Build your own Boat?

[cbs]

FNQ would be right on the money, as far as my experience goes.

We built a 25 ft boat (racing yacht). It cost us about 30-40% of what we would have to pay if we had it professionally done. This not counting our own labour of course.

One thing that really surprised me was the amount of "bargains" that turned up during the build process. Certain parts that we knew would be difficult/expensive to get done suddenly became available as word of mouth got around and people became aware of what we were doing. At one instance, I was able to source some materials that were far cheaper than what the big companies were paying wholesale simply because it had been sitting around on the shelf for a while. I was sold it at that price with the understanding that I do not advertise to anybody what I bought, or what I paid for it as it could come back to bite them.

As far as I see it, most people have a budget when they consider a boat. Building yourself allows you to obtain a larger more capable boat than the market will allow you. You just need to find the right design.


cbs

[cutfish]

Hi,
I first built my boat 1990-94 in my spare time launched it 94. Due to illness it was out of the water 2000 to 2005. I have just finished remodelling it into a sports model and it was relaunched a month or so ago.It is made Of composite construction (ply, foam, fibreglass, and epoxy). based on a flat bottom halfpoint design it has served well. The best thing about this type of construction is that it is simple to modify

Attached picturss show it as itwas launched in 94 with cabin and as it is now

Length 4.3m Beam 1.6m

[huiti1]

has anyone built with alloy? I had a look at some of the websites advertising kits and they say the welding itself is quite simple.you think so?

[shubeej]

huiti , yes they are right ,it is pretty simple to weld ,they just want to sell the kits by building up your confidence ,it takes a four year apprenticeship to become a sheetmetal worker / boilermaker & i have interveiwed quite a over the years & the proof is always in the weld test ,i would not be going in any boat that a lot of these guys have welded .for the inexperienced I would suggest if you were going to build a boat in ally i would at least start by doing a tafe starter course in welding followed by getting a heap of offsuts&start practicing.give it a go
shubeej

[Eagle]

I built an 18 1/2 foot half cabin cruiser with my father some years ago. It took 12 months to build working only on the weekends. It was a fabulous boat but I cant remember the design. My favorite materials for boat building are wood and steel. I am hoping to find the cash to build a 19 foot Bartender or if possible cash wise, a 22 footer. Timber is a wonderful material to build a boat with. It is certainly very strong and has that "real genuine boat" appeal. Wood is also very easy to work with and modern plywood is one of the strongest materials ever made. The glues in use today make working in timber a walk in the park so to speak. I have made boats (5 of) with fiber glass but prefer to use plywood. Marine grade ply need not be the first choice of plywood as most of the exterier structual plywood is equally as good but it does not have the super finished veneer to present to the critical eye. When it is covered in woven glass cloth it doesn't matter what the surface looks like. Dry rot can be fully controlled and eradicated from all wooden boats and you are often hard pressed to tell if a boat is made from glass or wood.

Eagle

[suzygs1000]

There are previous threads on this. I have built two aluminium kit boats - 6.1m and 5.8m. If you don't count your labour, cost savings are pretty good - $10-15k on a 6m boat. Most home handymen can do the job - it does pay to do a mig welding course, but aluminium is not much harder to weld than steel, and it is pretty difficult to stuff up one of the kit boats.

Have a look around for threads about 3/4 months ago.

The satisfaction of building and fishing out of your own boat more than outweighs the risk of stuffing things up (imo.)

Dave Morgan

[Rybka]

I have built two - both composite construction (marine ply sandwich with epoxy). The first is a 6 metre centre console that had a construction cost of $5500. Piccy attached. Then of course you have to add the 2nd hand motor and 2nd hand trailer and jeez you can add another $3000 to the total cost. She has a draft of 5" and quite often I just float over the banks down at the pin.

The second was a 16ft square back canoe that I use on the electric motor only dams and it came in $550. I use a minn kota 55 for it. I get along at 10km an hour on the dams.

The results - both are really good boats, very dry, and a HUGE sense of satisfaction and pleasure at having built them myself. The biggest pro of all is that you only buy the materials as you need them. When you are finished, the boat is paid for. My tools - an electric drill, a circular saw, a mouse sander, a belt sander and lots of very cheap paint brushes, plastic measuring cups and tongue depressers

Our groups motto : those that can -build, those that cant - buy.

I have to build a sailing boat for the missus next, and our designer has just released plans for a 26' foam sandwich lobster boat either I/O or diesel which I am thinking of building as the "real" boat. The centre console was a test boat, just to see if I could do it.

The cons - it takes 30 minutes to get out of the ramp because I'm always being asked about the boat I just love it.

[cbs]

Here's a 6.7m sportfish in ply/glass being built in a backyard garage. My design.

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