Is building Dead?

[Boracay]

The main problem with building yourself is that it is almost impossible to get a first class result.

This makes it very hard to get a good price for an amateur built boat.

Boracay may not be everyones' idea of a perfect boat, but it is custom finished for a couple to go cruising.

[SkiprJohn]

I think most all the good points have been made. It costs more to build your own. It takes lots more time. When you are done building it will not be new. The hull will be lots older than the latest addition. If you installed an engine just after getting the hull it might be 5 years old when you launch. Whatever new innovation you come up with will already have been tried. No matter how hard you try someone else will have done it better. You can find an already sailing boat exactly the way you'd like to build now instead of working your tail off to sail later.
Listen to those with experience. It never hurts even if you don't follow their advice.
The best one I've heard is: "If you want to build a boat then build it but if you want to sail a boat then sail it." You aren't going to do both at the same time.
And, lastly, if someone confesses that they are giving you advice from experience then please don't criticize them for telling you the truth.
Regards,
JohnL

[northerncat]

i disagree with the above 2 comments number 1 it is very possible to get a first class result it just means that you dont just slap it together, i would also say that it is significantly cheaper to build a new boat yourself than to buy a cheaper 2nd hand from my own experience approx 80000 to build 40ft cat, or min 150,000 to buy a second hand 40 ft cat i know which side of the fence i would jump, we have been getting a large amount of joy from our boat, and are now considering building another one
sean

[freetime]

A friend of me own this yacht, built by the owner only.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Boracay

The main problem with building yourself is that it is almost impossible to get a first class result.

Why? If you put in the effort you can get an excellent result. A friend recently sold his boat that he had built in his backyard over 3 years while also working full time, and made a reasonable profit for his labour, and recieved high praise from the surveyor.

The surveyor stated that owner built boats were generally of a much higher standard than production boats. He had a very low opinion of some of the very popular French production boats, and the way they are built.

Another guy I know started out building the same boat I am, and before he was finished someone made him a great offer on it, so he sold it and started building another - which also sold before being finished. He's ended up being virtually a professional builder, although he never set out to be. He's nearly finished building his third 44C, and it's also sold, he reckons the next one is definitely not for sale.

I had an offer for my boat in it's unfinished state too. At the price offered I would have earned over $100k net for just over a year's work. It was tempting...

You can build good boats at home, and you can build them cheaper and better than you can buy them.

[freetime]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

Why? If you put in the effort you can get an excellent result. A friend recently sold his boat that he had built in his backyard over 3 years while also working full time, and made a reasonable profit for his labour, and recieved high praise from the surveyor.

The surveyor stated that owner built boats were generally of a much higher standard than production boats. He had a very low opinion of some of the very popular French production boats, and the way they are built.

Another guy I know started out building the same boat I am, and before he was finished someone made him a great offer on it, so he sold it and started building another - which also sold before being finished. He's ended up being virtually a professional builder, although he never set out to be. He's nearly finished building his third 44C, and it's also sold, he reckons the next one is definitely not for sale.

I had an offer for my boat in it's unfinished state too. At the price offered I would have earned over $100k net for just over a year's work. It was tempting...

You can build good boats at home, and you can build them cheaper and better than you can buy them.

Sounds nice, and it´t also important to build Right boat in right style, not a 60f boat with only one bedroom if you are alone.

[Karletto]

boat building is not dead but people are building it in the garden and use plastic materials; i remember 3 guys that were building a wooden motosailer in a small shipyard in the channel we had our catamaran; thair building plan didn't seem to have an end; 3 years later there were still there with half of ribs open; 10 years later the boat was afloat; thay made a great job it looks beautiful

[sylinnea]

Coming a bit late into the thread.

We built our own 36 ft boat (S/Y Linnea) and don't regret it. The main reason was that there simply wasn't any suitable boats for sale. I don't agree that home built has less quality then production boats. My experience is the oposite. If you have some imagination and experience of bad weather at sea every moment you won't cheat while building your own boat. Then maybe the finnish may not be the same glossy plastic feeling but is that bad?

