a plastic water bottle and a boat...

The other day I found myself listening to someone going on about their stainless steel bespoke water bottle as a must have for the cruising sailor. I was not impressed.

The argument that an expensive water bottle is good for the environment is somewhat dubious in that its fabrication requires energy which is, more often not, provided by fossil fuels so not exactly as green as we'd like. Worse in fact, because do you really think someone who requires a designer water bottle is going to drink water from the tap?

Some years ago at a charter yacht show the organizers provided show attendees with "green" reusable plastic water bottles because there had been some complaints about using single serve water bottles. Of course, I found the fact that they were filling the reusable water bottles from single use disposable water bottles sorta/kinda defeated the whole purpose of the exercise.

I'll add another point regarding the bespoke designer stainless steel water bottles and say that the person hyping them had an affiliate link so was making money on any that were sold. It's just another link in the chain selling you stuff you don't need for a profit.

My choice of water bottle is reused soft drink bottles. I've mostly kicked my soft drink habit but still, from time to time, have a bottle of ginger ale. Being loathe to throw plastic away to go into landfill for like forever, I'll save it and reuse it as a water bottle. Aboard "So It Goes" we keep a dozen or so water bottle of this ilk and they're a much more green solution then that bespoke designer stainless steel water bottle.

They're also, for all practical purposes... free.

Which, sorta/kinda brings me around to an interesting but somewhat stupid sailboat design you might want to check out. It's the Sterne 25 and it's built of eco-friendly materials like bamboo, basalt, jute, linen, and plant sourced resins all of which I think is a goodly thing.

It's a cool boat for sure and as a test bed for greener materials it certainly makes sense. The downside, for me at least, is that in a world with thousands and thousands of excellent already built sailboats going for near giveaway prices,

 why are we still building new boats?

That CAL 27 or Chrysler 26 (for example) going for cheap are most certainly a greener solution than most eco-friendly designs coming down the pike with the added advantage of being a whole lot more affordable. 

One issue with greenish materials is they've recently become a hip commodity and as a result materials known for being readily available and cheap are, all of a sudden, all kinds of expensive and difficult to get. For the last few months I've been trying to find a good source for jute (AKA burlap) to use for a dinghy build I wanted to do. The idea of replacing fiberglass with burlap was very attractive until it became hip and now is selling for more than fiberglass. Made worse by the fact that I'd need to buy a bolt of cloth rather than a few meters. The sad fact is that building green has been co-opted by consumerism and folks wanting to make a profit don't give a shit about the environment.

The real bedrock way to be green in this messy world is to use less rather than more and whenever possible, reuse, repair, and recycle.

That might make a great t-shirt as well...

Putting together a VolksCruiser on a budget...

I'm sure if you're considering getting a boat and going cruising on a budget you'll be getting a shit load of push-back from just about everybody that it just can't be done. Kind of a bummer that.

The truth is, there's a plethora of good inexpensive sailboats just waiting for someone to find them and get them back in cruising trim. Of course, they'll tell you that a cheap boat is just a hole in the water that you throw money in while you get too old to go cruising.

Sound familiar?

I'll point out that there is, sadly, plenty of fodder for those opinions. I've seen boat projects take twenty years to get to a point where they're abandoned. Way too many projects that lost control of their spending and become an economic ball and chain that insures the project will never come to fruition and let's not forget the boat projects that led to the breakup of relationships. So, yeah, there's a lot of evidence that building or refitting a boat can become a clusterfuck of epic proportions.

But, does it really have to be that way?

The thing is, while I've seen lots of failed projects swirl down the ceramic bowl of disaster, I've seen lots that didn't. Have you ever wondered why so many people fixate on things negative rather than the positive where boats and boat projects are concerned?

Most folk I've known with projects that went south made fairly obvious mistakes that, with a bit of forethought, could have been easily avoided. As they say, hindsight is 20/20.

For the next few posts we'll be delving into various positive and negative situations and how not to fall into the various traps and pitfalls that lie in wait for an intrepid soul embarking on a boat project.

 

Worse than fingernails on a chalkboard...

