Frameless steel construction

[PeterSailer]

The basic shell of the BrentSwain 36 has been frequently pulled together in a matter of weeks. It is clearly stated in Brent's book and on the Origamie forum.

Pierre

[SloopJonB]

Originally Posted by PeterSailer

The basic shell of the BrentSwain 36 has been frequently pulled together in a matter of weeks. It is clearly stated in Brent's book and on the Origamie forum.

Pierre

The shell is less than 10% of the total boat.

[Capt.aaron]

My boat is hull mast and ruddder. The inside was bean bag chairs, shrimp net and buckets all through the 90's and i sailed 1000's of miles in the Caribean that decade. If the hull is sound and the mast is up, and the rudder go's back and forth, your sailing. You can throw some pallets and hand tools in side and build as you go the interior, Keep the electronics down to a couple of lights etc. It's true to out fit boat from scratch is way more expensive than buying one used, look at winch prices, I sailed forever with no cockpit winches, I had one on the mast, to trim my jib I came up till it flapped, pulled it in and fell off. I could go on and on about how to put together a very sea worthy and cumfy boat on a flea market budget, but I guess Brent allready wrote a book on it,

[TQA]

Originally Posted by GaryHLucas

WOW! At around 200 days he is still welding! My first exposure to Brent's method was a series of photos showing a Brent boat being built in a cow pasture along a road. It was about 20 photos, starting with the steel sheets on the ground, ending with hull, deck, coach roof, and keel all welded up in about 30 days time.

Gary H. Lucas

Pedantic pronoun pusher here.

Actually the boat was built by 2 x she

Took them 10 years which seems about the normal time for a first build by 2 people who are also working.

The good news was they did finish and launch the boat, a 43 ft Roberts.

The bad news was that after one fairly short but scary sail they stopped posting to their log.

I never did find out what happened to them and the boat.

[davidpm]

Originally Posted by PeterSailer

I'm the kind of guy that likes functionality over esthetics...

But yes, I know that I'll be quite long but hey, i'm still young.
Pierre

Pierre your quest is not unusual for a young strong man.
One significant drawback to your plan is the number of years it will take.
Even if you get the hull, deck, rig, engine and basic lights done with no interior in some number of months maybe 12 to 36 you are banking on the idea that no lady friend will come into your life.

Most guys, not all, find that when a woman comes into their life the defintion of functionality changes, sometimes dramatically.
If you buy something and start sailing immediately you are guaranteed to get some sailing in.
Unless of course you prefer building to sailing.
Also any boat you buy for any price will typically have some value while your homemade steel boat will have very little value once you have to start shopping for a ring.

[PeterSailer]

My goal is to have my boat built and ready to leave for a unknown amount of time in about 20-25 years. After that much time in the military, I'll have a pension wich will provide more then enough money to cruise for the rest of my life.

In my career it's quite possible that I'll be posted in Alberta or in places where there is absolutly no water...So these time will be a good time to put some hours on the boat...

I plan to build all my own detailing wich will reduce the cost a lot... all the cleats, bollard, block, roller furling....will all be home made. There will be no fancy and shiny hardware bought at the marine store. Rigging will be galvanized and mast will be home made out of steel(1000$ instead of +10 000$).

I might buy my self a small daysailor to sail around mean while I buld my boat but this could drastically slow down my project...so i'm not sure about that 1 yet.

I don't have a cure for the women yet =D I suspect this could cause some problem

Cheers

Pierre

[SloopJonB]

Originally Posted by PeterSailer

My goal is to have my boat built and ready to leave for a unknown amount of time in about 20-25 years. After that much time in the military, I'll have a pension wich will provide more then enough money to cruise for the rest of my life.

In my career it's quite possible that I'll be posted in Alberta or in places where there is absolutly no water...So these time will be a good time to put some hours on the boat...

I plan to build all my own detailing wich will reduce the cost a lot... all the cleats, bollard, block, roller furling....will all be home made. There will be no fancy and shiny hardware bought at the marine store. Rigging will be galvanized and mast will be home made out of steel(1000$ instead of +10 000$).

I might buy my self a small daysailor to sail around mean while I buld my boat but this could drastically slow down my project...so i'm not sure about that 1 yet.

I don't have a cure for the women yet =D I suspect this could cause some problem

Cheers Pierre

By God, he reminds me of ME (40 years ago). I was desperate to build a boat MY way. I did it but I learned from the process that I would have gained just as much satisfaction, spent way less money and been sailing years earlier if I had bought something scruffy and tailored it to fit. Used boats were a LOT more expensive then than now as well - a used Columbia 26 was a years pay (from a good job). Now it's maybe a months pay from an ordinary job.

If you do go ahead from scratch, don't use steel for the mast - a smallish steel boat needs all the help it can get from a performance standpoint. There are lots of sources of aluminium tubes that can be made into spars - lamp standards for one.

[SloopJonB]

Originally Posted by Capt.aaron

My boat is hull mast and ruddder. The inside was bean bag chairs, shrimp net and buckets all through the 90's and i sailed 1000's of miles in the Caribean that decade. If the hull is sound and the mast is up, and the rudder go's back and forth, your sailing. You can throw some pallets and hand tools in side and build as you go the interior, Keep the electronics down to a couple of lights etc. It's true to out fit boat from scratch is way more expensive than buying one used, look at winch prices, I sailed forever with no cockpit winches, I had one on the mast, to trim my jib I came up till it flapped, pulled it in and fell off. I could go on and on about how to put together a very sea worthy and cumfy boat on a flea market budget, but I guess Brent allready wrote a book on it,

I have yet to see a boat that was launched with minimum fitout, EVER get completed. Every one I have ever seen stayed unfinished until they were sold on and pulled out for completion by someone else.

[Capt.aaron]

I've never finished my boat's interior, owned her for 23 years, been sailing and working on her for 33, At this point I assume I never will, but I've sailed the hell out of it. I care a great deal about what's on deck, and sleep on what's softest, drink from a jug, read by a dim light painted red with nail polish, shower from a pump up bug sprayer and cook on the old alcohol stove my grand pa left me. Right now I've built some ply wood bunks with golden oak varnish and I'd swear I own a yacht when I look below.

[SloopJonB]

Originally Posted by Capt.aaron

I've never finished my boat's interior, owned her for 23 years, been sailing and working on her for 33, At this point I assume I never will, but I've sailed the hell out of it. I care a great deal about what's on deck, and sleep on what's softest, drink from a jug, read by a dim light painted red with nail polish, shower from a pump up bug sprayer and cook on the old alcohol stove my grand pa left me. Right now I've built some ply wood bunks with golden oak varnish and I'd swear I own a yacht when I look below.

I'm just speculating here but you live alone, right?