Building a boat to save money is generally a poor idea. It seems to cost
more to build than to buy a used boat in reasonably good condition. On
the other hand, thirty years ago, lots of people were building
ferro-cement boats in the 40 foot range to save money. Some of them
turned out OK.

If you are considering building in plywood or strip planking, don't even
think about cutting costs by buying cheap materials. You will absolutely
be happier with a smaller boat built well enough to last 20 years and
well enough to be proud of than a larger boat that is continually
falling apart.

All that said, if you want to build a boat, go for it. Don't let the
negative-point-outers talk you out of it. Even if you start and never
finish it, you will never know if you could have done it if you don't
try. And you are right -- the satisfaction of owning (and sailing) a
boat you built is worth a lot of sacrifice.

Patrick

scbafreak wrote:
I am currently having a very difficult time getting information on boat
building and I would really appreciate any help I could get here.

Here is the situation. I am 26 and live in an apartment in Orange County
California. I am considering building a boat starting a few years from now
to live on. I plan to start several years from now to allow time to save
money and get more sailing experience. I am largely plannng to do this
because of outrageous housing costs in this area making it very difficult to
purchase a house as a first time buyer but also because I think that I would
really enjoy living on a boat. Ideally I would like to have enough money put
aside to fund most of the build but I will, obviously be putting more money
into the project as I build. I think that if I take five years to build then
this should be reasonable. I should be able to build in my Dads back yard
which has a rather large cement pad and he may be willing to let me invade
his house for a while. He doesn't live far from me so i can still work and
do all of the things I normaly do and build on weekends and at night. I plan
to do as much of the construction as I am capable of to both keep costs down
and ensure that I get a good quality boat.

I like the idea of building my own boat as I have built many things before
and I am currently working on building small sailing outrigger canoes. We
have all of the tools needed and a lot of experiencein woodworking. My dad
would be willing to help when needed as he is retired and has some free time.
Ideally I would like to come away with a nice place to live that I do not
need to make loan payments but I realize that certain equipment I may need to
get a loan for (such as radios and navigation, sails, spars....). I want
something that could potentially last the rest of my life and be sailerd all
over the world.

I am looking at Bruce Roberts designs. Does anyone have any opinion as to
them. I will be doing wood construction in either Plywood or strip composite
and the design I am currently most interested in is the Centenial Spray 38.
I have never heard of a Spray as a type of boat elsewhere so i don't really
know what makes that different from other designs. The best I can tell from
looking at it is that the cabin seems to be raised a little further aft than
the the rest of the designs giving them a little more headroom, they don't
seem to have an internal cockpit and the hull shape seems to be a lttle
different. I have no idea if I am right.

Here is what I would really like to know. Has anyone out there done this or
something similar that I can answer these questions for me.

1) How much will this cost.
2) How many man hours would it take.
3) How much of the build (in approximate percentage) must be done before I
can launch it and move onto it.
4) Is it realistically cheaper to buy an old boat then fix it up to make it
realiable and what I would want. (this would probably only be an option if
building turns out to be too expensive but would not be limited to wood boats)


Everyone seems to say that there is no real answer to these questions because
it depends on the person and the boat, but that is really not very helpful.
I understand that these things can range but if someone has done it
themselves then that would give me some sort of comparison.

Bruce Roberts designs say to buy the study plans and price out from there as
they contain complete materials lists but I would like to have some sort of
range before I spend $125. When i am ready I will definately do this and
decide more definitavely but for now i just want a general idea of what it
takes so I can think about it.

Someone please help. So far I have not been able to get any kind of answers
on these questions at all.