I've been following the build of a Bolger design of late and it's akin to fingernails being dragged across a chalkboard to me.

Admittedly, it's a very common mistake that's being made but I find that the misuse of epoxy just drives me batshit crazy.

Epoxy is great stuff but it is expensive and it would be great for users to do a little reading on the subject on how to use it. "The Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction" is a veritable tome on how to use epoxy in boat building that's actually free that should be on everyone's bookshelf or computer. If tomes are not your thing System Three has an excellent booklet entitled "The Epoxy Book" (also free) which tells you just about everything you need to know to use epoxy correctly.

While not free Russel Brown has written an awesome book "Epoxy Basics: Working with Epoxy Cleanly & Efficiently" that taught me a lot and I've been working with epoxy and glass for going on fifty years now. 

So, do me a favor read a bit and and up your game and upgrade your technique as it will speed up the work, save you a chunk of change, and keep me from muttering obscenities when I see troweled on epoxy that needs hours of sanding to fair up.

Just sayin'

 

a project worth checking out...

Way back when I was living on a peniche just outside of Paris, I seriously considered building George Buehler's Hager design. I still think it would have been a great boat to cruise with.

With a 28-foot LOD it's a small boat of the Pardey mindset but shippy as all hell and more than able to take you just about anywhere you'd care to go..

As it happens, there's a project Hager for sale up in Port Townsend that looks doable and selling for a fraction of the materials invested. What pictures are available on Craigslist makes me think that someone with the right motivation could finish it up in a timely manner without dumping a ton of money.

Full plans are included in George's "Buehler's Backyard Boatbuilding"  (last century edition) which is all the information anyone would need to build or finish the boat.

Just sayin'

Problem solving...

So, here’s the ongoing question most of us are trying to deal with: what is the most needed attribute for successful, low-budget cruising or building/refitting a boat?

Is it your sailing ability?

The ability to make a perfect dovetail?

Having the right gear?

Enough money?

Maybe the correct answer is none of the above, and the simple answer is the ability to solve problems. Take building or refitting a boat as an example. Every boat building or refit project I’ve undertaken has been a collection of problems that need to be solved.

It’s all about problem solving. Some are simple, others are difficult, and then there’s the odd dilemma which is right up there with solving the world peace equation while juggling chainsaws.

The same goes for cruising on a budget. It’s not just a money thing, as money is just a math issue. It’s more of “How do we cruise in a way where money is less of an issue?” kind of thing. Thrown together with the “Quality of Life” issue, suddenly we’re looking at how to achieve world peace and someone just threw a brace of chainsaws for you to catch.

So, here’s where you get to put on your thinking cap and work through a couple of problems…

Problem # 1

You notice a 1972 CAL 29 listed for $1500 that does not have a working engine, needs to have the under-mast I-beam replaced, as well as the corresponding bulkhead. The boat otherwise is clean and everything works. The sails are in good shape, but the rigging is as old as the boat.

There is another CAL 29 selling for $10K with a working Atomic Four engine that appears to be in good shape, albeit with no information on the rig or I-Beam. At the moment, you have $5K in cash for a boat. What are you going to do?

Obviously, this scenario is really a cascading collection of various issues. You need to work through the problems before you get to the “should I buy or not” problem. Let’s see how you get there.

Problem #2

You want to sail to Europe as part of a two-year Atlantic circle in your CAL 29 but folks you’ve heard from say Europe and the Med are too expensive to cruise on a $1000 a month budget, the Schengen treaty won’t let you, and that you’d be better off in the Bahamas or Caribbean instead. Is the two-year Atlantic circle doable or not?

Again, here’s another plethora of potential issues that you have to research.

The good news it that all you need is available online and really shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours.

Leave your answers in the comments, but remember the moderated comments take a while before your answers show up.

Here’s a quick hint. Don’t bother with forums as that way lies madness.

good, better, best...

I spend a lot of tie trying to come up with cunning plans where one can build a boat that works for less money which, I'll admit if something of a frustrating addiction. Made worse as budget building stalwarts like plywood, lumber, and industrial epoxies keep going up in price. 

