The "I built my own boat, or mostly built my own boat" thread

[SASSAFRASS 765]

In honor of mister FKT, probably more than two people interested.  If you built your own boat or mostly built it, share your success and failures here.

I'll start, on the refit end, probably biggest mistake for us was the "esthetic original notion to save things".  We wasted alot of time and money trying to save components or parts of the boat that had issues but were original for a misconceived tra lala idea.  The layed wood decks were a big one.  The original wood masts another.  On paper both were in the red in a big way when done.

On the plus side, doing our own rigging and going with some outside the box thinking worked out pretty well. Also buying used sails from a reputable loft like Bacon proved to be a good way to go.

[Blue Crab 2,436]

I built a 24' Wharram cat in Galveston way way back. Covered with Dynel and WEST. A shit ton of extra work over FG. I should have vac bagged it. Then-wife and I had a lot of fun in FL bay and the keys with the shallow draft. Wife loved to drive the boat if I kept her in the shade and always a cold beer in her hands and lobster waiting in Igloo. 

I built the hulls of a Hartley Sparkle trimaran in a rented storage shed in Austin. One particular guy kept coming by (6 pack in hand!) and was very interested. There was a month or two of good-natured jiving re selling the project to him. In the end, he offered very high dollars and bought boat and all my tools ... literally lock, stock and barrel, and storage unit one afternoon. Same wife said, " You did what?" Also built several dinks and a Chameleon nesting dink. Great boat but heavy.

[The Q 787]

1996-2000 built my own boat, designed it at 16ft, before I started construction the class I was to sail it in, disappeared from my club.. so I extended the design to 18ft for the next class up, by the time I brought the boat home from Saudi the class had reappeared and is now the biggest class in the club.

The boat took about 3years of free time to build,  the rebuild? Still going on after 5 years, in Saudi I was effectively living in a hotel no spare time consumed for anything else.. here I have a house,  garden, other things to do and SWMBO requires attention.

I've missed getting the boat ready for this years regatta week in 3weeks time, so she won't get launched till next March.

Everything takes longer than expected.

I too bought some second hand sails, they're old and tired, but are only for trial use, as I have now got an ally mast instead of a wooden gaff rig and may need to adjust the C of E from my current estimates.

[Autonomous 1,232]

First build? I was poor and went with free plans. Trust me, plans are the last place to be cheap. Everything, material and time was a waste in the end. When I think of the clear, old growth Douglass Fir I butchered... BTW this was long ago when that wood was common and affordable.

[cyclone 559]

It was a prolonged project but I am happy with the boat. Best decision I made was to have it painted professionally with Awlgrip. Best new skill was learning to TIG weld. Many little stainless bits.

[Zonker 5,239]

Half a boat. Took about 4-1/2 years, working 2 days a week on it.

The Big Push when we hauled it for one month and did the following:

- dropped the mast

- installed a new bigger carbon mast beam and glassed it into the hulls

- re-installed the mast

- removed the old bridgedeck and inside uppers of the boat with a chainsaw

- put in a new bridgedeck/cockpit sole, glassing it to the hulls and fore/aft beams.

- put together a new bridgedeck cabin

- put in a diesel (outboards before) and all the diesels auxiliaries including a prop shaft and strut.

- painted the bottom (of course!)

 

