Origin of a 'Saying?'

[Quickstep]

Does anyone know where the saying comes from that goes something like:

A boat is never done, except when it's at the bottom of the sea. Then it's done.

Thanks.

[sailvayu]

A wet sailor?

Wayne Canning, AMS
projectboatzen.com

[MarkJ]

A pesimist?

Ours is doen she just gets constant upgrades!

[Blue Stocking]

Sounds like something Nelson, Farragut, or John Paul Jones would say.

[marc2012]

Capt Smith may have said something similar.

[Chief Engineer]

Herreshoff?

[marujo.sortudo]

No idea. I think varieties of this go way back. A recent one:

A software project is never finished, only abandoned. (Some Internet site list this as a quote of Leonardo da Vinci, albeit in reference to art ... not sure about that.)

Someone told that there is an old Chinese saying something like:

When a man finishes his house, he dies.