Looking for Strategy Input With Boat Options (trying to regroup)

[mvweebles]

Originally Posted by alansmith

As far as Ensenada ... I know nothing. But sea of Cortez... San Carlos... it is about 6 hour drive to Tucson... living is cheap and the people are wonderfull. Love it there. But a big build... I would have a nervous breakdown. It is really more for the power boat rich Mexican guys.

I thought about San Carlos. A fellow Willard owner keeps his Willard 40 trawler there and has had work done. I decided I had too much work to rely on "I know a guy" approach, even though the labor rate was in the $50-$100 USD per day. Plus, as Ensenada is only 70-miles south of the border, pretty easy to get parts and equipment down. It's working well for me. I'm about 10-months into a refit, so not a trivial project.



Peter

[GreenWave]

Hate to poop on your parade, but your ailments don't seem to be very compatible with a sailboat. Even if you get past this rebuild, what about when your boat needs that small patch job done while you are sailing the ocean blue?

[Michael Pope]

nd if well built and looked after last just as long. Michael Pope

Has to be a boat though not any thing with training hulls!!!!

Oh Bad Political no speak

[Deep Blue Water]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Ok, I've finally come to the realization that I can't personally finish my catamaran given that I can't go anywhere near the materials anymore. (Severe epoxy allergy)

Here are the choices I seem to have:

1) Sell the hull and take a huge loss, also selling a monohull I have, then try to find a good, fast global cruising catamaran for sale that will accept owner financing with a big downpayment. This would actually be ideal, but the boat wouldn't be as good as this one.

In the owner financing case, I'd be willing to keep the boat between Florida and Maine only, have them install GPS tracking and be willing to show pictures of the boat, the location and whatever else they wanted over the phone at any time they wanted.

2) Hire a work crew with a crew leader and actively manage the boat project, working nearly full time supplying them with materials, instructions, etc. And also working full time to support this situation financially. (also selling monohull) . This is mostly fussy interior finish work. Lots of potential to go wrong with people screwing things up and damaging things as they work.

3) Mothball the boat and let it decay while waiting for a recession to hit so some of the custom boat builders need work in Florida. I've tried: BoatSmith from the forum, Colin Mack, a woman who works out of Cracker Boy I'm forgetting the name of, Riian Mondrian. Can't seem to get any of them to bite on the project.

4) Just give up on boats all together, admit defeat and get an RV to at least have some fun. But we all know that's no fun in comparison.

A difficult thing to face, but I have to face it. I can no longer personally build any boats.

#2, whereas you can't, someone else can do the work. You can bid out each section/sub project so the people doing the work understand the business side of it and that it's not a runaway cash train.



No offense to those who have work done in Mexico/live there/can find Mexico on a map but I think you'd go insane trying to get work done when there's such a pervasive 'que sera' atmosphere; you need something better than shrugged shoulders when you discover an issue. I suggest you find a yard that specializes in fiberglass and epoxy, give them your to-do list and have them bid it.


Epoxy work is a pain but it's not rocket surgery; unless you're trying to find someone for $10/hr I'm sure you can locate a resource. Make sure they're insured and have an actual company.

[JPA Cate]

Hire out the work. It is the only possible way forward with the project. As Henry said, make sure it is a real business, even it you have different businesses do different portions. Make sure they have in writing the idiosyncratic things you need to have "just so", especially the level of "cleanness" in which you have to have the boat, in the hard to get at nooks and crannies. Some shipwrights have apprentices. Perhaps you can work something out with one, to hire the apprentice to do the work, under the Shipwright's supervision.

One reason to go forward till the Fates stop you is that you will always regret it if it is your heart's desire and you didn't do everything you could to give it a go. Only you can tell if you've reached that point. But as long as your money tree's healthy, it seems as if you can, till you get sick of it, anyway.

We have a boat builder friend who is allergic to epoxy. He now works in foam, vinyl ester, and carbon fibre, and hires out epoxy work. Above my pay grade to know if you can switch to it at this point with your boat.

For me, the above is the moving forward point. However, I see a possible down side, as well. Asthma is serious, and I feel some concern for you, approaching long passages away from medical support, and I think I need to add this. It sometimes happens that one encounters delays during long passages. The only Mayday Jim ever handled at sea on the ham radio was from a nurse, a woman who was crew for an asthmatic man, and they were almost out of oxygen for him. Eventually arranged for the US Coast Guard to fly out and drop to them the necessary oxygen, and he survived. But, there is a level of risk here. If radio conditions had been too bad, or today, if the Satphone doesn't work for any reason whatsoever, it could be a different story. So, take the condition seriously, and don't fantasize about your air conditioned catamaran keeping you safe. A/C can fail. What would you do then???

Ann