My wife kept track of the work leading up to during the Big Push

• Evan took 3 of the 32 days off.
• We averaged 3.5 people at the boat each day
• The largest one day work party was 6 people
• Except for the day we hauled, Evan never worked alone
• 12 different people came to the boat to help us out - most worked more than 4 days
• Leighton was at the work site the most frequently, working around 20 days
• We removed approximately 500 lbs when we took off the old structure
• We added back about 1200 lbs including the diesel
• We went through a 55 gallon drum of epoxy (mostly pre-fabbing parts ahead of time)
• We used up 250 yards of fibreglass and 16 sheets of 4X8" foam core  (pre-fabbing parts)
• It rained on 5 days out of the 32
• Evan bought 30 icecream bars for our helpers
• We drank 14 cases of beer and cider and 3 bottles of tequila
• I made meals for 6 or more 14 times
• I made meals for 10 or more 4 times
• Dousing your body liberally with baby powder before grinding fibreglass, then showering with cold water is the best way to combat the itch
• Three other methods were tried first
• I did 10 loads of fibreglass dust covered laundry
• Washing each load twice is the trick
• We put 20x our normal monthly mileage on the car
• We used 2 grinders, 3 sanders, 2 drills, 1 jigsaw, 2 skillsaws, 1 reciprocating saw and 1 chainsaw
• We went through 4 chainsaw blades, dozens of jigsaw blades, 8 grinding discs and 50 sanding discs
• The only paid professional help we had was the crane operator for lowering and lifting the mast and a machinist who machined our prop coupling
• Many of our helpers are computer geeks, who needed the business end of a power tool pointed out
• We have taken 4 rolls of slide film and a few hundred digital pictures
• Evan had 3-4 demoralizing days and only 2-3 minor setbacks
• Between us we averaged 8 hours less sleep a night than normal
• Maia gave up her bed to guests for 10 nights
• Evan and I are still talking

[cyclone 559]

1 hour ago, Zonker said:

Evan and I are still talking

Amen

[Autonomous 1,232]

2 hours ago, Zonker said:

Half a boat. Took about 4-1/2 years, working 2 days a week on it.

The Big Push when we hauled it for one month and did the following:

- dropped the mast

- installed a new bigger carbon mast beam and glassed it into the hulls

- re-installed the mast

- removed the old bridgedeck and inside uppers of the boat with a chainsaw

- put in a new bridgedeck/cockpit sole, glassing it to the hulls and fore/aft beams.

- put together a new bridgedeck cabin

- put in a diesel (outboards before) and all the diesels auxiliaries including a prop shaft and strut.

- painted the bottom (of course!)

 

My wife kept track of the work leading up to during the Big Push

• Evan took 3 of the 32 days off.
• We averaged 3.5 people at the boat each day
• The largest one day work party was 6 people
• Except for the day we hauled, Evan never worked alone
• 12 different people came to the boat to help us out - most worked more than 4 days
• Leighton was at the work site the most frequently, working around 20 days
• We removed approximately 500 lbs when we took off the old structure
• We added back about 1200 lbs including the diesel
• We went through a 55 gallon drum of epoxy (mostly pre-fabbing parts ahead of time)
• We used up 250 yards of fibreglass and 16 sheets of 4X8" foam core  (pre-fabbing parts)
• It rained on 5 days out of the 32
• Evan bought 30 icecream bars for our helpers
• We drank 14 cases of beer and cider and 3 bottles of tequila
• I made meals for 6 or more 14 times
• I made meals for 10 or more 4 times
• Dousing your body liberally with baby powder before grinding fibreglass, then showering with cold water is the best way to combat the itch
• Three other methods were tried first
• I did 10 loads of fibreglass dust covered laundry
• Washing each load twice is the trick
• We put 20x our normal monthly mileage on the car
• We used 2 grinders, 3 sanders, 2 drills, 1 jigsaw, 2 skillsaws, 1 reciprocating saw and 1 chainsaw
• We went through 4 chainsaw blades, dozens of jigsaw blades, 8 grinding discs and 50 sanding discs
• The only paid professional help we had was the crane operator for lowering and lifting the mast and a machinist who machined our prop coupling
• Many of our helpers are computer geeks, who needed the business end of a power tool pointed out
• We have taken 4 rolls of slide film and a few hundred digital pictures
• Evan had 3-4 demoralizing days and only 2-3 minor setbacks
• Between us we averaged 8 hours less sleep a night than normal
• Maia gave up her bed to guests for 10 nights
• Evan and I are still talking

If you're ever in the mood to share pictures or more details I'm all ears.

