Sunk Cost Fallacy

“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats"
" for the days pass, and never return, and the South still waits for you. Take the Adventure, heed the call, now ere the irrevocable moment passes!"
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
No free rides you must pay, even boatman to cross the river styx.

 

Their means of cost and time estimation is inversely proportional to their ambitions and ability, and....based upon zero prior knowledge.
They also do not wish to have a sanity check, for fear of destroying " the dream" boat.

 

Probably fair to say some designers don’t want to sell their projects as 14,000 man hours, or 16,000, etc. I mean this conversationally and owe you a large debt of gratitude.

Even then, the designer may later themself realize a project too difficult, etc.

Of course final finishes are another matter that can add months..

 

People vary wildly.

My ardent belief is that boats are always significantly more time and money than starry eyed newcomers think.

However, over the years Ive seen some folks pull off feats that defy the nay sayers (often me). While still not the greatest craft, they produced or rebuilt vessels that work good enough for their intended purpose. Its a small portion of the population, but they do exist.

 

There are projects that get completed. However, the most common drive to build a boat is to save money, which rarely happens in amateur construction.

 

If you don't have a shop set up for that you will have to do that first or do it on the fly. If so you will have to add the cost of tools and failed project materials to the over all time, cost and maybe an emergency room visit. I was told to cut the mistakes up into small pieces and throw them away immediately during my apprenticeship with Elmer. The first day I worked with Elmer his hammer "accidentally" slipped out of his hand and flew across the room. He turned to me and said maybe I should do all the hammering from now on. I did pay particularly close attention to Elmer instructions from that point forward. If you are inexperienced and don't have an Elmer you will be Your Own Worst Enemy.

 

Unfortunately, I have seen this happen to prospective boat manufacturers too many times. One in particular stands out. This fellow invented what he thought was a new idea (first mistake). He came up with a design for a car top boat that could double as a car top storage. Two parts that could be bolted together to make one hull. To make a long story short he spent well over $100k just developing the molds (not Frp molds but pressure molds). He eventually had to file for bankruptcy. Simply because early on in his project the costs were getting out of hand and he refused to throw in the towel, and just kept on going.

Anyway I have been guilty of that with my Sea Ray project, but it was a project of love. Cost is no object, LOL. Gone now.

 

Word

 

Information is key to over coming some of the fallacies. Google was founded in 1998 and before that we were struggling to find information through costly formal education, journals, library reference desk, bugging professionals, apprenticeship and indentured servitude. Google is great but you must know bull s___ when you see it and its there for the taking. But no one gets likes for being a killjoy. I remember the pre Information Age and struggling to find information.
There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as a Google search.
One of the largest fallacy for me was the "length to dollar ratio" it is measured cube feet plus your dreams more not linear feet for my desired boat size.
"Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made, for somewhere deep in their oaken hearts the soul of a song is laid." —Robert N. Rose