This last week I've been thinking of ballast as a friend is designing an interesting scow trailer sailor with ballasted dagger board/keels which I expect to be fairly expensive to have cast. Of course it's always possible to cast your own but lead is a very scary medium to work with and I personally don't want to kill off my few remaining brain cells. Throw in the fact that lead keeps getting more and more expensive and I find myself looking at various alternatives.

Water can be a good ballast and, for all practical purposes it's free. The downside is that water ballast takes up a lot of internal space when compared to lead. A cubic foot of lead weighs in at 708.06 pounds while a cubic foot of water weighs only 62.43 pounds.

Big difference.

Let's say we want to build a sharpie that requires a ton of internal ballast what does that look like in various ballast scenarios...

• Water = 32 cubic feet
  
• Sand = 19.61 cubic feet
• Water filled sand = 15.7 cubic feet
• Concrete = 14 cubic feet
• Steel = 4.06 cubic feet
• Lead = 2.82 cubic feet
• Gold = 1.66 cubic feet 

Most of us building small boats find the needed space for water, sand and water filled sand take up too much room but they are for all practical purposes free and many boats have been successfully built and cruised using them as ballast.

Concrete is a bit more realistic and I've seen a lot of concrete ballasted wood boats that worked just fine. Concrete is cheap and easy to work with so not a bad option for home builders.

Steel also makes a lot of sense and there always seems to be a source of one inch used plate available for not very much that you can cut down to more manageable ballast bits. 

Lead is the top choice for most folks but it is expensive in ingot or shot and a lot more dangerous to work with than prudent.

I included gold for those folks who write me all the time telling me I'd be a fool to go sailing on a boat that does not use the very best components available in its build and that you get what you pay for. I did however omit Uranium which would make awesome ballast except for the fact that the idea of glow in the dark testicles does not really appeal.

So, the question of what sort of ballast is pretty much up to you. For me the most attractive ballast compromise would be a mix of concrete with scrap lead or steel added to the mix. if I build the internally ballasted sharpie design I'm working on or a cast concrete/graphene/lead shot keel if I build the Skrowl 900.

More on building an affordable hull to put the ballast in soonish....

 

a couple of thoughts on plywood...

I know everyone says that when using plywood aboard a boat that one should always use the best marine plywood you can get.

So here's where that advice does not quite add up.

Some time back I built a hard dodger with marine ply, saturated it with epoxy and glassed then painted it. I was content that it was both bombproof and would last forever.

A couple of years later I built a Bolger long Tortoise dinghy and used cheap exterior ply because it was a very temporary boat and just a quick build to use until I built a different boat. I did use epoxy but because Raka had introduced a new UV resistant epoxy I did not bother to paint it using it as a test bed to see just how long the dinghy would last in the tropical sun.

Years have gone by...

A while back I noticed some issues with the dodger. A few soft spots developed in places they really should not have. I cut away the soft wood and replaced it with new marine ply using epoxy to glue it up coated with more epoxy and glassed it. Problem solved I thought to myself.

Meanwhile the temporary dinghy still got used every day the glass and epoxy on the boat was becoming a sad sight to behold but the boat still worked but there were bare spots exposing end grain and I pretty much accepted that the boat would be toast in a few months or so.

A couple of years later...

The dodger seems to have developed some sort of fatal infestation. The soft spots are back with a vengeance and the spread is now so widespread that it makes sense to just build another one to replace it. Actually not a bad thing at all is I've always thought the proportions were not quite right and I've been wanting to do another one for ages. Still, I had expected better from the marine ply in question.

On the other hand, the dinghy is still with us. All of the interior glass and epoxy coating has gone leaving bare plywood and exposed end grain. The dinghy was also sunk in hurricane Maria, abused on various dinghy docks, dragged up on sharp rocks, and just generally abused but is still in surprisingly good shape in spite of me purposely doing everything I could to get it to fail.

Over the expanse of time I've done a lot of ad hoc testing of ply and lumber offcuts to see just what would or would not rot and how they'd hold up to various tropical insects. Almost always the best results of such tests have leaned towards the opposite of what passes for common knowledge as to what works best on boats in the tropics.

