We all know that bigger boats cost more but a lot of folks just don't get the scale of the thing. So, here's a quick example...
Our CAL 34 rig calls for a 9/32" forestay of roughly forty feet while, on the other hand, the Morgan 41 OI we were talking about has a 3/8" forestay of about fifty-two feet.
Pricing out the two pieces of wire gives me $247 for the CAL and $754 for the Morgan. Of course, you're going to need some terminals for that wire so add $170 for the CAL and $400 or so for the Morgan and we can't forget a turnbuckle so that's another $100 for the CAL and $200 for the Morgan which leaves us with a total of $517 for the CAL 34 forestay and $1354 for the Morgan's.
Yeah, I know doing the math is often depressing...
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Sunday, December 29, 2013
a big cheap boat...
There's a Morgan 41 Out Island for sale over in St Thomas for what seems like forever. I first noticed it when it was selling for around $40K and have watched, with no small amount of interest, as the price has come down (and down) till it's reached it's current sub-$10K asking price of $8500.
Obviously it's a problematic boat and no doubt has some, let us be polite, serious "issues".
Considering its cheap price, if it were closer, I'd take a look at it except it's a Morgan Out Island 41 which, while not being a bad boat, it is a boat I've just never liked so why bother.
Of course, that's what you get with bigger boats on a VolksCruising budget is project boats with some serious issues... It's just the way it's going to be.
I expect, if you like the Out Island design, have a place to work on the boat full time for six-months, do all your own work, and $20K cash for needful materials you'd have a pretty nice boat.
Sweat equity is a wonderful thing...
Obviously it's a problematic boat and no doubt has some, let us be polite, serious "issues".
Considering its cheap price, if it were closer, I'd take a look at it except it's a Morgan Out Island 41 which, while not being a bad boat, it is a boat I've just never liked so why bother.
Of course, that's what you get with bigger boats on a VolksCruising budget is project boats with some serious issues... It's just the way it's going to be.
I expect, if you like the Out Island design, have a place to work on the boat full time for six-months, do all your own work, and $20K cash for needful materials you'd have a pretty nice boat.
Sweat equity is a wonderful thing...
Thursday, December 26, 2013
A quick thought...
Recently, over at the WoodenBoat forum there was some discussion of a newish George Buehler design...
On the whole, I don't like forums as they bring out a certain insecure my-dicks-bigger-than-yours mean spirited vibe that I find depressing to the max. The reason I mention this is if you want to do the VolksCruiser thing you would be well advised to not ask questions about it on a boat forum.
Remember the third rule of VolksCruising is to keep a low profile...
On the whole, I don't like forums as they bring out a certain insecure my-dicks-bigger-than-yours mean spirited vibe that I find depressing to the max. The reason I mention this is if you want to do the VolksCruiser thing you would be well advised to not ask questions about it on a boat forum.
Remember the third rule of VolksCruising is to keep a low profile...
Thursday, December 19, 2013
It's true some people do need a bigger boat...
Obviously little boats are something of a mainstay in the VolksCruiser sailing away on a small budget world. "Little boats have little problems" and all that...
The truth is a single person or a couple can live quite comfortably and voyage successfully in an incredibly small boat... But, what about a family? All of a sudden that 28-foot boat starts looking a lot like a clown car.
The problem is that as boats get bigger so do the costs and associated expenses. Made worse by the fact that bigger boats, systems, and gear are mainly aimed at wealthy buyers so there is no budget sector of the market.
Very few designers these days seem to show any real interest in designing boats for home builders on a budget. In their defense, I have to admit there is not a lot of money in it or, at least, the market is simply hidden because it is underserved.
Tad Roberts with his Future Cruiser series seem to be on the right track with boats at 38 and 44-foot with super simple systems and rigs. Somewhat against the trend of doing a "budget" boat and then speccing out a silly-expensive rig, engine, and other systems whose costs will dwarf the outlay of building the actual boat.
There are also a lot of older designs that make a lot of sense but we'll be talking about a few of those later...
