is easy to laugh at your lack of wisdom here. Double both budgets and you'll be closer.

That boat is pretty big to build.

You might want to drop the size a bit to get the hours budget down. These large boats take LOTs of time to build. You'll quickly discover each section of the boat takes hours and hours.

Self design is a horrible concept if something fails. Far better to find a likeable design and hire the NA to modify to suit.

Best of luck.

 

This line doesn't make sense to me, if it's your design then you are the Naval Architect in my mind.
When Murielle (my wife) designed our boat everything was done in CAD and NC cut (steel). It saved a massive amount of time when she built it. I wouldn't skimp on the plans.

Cheers,
Mark