So, now that "H" season is almost passed it's time to get with the program and build a new hard dodger as well as a new dinghy for "So It Goes". Doing either project in marine pretty much doubles the price of the dinghy or dodger so I'm inclined to just go with pressure treated exterior ply for both. Once finished, glassed, and painted no one is going to know what sort of ply it is and considering the experience I've had it will last as long or longer than what passes for so-called marine ply these days.

What it costs and empowerment from a surprising source....

In my RSS inbox today there was another “is the cruising life for you” themed podcast. Which apparently answers all your needful questions like “What’s it all going to cost?”.

The thing is, I don’t feel the need to check out the podcast in question because it will just be a regurgitation of the same old same.

On the “what’s it going to cost” front, I recently concluded that the oft-given answer of “whatever you have” is the worst answer ever. We should center the question not on what it costs, but more on what you are willing to spend.

The universal thinking on cruising and boat costs treats the average cruiser or boatbuilder as being clueless, stupid, and unable to live on any kind of budget of their own making. While a lot of boat folk and cruisers I’ve come across match that description, it is not the majority.

Now folks of scant means (spelled lower income) have a significant advantage, as they know it’s a hard world, people have to make do, and living on a budget is a fact of life.The choice between buying a $1,200 CAL 34 that needs a bit of work or a $69,000 Pacific Seacraft that also needs some work, our scant resource guy/gal understands what they can afford and fits their budget.

A lot of the email I get asks me about what I think of certain sailboats and whether they should get one type of boat or another. Whenever I get this sort of question, the first thing I ask is what their disposable income is and what sort of boat/cruising budget they envision for themselves. Sadly, some find the basic idea of being on a budget something of an insult, as only poor people have to live on budgets.

The simple fact is that everyone’s on a budget, whether they know it or not.

Off-hand, I find the idea of living within a budget both needful and empowering. I know what I can afford, and it keeps me away from adverse monetary surprises.

Take that $1200 CAL 34 for instance, It needs a little work, but if I were going to buy it, I’d make sure I have enough set aside for the boat, a full-on refit, and all the other expenses involved in turning it into a cruising boat.

I’ve lost track of the number of well-off folks who have bought a boat and then complained about the surprises they come across in the rehab that added thousands of dollars and weeks/months/years to their project. Turning it into just another hole in the water you throw money into.

Since the less well-off have the advantage of both knowing what their budget is and how to get by. They know surprises are part of the game and have budgeted or sorted out workarounds. They get on with the job at hand.

Of course, for budgets to work, you have to be honest with yourself and realize the difference between what you can afford and what you can’t. A lot of folks I know have a genuine issue on this front. As a result, they find themselves far too often with a project or lifestyle beyond their means.

Armed with a bit of homework and choosing a project within your budget and skills makes all the difference. A budget done right empowers you and makes achieving your goals a lot easier. Knowing what you can and cannot afford in the long term is a great asset rather than something that cramps your style or inhibits your freedom. It is the key factor that defines the difference between success and failure where cruising and boat projects are concerned.

Almost ready to get started...

Over the last five years or so I've regularly watched a YouTube channel of a guy who's bought a boat and embarked in a restoration.

On one hand it's been very entertaining as the guy in question makes good shows and does a better than most exposition of how to do stuff. While on the other hand it was interesting as he tended to make a lot of mistakes and was pretty forthright in letting you know about them.

What has been less enjoyable is the ongoing mission creep his restoration has gone through and as his popularity and income have increased the way it's become something of a consumerish cornucopia of installing the best and most expensive stuff he can find.

Which, I'll admit, is just fine where he's concerned and of course he has the right to spend as much money as he can afford doing his boat the way he wants to. But, for me, the problem is that they don't call youtubers "influencers" for nothing and it sends a message that the answer to most all issues where boats are concerned is more stuff more money. 

But, That's not how we roll here.

Since I've mentioned that I'm about to start building another self-steering gear I've received no shortage of emails telling me that folks are looking forward to some in-depth coverage of how I'm doing it. Then again, there's been quite a few folks telling me I'm an idiot because you need to spend over $5K to get a decent self-steering gear and that you get what you pay for and I expect you all know how much the "You get what you pay for" thing really gets up my nose.