The truth is a single person or a couple can live quite comfortably and voyage successfully in an incredibly small boat... But, what about a family? All of a sudden that 28-foot boat starts looking a lot like a clown car.
The problem is that as boats get bigger so do the costs and associated expenses. Made worse by the fact that bigger boats, systems, and gear are mainly aimed at wealthy buyers so there is no budget sector of the market.
Very few designers these days seem to show any real interest in designing boats for home builders on a budget. In their defense, I have to admit there is not a lot of money in it or, at least, the market is simply hidden because it is underserved.
Tad Roberts with his Future Cruiser series seem to be on the right track with boats at 38 and 44-foot with super simple systems and rigs. Somewhat against the trend of doing a "budget" boat and then speccing out a silly-expensive rig, engine, and other systems whose costs will dwarf the outlay of building the actual boat.
There are also a lot of older designs that make a lot of sense but we'll be talking about a few of those later...
Saturday, December 14, 2013
looking closer at a couple of boats...
 | |
| TransPac CAL 20 Black Feathers |
I've always been a big fan of the Bill Lapworth CAL 20 design and since I linked to another of my favorite designs, the Muscadet, the other day it occurred to me how similar the two boats were...
Muscadet
LOA: 21.26' / 6.48m
LWL: 18.37' / 5.60m
BEAM: 7.41' / 2.26m
DRAFT: 2.46' / 0.75m- 4.10' / 1.25m
SAIL AREA: 205 ft2 / 19.04 m2
DISPLACEMENT: 2646 lbs./ 1200 kgs
CAL 20
LOA: 20.00' / 6.10m
LWL: 18.00' / 5.49m
BEAM: 7.00' / 2.13m
DRAFT: 3.33' / 1.01m
SAIL AREA 195 ft2 / 18.12 m2
DISPLACEMENT 1950 lbs./ 885 kgs
The most important difference between the two boats is the displacement numbers. It's plain to see that the Muscadet is a bigger boat within the same general size envelope but 700 pounds more displacement. Add to this the fact that Harlé was a true master at shoehorning an amazing amount of sensible accommodation into a design which translates into a boat that also feels a lot bigger and is easier to live on.
The other thing to keep in mind is it's a lot harder and more expensive ($5-8K) to find a Muscadet for sale and if you do it will be five or six times more expensive than a CAL 20 and I've seen a lot of good $500-$1000 CAL 20's over the last couple of years...
Me, being cheap and all, there's a lot to be said for the CAL 20. You can always rip out the old interior and do a more Harlé-like one with the savings.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
So you want to build a boat...
How long does it take to build a box?
Well, to be truthful, it all depends but with any sort of work ethic not all that long which is why square boats tend to be attractive to some people...
They're simple, easy to get your head around, and most importantly, people feel they can build them in a short span of time so they actually do.
We're actually talking about confidence...
Now, as it happens, I've built square boats and shapely ones. As far as I'm concerned, there is only a minor speed of building advantage to the so called "Instant boats" but the perceived easier-to-build mantra and non-daunting aspect allows some people to just build the damn thing and go sailing, while others will spend years or decades sorta/kinda getting down to business.
You might want to take a moment and see how Dave Z got down to business building his Slacktide...
Pretty easy is it not?
Truth is, building a boat of any kind is pretty simple and I've seen strip planked, plank on frame, and traditional ply construction go just as fast as long as there is minimal BS and the builder knows what he wants.
Yeah, I know you know someone who spent a fortune building a boat and years/decades later it is still not launched. I hear those stories all the time and, in every case I've come across, it is not the boat design or the method of building but the fact that the builder did not have his/her shit together, did not have confidence, or worse, lost his/her confidence.
You can build a boat. All you have to do is know you can and do it.
Well, to be truthful, it all depends but with any sort of work ethic not all that long which is why square boats tend to be attractive to some people...
 |
| T26X7 Slacktide |
We're actually talking about confidence...
