Re: I am thinking about building my own?
Building your own boat is a really cool project. When I was a kid, our family Dentist built a beautiful 36' cabin cruiser in his back yard that a Annapolis Grad. patient of his designed & drafted up for him. It only took him 5 years to complete, and that was hiring part time wood workers, and getting help from neighbors on a regular basis.<br /><br /><br />It took me about a year to build "POCO LOCO", my 16' hydroplane. I figure it'd take me about that long to do the cabnits & interior of a 30-odd footer.... after the rest of it was done. And then you'd have awooden boat that you had to watch for rot, and repaint every few years, plus all the other hassels that go with a big boat made from termite bait.<br /><br /><br />If it was me, I find a salvage deal on a fiberglass hull, and re-build it. You should be able to find one for around $5-7,000. that is decent enough to start with--- maybe even on a trailer. It will take you about 20% the time and expense of building one from scratch.... or less.<br /><br />There is a pickup truck full of brackets, hardware, engine 'stuff', transmission/gearboxes, linkages, running gear (rudders, prop shafts, etc) window frames, glass, cabnits, etc. that you won't have to buy the materials for and/or fabricate. And that's before you get to the cabin and hull itself.<br /><br />Building your own boat is cool, but the bigger and bigger of a one you want,,, the less and less practical it becomes compared to restoring one.<br /><br />I built a 16 footer from Aluminum as much for the challenge and uniqueness of it. But its a stripped down, basic racing hull, and is about as simple of a design as ya can get after leaving the open fishing boat style. This thing is so basic that it doesn't even have a upholstered seat-- you sit on a throwable life jacket and the rear padding is provided by your life vest. No trim, no carpet on the floor, no windshield,,,, we're talking a very Spartan boat as far as creature comforts go.<br /><br />But I wouldn't build one any bigger, even if I was younger. As far as expenses, I'm into it for about $6,000***, not counting a $2,000 TIG machine and other tools I had to get.<br /><br />***<br />In that is $2,500 I paid for a bass boat to salvage. I got the 1988 (low time)150 Merc. Black Max. that runs like a new one, and a real heavy duty tandem axle trailer with 5 new tires & perfect bearings/hubs.<br />***<br /> <br />For a wooden 30 footer, I don't see you buying the materials for less than $30,000 unless you use pine & plywood throughout, and put it together with nails. <br /><br /><br />But you could get a salvageable fiberglass hull one in the 28'-32' range that was 15-20 years old for about $5,000 that someone hadn't kept up and had deteriorated, and/or the engine(s) didn't run.<br /><br />To repaint it, rebuild a single engine, re-do the interior, maybe new floors & walls & ceilings, new electrics,, doing the labor all yourself, You could realistically expect to spend about another 5,000ish or a little more. And in a year or two, for all intends & purposes, have a new boat.<br /><br /> <br /><br />Ed.
