OldNick wrote:

Seni-serious question. I know a lot of guys who are still happy
building their boats 5 years on. But they often never get a boat.

I may never finish either, but I will have taken my shot.

Sat down at the table and played the hand, so to speak.


I also think that it's horses for courses.

You gotta be in OZ.

I feel that you are an
achiever, with a power history of doing stuff. This is not toadying,
but simply an assessment of your ability as I have seen it portrayed.

Not really, I just show up everyday. When I leave, something is done
that wasn't done when I got there.

I think that anyone who takes on a 55' boat as their "first project"
is either mad, or a hero, or has done some serious stuff before.

Well I did start building model airplanes when I was about 9-10.


Why not wood? At all? Strip composite?

Trying to maintain a totally wooden boat is like wearing a hair shirt IMHO.

Here in SoCal as well as many other parts of the USA marinas will not
allow wooden boats to stay at their marinas.

Strip composite is another animal.


How far are you down the track on your 55'er?

The only answer I ever give is, "5 more years"G.

Lew

Quite a few people with no previous experience build nice boats.
I'd suggest choosing your preferred material and getting some experience
working with it. You can get a lot of experience with materials and
tools doing small non-marine projects around the home. Building a small
boat will introduce you to working with molds, upside down, etc. As you go
you can imagine how you would do it on a much larger boat.


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Jack wrote:

I have posted before regarding building/restoring an antique boat. Just a
curious question to the experienced builders... How would you start your
hobby if you were really interested in learning how to build a nice boat?
I
have the $$, space, and woodworking skill. Just curious of your
recommendations. Would you start small, like a rowboat, or just bite the
bullet and build something cool like a runabout? BTW, I am doing this to
challenge my skills. Thanks again for your time.


Choose something small though useful. Like a tender for that future boat.
Maybe one that can also handle a sail and a daggerboard. Or keep it simple
and go for the rowboat/tender.

THEN watch and see if you see the project through to the end.

Pay attention to how much fun you had.

If you see it through to the end and have the desire to do more...do more.


Just my opinion.

--
Saville

Replicas of 15th-19th century nautical navigational instruments:

http://home.comcast.net/~saville/backstaffhome.html

Restoration of my 82 year old Herreshoff S-Boat sailboat:

http://home.comcast.net/~saville/SBOATrestore.htm

Steambending FAQ with photos:

http://home.comcast.net/~saville/Steambend.htm

On Mon, 08 Aug 2005 16:07:44 GMT, Lew Hodgett
wrote:

OldNick wrote:

Seni-serious question. I know a lot of guys who are still happy
building their boats 5 years on. But they often never get a boat.

I may never finish either, but I will have taken my shot.

Sat down at the table and played the hand, so to speak.


I also think that it's horses for courses.

You gotta be in OZ.

I take it you mean Australia, and not that _other_ land of idle
fantasyG

Not really, I just show up everyday. When I leave, something is done
that wasn't done when I got there.

I think that's fair enough. But I am trying to pout the idea of
starting out with a 55' boat into perpective.

Why not wood? At all? Strip composite?

Trying to maintain a totally wooden boat is like wearing a hair shirt IMHO.

Here in SoCal as well as many other parts of the USA marinas will not
allow wooden boats to stay at their marinas.

Strip composite is another animal.

Ah. OK. I agree if you are talking unshetahed ply or wood. G I sort
of assumed that just hardly happened these days!

The only answer I ever give is, "5 more years"G.

Mine was "Yes"