I now have almost all of the materials needed for the Self-steering build and it looks like the total out-of-pocket expenses will not exceed $350-dollars. The good news is, at worst, it will be as good as an Auto-helm self-steering gear ($5250) and, more than likely, will work considerably better.

So, more on the self-steering ASAP...

It's almost boat show time...

This is about the time of year I perk up and pay attention to the various and sundry pre-boatshow press releases as there are usually some interesting bits of information on where boat design is going.

Take this new boat from Dufour...

It's the smallest boat in the Dufour line which in itself is interesting but the inflatable transom thingy certainly caught my attention.

Whatever it is it is most certainly a bit out of the box and most certainly bears looking into.

By the way, I'm well aware that a new Dufour, no matter how small, is not going to be a potential VolksCruiser until it's at least ten years older and on the used market. So, why the hell am I interested now?

Mostly mostly it's all about new ideas. Boat shows are full of interesting features and (dare I say it?) cunning plans. Some wind up being pretty useless or dumb but a few are real improvements and a minute number become real game changers.

Offhand, I don't think the inflatable transom thingy is a game changer but it is an out-of-the-box idea that could easily be reverse engineered, DIY'd, and retrofitted to a VolksCruiserish boat. 

Which for me makes boat shows and the press releases leading up to them a wonderful source of ready to be purloined ideas that just might make a big difference in the performance or livability of your old classic plastic design.

Need I say more?

Getting ready to build a new self-steering gear...

So, yeah, about that new self-steering gear...

Right now I'm in the process of getting all the bits together to assemble a kit to build the it and the various pieces not readily available on a tropical island paradise are, mostly, currently winging their way to my PO box.

Putting together a "kit" before starting just about any boat project in my opinion is a must because when I do a project I like to do it full on and as non-stop as possible. Having all the needful bits in hand means you don't have to waste time running momentum killing errands.

Another advantage of putting together a kit for your project is that it forces you to get familiar with how it all goes together before you actually get to doing the actual work. Building projects in your head is a great way to see where problems may crop up and sort out workarounds and improvements to the mix. For instance, one part of the design bothered me because I don't enjoy tapping stainless steel rod and while going over the plans again and again while looking at suppliers catalogs I had a serendipitous moment where I came across an easy replacement method to get way from tapping rod which also makes the windvane simpler, offers easier adjustment, and saves some money in the process.

Lastly, done right, putting a kit together tends to save a significant amount of money while allowing a better quality of components. Just buying the various fasteners for the project off island saves me close to a couple hundred dollars compared to the silly pricing of stainless screws and bolts.right now I'm looking at a budget of around $350 for the complete self-steering gear but, when the gear is complete I'll be publishing all the various costs so we'll see how my current estimate holds up once the actual gear is complete.

Next up on the subject is why a chose this particular self-steering gear to build...

and in the "Are we ready to look at that Ericson yet?" department...

So you've done your research, sorted out that an Ericson 26 would be an appropriate small cruising boat you could live with, and within your budget. Hell, you even built a dinghy to prove to yourself you were not a tyro, had the mindset and needful skills to fix up the Ericson, and you're ready to go look at the sucker cash-in-hand but your buddy and everyone on that forum tells you you need to get a surveyor.

Here's the thing...

One, you don't need a surveyor and two, the boat's already sold.

A good surveyor might make sense if you're paying big bucks for a boat but not so much if you're talking about a fixer-upper that costs less than the surveyors fee. For a VolksCruiser you're better off doing your own survey.

Don Casey has a decent book on the subject that you might want to check out as it makes a good outline of the things you need to look at.

When I look at a boat I'm mostly concerned with the hull, deck, and rig. Everything else I'd rip out and rebuild the interior and systems from scratch as it's faster and cheaper than trying to work around or make sense with what previous owners have done to the boat. The other advantage of starting fresh is that you set up things in a way that makes sense.