Now, as it happens, I've built square boats and shapely ones. As far as I'm concerned, there is only a minor speed of building advantage to the so called "Instant boats" but the perceived easier-to-build mantra and non-daunting aspect allows some people to just build the damn thing and go sailing, while others will spend years or decades sorta/kinda getting down to business.
You might want to take a moment and see how Dave Z got down to business building his Slacktide...
Pretty easy is it not?
Truth is, building a boat of any kind is pretty simple and I've seen strip planked, plank on frame, and traditional ply construction go just as fast as long as there is minimal BS and the builder knows what he wants.
Yeah, I know you know someone who spent a fortune building a boat and years/decades later it is still not launched. I hear those stories all the time and, in every case I've come across, it is not the boat design or the method of building but the fact that the builder did not have his/her shit together, did not have confidence, or worse, lost his/her confidence.
You can build a boat. All you have to do is know you can and do it.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Well, the thing is it's not just a rally is it...
Just out of curiosity I was looking at the list of this year's ARC Rally boats and it makes some interesting reading...
I'll sum it up this way... Lots of big expensive boats.
Now, I'm on record as being a non-fan of cruising rallies. Partly because I don't feel a lot of folks sailing towards the same place at the same time is safer (the case could be made that it is actually less safe) and partly because I feel that the rallies distort the economics of cruising/cruising areas and insulate the participants from the cultures they're visiting.
That said, cruising rallies are an excellent support tool for those who make use of them. Which is not to say that they are a real support for getting from one place to another like the ARC but more in a way that it supports the socioeconomic niche of the folks who do the rallies while hurting the other niches in the process. Not unlike the way interesting and artistic people move into a low rent area, change/evolve the area so it becomes hip, then find they can no longer afford to live there because, now that it's HIP, wealthier people have moved into the area, distorted the property prices and, as a result, it's no longer affordable.
Shoestring, limited means, or fixed income cruisers find it very hard to cruise and live in areas once those areas start catering and basing their prices and rates for folks with big expensive boats and price-is-no-object budgets. The big problem is that since the rallies are organized that it compounds the problem.
People who do rallies seem to love the experience and it is a good time (for that kind of money it should be) but not so much for those non-participants who have to pay the inflated rates for goods and services or are shuffled aside because the rally folks come first...
Speaking of rallies, Attainable Adventure Cruising has an interesting article and some very good comments on the subject that is well worth checking out.
I'll sum it up this way... Lots of big expensive boats.
Now, I'm on record as being a non-fan of cruising rallies. Partly because I don't feel a lot of folks sailing towards the same place at the same time is safer (the case could be made that it is actually less safe) and partly because I feel that the rallies distort the economics of cruising/cruising areas and insulate the participants from the cultures they're visiting.
That said, cruising rallies are an excellent support tool for those who make use of them. Which is not to say that they are a real support for getting from one place to another like the ARC but more in a way that it supports the socioeconomic niche of the folks who do the rallies while hurting the other niches in the process. Not unlike the way interesting and artistic people move into a low rent area, change/evolve the area so it becomes hip, then find they can no longer afford to live there because, now that it's HIP, wealthier people have moved into the area, distorted the property prices and, as a result, it's no longer affordable.
Shoestring, limited means, or fixed income cruisers find it very hard to cruise and live in areas once those areas start catering and basing their prices and rates for folks with big expensive boats and price-is-no-object budgets. The big problem is that since the rallies are organized that it compounds the problem.
People who do rallies seem to love the experience and it is a good time (for that kind of money it should be) but not so much for those non-participants who have to pay the inflated rates for goods and services or are shuffled aside because the rally folks come first...
Speaking of rallies, Attainable Adventure Cruising has an interesting article and some very good comments on the subject that is well worth checking out.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
On the cost of some stuff...
I've always considered one of the most important factors in being a happy camper on a boat is simply knowing where you are... Being lost on the other hand is seriously unhappy-making!
So, having charts is a pretty needful thing on the list.