[randii 143]

2 hours ago, Zonker said:

My wife kept track of the work leading up to during the Big Push

....Evan and I are still talking

You married VERY well!

[SASSAFRASS 765]

Definitely for a couple leaving on the boat it has to be the right balance.  My wife told someone a while ago when they asked how we made it through the refit, she said that we never wanted to divorce beach other at the same time..

The "Big push" seems like a common denominator.  No matter how well planned or even if planned at the end there is the marathon run to get away.  I thought we were doing pretty well but always take the rosy outlook on planning.  Our last hurrah before leaving was a month in PT.  Did the rudder, cockpit steering and electronics.  Definitely did not plan on the boat getting filled with snow trying to do layups in almost zero weather and 25-40kts most days.

Sitting here in Penasco there must be ten different boats with people and lots of kids.  Kinda wierd as most are in the stages of getting ready to go west or to the canal etc.  We are plugging away on the neverending maintenance getting ready to go back to the beginning.

[SVArcturus 61]

Oh geez.  Not sure I should remind myself (or, more importantly, my wife) of this.

We bought a perfectly good (well, except for some deck soft spots around the mast) used Soverel 36, largely because I had worked at Soverel 15 years earlier when they were building the same model and we both always lusted after the 36.  This is NOT the reason to choose your cruising vessel.

After a year, we hauled it  to do the bottom, repair a skeg crack (that we knew about when we bought it) and replace a seacock.  On removing the seacock, I was surprised to see that the hull was thinner than I expected.  It was the layup of the racing (fin keel, spade rudder) versions, but we'd bought the cruising (keel/centerboard and skeg-hung rudder).   All the boats were semi-custom and could be modified to fit buyer preferences and my experience is that the cruising boat buyers always went for heavier hull layups.  I will note here that after 15 years, the hull had no flex spots or oil canning and was in fine shape.

However, I decided that while we had the boat out of the water, I would add some interior hull laminations to thicken portions of the hull.  One thing led to another, "while we are at it", and long story short, we spent 10 years and ended up with only the exterior 1/4-1/2" of the hull and deck, the major structural bulkheads, and the fiberglass liner of the head being original.  The ENTIRE hull above the water line ended up with an additional 24 oz laminate, then the hull above the waterline got a vacuum-bagged structural-foam core,  glass laminations were added over that that core plus the entire hull below the waterline.  Then two fiberglass structural stringers were run along the entire hull.  Two of the main bulkheads are now watertight collision bulkheads and every mechanical and electrical system was replaced or rebuilt, including a new engine.  Oh, we also recored the deck and cabin trunk.

DO NOT DO THIS!  We love the boat but the cost in $$ and time make it a very unwise investment.  On the other hand, we didn't do it as an investment and it is set up pretty much exactly as we like.  But I still repeat...don't do this.

Now, another 20 years later, we are making additional changes as part of a Covid-lengthened refit before leaving to spend a few years cruising.  Crossed fingers that the South Pacific is open after hurricane season ends here in Florida. We'd like to leave the first of the year to work our way over there.  Like we were going to last year.   And the year before.   And the year before.  But we really mean it this time.

I'll finish with a picture of one part, the galley, with before, during, and after shots, noting that my best-wife-in-the-world partner helped with the hull glasswork (how many wives will do that?) and that's her in the last photo helping clean up after the core vacuum bagging in the lazaretto/engine room area.

[The Q 787]

I'll add to my bit, although SWMBO gave up sailing nearly 30 years ago, she's at this time making woven sail ties on an Inkle loom with the boats name in the weave. To be followed by a seat cushion base and back. With an Inkle loom woven band  around the edge, and the boats name woven in at the top .

[SloopJonB 12,559]

1 hour ago, SVArcturus said:

Oh geez.  Not sure I should remind myself (or, more importantly, my wife) of this.