When it comes to money it isn't really worthwhile to build your own, as many have pointed out. But then sailing isn't really either. Want to go around the world? Take a plane! What I mean is that since there are no really practical reasons for sailing anyway, compared to other ways of transportation, you don't need to defend your choices of building or buying new, what kind of rig you want, what kind of hull, etc.

To be able to handle ice (to a limited degree) we added kevlar around the waterline, to take "skim ice". The hull itself is composite wood/glass/epoxy. Then we have a watertight bulkhead just forward of the mast, that is as strong as the hull.

/matti

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by sylinnea

... When it comes to money it isn't really worthwhile to build your own, as many have pointed out. But then sailing isn't really either. Want to go around the world? Take a plane! What I mean is that since there are no really practical reasons for sailing anyway, compared to other ways of transportation, you don't need to defend your choices of building or buying new, what kind of rig you want, what kind of hull, etc...
/matti

Well said, Matti.

[dcstrng]

Originally Posted by sylinnea

I don't agree that home built has less quality then production boats. My experience is the oposite. If you have some imagination and experience of bad weather at sea every moment you won't cheat while building your own boat...

Amatuer boatbuildig (from my observation along the Bay...) is like the diffrence between fast-food and a home-cooked meal... in the hands of an accomplished and dedicated home-cook, the meal will beat fast-food everytime, but many of us are better off heading to Burger King (or whatever) for a quick meal of predictable quality at a known price... Well, okay some upper-end boats are more like fine dining, but ya still get what the chef thinks ya may want...

Heart says, "build...;" but my head says, "who're ya trying to kid..."

[David M]

There are excellent home chefs and excellent restaurant chefs....either way you choose is fine. But you better be an excellent chef if you are going to do it yourself.

There really is a key element that has been touched on here. Very few people have the diversity of skill needed to find superior quality in all facets of boat building. As a result, getting the same quality of a boat built by a team of builders, with different specialties, in a boat built by a single person, is unlikely. Most of us who would entertain the idea, have a pretty diverse skill set, but very few can be experts in all of the areas needed to construct and finish a boat.

[David M]

Agreed Kai... resorting to a team of specialists is more often than not, better than one person trying to do all things....especially as things get more complex and requires a variety of different knowledge. Probably the only thing more complex than boats are aircraft.

[Brent Swain]

I and my friends have been working for the last 28 years helping people build their own steel boats in their own backyard. I just finished a 36 footer on Vancouver Island and a friend just finished another last year. Building is not dead, but has definitly slowed down. I used to have to turn work down to get my 11 months a year playtime. Since my book and Alex's Video came out , far more people are building their own.
Many people enjoyed the project more than the cruising.Many could never afford the bank loan it takes to buy a boat, yet pay as they go when it comes to materials. I've heard it said that man without a project is a man without a life.
For fibreglass boats there are so many for sale at far less than the cost of materials, that building doesn't make sense. For steel , very few are available, and it's nice to know exactly how things were done and painted , especially inside. Buyinga used boat means accepting or not knowing what others have done. A friend started looking for steel boats in California, moving north. Very few were an vailable there, in Oregon there were more, more yet in Washington and plenty in BC and Alaska. Longer nights , rougher weather and floating logs may have had a lot to do with it.
Commercially made means made by someone with a major financial interest in minimising materials, something that's irrelevant to someone building his own one off. You can overbuild to your hearts desire and the cost is minimal. You can acquire you'r bits and pieces at a fraction the new cost, especially scrap stainless and wood, something that a commercial builder doesn't have the time for. You can build as money allows, avoiding debt and interest payments. You could never buy a new steel boat as cheaply as building your own.
Brent

[Boracay]

When building a boat one finally knows how to do a task when it is finished.

One probably knows how to do it well when one has done it a few times.