As it happens, I need to get some charts and boy howdy are charts E-X-P-E-N-S-I-V-E these days. Well, actually, make that in a sorta/kinda way.
Electronic charts for our chart plotter (a Hummingbird 785) seemed fairly reasonable when we chose the plotter as full Caribbean, South, and Central America (both Pacific and Atlantic sides) only cost us a couple of hundred dollars. Great bang for the buck!
Now I need to add Europe, The Med, Madeira, Canaries, and Cape Verde islands and a quick look at what electronic charts are available for the Hummingbird is a serious eye-opener...
At $305 an area, my minimal chart outlay for my plotter is at least $1200+... OUCH. Then, of course, there are also paper charts for backup and for areas where more detail might be needful. Paper chart coverage is even more expensive than electronic and that includes copied 2/3 scale portfolios by folks like Bellingham Chart Printers...
Being cheap, I'm actively looking for used paper charts, Navionic Gold cartridges, as well as exploring alternative and less expensive coverage using our tablets rather than our chart plotter...
You'd think, living in 2013, this sort of thing would be easier.
So, having charts is a pretty needful thing on the list.
As it happens, I need to get some charts and boy howdy are charts E-X-P-E-N-S-I-V-E these days. Well, actually, make that in a sorta/kinda way.
Electronic charts for our chart plotter (a Hummingbird 785) seemed fairly reasonable when we chose the plotter as full Caribbean, South, and Central America (both Pacific and Atlantic sides) only cost us a couple of hundred dollars. Great bang for the buck!
Now I need to add Europe, The Med, Madeira, Canaries, and Cape Verde islands and a quick look at what electronic charts are available for the Hummingbird is a serious eye-opener...
At $305 an area, my minimal chart outlay for my plotter is at least $1200+... OUCH. Then, of course, there are also paper charts for backup and for areas where more detail might be needful. Paper chart coverage is even more expensive than electronic and that includes copied 2/3 scale portfolios by folks like Bellingham Chart Printers...
Being cheap, I'm actively looking for used paper charts, Navionic Gold cartridges, as well as exploring alternative and less expensive coverage using our tablets rather than our chart plotter...
You'd think, living in 2013, this sort of thing would be easier.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Forget perfect...
Perfection is an interesting and somewhat elusive concept in general, especially when connected to things like boats. From my experience, I put perfection in things of a nautical or marine nature about as likely to exist as honest politicians or pink unicorns...
Need I say more?
Which is not to say there is not stuff that is awesome but the whole concept of having the "perfect" boat or whatever is really more about bragging rights rather than actual function.
Trust me, f-u-n-c-t-i-o-n is far more important than being able to tell someone you have the best this or that.
We knew a couple who circumnavigated in an Irwin 28 which, while not a bad boat, is certainly not most peoples idea of a long distance cruising machine. Their trip around the world took a bit less than four years and nothing needed fixing rather than the normal expected wear and tear...
Someone else we know with an expensive "perfect" cat with all the mod-cons, bells, and whistles made it all the way from Florida to Panama before abandoning their voyage and chosen lifestyle because stuff mostly did not work and needed fixing all the time.
Of course, in most boatie circles the folks on the Irwin 28 would be deemed to the the crazy ones...
What do you think?
Need I say more?
Which is not to say there is not stuff that is awesome but the whole concept of having the "perfect" boat or whatever is really more about bragging rights rather than actual function.
Trust me, f-u-n-c-t-i-o-n is far more important than being able to tell someone you have the best this or that.
We knew a couple who circumnavigated in an Irwin 28 which, while not a bad boat, is certainly not most peoples idea of a long distance cruising machine. Their trip around the world took a bit less than four years and nothing needed fixing rather than the normal expected wear and tear...
Someone else we know with an expensive "perfect" cat with all the mod-cons, bells, and whistles made it all the way from Florida to Panama before abandoning their voyage and chosen lifestyle because stuff mostly did not work and needed fixing all the time.
Of course, in most boatie circles the folks on the Irwin 28 would be deemed to the the crazy ones...
What do you think?