We bought a perfectly good (well, except for some deck soft spots around the mast) used Soverel 36, largely because I had worked at Soverel 15 years earlier when they were building the same model and we both always lusted after the 36.  This is NOT the reason to choose your cruising vessel.

After a year, we hauled it  to do the bottom, repair a skeg crack (that we knew about when we bought it) and replace a seacock.  On removing the seacock, I was surprised to see that the hull was thinner than I expected.  It was the layup of the racing (fin keel, spade rudder) versions, but we'd bought the cruising (keel/centerboard and skeg-hung rudder).   All the boats were semi-custom and could be modified to fit buyer preferences and my experience is that the cruising boat buyers always went for heavier hull layups.  I will note here that after 15 years, the hull had no flex spots or oil canning and was in fine shape.

However, I decided that while we had the boat out of the water, I would add some interior hull laminations to thicken portions of the hull.  One thing led to another, "while we are at it", and long story short, we spent 10 years and ended up with only the exterior 1/4-1/2" of the hull and deck, the major structural bulkheads, and the fiberglass liner of the head being original.  The ENTIRE hull above the water line ended up with an additional 24 oz laminate, then the hull above the waterline got a vacuum-bagged structural-foam core,  glass laminations were added over that that core plus the entire hull below the waterline.  Then two fiberglass structural stringers were run along the entire hull.  Two of the main bulkheads are now watertight collision bulkheads and every mechanical and electrical system was replaced or rebuilt, including a new engine.  Oh, we also recored the deck and cabin trunk.

DO NOT DO THIS!  We love the boat but the cost in $$ and time make it a very unwise investment.  On the other hand, we didn't do it as an investment and it is set up pretty much exactly as we like.  But I still repeat...don't do this.

Now, another 20 years later, we are making additional changes as part of a Covid-lengthened refit before leaving to spend a few years cruising.  Crossed fingers that the South Pacific is open after hurricane season ends here in Florida. We'd like to leave the first of the year to work our way over there.  Like we were going to last year.   And the year before.   And the year before.  But we really mean it this time.

I'll finish with a picture of one part, the galley, with before, during, and after shots, noting that my best-wife-in-the-world partner helped with the hull glasswork (how many wives will do that?) and that's her in the last photo helping clean up after the core vacuum bagging in the lazaretto/engine room area.

I'd say you married very well.

I'm not so sure that she did though.

[SVArcturus 61]

6 hours ago, SloopJonB said:

I'd say you married very well.

I'm not so sure that she did though.

I agree.

 Her response, "I always new being able to catalyze resin in all temperatures would be a useful life skill."

[Diamond Jim 87]

I didn’t need another boat, but I needed a pandemic project.  Didn’t want to spend a lot and shop size limited LOA to 22’
Always liked Joel White’s designs, especially his Fox Island Class sloop.  Made a few changes:
Construction is cedar strip composite instead of glued lapstrake.
Scored a J/24 that  had gone mushy and used its rig and keel.
Here’s the result on the first sail.

We’re debugging it.  Results are encouraging.  
As I said, i needed a project, not a boat, so I’ll probably try to sell it.

[Zonker 5,239]

16 hours ago, cyclone said:

Amen

She is very understanding. 

Her "How did epoxy/engine oil/white polyurethane paint   get on the   floor/wall/couch/car steering wheel"

Me <Shrug>

 

[Mid 4,399]

18 hours ago, Zonker said:

Evan and I are still talking

winner .

[SloopJonB 12,559]

He hasn't said anything about what they actually say to each other.

[trisail 233]

It was a childhood dream to build my own boat and sail it across the ocean.

One day I walked into an empty shed with a set of plans, a pile of foam and rolls of glass and resin. And I would picture the boat reaching into an anchorage after a trans-ocean passage.

Finally did it at age 50-something.

[SASSAFRASS 765]

Wow!! Super cool stuff keep it coming!!