When you do your self-survey make sure to take lots of pictures/videos and take note or narrate the survey so if you need to talk to someone about the boats issues they have as much information as possible to base their advice on. Some time ago a reader sent me a ton of photos on a Bolger design he was considering and it was easy for me to offer advice and the sad conclusion that it would be a big mistake to consider the project.

But why bother as the boat is already sold. Right?

The thing is, good deals on boats don't ever last long. Show me a boat that has been sitting with a For Sale sign for a year and I'll know it's selling for way too much. On the other hand, boats that are priced to move, move quickly.

Which is why, when looking for your VolksCruiser, you really need to be ready...

So, you want to build yourself a VolksCruiser...

As it happens, I really enjoy building boats.I find the whole process of boat construction both a creative outlet and deeply satisfying on an emotional level.

That being the case, I often recommend to a lot of folks that they might want to think twice before building a cruising boat because there's a steep learning curve. It takes a special mindset to build a good boat and not everyone has what it takes. 

Which is not to say I'm one of those sad people who hang out on forums telling folks that building your own boat is a project that only an idiot would attempt, it will take a decade or more to finish, and when the dust has settled you'll have spent more than a new boat would cost. My advice is more along the line that building your own boat is a great experience, which can save you some money, and be done in a timely manner providing you have your shit together sort.

Which leaves us with the perennial question...

Do you have your shit together? 

The truth is that this is a question I ask myself on a pretty regular basis. It's a go to mantra of sorts because, in my case at least, I need to keep track of what sort of condition my condition is in*.

The hardest part of building a boat has less to do with one's abilities to do dovetail joints or perfect scarfs and everything to do with keeping your shit together in the midst of a gazillion interlocking, yet contradictory tasks, which is otherwise known as project management.

Take a look at the folks around you and, I suspect, there are people who can manage a project and others who can't even manage to do even simple tasks without some involved drama. 

Another reason boat projects fail is that the builder can't follow the plan. One of the most common questions I hear about boat building is something like "I got the Bolger AS29 plans but think I'll substitute the rig from a Catalina 30 and maybe add an inboard diesel engine. What do you think?" sort. One of the things I love about building a boat is I get to follow a plan that makes sense which is a wonderful thing considering that managing a boat building project is often an exercise that makes wrangling cats seem simple.

The fact of the matter is the backbone of any successful boat build is the plan and the minute you start questioning the validity of the design chaos ensues. 

The last issue that is seriously problematic for the build is that not everyone is good at doing consistent productive labor. Take a look at one of my favorite Wharram designs the Tiki 30 which is really a nice little cruising design. According to Wharram, the design requires around nine-hundred hours of labor to complete which is an average as some folks take longer, some take less, some are part-time and some folks work full time. Now, anyone who actually works for a living has already figured out that nine-hundred hours is between 22-23 forty-hour work weeks. 

Building boats is just like working for a paycheck. It's all about the labor. When building the Wharram you don't get to count time spent looking at that big pile of plywood pondering which part you'll cut out first, daydreaming about how awesome it will be sailing the cat in the Caribbean, or redesigning the design so it looks more like a Gunboat. Nope, you only get to count the hours you actually worked that produced stuff.

Admittedly some people are not all that great at being their own taskmaster and that's OK as long as they realize that doing an hour here and a few hours there doesn't get a boat built in any kind of timely manner, if at all. On the other hand, if the builder is self-actualized and can put in productive eight-hour days, not only will he have a successful build but also be able to send "Having a wonderful time in Pago Pago" postcards to all of the naysayers who said that it's stupid to build a boat.

Like I said, building your own boat is not for everyone but for those who can, it rocks.

*H/T The First Edition.

 

More on affordable multihulls...

Multihulls are HIP and as a result multihulls demand a higher price and this includes used boats. Which, I suppose, is good news if you happen to be selling a catamaran but bad news if you want to buy one. In my opinion, multihull prices are mostly inflated and don't quite reflect their actual value.

Here's an example;

I've been following an Iroquois 30 catamaran built in 1969 that has been for sale for ages at $45K but recently came down to $35K. Maybe it's just me but I think that either price is way too high for a fifty-two year old boat. As the Iroquois has a displacement of 6560 pounds that's right around $6.86 a pound at $45K and $5.34 at $35K.

