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

Have you checked mooring fees? Taxes?
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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.

Not hard to figure but you have to have a material list. Then add in
spars, sails, running & standing rigging, electronics, engine etc.
_______________

2) How many man hours would it take.

You have a job and intend to do this evenings and weekends? Then
think man years, not hours. I have a friend that finished a strip
built Tahiti ketch recently. IIRC, he worked on it for close to two
decades.

BTW, I'm not a big "strip" fan but I sure like it better than plywood.
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3) How much of the build (in approximate percentage) must be done
before I can launch it and move onto it.

IIRC, a bare hull - no accommodation - represents about 15% of the
cost/work.
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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)

That depends totally on the condition of the old boat. In some cases
it could work but in others you'd be spending more in both money and
time than if building from the keel up. Generally - especially given
your experience - I'd advise against it.
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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.

"Everyone" is right. My guesstimate - a wild one - would be $150,000
to $250,000. Here is a site that discusses both time and $$ but it is
for multi-hull boats. Given the number of owner built ply cats that
used to be around I'd think a mono hull would require more of both $$
& time.
http://www.f-boat.com/pages/costs.html

--

dadiOH
____________________________

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