Thanks everyone for the replies and honest feedback. Again, I am in a long planning phase so I really do appreciate having a lot of info to chew on. I have, for a long time now, been attracted to the lines and history of Archer's pilot cutters as well as English pilot cutters from a similar era. While it may seem frivolous and impractical to some, I can't shake the idea of building a traditional wooden working boat. The build and eventual maintenance is as much of importance to me as the final product and while many lighter and more modern materials to build a boat from exist today I prefer wood. Any opinions good or bad on English pilot cutters is also welcome. I am confident that I will have more questions for you all in the near future but until then, thanks.
That depends of your goal. If you want an rather exact replica of a true Colin Archer around 40 feet, and accept knowingly the drawbacks go for it. You must have somewhere the quarter to the half million bucks. That is rather expensive, classic wood ask for expert builders and asks a lot of hours to pay. It asks also a rather simple, constant but expensive maintenance.
In used boats, the Colin Archer similars in good shape are around the 150 to 200 K USD. Advantage they have engines, but often it's in steel.
If you want simply a look of ancient boat, but easier to build and maintain in modern wooden materials like plywood and strip plank, also probably easier to sail you have a lot of plans in Europe and in the States for the American ones, the States and Canada have a very rich maritime heritage of working boats in any size. Look at Wooden Boat mag, there also are plenty of plans in the maritime museums.
Arroyo Grande is in California, so you have a perfect pretext for a summer travel in Europe where there are several meetings of old boats, but also the re-interpretations, mostly French and British. For example the Fêtes Maritimes de Brest (16 to 20 July this year) will reunite more than one thousand old gaffers and similar from the pram to the four masts. There is an big British participation with plenty of cutters, pilots and old racers crossing the Channel. You have also several Old Gaffers festivals or meetings in UK. I counsel to make a search and contact the associations. There you'll have first hand information by people knowing perfectly their subject. Surely their opinion will be a bit biased as they are passionate, but extremely useful, specially about costs and seaworthiness.
My personal opinion is these working boats are very interesting to study and navigate eventually. But to build, own and sail one of these boats is a very different thing. First you need to be rather wealthy because these boats, if you want a quality replica, are rather expensive. In France all the old gaffers replicas of more than 25 feet have been built, maintained and sailed by non profit associations.
I've sailed as active passenger a few times on old gaffers, including a Fife yacht, but the most impressive was Marie Fernande a 1894 pilot 15.30 meters hull weighting 39 metric tons with 225 m2 of sail. It's very funny with a bit of wind -not too much-, needs lots of muscles, tacking asks for true skill and patience and when the breeze is good you can hope 6 knots. It attained once 9 knots but nobody felt easy. The cost of the reparations in 2004 was more than 400000 USD plus thousands of hours of work by dozens of volunteers. A boat for addicts of historical boats, as it has no other use than festivals.
I've even raced on Dragon, a boat designed in 1929 in Norway by Johan Anker. 8.9 m long; 1.7 metric tons (including one ton of lead ballast) A lot of people love it, and the class is very active in France, a good regatta reunites easily from 30 to 100 boats. A true old racer in the style of the Scandinavian Skerry Cruisers.
I always loved the fact that this boat is extremely technique, with plenty of small ropes for control, and at the smallest mistake it stops cruelly. Just for going graciously at a few knots if the breeze is good and constant like in the old movie reels of prewar regattas. It's sailing for patient but very concentrated people who love tactics, and match racing. Good thing the tactician/skipper has all the time to meditate his decisions at those speeds. Other good thing physically it's not demanding and I've known very aged skippers in this class. Besides it's a nice old style 2 people boar for coastal cruising with very cramped amenities.
Good news it's affordable for an individual, the wooden ones needs a constant maintenance and hundred of brushes for the varnish and paints, the polyester ones are a easier to keep. A good one is around 35 to 60000 USD. But those in wood in bad shape are often donated. You can build one in wood, the plans are obtainable.
But it's a total beauty, so you pardon willingly. This kind of boats will be far less expensive, far easier to maintain than a pilot cutter and just as rewarding for some short coastal cruises and nautical club activities.
For voyaging seriously take a modern boat. You'll find plans at your taste, there are plenty.
