Hi, first post, wanna build a monstrosity....

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by parkland, Jul 15, 2012.

  1. PAR
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    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    Let him call around and get prices on a hundred sheets of 1/2" BS-1088 plywood and a 60 HP marine diesel. If he's serious, he'll be back with questions about a 30'er instead of a twice as heavy (and costly) 40'er. I've never seen a first time builder complete a 40'er, though I've seen a few tolerate a divorce and second mortgage in the attempt.
     
  2. parkland
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    parkland Senior Member

    I'm not trying to build a sexy looking ocean safe unit, just a small - medium lake safe unit. Something between what a boat should be, and welded up junk , lol.
    I'll just use an industrial style diesel engine, and have it non enclosed. Nothing against a marinized engine, just don't want the hassle if it needs repairs.
     
  3. parkland
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    parkland Senior Member

    I plan to possibly tow it between manitoba and BC yearly, but if the weight is really close to the maximum legal weight, I might just leave it in BC.

    I've lived both places before, and there are some nice lakes in manitoba, but I think if I only get so much time off from work, I'd rather cruise around in a lake that isn't more like a slough.

    :D
     
  4. parkland
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    parkland Senior Member

    Why plywood?

    I have looked into the powertrain, and I think I should be right around the 10,000$ range. I'm sure it would be much more to make it look like a boat that came from the factory.

    I don't see why you think a 40' boat would cost 2x as much as a 30' boat... to me it just seems like a couple extra sheets of aluminum and extra frame pieces. It will still only be 8' 6" wide.....

    40' isn't set in stone either.... my exact though process was to find a camper, replicate the inside design, and have some deck in front and behind..
    8' 6" wide, 8' feet or so from hull bottom to roof... and the hull would be about 4' tall.

    The engine would sit outside, front or rear deck.
     
  5. Deering
    Joined: Feb 2005
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    Deering Senior Member

    That's a long way to tow something so big! And over mountains.

    If you go look around BC you'll find lots of very suitable boats for a good price that need a bit of TLC. You might find that's a better return on your efforts, and will give you a better ocean-going vessel. Once you're cruising in BC, you won't have any interest in Manitoba lakes.
     
  6. mydauphin
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    mydauphin Senior Member


    Anything over 35' requires a divorce.
     
  7. messabout
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    messabout Senior Member

    A bit of homespun wisdom here. LMAO
     
  8. PAR
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    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    Parkland, there's this pesky little physical law of mechanical similitude, that causes things to disproportionately increase in size as they get larger. If you take 10 powerboats, all 30' and of similar configuration and average out their price and displacement and compare this with the same of 40' yachts, you'll quickly find that the figures aren't proportional to the 25% increase in their respective lengths. You can find a 30'er for a $100k, but step up to a 40'er and the prices start at half a million and rise quickly. It's simple physics, though not commonly understood. Since you're looking for a narrow 40'er, you'll have less to pay for, but it'll still be twice that of a narrow 30'er. You pay for displacement, literally, as it's the sum of all the materials and equipment employed.

    Good luck to you, but considerably more research is necessary and the first is a design, of which I know of none, that are remotely close to your current goals, which means a custom.
     
  9. parkland
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    parkland Senior Member

    I value all the comments so far, and have given honest thought to many.

    With that said, I'd like to share the fact that I recently say pictures my friend had of a floating coring rig that was floating on welded together sea cans, and probably over 100' long and probably cost next to nothing to build.

    I guess what I'm thinking is that this "rule of thumb" might not necessarily always apply, rather might only apply to different sizes of a similar style of boat.
     
