Hi All,
Its about time I post up this thread for everyone’s thoughtsand for those budding boat builders out there. I’ve decided to do this thread for 2 reasons:
1 to show you guys what I am currently building
and 2, if someone is thinking about doing something similar,hopefully I can answer some of your questions.
We have taken over 500 photos so far, so if there is a photoof something you would like to see, post up and I will do my best to please.
OK……
What we were after:
After having a trip of a lifetime towing out 18ft alloy boatfrom Brisbane to Cooktown and getting the weather opportunity to get out to theribbon reefs, we decided it was time for an upgrade. My wife and I devised a list of essentials toget us going. (actually these are herrequirements…..remember: Happy wife, happy life.)
Trailerable
Towing weight 3.5t (wet or dry)
Soft riding + stable at rest for sleeping
Hardtop with full glass surround (I hate clears, but they dohave their purpose)
Twin engines (petrol as we both don’t like the smell ofdiesel fumes when trolling)
Minimum queen size bed + second double bed for friends etc.(4 berth)
Plenty of fresh water for hot shower
Kitchen sink + stove top + dedicated galley area
5-7 day capacity for live aboard
Toilet
Basic and maintenance free as possible
So with our list in mind we set off looking about boat yardswith all options open, glass, alloy, mono and cat! I looked through the secondhand range and found something around the KC2800 a nice size, but too difficultto tow and pricey. I narrowed down mysearch to a 8m+ mono which becomes quite big for a trailer or a 7-7.5m cat tofit all our requirements in. I wanderedthrough a number of marine dealers looking at their 685’s etc. Being treated asa tyre kicker continually I had just about had enough. I then approached a number of custom alloybuilders who were excellent with their service but all ended up coming up wellabove budget. A credit to those builderswho actually listen and take their customers seriously. (All shall remain nameless)
Cutting a long story short (well shorter) we decided to getas bigger boat we can afford and slowly build up the fitout items as we go,giving us a solid reliable platform for many years to come. As fate had it, I came across a website whodesigns your boat with a naval architect and cnc cuts out the boat foryou. After a number of conversationswith John Pontifex from Plate Alloy, I put down a deposit for a 7.5m Platealuminium cat kit. Finer details wereworked out and we were on our way, patiently waiting for our 1800kg of sheet toarrive. I did my sums and figured outthe deck space was huge, we were able to fit in all we wanted and had a decentreef boat with capabilities to do our up coming trips. (cairns to the cape andback via water)
This is what I ended up with, boat specs:
7.5m hull - 8.2m LOA
Twin 150hp Four Strokes (hopefully 45knts ish)
2x 250L fuel
200l fresh water
1 queen bed + 1 fold out double bed
Kill tank, bait board, live bait tank, deckwash, hot watersystem etc
Sink/stove/galley
2x Lowrance HDS7 with Airmar thru hull trans
Foam filled with 10 air tight compartments (no bilge pumpsor bungs)
Fully sealed deck and self draining – step-up from fishingarea to galley to keep those fishy juices out of the carpet….
Hardtop with full glass surround (we will get there fatbouy!!!!)
Boat will be bogged and wrapped on the sides, and painted onthe roof area. (no paint inside)
So the second part of this thread I wanted to share my boatbuilding experiences for anyone interested, or who is thinking of taking onsuch a demon…(if you don’t care about this scroll down for pics) I have brokenit down into sections.
Where to build:
You need to build under cover out of the wind (can't weld in the wind) and you willneed a minimum:
1m clearance around thebow, 3m at transom and 2m each side. So for me it was at least 12.2m long and6.5m width. So no worries there.
Tools:
If your doing something like I have, you will want around 5-6kto get you started and be comfortable for a while. I have created a list oftools which I use everyday.
4” air grinder with 5mm blade, 4” air grinder with 1.5mmmulti cutter blade, full face shield (you need this, I have undies to provewhen a blade breaks up!) 5” grinder with sanding pad and 80 grit pads, 4”grinder with 40 grit flap discs, die grinder with open fluke bur, 6x Irwin quickgrip clamps (sizes from 300-600mm) turn buckes and shackles(pull you distortedalloy around town) permanent marker pens, vodka for the bad times, cold beerfor the good times and an 18 year old for when its done (scotch that is…..yousickos) and a camera you can leave in the shed to take photos. You will need all of this guaranteed as aminimum. Welder: I purchased the 250 amp/15amp pulse mig from Plate aAloy andit is sufficient for welding my boat. Was able to weld the 25x40mm keel bar tothe 5mm sheet.
Experience needed:
If your not good at welding it doesn’t matter. If you can’t weld at all I would definitely suggesttaking some sort of lessons or purchasing the welder 6 months in advance andhaving someone give you some tutorials. Iwas able to weld steel, but had never welded alloy. I had a friend who is a professional welderfor the past 50 years weld all the below water line/transom/fuel tanks andlearnt from him as we went. Learn fromthe pro welder and you will soon be able to pickup the quality of your own work(this is important) My background is Finance/law education + owning a civilconstruction business. It’s a bit of amix but I gained a lot of knowledge of metal works and general knowledge, soanyone can build really. Your onlylimited by your dedication.
The time frame:
Interesting topic this one. Everyone said to me it would take double the amount of time and triplethe cost. Not true. Plan well and be realistic about your skillsand you can accurately predict the timeframe of your build. I have been building for 1 year and 12 days. I am behind by about 6 weeks but ahead ofbudget! (pending trailer and glass)
You need to be dedicated and allocate time each week for thebuild, otherwise you will never get it finished. I work every night for around 2-3 hours + aminimum Saturday and every second Sunday.
Budget realistically. It will be miserable times ahead if you are always short of money and continuallycausing financial strain on your family.
Spend some time getting your consumable costs down. I was purchasing G argon from BOC for280/bottle. I switched to SupaGas whowere 115 per bottle with free delivery! (I know!) I have used about 10 bottlesgas and over 100kg of 1.2mm wire so far.(state of the ARC at Capalaba have beenamazing with service) create a good relationship with your local welding shop and tell them what you are doing. If you act like you know what you are doing, no one will give you advice!! tell them you are learning and they will help you out!!!
Compressor: you will need a good one to cool your welds andrun your air tools. I have an air dryingunit (refrigeration unit) to keep moisture out of the work area. Worthyinvestment. Otherwise you end up cooling your work area with wet air and yourair tools with have water dripping from them in no time.
Get your family involved with your build. My mrs helped with the planning, grinding,sanding and everything else. It givesthem an understanding of why you’re never home and where all the money goes eachweek.
Most importantly: be happy with your own work! I am first totell you that I am not a pro welder. Iknow there are much better looking boats out there than mine, but I know I builtmine and I know its strong. If you can’tbe happy with what you built, then don’t even bother trying to build, it willbe a miserable experience for all involved.
So now that all that reading is out the way, onto the goodbits…. the pics
Feel free to post up, all questions are relevant some way.
Thanks for reading everyone,
Ric
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Mattya
