First project thoughts and costings ?

Hi All,

Before I post, I just want to say hello!

I am looking to build my first boat and have set my eyes on a classic wooden speedboat. Before you say "Just hang on a while that is too advanced", I just want to say that I am furniture maker and have expertise in woodwork/steam bending and am also competent in lamination and epoxy resin fibre glassing techniques. I am hoping that from a construction perspective it will be a challenge but within the realms of my skillset.

The one aspect that I am totally unsure about is the power plant side and all of the electrics. I am also concerned as to how you go about working out the total build cost for such a project ?

The link below shows the boat I have in mind.

http://www.classicwoodenboatplans.com/mucho-gusto/

Any pointers would be most welcomed

 

Hi flanagaj, The boat looks very like the one that I am building at the moment "crackerbox" you can see my link below, and if I can do it with no real skills it should be no problem to you. I got a great book from Glen-L called "inboard motor installations" that will help you with every step of your engine setup.
As for cost I guess you can spent as much or as little as you want, I am finishing mine in mahogany "not cheep" but some people just paint the hull or varnish the plywood. For all the running gear and trailer I bought a donor boat and even though the engine had a cracked block I still saved on parts and was happy to buy a new long block for my own piece of mind.

 

Thanks for the book recommendation. I will take a look at that.

With regards to "if I can do it with no real skills it should be no problem to you" all I can say is that your boat looks amazing!!

PS - Are you able to tell me how much it cost you to complete. Would be good to get a rough idea.

Thanks

 

The one with the outboard cost me about €2000 but I used a lot of scrap hard wood that a friend had for fire wood for the engine I put a few requests in the free adds looking for old broken outboards and ended up with 6 of them.
The crackerbox so far for the donor boat the new longblock,chrome dress up kit , mahogany, plywood, fiberglass cloth,resin and other bits and pieces €5000 and I'd say it will cost another 2000 or 3000 to get the look and finish I want.
I do a lot of shopping on ebay and set my limit low so sometimes it can take a few months to get a good deal but they do come along.
You can see how I'm getting on with my build here and I'll keep it updated as I go along. http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/wooden-boat-building-restoration/new-boatbuilder-32783.html

 

flanagaj,

Boats look nice, but do a bit of homework before setting solid the design you will build.
You will have no worries building a boat like that being a fine furniture maker.

The design is what I an concerned about, what is the average water condition where the boat is to be used, is it for river use or open waters, big difference required there mate, you need a deep V for offshore use or choppy water, the flat deadrise aft is OK for smooth waters but hell in the rough....just have a good honest decision where the boat is to be used before you get disappointed in the results.

 

You have raised a very valid point there. The plan is to use the boat on open water, so I suspect that being so flat bottomed it will be terrible in the rough.

All of the classic looking boats I have seen are flat bottomed ?

Maybe a rethink is required before making a decision.