Which Boat to Build (Hypothetically)?

[Lagoon4us]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Thanks

I got more: build a Mirror Dinghy as first boat. I did and it hanged my life

It's easy too, plywood, stitch & glue, glass tape etc. I could buy a set with mast, boom etc. for it too.

cheers,
Nick.

Stitch and glue!!!! How i loved building my little 8ft sailing tender 'TAXI' , we made the rig sails the lot. Then 6 other live-aboards in the creek also built one each on my lofting floor.
Every sunday we would have regatta's on the creek, taught us lots!!!!!
Good times......... Cheers

[boatman61]

Thats one reason I love Wharram Tiki's.... stitch n glue... no fancy lofting.. just cut, drill and stitch n glue together...

[s/v Jedi]

And the web is full with blogs from people building the Mirrors and kits are available worldwide I think.




And here is me in my first boat:

Aluminium mast... wow!

ciao!
Nick.

[Lagoon4us]

Nick's comment regarding cost is very valid. The hull will cost around 25% and surprisingly takes probably the same percentage of the build-time.
I've seen many buy a bare hull from a builder, that isn't a bad way to go if a suitable design can be found.
Cheers

[haaho]

Of course you are all right, saying to start small (preferably from the same designer though) and to try, thats the way we inted to do.
This is hypothetical here, kind of mind tunning

Jedi, how much longer, Pelican is 37' with 2000 kg. payload, isn't this enough? The Wood's designs for ocean cruising has similar numbers?

Didi has a bigger sister Didi 40'cr Didi 40cr radius chine plywood sailboat , but I got the idea that 34 is more cruising orientated, so more comfortable?

[Greggegner]

I suggest building a small boat row,dingy, etc. If you have the time during the week to work on it. For the weekends I suggest purchasing a 24 - 30 sailboat that can be used for day sailing and short trips without an extensive retrofit. You can then learn to sail (lessons are good) while you do some upgrades. This will let you gain skills towards building a boat while finding out if sailing is for you. The most important think is to get sailing. I hope you enjoy the sailing life as much a we do. We did extensive cruises on lake Erie with our 27'.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by haaho

Of course you are all right, saying to start small (preferably from the same designer though) and to try, thats the way we inted to do.
This is hypothetical here, kind of mind tunning

Jedi, how much longer, Pelican is 37' with 2000 kg. payload, isn't this enough? The Wood's designs for ocean cruising has similar numbers?

Didi has a bigger sister Didi 40'cr Didi 40cr radius chine plywood sailboat , but I got the idea that 34 is more cruising orientated, so more comfortable?

For a self-build monohull I would go well over 40'. For a multi-hull I would go for 47' minimum but surely end up 50+'. If you want to spend the rest of your days aboard, you must decide how you want to live your life. Go out with a tent and do some camping. If that is your goal then 30-36' is okay... but it'll get tougher as you get older.

You will spend your time mostly at anchor where extra length is not charged. Only when you haul out and buy anti-fouling is where you pay more. And then it's still the question because some small boats have more wetted surface and thus require more paint.

Get the Dashew book, read every letter. Lots of pics in it is actually my boat

cheers,
Nick.

[haaho]

@Jedi
I will read these books. And your are probably right. Our first intentions were for even smaller boats

But over 40' looks scary big for me, I don't think we will have/want to spend the time and money. And we'll be sailing singlehand?.
On the other hand tent and camping are our kind of stuff, we use bicycles for city transportation. Before the child was born we never enter the third room in the apartment. Who knows

Still no one has answered the direct question

[Lagoon4us]

Originally Posted by haaho

@Jedi
I will read these books. And your are probably right. Our first intentions were for even smaller boats

But over 40' looks sceary big for me, I don't think we will have/want to spend the time and money. And we'll be sailing singlehand?.
On the other hand tent and camping are our kind of stuff, we use bicycles for city transportation. Before the child was born we never enter the third room in the apartment. Who knows

Still no one has answered the direct question

Hypothetically? The Didi.............Answered.
Cheers Frank

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by haaho

Still no one has answered the direct question

I wouldn't build either.