[SloopJonB 12,559]

Nice job - looks fast.

[OldmateFred 23]

Nothing too big sorry

Scarab 10 for my kids to play in, still a work in progress:

 

Scarab 16 for myself, also still a work in progress

 

I would have loved to gone bigger but couldn't afford it. Congrats to all those that survived building a boat!

Seems to be quite common for people to start and then suffer some major health problem and have to give it away

[Diamond Jim 87]

An earlier effort.  Credits to Dick Newick.
 

[Sidecar 1,304]

Own design, 9.5 metre proa built under the back verandah...... apologies for bad orientation.

 

 

[gelbrossi 25]

I built this F82-R. I started in 2003 and finished in 2015. I was loosing focus during that time and I did other projects in between. The actual build time was 6.5 years (parttime). I am absolutly happy with that boat, the latest addition was a set of C-foils (self build) and on the to do list are things like a carbon mast, a better - longer and sleeker centerboard (L/D ratio) and a set of racing sails. A lottery win might help!

Ulf

F82-R "Tribelle"

[The Q 787]

In case you haven't seen my build / rebuild thread,

 

[SASSAFRASS 765]

A little trip down memory lane always helps remind you why you build a boat.... definitely were some tough years but the payback was and is amazing.

[Zonker 5,239]

Awwww. 

My wife wasn't at the yard when we got in there with the chainsaw to start the new bridgedeck. Her first words were "well there's no going back now is there?"

My daughter "Daddy did you ruin the boat?"

[Zonker 5,239]

Following summer, getting ready to install windows. She loved her safety glasses. That's one big window. Nearly 2m wide.

 

[SASSAFRASS 765]

Too cool!  There is probably a group of young ladies out there who know more about boat construction and coatings than they ever cared too...

[The Mad Hatter 73]

I got my first job at the age of 13 because I wanted to build my own boat.

Since then I have built from ply , cedar strip and foam sandwich.  

It became a compulsion , learning with each build and knowing with what I had learnt I could still do better.

50yrs on,  Mad Hatter was my last build and I promised the misses that it would be my last.

[SloopJonB 12,559]

Did you consider a new wife before you made that promise?

[rcbrds 37]

On 7/5/2021 at 5:50 AM, Diamond Jim said:

As I said, i needed a project, not a boat, so I’ll probably try to sell it.

I admire your ability to separate these.  

[The Mad Hatter 73]

5 hours ago, SloopJonB said:

Did you consider a new wife before you made that promise?

I probably should of thought it through a little more over 40yrs ago before we were married.

Her not liking sailing should of been  a dead give away.  I did raise that concern with my father-in-law , his advice was

"don't worry women and boats are best kept apart."  but the jury is still out on that one.

She has supported my obsession for over 40yrs even though she doesn't sail.

She even designed and bought 6 of these (sun safe) shirts for the boat.

Swings and roundabouts.

  

[Raz'r 5,172]

A Dix oppikat made for the kids. Turns out the lack of blades on a little boat is even worse than on a big one. 

[Blue Crab 2,436]

On 7/5/2021 at 3:22 PM, SloopJonB said:

He hasn't said anything about what they actually say to each other.

Even enemies can have hallway sex.

[Diamond Jim 87]

On 7/7/2021 at 12:18 PM, rcbrds said:

I admire your ability to separate these.  

Deciding to build another boat is easy for me.  I’m retired and have lots of time and a good shop.  For years, I’ve been fascinated with ‘spirit of tradition’ boats that combine the aesthetic of mid-century yachts with more modern design and materials.  It occurred to me that balsa-cored boats that were self-composting could be ‘organ donors’ of usable components like keels and spars.  The low cost of these components improves the odds of recovering costs or better.  
In my near family, We have lots of boats and don’t want one that has ongoing ownership costs.
So, when we’ve ironed out the wrinkles, it’ll probably be available.
Teaser pic:

[SASSAFRASS 765]

I like that, it looks similar to one of the design on a previous thread for a fun coastal boat.

