Brewer MT42

[geomorrow]

Hello all,

I have searched the forum a bit for answers surrounding a project boat I found online.... So far I have found nothing to show for the original design layout or another Brewer MT42 for sale outside of the one project boat. I do like the thought of a Brewer designed boat at 42' and don't mind the project part but I do have very limited knowledge and I would hate to be had this early in the game.

Any help would be appreciated!

[Chasing Summer]

You've probably already been here but here's a link to some Brewers for sale. There are 33 pictures of the 42. Good luck with your project.
http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/category/type/Brewer

[S/V Alchemy]

Get a surveyor familiar with the Brewer designs. As with Bruce Roberts, it's the execution of the design that is important, not the lines. "Project boat" is thus a somewhat discouraging term. Poor, heavy, careless and ignorant seem to describe the majority, although I have seen excellent work done by retired tradesmen who know how to work from plans and how to work with metal and F/G and simply get ill or pass on before they can get the mast in or the tankage finished.

But to see what you are looking at, a 90% great, finished boat or something that should be inverted to make a bomb shelter-grade garden shed, you need to cough up for a professional assessment.

This sentence: "don't mind the project part but I do have very limited knowledge" doesn't make sense to me. As someone who has had to make up for vast deficits in shop and materials skills since I bought my first boat in the late '90s, if you have very limited knowledge, you don't KNOW if you "mind the project part". It could eat every weekend for the next five years, particularly if you've never worked with glass or hand tools and need to learn just to avoid expensive "operator error". Or just to know when you should NOT "do it yourself" and pay for a mechanic or a welder or a cabinet-maker.

I guess I'm saying that "project" is a very fluid and ambiguois term, and that a large proportion of "projects" are never finished. If you have the skills, the time and the money, however, to finish what others started knowledgeably, it is possible to get a great boat at a low price that you can customize.

Ted Brewer draws great boats. But when his pencil lifts off the sheet, his work is essentially done.

[Chasing Summer]

Gee ... what a scathing !!!! Something I wouldn't have expected on this forum. Most anyone with some trial and error, and time can learn most of the skills to build a boat. Boat builders aren't born with those skills. They start out running arrands and getting material for the skilled crew as they learn from them. With todays techology, Youtube, and forums like this skills can be watched and learned. Ten years ago I had never worked with glass, I'd never touched a diesel engine, and I'd never TIG welded. Today I'm two years into my boat having layed yards and yards of glass creating many things from closing up old port holes and thru hull holes to built-in tanks and dorade boxes. My diesel received a complete overhaul and runs like a top. As far as woodwork I completed my first fingerjoint project by making four drawers, which by the way were not square but angled to fit the hull.

For pete sake give the guy encouragement not ridicule; help him when he has questions or point him to where he can find the answer.

True, there are people who shouldn't even pick up a screwdrive but this guy doesn't seem to be one of those guys.

Geomorron, I'm behind you 100% of the way. Incidently you might consider changing your name to something that means: I can learn to do this stuff, or I've never met a project I couldn't get around.

Ok, I'm done venting. Please, forum members ... we're here to support one another not tear each other or worse yet, newcomers down.

I'm finished now :-)

[S/V Alchemy]

It wasn't meant to be scathing. It was meant to be realistic, and thereby helpful and instructive. Please do not mistake the bluntness of style for invective. I live near a boatyard where the sound of chainsaws on abandoned "projects" is a constant.

I never took shop or "Industrial Arts" because I was chasing skirt in drama class. While I certainly don't regret that part of my youth, a crystal ball would've been useful to see that with an old boat, a boat in turnaround and a 120-year-old house, learning handyman and "is this crap?" skills before acquisition would have avoided discouragement, money and some livid scars.

[Vasco]

geomorrow,

Listen to Alchemy. He's building his own boat. Many projects are never finished, just passed on to the next guy with a dream.

[S/V Alchemy]

Thanks, Rick. Feel free to drop by this summer. The new prop looks to get fitted tomorrow, weather permitting.

[hpeer]

Don't know what a Brewer MT 42 is, but.....

Ted is a great guy. He does not do design anymore but does consult for very, very reasonable fees. You more than get your money worth.

When we consulted with him it was $300 until he gets tired of talking to you, which is quite a long time.

We have a Brewer Murray 33, great boat.

[geomorrow]

Thanks for weighing in everyone, I really enjoy reading thread after thread on CF. Thanks for the honesty(Alchemy) and thanks for the encouragement (Chasing Summer)!

The comment, inexperienced combined with don't mind the project... I was referring to my having never owned my own boat but having the shop skills to get it done. As someone who is ready to have a boat to call my own, I was testing the waters here on CF to see if a project boat would be the proper route or if I need to take another road. Either way I decide, I do respect everyone's opinion on the forum and look forward to more question and answer sessions with you guys.

On a side note, in which I almost blew coffee out of my nose!, although Chasing Summer didnt mean to... While in the new guy's defense, he did refer to me as "geomoron", hahahaha!!

Thanks again!

Cheers!

[S/V Alchemy]

Having the shop skills makes you better able to fix problems or complete refits, which is a Good Thing. You still need a surveyor to enumerate those problems, which may not be apparent to someone unfamiliar with boats, and which also have a real effect on valuation. A bunch of brass gate valves for seacocks, for instance, or house-grade wiring, require expensive and labour-intensive replacements, and yet are not uncommon at the "project" level of boat acquisition. On the other hand, you can sometimes find the relatives of a late, but meticulous, boat builder who selected top-tier gear and proven techniques, but didn't live to finish the boat and has a family who know nothing about "Dad's hobby". That can represent a "priced to move" opportunity if you know what you are looking at.

Many a survey has been used to negotiate "you fix it or I'll fix it, but I want ten grand off your price" deals. Certainly a well-done purchase survey will be a learning opportunity. Good luck.

I agree with the sentiment on Ted Brewer. He's very approachable.