Boatbuilding Assistance?

I'm thinking about building another boat, a Roberto Barros Southern Voyager 28, which looks to be similar to the TW28 but in strip plank. Maybe lengthened a little.
I'm getting on a bit but would love to have another boat so I'd need assistance in building.
Has anyone here employed someone to help build a boat in their backyard? How did it go?
I'm estimating about 2,000 hours to launch, and I could (maybe) do about 800 of that over a year.
Preliminary costing comes out as being similar to a 20 year old fibreglass trawler.
I've built a Harley RORC 32 in ferro, a Van de Stadt Sea-Mini in ply, rebuilt a steel Roberts 44 and a small plywood dinghy of my own design.
Please feel free to make suggestions.

 

Wow, you've been a member for 4 years and this is your first post.

Sounds like you need a paid friend to help out.
Someone who knows boats and boat building.
Know anyone like that in your neighbourhood?

 

Works well if you hire specialized help. For example the local carpenter can cut you all the strips, backbone, and build the furniture. The auto electrician can wire the boat, the bodyshop guy can fair and paint, etc.

If you hire unskilled work, you still have to be there to direct and supervise. How well it works depends on the person, what he already knows to do, if he is willing to learn and if he does things exactly as instructed or not.

 

2000 hours is about close for a super pro; otherwise 3000 is closer

Basically, a year of full time work is 2000 hours. This is not a one year boat.

Boracay is Australian. Perhaps tell folks where..

 

Strip planking that is epoxy glued/edge fastened can produce a very strong monocoque structure.
But it's not a "quick and dirty" job.
The technique of using machine cut, "sticker run", "hollow and round" strips can go together faster, but the inside/outside both then require a lot of fairing, and the inside work is a backbreaker, (trying to plane/sand a concave surface,) it's generally used for making a plug to take a mold off of, where the interior is of no consequence.
But, careful use of grinders/disc sanders can speed things up, the operative word being "Careful".
Its big advantage is that the strips become "self aligning" to a degree.
Using square-edge stock produces gaps both inside and out, depending upon where the hull is convex or concave.
As such it's not so desirable, but with lots of thickened epoxy it can work out ok, but a lot of filling and sanding both inside and outside is part of the deal.
Best practice is where each strip has a running bevel on one edge to match the square edge of the strip next to it, so the seams end up running fair and tight both inside and out.
No matter which method is used, "stealers" and/or a combination of tapered strips will need to go in at various locations to make up for changes in the girth of the hull, and fairing is still a big job with any method.
Please, not trying to dissuade you at all. Strip planking is "easy" because large heavy planks and difficult bending is avoided, and as such one person can work along without a lot of physical effort, but it is time consuming.

 

From the lack of enthusiasm for getting assistance it would appear that members' experience matches my own. Best avoided if possible.
I'll see if I can save my money for when a high value result is available.
My experience with epoxy filler is that using a fairly high percentage of microballoons gives a fairly easy to sand result. Maybe an extra layer of fiberglass on top?
What I really need is tips on how to do a "quick and dirty" job. My aim is to get a serviceable, safe, cheap to run long range power boat suited to coastal cruising. If it can get from Queensland to Bali with good weather so much the better.
Google suggests that Paulownia [Paulownia Timber Strip Planking - The Australian Made Campaign https://www.australianmade.com.au/licensees/paulownia-timber-sales-australia/paulownia-timber-strip-planking] is suited to strip planking. Any one any experience?
I've still got my eye out for a suitable second hand boat but good ones are rare and sell quickly. At some point it could be easier to built another boat.

 

What wood is suitable depends on the actual building type, strip planking is just a general term covering different things. From its mechanical properties paulownia is between balsa and WRC, and as such entirely suitable for a cored construction where the fiberglass skins take the loads.
The designer specifies one or several woods based on strength, weight and if applicable, rot resistance to match the chosen method. Only he can tell you if paulownia is fine, or if he wants WRC, or radiata pine, or something else.

A fully cored dry planked construction with a softwood is much quicker then a beveled, wet glued and nailed one. Buying the best sanding equipment you can afford hepls a lot, as does peelply.
What really speeds up the work is a computer cut strongback and interior. The most time (and money) is spent on fitting out and finish work, the basic hull construction can be fast and relatively cheap.

Unless you hire a pro for one or more specific jobs you are at Fortunas mercy, maybe you find good help, maybe not, and there is no way to find out until you actually do it.
Very few "home builders" hire themselfs a full time professional boatbuilder, it is more common to outsource specialized things like electrical, plumbing, canvas work, etc., but often they want to do it all by themselfs.

Example of dry planked, the strips are trapezoidal.