Space, a shop and time...  You have done very well my friend!!

[Tom Greaves 4]

It took me 15 years to finish Lola -- there were years I could not face the evidence of my procrastination and avoided the basement. It is a grand feeling to sail a boat one built, no matter how humble.  I grew to be a Joel White fan - loved the lines and still do.

[SloopJonB 12,559]

36 minutes ago, Tom Greaves said:

It took me 15 years to finish Lola -- there were years I could not face the evidence of my procrastination and avoided the basement. It is a grand feeling to sail a boat one built, no matter how humble.  I grew to be a Joel White fan - loved the lines and still do.

In one of his books Bill Garden said "To have lived a man must have raised a son, planted a tree and built a boat".

I couldn't find a flaw in the idea.

Did The Kinks have anything to do with the choice of name?

 

[Fah Kiew Tu 3,226]

8 hours ago, SloopJonB said:

In one of his books Bill Garden said "To have lived a man must have raised a son, planted a tree and built a boat".

I couldn't find a flaw in the idea.

Pretty sure the original was Chinese and was "Every man should have a son, build a house and plant a tree".

More 21C version might be that every person should have a child, build a house and plant a tree.

I've no fault to find with any of the versions.

FKT

[Tom Greaves 4]

Lola was my grandmother's name.  I lost the skirmish to name our daughter after her.  Now let me see about what kind of tree I want to plant. How about a grove of white oak?

[trisail 233]

It seems like the multihull guys are the most prolific of the home builders.

As Ian Farrier would say, "if you want a trimaran, you probably have to build it yourself".

 

Pic is my Farrier F9 in build, back in circa 2007. a four and a half year project that sucked all my spare time.

[23feet 34]

On 7/5/2021 at 2:13 PM, trisail said:

It was a childhood dream to build my own boat and sail it across the ocean.

One day I walked into an empty shed with a set of plans, a pile of foam and rolls of glass and resin. And I would picture the boat reaching into an anchorage after a trans-ocean passage.

Finally did it at age 50-something.

Really impressive. What ocean did you cross on the F9?

[estarzinger 888]

We sailed Hawk's almost bare hull (just cabin sole, major bulkheads, two sea bunks, head out in the open, and cooler of food) up to annapolis and then I flew off to russia for 4 months of work and told beth "you should have the interior almost done by the time i get back'

[cyclone 559]

7 hours ago, trisail said:

It seems like the multihull guys are the most prolific of the home builders.

As Ian Farrier would say, "if you want a trimaran, you probably have to build it yourself".

 

Pic is my Farrier F9 in build, back in circa 2007. a four and a half year project that sucked all my spare time.

I’ll add another multihull, my Constant Camber 23 about a month prior to launch

[Blue Crab 2,436]

Beautiful!

[The Q 787]

8 hours ago, trisail said:

It seems like the multihull guys are the most prolific of the home builders.

As Ian Farrier would say, "if you want a trimaran, you probably have to build it yourself".

 

Pic is my Farrier F9 in build, back in circa 2007. a four and a half year project that sucked all my spare time.

Beautiful boat. But tri's are not the most common home built boat, there are several other forums which concentrate on much more home built boats and their design. They are mostly mono hulls.

The UK home built rally http://uk-hbbr-forum.967333.n3.nabble.com/

Wooden boat forum http://forum.woodenboat.com/

And of course https://www.boatdesign.net/forums/

The Amateur yacht research society. https://www.ayrs.org/

https://www.electricboatassociation.org 

I'm sure there are many more specialising in US and Anzac boats.

 

[trisail 233]

11 hours ago, 23feet said:

Really impressive. What ocean did you cross on the F9?

Good morning,

The 2010 Governors Cup Race.

Simons Town to St Helena. 1800 miles. 9 days 19 hours, sailing two-up.

Regards.

