The upside of DIY...

The other day a reader dropped me a line where the subject of DIY came up and he pointed out that, unlike me, he could afford to hire folks to do work for him and if you had to DIY you might want to consider something other than yachting as a lifestyle decision...

Not the first time I've heard that opinion and, I expect, most folks of the VolkCruiserish ilk will hear it as well.

What the reader in question doesn't quite get is that the advantages of doing work on your boat and its systems yourself has a great number of advantages which improve the sailing and cruising experience and the fact that it also allows you to save money in the process is just an added perk which is no bad thing.

Sadly, too many of the marine trades are not just over-priced but also woefully short on the needed skills that they charge you for. I've seen too many projects and repairs done by various contractors that not only did not fix the needful repairs but wound up creating more damage and problems that would be left for someone else to fix.  

An advantages of doing your own work is that you actually know how things are put together on your boat and that gives you the skill set to fix it when or if it needs to be sorted out. Sure there's a learning curve but it's a fairly easy one as almost all boat related work is just minimum wage level stuff mixed with common sense.

No rocket science involved.

Being able to handle maintenance and repairs is both empowering and adds greatly to the overall safety of the boat and its crew. Which, from where I sit, are the two most important reasons to get your DIY groove on.

Lastly, doing work that fixes things is mostly enjoyable and satisfying. Of course, not everyone enjoys all boat work and I'll be the first to admit I really do not like working on internal combustion engines as it's a UGH job as far as I'm concerned, Still, in spite of the UGH nature of working on engines, I find it especially satisfying when I'm able to fix one.

I'll also add that saving money is a game I really enjoy and the perks of doing my own work adds up to a considerable chunk of change in the process which makes DIY that much more enjoyable. Then again, some folks don't mind paying $4.99 for a  twenty-five cent machine screw and take pride in throwing around how much they paid for stuff as a badge of honor. Not sure where you stand on such things but the whole Boat Buck mentality seems somewhat questionable at best.

Oh yeah, on the whole yacht thing... I don't own a yacht, don't want to own a yacht, and cringe whenever I hear a boat described as a yacht or a person sailing it a yachtsman. So I'm not exactly the sort of person who would ever consider yachting as a lifestyle.

in the "Take a bit of care" department...

Safety...

This week I read of two separate incidents where someone was killed in a boatyard while working on a boat. Not actually a rare occurrence as it happens.

Think about that for a moment.

Sadly, boatyards (especially DIY yards) are notorious for being unsafe as they are a mix of toxic materials, dangerous conditions, unsafe working practices, and too many people working without a clue to possible outcomes of their actions.

Over the years I've been in boatyards where people have been poisoned, had masts fall on them, been electrocuted, had a boat fall on them, sawed off various body appendages, fallen off masts, been blinded, screwed or nailed a hand to a bulkhead/hull, impaled by flying pieces of metal/wood, been concussed, caught on fire, and gotten into fights that left them in intensive care. In too many of those accidents the people wound up dead.

Which is something you really might want to factor in if you're contemplating building or fixing up a boat/VolksCruiser. There's generally a safe and sane way to accomplish your goals and the alternative may just ruin your day or, possibly, the rest of your life.

Just saying...

on the $1200 stainless steel pulpit thang...

The other day I was watching the "Maritime Lemonade Stand" which is a video series of a guy who plans to sail around the world and support himself selling lemonade...

It's entertaining. Seriously, the guy is funny and brings a whole new take to the dynamic and, as such, it's well worth watching.

It's also quite instructive in the how not to rehab an old boat so, by all means, watch it because it is funny but do try and ignore or learn from the whole throwing money at everything and spending $40K to fix up a boat that, even in pristine shape, should only cost about $15K.

Case in point; he spent $1200 or so to have a new pulpit built.

Very few boats actually need pulpits of any sort...

Well, unless you plan to harpoon swordfish on a regular basis...

