restoring hurricane damaged 40+ foot newer Catamaran

[Mr B]

With any repairs of any kind,
Professionals need to make a profit to repair any thing, Thats over and above any repair costs,
Amateurs dont have to make a profit, As long as it finally comes out under the cost of a similar boat thats ready to sail, They are well ahead of the game,

They get a cheap boat,

My boat was written off by the insurance company, Mainly because the repair quotes were Way over the top,
These excessive repair costs were mainly designed to get a cheap boat from the insurance company,

I priced the repairs locally, Including trucking it 700 miles to get the repairs done locally,
My boat was half submerged for 7 days,
It was also dropped off the supports while it was on stands to get the air bags under it for transferring it from an Island to the Marina,
Extensively damaging the Hulls and rudders,

My biggest problem with repairing my boat,
The salvagers had cut the interior floors out to clean the sand and rubbish out between the upper and lower hulls,
Cutting out all the electrics and hoses under the floors, And every thing is under the floors,
Fortunately my instruments, Autopilot, GPS, Etc, Switch board, didnt get submerged and were ok,
Which all had to be replaced, They no longer existed,
My hulls were done by professionals, Every thing else was done by me,
I paid $15,000-00 for my wrecked boat, The insurance paid me out in full,
Salvage, Marina fees, Cleaning, Restarting the diesel, Storage was all paid for by the insurance company,
My Wrecked boat sitting there in the marina's hard stand had 25 grands worth of mast, sails and rigging, All undamaged, I was ahead for a starter,
It cost me about 90 grand AUD Inclusive, to repair my boat completely with hulls three times the thickness of original manufacture,
The hulls dont flex like the original as Ive sat on the ground 4 times since being repaired,
The thicker hulls I asked for do a very good job,
All the work was done outside on Purpose built steel stands, I made myself,

As for seaworthiness, I got caught out in Bass Straight in a very violent storm, A month ago, Winds in excess of 40 knots, Full on cork in a washing machine, I thought I would lose the mast it was getting bashed that violently,
It was my shake down cruise to make sure every thing worked, I was expecting things to break down, Not work, Etc Etc, As it was all new or repaired, You dont know if you dont try it out,

A storm in the middle of three days of nice weather to sail in, It happens,
My boat came thru with flying colours, Im very happy with my repairs,

I ended up with a good quality, cheap boat, Would I do it again, NO,
But Hindsight is great, Isnt it, Hahahahaha

To the OP, Make sure you do your home work well, Before you start, It could burn you financially, But wish you well if you do go ahead with it,

And Yes, Its fully comprehensively insured again,

Cheers Brian,

[Nucopia]

Run Forest RUN

[GRIT]

Congrats Mr B.

I had forgotten about your project, as an example of what can be done with repairs.
Well done.

Cheers.
Paul.

[belizesailor]

A related reference for anyone considering such an undertaking:

The San Bas Islands of Panama are notorious for their complex and mostly poorly charted reefs (excluding Bauhaus' excellent cartography of course). Many boats are put up on the reefs there every year and are typically total loses...usually with keels, rudders, drives, hulls ripped out by the reef.

Most of these groundings are from the backpacker charter trade, conducted mostly on substandard boats by substandard captains who are typically fatigued/drunk/stoned/asleep when the grounding occurs. The rest are usually fatigued cruisers arriving from a long passage who make a bad decision.

Nearby Linton Bay Marina has become a hub for rebuilding of these total loss boats. Ive seen some amazing rebuilds done there.

Example: an FP Bahia which was missing most of its lower hull sections...keels and nearby hull sections were totally gone. New keels were fabb'ed, hulls rebuilt. I know the guy who did all the structural glass work, super experienced. I saw her get splashed for the first time.

As a result there are contractors available who have lots of reconstruction experience (just choose very carefully as some you want to avoid) at very reasonable rates.

[valleyweather]

Thank you everyone, for your time and advice, all that were related to my questions are considered. I am not sure what I am going to do yet.

[AiniA]

VW
I may have missed this, but is the purpose of the possible rebuild to get a 40' cat to cruise on or to sell. If you are by yourself it is much bigger than you need for one person. What are you going to use the extra berths and heads for. Plus the cost of owning a cat this large are very high. If you want to get a boat to live on and cruise with something in the 30 to 37 foot range makes much more sense. If you have been living in your van it will seem spacious. You can't go anywhere during COVID and I am sure there will be lots of bargains all over the place in a few months. You should be able to get a boat for $10k to $20k. Let's assume you do $10k in upgrades you can be ready to go for next fall for less than $30K and avoid the grief of years of work and get on with the fun part.

[valleyweather]

Originally Posted by AiniA

VW
...is the purpose of the possible rebuild to get a 40' cat to cruise on or to sell. If you are by yourself it is much bigger than you need for one person. What are you going to use the extra berths and heads for.

Thanks for the question. I am definitely looking for a boat to cruise on with my family, 3 of us, and we may do some weekend trips for people, also extended family visits. I am not looking to flip boats, as I am busy with my meteorological consulting and health coaching.

[jimbunyard]

Just as a 'for instance'.