As it happens, "So It Goes" is a 1969 CAL 34 and I also tend to track what the model sells for and, by my addition, a 1969 Cal 34 costs between $5K in OK condition to $20K where the boat is pretty much pristine. So, by my figuring, the average price of a good to very good CAL 34 hovers around $14K. That said, with a displacement of 9500 pounds the CAL 34 is a lot more boat than the Iroquois but sells less at $1.48 per pound. 

The big question for me is whether or not the hipness factor of a 52 year old geriatric catamaran is worth the extra cost. The fact is if you were to base the value of the Iroquois on its displacement which, by rights it should be you'd be able to buy the Iroquois for around $2 a pound which would be along the lines of $13K which is very close to several other Iroquois cats I've seen over the last few years.

Most builders I know tend to budget a sailboat based on how much it weighs and not so much on what you can sell the boat for. Working out what a boat is worth in terms of weight/displacement is a great way to sort out what you should be willing to pay for a given multihull.

So, what's a person going to do if he/she want a multihull on a VolkCruiser budget?

Well for starters, I'd take a look at smaller designs like the Heavenly Twins, Iroquois, and Prout Sirocco because they're good boats and long enough in the tooth and in a less-than-hip size to have a few out there at reasonable prices.

If those boats are a bit small for your tastes you might check what you can find in the 30-35 foot niche but be warned that deals are very few and far between.

While I've not mentioned multhulls of the DIY sort I'll go on record and say that finding an inexpensive multihull in the under 40-foot niche is, more than likely going to be a DIY boat. The downside is that a lot of folks consider home-built boats inferior and, to be honest, there's a valid reason as the old adage of...

"You build your first boat for your worst enemy, the second for a friend, and the third for yourself."

... which has more than a passing resemblance to reality and, as a result, there are some truly heinous examples of boat butchery laying in wait with a "For Sale" sign laying in wait for the unwary.

More on the subject of home-built designs, what they should cost and building yourself in the near future...

a VolksCruiser shortlist of sorts...

So, the other day, a reader of this blog dropped me a line asking...

"What do you think the best VolksCruiser design to build is?"

Which, sorta/kinda, stopped me in my tracks.

First of all, I don't really truck all that well with the concept of "best" where boats are concerned. It's a fool's game to try and quantify something that, at best, is a compromise and, in case you haven't been paying attention; All boat are a compromise.

That said, I do like a good conundrum so I decided to make a list of elements that I consider to be needful for inclusion on such a beast:

1. Small with a livable (spelled comfortable) interior.
2. Shoal draft
3. Simple rig (spelled inexpensive)
4. No expensive systems
5. Quick to build
6. Affordable

Pretty simple when you think about it. Oh yeah, I expect I'll get some emails saying why wasn't "seaworthy" on that list and in my defense I'll just say that, as far as I'm concerned, seaworthiness should always be a given in any boat you build or sail so not exactly something for the need/want list.

Considering that I don't think there's a boat that would be "best" given the need/want list a few boats do pop to mind.

1. Jessie Cooper
2. Laura Cove
3. L' Étroit Mousquetaire
4. Pop 25
5. Skrowl 900

None of them are perfect but they all will do the job and are worth taking a closer look to ascertain what comes closest to your idea of what would work for you.

More soon come on the Ranger 26 front...

Ranger 26: First cockpit projects...

So here's a sketch from Michael (you know the Proa guy) to give you an idea what the first few projects entail...

The first order of business is to downsize the companion way and reduce some of the cockpit's floodable volume. As you can see, we're talking super simple as it's just filling up a void and installing a couple of pieces of plywood and then glassing it in.

The dodger, on the other hand, is a little trickier but still a long way from rocket science. I'd build a mock-up in cardboard to see what it will look like and, once happy with the proportions, take the cardboard pieces apart to use as patterns. After that it's just like building a stitch & glue dinghy. I'd use 1/4" exterior ply for the dodger, 1/4" plexi for the windows, and 3" glass tape to do the joins. Afterwards, glass the whole shebang inside and out with biaxial cloth followed by 4oz or 6oz cloth to finish.

