The other day I received an email from a reader who took exception
with my "buy old boats and rehab" bias and went on to suggest that
more posts be about building new boats of the VolksCruiserish ilk.
He then went on to say that it would be even better if I
concentrated on multihulls...
Houston we have a problem!
Actually we have a bunch of problems trying to build a multihull VolksCruiser. For starters, there are almost no designers of multihulls designing cats or tris for folks on a budget. Add to that the simple fact that multihulls, by their very nature, demand higher spec'd and lighter materials which are a LOT more expensive.
Which is not to say that someone can't build a frugal cat or tri but it is still going to be a great deal more expensive to build than a monohull of the same seaworthiness, livability, and payload. For the record, in today's economy, you can buy a used monohull in good shape for less than you can build one (in most cases). On the other hand, a good fixer-upper monohull will cost a fraction of a new build or used monohull.
So, the reason I mostly tend to point people on a frugal budget towards good rehabbable designs that you can find for cheap is not because I have an anti-cat or tri agenda but simply that for cats and tris in the current state of things, there are just bugger all choices if you want to go to sea and cruise on a budget.
Truth be told, I'd really like my next boat to be a catamaran and I can no longer keep track of the number of hours I've spent going over and costing out various study plans only to find that either they weren't up to real cruising or simply too expensive to build for what they provide.
Now, if any aspiring multihull designers care to send me some details of VolksCruiserish cat or tri designs they have in their back pocket that can be built on a blue-collar budget without acquiring crippling debt in the process, I'm all ears. What's more, I'll be happy to do more posts on VolksCruiser about cats/tris and tell as many folks I can about such beasts...
Hell, I might even build one...
Houston we have a problem!
Actually we have a bunch of problems trying to build a multihull VolksCruiser. For starters, there are almost no designers of multihulls designing cats or tris for folks on a budget. Add to that the simple fact that multihulls, by their very nature, demand higher spec'd and lighter materials which are a LOT more expensive.
Which is not to say that someone can't build a frugal cat or tri but it is still going to be a great deal more expensive to build than a monohull of the same seaworthiness, livability, and payload. For the record, in today's economy, you can buy a used monohull in good shape for less than you can build one (in most cases). On the other hand, a good fixer-upper monohull will cost a fraction of a new build or used monohull.
So, the reason I mostly tend to point people on a frugal budget towards good rehabbable designs that you can find for cheap is not because I have an anti-cat or tri agenda but simply that for cats and tris in the current state of things, there are just bugger all choices if you want to go to sea and cruise on a budget.
Truth be told, I'd really like my next boat to be a catamaran and I can no longer keep track of the number of hours I've spent going over and costing out various study plans only to find that either they weren't up to real cruising or simply too expensive to build for what they provide.
Now, if any aspiring multihull designers care to send me some details of VolksCruiserish cat or tri designs they have in their back pocket that can be built on a blue-collar budget without acquiring crippling debt in the process, I'm all ears. What's more, I'll be happy to do more posts on VolksCruiser about cats/tris and tell as many folks I can about such beasts...
Hell, I might even build one...
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