Cat looks way too difficult to build. Mono looks kinda bland (I am that shallow!).

I'd go for something that has been built by loads of other amateurs. Wharrams would fit that, if not then a mono with hard chines (for the easier build) - Golden Hind / Eventide style.

http://www.eventide.org.uk/

Of course you can get a hull made proffessionally - and do the rest yourself.

But to be honest, given your starting point (on sailing / knowing what you really want) I would buy something second hand. Be a lot cheaper and easier to sell......a homebuilt boat always sells at a discount to an equivalent that comes from an established builder (even if the amateur build is better!).

[roverhi]

"I got more: build a Mirror Dinghy as first boat. I did and it hanged my life"

Hmmmm, did you mean to say you hanged your wife?????

We bought a W32 hull and deck, bought all our hardware from England at huge discounts because of the exchange rate back then. Boat specific hardware, we went direct to Westsail suppliers and paid less than Westsail was paying because we paid in cash. Hired some outside work from Westsail employees for cash at Westsails pay rate for the little bit of work we didn't do ourselves. When all was said and done, we had about $10,000 more dollars and over a year of our lives invested than it would have cost us to buy a finished boat from Westsail.

Don't expect to save any money, in fact you'll spend more, than buying a used boat and fixing it up. Look for a neglected but otherwise good shape boat with a good engine and start from there. In today's market, you should be able to find an able boat for $10,000 or even less. http://miami.craigslist.org/brw/boa/2722889682.html You might even find an equipped and ready to go boat for about twice that amount. I'm speaking mono hulls. Multis are stupidly expensive unless it's a fiberglass over ply homebuilt trimaran. Plywood tri's are another story in themselves and probably best to enlist the help of multihull experts there.

[Boracay]

I suggested the Easy Cat 11.6 as it has been reported as being used successfully on long coastal passages and on the shorter "blue water" trip to Asia from Australia and up through Indonesia.

Similar size catamarans have been reported as crossing the Pacific.

Three crew and supplies would just about double the weight of a 2,000kg cat. I would have concerns regarding the seaworthiness and strongly urge you to check with the designer as to the boats suitability for your intended use.

Building a boat takes a long time. Best to build something that is a proven performer.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by roverhi

"I got more: build a Mirror Dinghy as first boat. I did and it hanged my life"

Hmmmm, did you mean to say you hanged your wife?????

LoL... that is iPad disease... any letter above the space bar gets that.

ciao!
Nick.

[haaho]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

I wouldn't build either.

That's not an option

I would humble disagree that cat is dificult to build. In my eyes it looks easier than Wharram's.

I start to wonder why so many people do not like Pelican design? I looked at 10-15 diferent catamaran plans, and the conception of this cat looked best for me.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

To build these 30'ish foot boats to sail them everywhere the world round is the purest form of SM if you ask me A cat that size can hardly carry the food, fuel and water you need for a Pacific crossing.

Two books that you *must* read before taking the next step:

- Cruising Encyclopedia by Steve & Linda Dashew
- Wooden Boat Construction by the Gaucheon Brothers (West System Epoxy)

that 2nd book even when you intend to build from fiberglass or metal.

Now something to think about: the cost of the hull is 25-33% of total boat cost. Interior is 33%. systems and rigging the rest. When you build light and use efficient rig, you can build longer boats for almost the same cost. While the hull is longer, the interior living space is the same, the rest is just bare for storage, engine room etc. Use watertight bulkheads to separate these areas. This is one of the principles behind the Dashew designs. The extra length provides more comfort and a huge step in safety.

Wood-epoxy-glass makes the stiffest hulls while being very light, only beat by racers.

cheers,
Nick.

It's the Gougeon Brothers, not Gaucheon Brothers. And when I went to boat building school we were taught to calculate the cost of the hull as 10% of a finished sail build. This was confirmed when I graduated and started building myself. Most builder cost calculations for the hull are right around there.

http://www.gougeon.com/