It is not going to be easy to equate pre-17th century cost to the
present but once you get an idea of labor and material it will probably
be good from the first century up through the 16th. While designs
changed materials and construction methods did not change very much and
while material prices varied over time long term inflation was virtually
unheard of.
I can give you a small modern day comparison of labor if not total cost.
I have a favorite stopping point in Bay des Cays Haiti that I have
stopped by several times over the years. For the past 2 years there has
been a group of 3 men directed by an incredibly old guy building a 65'
schooner on the beach. They are doing it the old fashioned way with
axes and adzes, pegs, oakum and tar. Keel was laid in February 2000 and
when we stopped by in May of this year they were preparing to set the
masts.
I figure they can only work 10 hours a day probably 300 days a year so a
SWAG would be 18,000 hours + - maximum if my math is right. (2 yrs*300
days*10 hours*3 men.) Actual time is probably a lot less because they
had to spend a lot of time scrounging material. (We donated an old
blown out genoa and a worn halyard.)
Other adjustments include:
Labor and material requirement goes up as the cube of the length so an
85' hull would probably require twice the labor of a 65' one.
A 15th century trading vessel would have been a bit more elaborate than
this boat and a war ship considerably more.
A 15th century ship yard would have more tools and equipment to work
with than these poor fellows.
Charles Talleyrand wrote:
I'm trying to understand the cost of building an oceangoing ship in
some terms I can understand. I great answer would be of the form
"To build an 80 ft sailing vessel in 1492 took about 14,000 man/hours" or
something like that.
Or "One could buy a 100 ft sailing vessel in Venice for 9000 florins,
and each florin could hire a skilled worker for a week."
I'm interested in any time period from ancient Egypt to maybe Napoleon.
I'm just trying to get an order of magnitude informed guess.
Significant Google searching didn't help. Can anyone here help?
--
Glenn Ashmore
I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at:
http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division:
http://www.spade-anchor-us.com