  10. Edwardn
    Joined: Oct 2010
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    Edwardn Junior Member

    Hi Parkland

    Since i got the boat bug I have been dreaming, scheming, planning, drawing, reading, researching, and adding to my tool collection for 2 years now... I started out planning a 30' power cat but am down to a simple 20' flat bottom open skiff now which may turn into a 16' by the time im ready. I may build the big cat some day but what I'm getting at is that for now i wont build anything that I think I cant use or sell if my personal circumstances change. I would dearly love to build a 30'-40' boat not just for the fact of cruising the Red and Lake Winnipeg but for the challenge of actually building it but if push came to shove and I had to sell it would it be worth anything to anyone else since my idea of a great boat may not be aligned with the rest of the world? So in other words just give it some time and thought ( research ) as mentioned and if in the end this is what you want then go ahead and build it.
    By chance are you a driller? I have been in the core drilling business for over 30 years now, all over Manitoba and Canada and for the past 10 years overseas in Mongolia, China, Colombia and now Im in Mexico... I ran a job in Ontario years ago using a jack up barge for diamond drilling but it was 20' x 40' bolt together so 100' of floating sea cans seems odd, how did they anchore it in place? I seen a 40'x60' floating barge for core drilling in the Lac de Gras NWT one time but they had a hell of a time keeping it stable enough with 4 winches and anchors off the corners, in fact they gave up drilling and needed rescuded as the wind and waves kept pushing the angle hole out of line and that barge was only 4' high as compared to a 8' plus sea can... if you can please post some pics of that set up as it would be interesting to see... I find your thread very interesting as it reminds me of me a few years ago and I look forward to the progress over time. Keep it going ok!!

    Regards
    EDD
     
  11. parkland
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    parkland Senior Member


    That is really cool, I also thought of travelling down the red river (or up, however you see it), and around lake winnipeg. I worked for years on that lake commercial fishing when I was younger.

    I do not have any pictures on my computer, but there are a few little companies that have "little" rigs set up on sea can barges, and even a few rigs made from sea can containers lol.
    So far, all I have seen are coring for environmental studies, or farther up north for minerals.

    Myself, I worked for quite a few years on drilling rigs in alberta, then a bit in saskatchewan, now I work for a directional company, close to home.
    We drill in southern manitoba, I make around 700$/ day, and I'm home about every week.

    I have thought many, many times about building a little drilling rig for water wells, and exploration... I might just build one , one day soon...... either that, or a grow op !!!
    lol
     
  12. Corley
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    Corley epoxy coated

    I guess it's fair enough to want to build a "big" boat but I dont understand why it will necessarily be better or more suitable for your needs than a smaller boat that is adequate for your requirements. The best advice I've ever seen about boat ownership centres around buying or building the smallest boat that will fit your needs. It's because proportionately there is more upkeep and bigger boats are significantly more expensive and a much larger pain in the butt to own and maintain.
     
  13. parkland
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    parkland Senior Member

    I understand what you are getting at...

    The reason I want a bigger boat is that it will be almost like a "water camper"... And I realise that I could go out, buy a pontoon kit, and hack up a camper on to it, but I don't like pontoons on rough water with bigger loads on top.
    I think pontoons best suit little deck boats, with a camper sized building on top, I imagine it being not as safe as a conventional style hull.
    Not only that, but they are made from thin aluminum.
    I also am not a fan of outboard engines... Inboards can take a pile of hours without major issues, and a diesel should further enhance that trait.

    I think that if my front and rear decks are covered, so the "floor" is on top of the hull, not "in" it, and the engine is mounted low, along with water, waste, batteries, etc, even if the boat slammed on it's side from a giant wave, it should almost be able to fall upright again from the weight placement.

    I really don't want to waste money, and get excessive with things I don't need... but hey, is a boat a "need" to begin with? It's 100% "want", so if I "want" certain things, I fail to see why I would ignore them....

    I honestly don't think I have unreasonable expectations... I would be much more worried if I was trying to build a planing hull racer or something.... Basically all I'm after is a cruising barge. I realise there is probably a lot to learn yet, but at the same time, I'm really not concerned as far as the design and such... just because it is so simple.
     
  14. Frosty

    Frosty Previous Member

    Those who have never driven a big boat know not what they talk about.

    I would not sail in anything under 36 foot.
     

  15. parkland
    Joined: Jul 2012
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    parkland Senior Member


    I would buy a car ferry if I could afford it, and turn the entire deck into a giant sitting area, complete with hot tub, bar, etc.
     
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