Materials needed for the three projects won't break the bank but would include:

1. One sheet of 1/4" exterior plywood but you'll only use a half sheet for these projects.
2. Four yards of whatever biaxial cloth is on sale at your local purveyor of epoxy and glass fiber.  I use Raka for almost all of my epoxy, glass, carbon, and fillers and you might want to check them out as they always seem to have the most bang for the buck.
3. A full roll of 3" glass tape which is way more than you need for these projects but buying by the roll saves you lots of money.
4. One and a half gallons of epoxy/hardener, some micro spheres, and colloidal silica. Though you may want to buy more as you'll use more epoxy on other projects.

Next up is cleats, anchor rollers, and a closer look at rig options.

Maybe the best VolksCruising channel on the web...

Sailorama is a great YouTube channel of the unapologetic cruising on a budget ilk and if you're leaning towards doing the VolkCruiser Fandango you should really be following them.

Really.

For example...



and



Lots of good stuff and content with the added advantage of a definite lack of the "Look at me we're wonderful and oh so cute" vibe.

Ya think?

Hazy details...

A very long time ago PBO had a short article on building a hatch for a sailboat based on the Maurice Griffiths double coaming design. It was good albeit sparse on details but included all of the information one actually needed to build the hatch. I cut this picture out of the magazine and added it to my files...

The next month in the letters section of PBO I was surprised that there was a negative review of the article as being worthless since it did not include dimensions and a few other details that were, apparently, outside the ability of the reviewer to figure out.

Over the years I've come across a surprising number of folks building and repairing boats that seem to exhibit a pronounced lack of , for want of a better word, imagination. Then again, some might just call it laziness.

For me the above drawing of the hatch construction is really all one needs. It shows how it goes together and I don't have any issues with the fact that it does not tell me what glue to use, the type of hinges needed, or the thickness and type of wood used.

The fact of the matter is most details for the hatch are going to depend on the size of your boat, the size of the hatch, and what sort of materials you have available. Telling you that the hatch should be built of 7/8" stock is just going to cause you all sorts of problems if you don't have 7/8" stock available and, I suspect, that your local lumber yard will only have 3/4" stock anyway.

Of course, you could do what a guy I know did and order some teak from a shop a couple of thousand miles away, have it milled to a precise dimension of your choosing, and then shipped at ludicrous expense to where you are which will result in very nice but way-too-expensive hatches for the likes of us of a VolksCruiserish nature.

Sure details count but you really only need two things for a successful boat project and that's the general concept of how it goes together and, most importantly, the fact that the concept of the project actually works.

In the case of the Griffiths hatch it goes together like the drawing and thousands of hatches to this general design have been built and they work...

All you need to know.

$2.99 you need to spend...

A couple of days ago I saw there was a book on Kindle that looked like it might be interesting...

This one in fact.

At $2.99 it was something of a no-brainer so I downloaded a copy to my Kindle and read it in a couple of hours.

It's an easy enjoyable read and contains a lot of information that flies in the face of what a lot of people say. Stuff, as it happens, that actually needs to be said.

Whether you want to flip boats or not is unimportant as the real meat of the issue is simply how to approach boat work and get the boat up-and-sailing in a timely, affordable, and seaworthy manner.

In short a whole lotta good advice for just under $3.

That said, surveyors and boat brokers will really hate the book. Of course, from where I sit that's just the cherry on top.

Do I really have to say more?

Not for everyone...

In the last couple of weeks I've noticed a lot of hurricane related boats and gear coming on to the market down here and like Rod Stewart reminded us way back when...

every picture tells a story.

In the case of the Westsail pictured it's beat up, forlorn, and a whole lot of work to make it right but there's life in the old girl yet. That said, it is not the sort of project that is suitable for most folk and for most folk it would be the project from hell.

Of course, most folks don't read VolksCruiser or, for that matter, have a clue.

As for my take on such a project it's doable for a lot less time and money than you might expect. Though, admittedly, just the sort of enterprise that would test one's mettle, sanity, and perseverance.

Like I said, not for everyone...

But, just maybe, a good discussion point.