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ia-232513.html

[Ken Fry]

Originally Posted by GRIT

I've heard enough negativity on this thread to last me a while.

As an antidote to that:
What a beautiful boat you have built! Those big dagger boards are begging to sail. I hope you plan to rig her for sailing. The Hughes designs sail very well -- far better than the usual floating hotels that have become the cruising cat norm.

There is a third path between negativity and positivity: a balance (as represented by the yin/yang symbol).

I have not found the warnings of people here (in this thread) to be excessively negative. They are the product of considerable experience in many areas, and that experience can lead to dramatic differences in perspective.

Your own assessment in post 47 was, in my view, spot on. But it could be thought of as negative by some people: Why suggest that the OP is incompetent to do the keel work? You wrote: "It'll be easier to fix, for an amateur, if it's solid glass. But I'd suggest getting that part done professionally."

I happen to agree with your assessment, but if you were giving the advice to me, I'd take it as an insult: I would never think of having anyone else do any of the fiberglass work on one of my own boats, because many boat "pros" are no different than car repair "pros" -- far too many are both incompetent and overpriced.

Your other negative comments with which I happen to agree:

"Most boats are overpriced"
"$20,000 for a used mast is on the high side."
"So expect the worst, and be suspicious of what a seller/broker tells you."
"I don't have much faith in surveyors,"

Boat brokers and surveyors would find your comments negative, but I think you are spot on.

I used to think of my dad as being excessively "negative," especially regarding his frugality. But if he were alive, he'd be in great shape right now, buying up bargain stocks, and likely to double his money in a year's time. I'd call him a "tightwad". He would call himself "prudent".

He lived through the great depression, and if he were still alive he would have been well-prepared for this looming one. He sailed a very small sailboat, and would have said something like "Anyone who puts more than 5% of his stash into depreciating asset like a boat is a fool." Plenty of brokers would consider that very negative: their business relies, for the most part, on people buying far more boat than they can afford.

(The same principal, getting the client to pay for more than he or she needs, applies to real estate agents, car dealers, stock brokers, investment advisers... beauticians, cosmetic surgeons, waiters, wine stewards... )

[GRIT]

Nice Post Ken. You're right of course. Some of my comments could have been considered negative. Well said.

I think I just let Skipper Kenny get to me. So I guess I was complaining about a personal attack on myself, not necessarily an overall negative thread. My impression of the thread got skewed. Thanks for setting me straight.

And thanks for the compliment, regards the boat.

Cheers.
Paul.

[captlloyd]

Originally Posted by Buzzman

SK, it's clear to even those of us with a modicum of understanding that your posts aimed at GRIT are sarcastic if not even an ad hominem attack.
Your use of the word 'respectfully' in your sign off is anything but. At best it is ironic, at worst, just plain rude.
Please, everyone, can we just play nice....????

X2. Saying “ respectfully “ after being disrespectful doesn’t make a lot of sense and brings into question your thought process to begin with.

[Mr B]

There are professionals and there are professionals,
Some are excellent, Some are just straight out shonky,

My first repairer came highly reccomended but was told he was a bit slow,
Five years later, I could still put my fist thru the holes in my hulls,
I sued him, To get my boat back, Mainly to get the contract lifted,
So I could get another repairer to repair my boat, The Hulls,

The court case awarded me all costs, and lifted the contract,
I even sent the Sherrif down to confiscate any property he owned to repay me.
He was a Bankrupt trading insolvent, So I got nothing, He owned nothing,
I have it all documented, Its available if required,
Including the courts judgement in my favour,

The second repairer took 12 months approximately to rebuild my hulls after cutting out all the previous repairs,
He did a magnificent job of it, Boosting the thickness by three times the original manufacturers specs,, Which I specified in the new contract,
John Bakker, And Rodrigous, Thank you for the excellent repairs you did to my hulls,

I still have the cut out sections as evidence of the shonky repairs the first repairer did,
The first repairer wasted five years of my life, Waiting for my boat to be repaired,

FWIW, There was a 40 foot Catamaran in his workshop being repaired when I put mine in, The first repairer,
Its still sitting on the hard under tarps unfinished, when I moved my boat down to the Marina to be launched,

Cheers, Brian,

[Icarus]

Originally Posted by valleyweather

thanks for the reply. I am not religious. I can own a 250k boat if I can find one that can be fixed up, and I manage to fix it up. I am listening to all advice in this forum, and respect that people are advising me and taking their time to so so, including you, thank you. I value it. That said, I have had people tell me I cannot do this or that, and it does help me to actually do, this or that. I am hoping someone looks at those pics and tells me if it can be fixed with glass, time, etc. If not I will move on and find another.

Yes it can be fixed with glass, time, know how and money..

[pyrrano]

I saw this boat on sailboatlistings. What's the lowest price the boat? It's for sale by the owner and they're willing to finance? What the monthly storage fee at the shipyard?

Thanks

[Manateeman]

I looked very carefully at the photos. Please look at my qualifications as a professional boatbuilder because I will give you the most honest opinion I can.
The project would be a challenge for a team with in depth experience.
Based on what I see, the boat is damaged beyond reasonable repair.
Mark