My personal preference is to simply have the lifelines dead end at u-bolts on the deck at a 45 degree angle from the foremost stanchion. Works finestkind, strengthens the lifelines, and doesn't cost nearly anything.

Taking control with a nod to responsibility...

The other day, a reader who often drops me mail to let me know I'm an idiot, directed me to a thread on a forum regarding a woman's decision to buy a cheap RV stove for a couple of hundred dollars instead of a "proper" marine one for a couple of thousand...

Silly man.

First of all, the word "marine" seldom, if ever, impresses me because I've worked in the marine industry and I've had up close and personal experience with a lot of crap it produces.

Secondly, the only real advantage to a marine stove is that it has a thermcouple which turns off the flow of gas in the event that the flame is blown out. This is a good thing in practice but does not guarantee safety nor is it a high priced component which would justify the much higher price of the marine stove. Used correctly, which translates roughly to "never leave a lit stove unattended on a boat doofus" will insure that you don't go boom in a rather spectacular way.

The thing is, whatever gear you put on your boat is your choice and you're in control. The downside is that also means you're responsible for whatever turns out as a result. Which means you might want to take some care in how you install said stove whether it is an RV, camping, or gold plated marine stove.

Lately I've been doodling my next boat and, as the galley is such a central part of life on a boat, the stove is a very important part of the puzzle. I expect I'll be using the Camp Chef as they are cheap (street price around $230), everyone I know who is using one loves them, they're easily/cheaply adapted to being gimbaled, and maybe most importantly unlike marine stoves, spare parts are readily available from Camp Chef inexpensivley.

Just saying...

about the whole sailing thing...

Over at Simply Sailing Online there's a post that makes a lot of sense... You really should read it if you have not already.

I mention it because there are a lot of people who think that having stuff is what makes them safe. As opposed to something, shall we say, as mundane of being a competent sailor and having the sort of skill set that will, if needful, get you out of trouble when things go FUBAR.

Folks of the greater VolksCruiser persuasion have the advantage over our fellow sailors with deeper pockets because we're forced by budget constraints to be better sailors and do such unfashionable things as sailing to windward. It does not take a rocket scientist to realize that the more you sail the better you get...

The really cool thing about learning to sail better is it hardly costs anything and its fun. Sure, it's not considered hip in some quarters these days of folks-who-need-to-turn-on-their-motor-to-tack but it does have it's own simple satisfaction of being content in your skills set.

That's a great place to be.

On taking rescue for granted...

The carnage of the current Salty Dawg rally has given me a lot to think about the last couple of days...

For instance, the various boating media coverage seems to think it is sorta/kinda normal for masts to fall down, rudders to fall off or break, and the fact that there are heroic Coast Guard men and women just waiting around to save yachties collective asses when needed.

Maybe it's just me but none of that is normal and it's something we should all give some serious thought to...

Sure masts do fall down from time to time and, I have some up-close-and-personal experience with such things. It's not because the wind blows too hard but because there is something wrong with the mast or any number of small fittings that can fail. In the case of my mast falling down and going BOOM, it was a single little weld that failed on a chainplate (a chainplate, I might add that I intended to replace at my earliest convenience and boy was that ever a big mistake!).

Pretty much the same goes for rudders... Rudders fail because they have something wrong with them and, as rudders take a lot of abuse over their lives, it is something that anyone going to sea further than they care to swim back from should factor into their plans and have some sort of backup system that works that you have actually tried...

I mention this because even in a world of cell phones and EPIRBs there is a very good chance that when the shit hits the fan you won't be anywhere near heroic Coasties or other means of timely rescue and you will, at least temporarily, need to take care of yourself and hopefully make port.

The problem is that most modern boats are badly designed, too complicated, and have too many systems to be easily sorted out when TSHTF scenario becomes a reality. Seriously, how are you going to sort out a problem when you cannot even access half your thru-hulls?

Lucky for us the VolksCruiser by its very nature has minimal systems and the ones it has are simple...

But, more about that later.