[trisail 233]

3 hours ago, The Q said:

Beautiful boat. But tri's are not the most common home built boat, there are several other forums which concentrate on much more home built boats and their design. They are mostly mono hulls.

The UK home built rally http://uk-hbbr-forum.967333.n3.nabble.com/

Wooden boat forum http://forum.woodenboat.com/

And of course https://www.boatdesign.net/forums/

The Amateur yacht research society. https://www.ayrs.org/

https://www.electricboatassociation.org 

I'm sure there are many more specialising in US and Anzac boats.

 

Quite correct.

I meant to say, "the most prolific of the people who are posting on this thread".

[trisail 233]

5 hours ago, cyclone said:

I’ll add another multihull, my Constant Camber 23 about a month prior to launch

Wow!

Now that's a cool boat. Well done.

Please post some more details and specs.

Regards.

[cyclone 559]

5 hours ago, trisail said:

Now that's a cool boat. Well done.

Likewise. 

The plans and specs are still listed on John Marples’ SearunnerTrimarans site.

https://www.searunner.com/index.php/cc23-tri

[cyclone 559]

This is the latest build. John Eisenlohr’s Mini Skeeter is designed for both Landsailing and ice boating. I’ve almost hit 50 mph on land so far.

 

[Zonker 5,239]

19 hours ago, cyclone said:

I’ll add another multihull, my Constant Camber 23 about a month prior to launch

Sweet lines

[23feet 34]

On 7/11/2021 at 12:06 AM, trisail said:

Good morning,

The 2010 Governors Cup Race.

Simons Town to St Helena. 1800 miles. 9 days 19 hours, sailing two-up.

Regards.

What's your opinion on the merits of the F9/C31 for ocean passage making?

[Windward 672]

On 7/11/2021 at 5:40 AM, cyclone said:

This is the latest build. John Eisenlohr’s Mini Skeeter is designed for both Landsailing and ice boating. I’ve almost hit 50 mph on land so far.

 

50 on the dry must be quite the thrill.   I'd rather ice to crash at 50.

Smart to have a rollbar-ish setup.

*** I know nothing about land sailing, so just an observation.

 

A+

[trisail 233]

Good evening,

It's a fantastic smooth and easy ride. The boat loves the open ocean.

But, it must be kept light and spartan. Think hiking and camping in a two man tent versus an RV. We really enjoyed our passage and lived comfortable on dry and level bunks, preparing nice simple meals in a level galley without dishes flying all over the place as it would have been on a same size (or any size!) monohull.

I have done two trans-Atlantic crossings with 10 meter size light IOR racing monohulls along the edges of the Roaring Forties, one of which was a solo passage and have ridden out mid-Atlantic storms feeling quite safe and secure inside the monohulls. I would not like to have been caught in the same storms with a 9 meter multihull. It would probably have been flipped.

Interesting, about 5 years ago a chap passed through around the Cape of Good Hope on a F9 called Bird. He had sailed the boat from Auz, up to the Philippines', and then South to South Africa before heading across to Brazil. Ian Farrier put a piece up on his website at the time. And a few F9's have done the hop across from the States to Hawaii and further.

Regards.

[23feet 34]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

[SVArcturus 61]

On 7/6/2021 at 4:13 PM, SASSAFRASS said:

Too cool!  There is probably a group of young ladies out there who know more about boat construction and coatings than they ever cared too...

Where's a thumbs up emoji when you need one.

[monsters inc 14]

Except for sails , I built everything. I think I will purchase my next boat…

[SloopJonB 12,559]

You owe it to the world to keep building them.

[Autonomous 1,232]

Building a boat is tough to pencil out. The pros buy their supplies and components at wholesale and have the huge advantage of prior experience. Some home builders have to pay for building space which can add up if the build drags on.

Recently I was literally minutes from starting a build. I had done the math on consumables, tools, supplies, components etc. The homebuilt boat is still less than the boat I ordered but not as much as one would wish.

