Looking for Advice

[fallguy]

Well, the small boat is a good idea.

The dismissing designing is also wise.

The 50 footer is pure insanity. The time budget is horrible. The way to defeat a horrible time budget is many capable hands. I am building a 32 foot power cat and am in year 4 of full time work. A bit slow? Sure. How slow? Maybe 3/4 speed. And boats don't add by the foot. So, it isn't 8 feet per year. It is more like an exponential function. So length to the 1.5 power is weeks or some silly thing. 375 weeks for you or 181 weeks for me at top speed. The question is do you have 375 weeks to build her? Anyhow, time budgeting for boats is really hard. There are many things that affect morale as well. Here, it is 34 degrees outside now and I am getting cold feet working outside and took a one hour warmup lunch.

 

[Mattyb]

I appreciate the feedback on the project. I'm assuming some of you either work in the industry and have a more in-depth understanding of what it would intale. One of my other major concerns is the finished work and not doing the Ankar design justice with looking like it came out of a Home Depot. The problem is it's only boats from this era that speak to me and I trust the old-timers in what is required for a seaworthy and safe boat. The direction boats are going with beamy ultra-light monstrosities is clearly marketing towards charter companies.

 

[Blueknarr]

The direction boats are going with beamy ultra-light monstrosities is clearly marketing towards charter companies.

Absolutely correct, but you are forgetting that the charter companies are not interested in having their boats sunk be their customers. They don't invest in unseaworthy craft.

That the new designs don't appeal to you is a personal issue. NOT a seaworthiness issue on their part.

 

[Mattyb]

People like John Kretschmer and Adlard Coles might not agree with you on the modern design being seaworthy or not. Regardless, not really wanting to get in the weeds on that. to all the professionals is it really a true statement that buying a boat and fixing it up will come out to being cheaper?

 

[missinginaction]

People like John Kretschmer and Adlard Coles might not agree with you on the modern design being seaworthy or not. Regardless, not really wanting to get in the weeds on that. to all the professionals is it really a true statement that buying a boat and fixing it up will come out to being cheaper?

I'm not a professional but as a pretty advanced amateur I can play in the same sandbox as the pros and not look stupid.

I actually did a restoration. This went way beyond "fixing her up" and well into "making her better".

As for the statement about "fixing her up" being cheaper.....my initial reaction would be NO. But there is more to it than that. In terms of dollars and cents you could (depending on the condition of the boat you're thinking of restoring) end up with a better boat than what you could buy with the equivalent amount of cash.

What is your time worth though? And when I talk time I'm thinking about years. If you're working alone it will take you years to do a good restoration. Go back and read what I wrote in an earlier post on this thread and the link that I attached. It took me seven years working in the boatyard and I had a good hull. Of course you need money. Wads of it.

Here's my point. If you want to restore or "fix up" an older boat, you can't approach the project with the primary goal of getting her back into the water. You have to do the restoration simply for the pleasure you get out of doing it. The pleasure of solving problems, of fabricating parts. The satisfaction you get from looking at some part of the old boat that failed and figuring out how to make sure the same failure doesn't happen again. Building a boat is done piece by piece, step by step. It's a marathon, not a sprint.

So think about it. When you were a kid did you like to build models? Do you enjoy solving problems? Or are problems simply, well problems? Are you a patient person? Do you suffer a bit from OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder)? In my opinion being a little OCD is helpful in doing big projects like boat restoration. Can you delay gratification or do you want it NOW? These are the kinds of questions you have to ask yourself.

Good luck,

MIA

 

[M&M Ovenden]

Hi,

We were in the same position of wanting a traditional hull but with steel as the building material. Murielle ended up designing our boat based on traditional tuna fishing boats used in her home town in Brittany. Designing a boat is many hours of work and if you hire this out it will be costly. Do you have a comfortable building location ? It is a big project and you want to be enjoying it.
I'd say keep your eyes open for something on the used market.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[kerosene]

52' is a massive boat.

have you ever owned a boat above 40ft?

best of luck with the smaller projects. they will teach you a lot. I would say though that after a skiff and a canoe a 25ft+ sailing keelboat is needed before committing to a 50+ft project.

 

[gonzo]

I appreciate the feedback on the project. I'm assuming some of you either work in the industry and have a more in-depth understanding of what it would intale. One of my other major concerns is the finished work and not doing the Ankar design justice with looking like it came out of a Home Depot. The problem is it's only boats from this era that speak to me and I trust the old-timers in what is required for a seaworthy and safe boat. The direction boats are going with beamy ultra-light monstrosities is clearly marketing towards charter companies.

If you want your boat not to look like it came out of home depot, be ready to first spend a couple of million dollars for a boat that size. Secondly, be prepared to put the decades of work and learning we did to become a master shipwright and be able to build a boat of that yacht quality.

 

[fallguy]

People like John Kretschmer and Adlard Coles might not agree with you on the modern design being seaworthy or not. Regardless, not really wanting to get in the weeds on that. to all the professionals is it really a true statement that buying a boat and fixing it up will come out to being cheaper?

as long as the core isn't shot; yes

 

[Ike]

Gary Frankel - Cockpit Confessions, Pacific Yacht Magazine

"The end stages of Boat Building Disease can make a strong man cry."

So far, good advice. Start small with a proven design. Chesapeake light craft is good. Another is Bateau.com Bateau2.com - Technical support for builders https://bateau2.com/ (I built one of theirs)
There are others if you do a search on the internet.
I have built a few small boats and restored a 1972 Sea Ray. I can assure you, it takes far longer and costs far more than you may think. It is far less expensive, if you just want to go boating, sailing or fishing, to just buy a boat. But as in the quote above, if it's about a challenge, building something with your own two hands (and maybe the help of a few friends) then have at it, but start small. I am a professional (or was anyway) and I would never take on building anything much over 20 feet. First, my wife would probably leave me (she's put up with my projects for 53 years, but there is a limit) and being 75 I would probably pass away long before I got it done.

 

[fallguy]

Gary Frankel - Cockpit Confessions, Pacific Yacht Magazine

"The end stages of Boat Building Disease can make a strong man cry."

So far, good advice. Start small with a proven design. Chesapeake light craft is good. Another is Bateau.com Bateau2.com - Technical support for builders https://bateau2.com/ (I built one of theirs)
There are others if you do a search on the internet.
I have built a few small boats and restored a 1972 Sea Ray. I can assure you, it takes far longer and costs far more than you may think. It is far less expensive, if you just want to go boating, sailing or fishing, to just buy a boat. But as in the quote above, if it's about a challenge, building something with your own two hands (and maybe the help of a few friends) then have at it, but start small. I am a professional (or was anyway) and I would never take on building anything much over 20 feet. First, my wife would probably leave me (she's put up with my projects for 53 years, but there is a limit) and being 75 I would probably pass away long before I got it done.

My cousin in law built a glen-L 15' runabout for his 90th!

 

[Mr Efficiency]

Fallguy, I was amazed watching the 6 o'clock news yesterday, by a fella being assisted by emergency workers, off a cliff-face after his hang glider came to grief. He is 91 !