home built?

[mikieg]

i thought we would start a thread about home made sail boats. has any one here built a stevenson's weekender or vacationer?
feel free to post any pics of the boats you have built either construction photos and sailing pics or vids.
also include stories of where and how far you have sailed them.

[PaulfromNWOnt]

While I haven't built one myself (nor do I intend to), I have seen some vids on youtube that are good to watch.

I must say it's a nice looking little boat.

[bljones]

There are better designs out there that are just as easy to build, if possibly a little more time consuming, and offer better sailing characteristics. A Welsford Penguin or Sundowner would be decent little pocket cruisers.


If you want a little more room and aren't scared of a second hull, check out a jarcat 6M.

[dabnis]

I guess a question to ask is would you rather spend your time and money building or sailing? When I was growing up I helped my dad build an International Star Class boat. It was a piece of art work. Unfortunately, he never got to sail it. I helped him build another small boat and several houses.
My personal preference was to sail rather than build. It may be possible that looking for a ready to sail used boat may not cost much more than the materials, space needed, and time to build a new one? Build now, sail later?,
or sail now? Your mileage may vary.

Dabnis

[mikieg]

hey jones, why would someone be scared of the second hull? that looks like a bad boy cat if i ever saw one!

[Brent Swain]

If I had bought all the boats I've owned, rather than built my own, I would have spent a lot more time working to pay for them , and a lot less time sailing.
I remember building a 31 footer for a couple of computer programers. When their boss saw me , he said "Is that your boat builder and designer?" The owner said "Yes" The boss said "I think you better look around a bit more." The boss bought a brand new stock boat, and before he had finished paying or for her, the boat I built had sailed from BC to California, on to Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, the Caribean for several years, cruised the east coast ,back to the Caribean and over to Ireland and Britain.
I built myself a sister ship ,launched her one month after the steel arrived and spent another ten days detaining her, another ten days painting her and roughing the interior in and another week rigging her, before moving aboard and going for her first sail. She cost me $4K to get her launched and $6K to get her sailing. There is no way I could have bought a boat for that cheap.
I haven't seen another boat in the last 27 years which would better fit my needs, nor which I'd rather be cruising in. When you build your own boat, you get exactly what you want , not someone else's priorities. .

[mikieg]

please post pics. love to see your work sir.

[Brent Swain]

When I figure out how. Meanwhile, there are plenty on the origamiboats site.

[blt2ski]

Not sure what those boats are. But step dad built a Glen-L marine 21cb in the 70's, I also built one of their 8-ball prams, and a 12' sloop day sailor. Two years ago step-dad finished after some 30 yrs a bill garden design boat.

In some cases, a you build the boat is a good way to go, others. frankly, buy a used or new boat, deal with the extra cost, as you can sail them today per say. BOTH options have plus's and minus's frankly!

Marty

[Faster]

When I was 16 I bought a kit for a 14 foot daysailer from 'Folboat', a company that primarily made canvas-on-frame Kayak kits. The kit consisted of a transom piece, the stem and some frames with plans. It turned out OK but being 16 I turned around and put a 20 hp outboard and roared around the inlet. Sold it after a year or so but it was fun just the same.

When my son was small a friend and I designed and built a mold for an fg opti-style sailing dinghy, 7 1/2 feet long - kind if a cross between a Sabot and an Opti. We built three once we figured out how to make a decent mold. We rigged these with small laser style rigs and had a lot of fun, our son cut his teeth on it too. Two are still in use, nearly 30 years later.

Building a boat has to be a labour of love and I think taking on too big a project is one of the common mistakes. It's always sad to see someone's failed project languishing in a field or a boatyard.