 When you factor in resale of a home built boat, no matter if it is better built than pro, it doesn't get better.

 

[Pertsa 269]

Well, it is probably one of most common homebuilt ones. Snipe. I just ended up with drawings, so I had no choice but built it.

What I learned was that dyed epoxy is porous and will take colour from wood dust. So white stripes have brown dots now. Doesn't matter though, it sails like snipe.

 

[SASSAFRASS 765]

Awsome build!

[Gone Ballistic 22]

I built a my own design plywood outboard runabout and i'm halfway through a strip cedar canoe. Thinking about the next project already. I'd like a fast trailable weekend sailer. Any ideas on a good kit?

[SloopJonB 12,559]

That runabout should be painted some sinister colour like gun metal or satin black.

[Foreverslow 495]

building is not always the cheapest method.

Buddy ( hobby is woodworking) and I decided to build a set of Maine Wooden Boat  Nutshell pram

You can:

Buy plans

Buy pre-cut kit and assemble.

Buy a completed boat.

 

We went with the plans route with a grainy late 1970s vcr tape from some stoner on how to build it.

Worked on it several times a week for 3-4 hours over the course of a winter.

Each time, we would consume 2 bottles of a nice Aussie Shiraz.     Built our own jigs for laying up frames etc.

The boats came out very nice.

Due to the wine expenses, it would have been much cheaper to just buy completed boats from Maine Wooden Boat.

 

Good learning experience that helped kill time on winter nights.

[SloopJonB 12,559]

8 hours ago, Foreverslow said:

building is not always never the cheapest method.

FTFY

[Fah Kiew Tu 3,226]

On 8/17/2021 at 1:31 AM, SloopJonB said:

FTFY

True - I can buy a ferro hull in the water for $1500...

FKT

[Diamond Jim 87]

Another one that a chum and I built. 1908 one-lung engine. 
 

[trisail 233]

Power boats okay here?

Currently building little 4 meter retro design outboard runabout for my wife.

If it was a sail boat it would have been done ages ago!

[IStream 3,415]

Great picture! It's important to document these because they'll never, ever, look better.

[Ishmael 10,553]

Long ago, when I had a real shop space, I built this Atkin "Jeb" skiff from plans I found in an old magazine. It was an interesting exercise in lofting and glued-lapstrake plywood. I still have the plans somewhere. I also made the spoon-blade oars from lumberyard spruce.

[Ishmael 10,553]

3 hours ago, quod umbra said:

Pretty dink Ish. How does she row?

Not too bad, a bit heavy on the oars, the flat bottom drags quite a bit. Went like a bat out of hell with a 4-hp outboard though.

[SloopJonB 12,559]

I like that newel post support for the aft thwart.

Repurposed furniture of some sort?

[SASSAFRASS 765]

At least one dining rm chair was sacrificed...

[SASSAFRASS 765]

One of the many things I love about being back in the PNW is all the great rowing dingys and skiffs you see in regular use.

[Ishmael 10,553]

9 hours ago, SloopJonB said:

I like that newel post support for the aft thwart.

Repurposed furniture of some sort?

I can't remember where the hell that came from. It's been a while. I decided to move out to the coast from the prairies shortly after finishing that, so I didn't get a lot of play time with it, or with the Bolger Elegant Punt I built as a tender.

I built the sailing rig for it and bought the sail from the official supplier in the States, and sailed it once. I advertised the skiff for sale, and the first guy who showed up bought the skiff and the Punt on the spot. I guess I should have asked more.

 

[cyclone 559]

On 8/26/2021 at 9:33 PM, Ishmael said:

Bolger Elegant Punt I built as a tender

Nymph?

[Ishmael 10,553]

12 hours ago, cyclone said:

Nymph?

No, he's just a friend with his dog.

[nicolacam 0]

iswear everything I saw here today was impressive, I hope I get to share my own story someday

[pironiero 89]

im jealous