Is it better for me to build or buy. Please someone help m..

I am currently having a very difficult time getting information on boat
building and I would really appreciate any help I could get here.

Here is the situation. I am 26 and live in an apartment in Orange County
California. I am considering building a boat starting a few years from now
to live on. I plan to start several years from now to allow time to save
money and get more sailing experience. I am largely plannng to do this
because of outrageous housing costs in this area making it very difficult to
purchase a house as a first time buyer but also because I think that I would
really enjoy living on a boat. Ideally I would like to have enough money put
aside to fund most of the build but I will, obviously be putting more money
into the project as I build. I think that if I take five years to build then
this should be reasonable. I should be able to build in my Dads back yard
which has a rather large cement pad and he may be willing to let me invade
his house for a while. He doesn't live far from me so i can still work and
do all of the things I normaly do and build on weekends and at night. I plan
to do as much of the construction as I am capable of to both keep costs down
and ensure that I get a good quality boat.

I like the idea of building my own boat as I have built many things before
and I am currently working on building small sailing outrigger canoes. We
have all of the tools needed and a lot of experiencein woodworking. My dad
would be willing to help when needed as he is retired and has some free time.
Ideally I would like to come away with a nice place to live that I do not
need to make loan payments but I realize that certain equipment I may need to
get a loan for (such as radios and navigation, sails, spars....). I want
something that could potentially last the rest of my life and be sailerd all
over the world.

I am looking at Bruce Roberts designs. Does anyone have any opinion as to
them. I will be doing wood construction in either Plywood or strip composite
and the design I am currently most interested in is the Centenial Spray 38.
I have never heard of a Spray as a type of boat elsewhere so i don't really
know what makes that different from other designs. The best I can tell from
looking at it is that the cabin seems to be raised a little further aft than
the the rest of the designs giving them a little more headroom, they don't
seem to have an internal cockpit and the hull shape seems to be a lttle
different. I have no idea if I am right.

Here is what I would really like to know. Has anyone out there done this or
something similar that I can answer these questions for me.

1) How much will this cost.
2) How many man hours would it take.
3) How much of the build (in approximate percentage) must be done before I
can launch it and move onto it.
4) Is it realistically cheaper to buy an old boat then fix it up to make it
realiable and what I would want. (this would probably only be an option if
building turns out to be too expensive but would not be limited to wood boats)


Everyone seems to say that there is no real answer to these questions because
it depends on the person and the boat, but that is really not very helpful.
I understand that these things can range but if someone has done it
themselves then that would give me some sort of comparison.

Bruce Roberts designs say to buy the study plans and price out from there as
they contain complete materials lists but I would like to have some sort of
range before I spend $125. When i am ready I will definately do this and
decide more definitavely but for now i just want a general idea of what it
takes so I can think about it.

Someone please help. So far I have not been able to get any kind of answers
on these questions at all.

Le'me tell you as a voice of experience. IF you want to get on the water in
the least amount of time with the least amount of money buy a fixer upper
and finish it out the way you want.

To paraphrase the first paragraph of my web site "There is no logical reason
for someone to build a big boat from scratch except that he wants to create
a monument to himself." I just happen to like monuments.

There is plenty to be creative about on the inside of a proven hull.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"scbafreak" <u25927@uwe> wrote in message news:6583fa26456f4@uwe...
>I am currently having a very difficult time getting information on boat
> building and I would really appreciate any help I could get here.
>
> Here is the situation. I am 26 and live in an apartment in Orange County
> California. I am considering building a boat starting a few years from
> now
> to live on. I plan to start several years from now to allow time to save
> money and get more sailing experience. I am largely plannng to do this
> because of outrageous housing costs in this area making it very difficult
> to
> purchase a house as a first time buyer but also because I think that I
> would
> really enjoy living on a boat. Ideally I would like to have enough money
> put
> aside to fund most of the build but I will, obviously be putting more
> money
> into the project as I build. I think that if I take five years to build
> then
> this should be reasonable. I should be able to build in my Dads back yard
> which has a rather large cement pad and he may be willing to let me invade
> his house for a while. He doesn't live far from me so i can still work
> and
> do all of the things I normaly do and build on weekends and at night. I
> plan
> to do as much of the construction as I am capable of to both keep costs
> down
> and ensure that I get a good quality boat.
>
> I like the idea of building my own boat as I have built many things before
> and I am currently working on building small sailing outrigger canoes. We
> have all of the tools needed and a lot of experiencein woodworking. My
> dad
> would be willing to help when needed as he is retired and has some free
> time.
> Ideally I would like to come away with a nice place to live that I do not
> need to make loan payments but I realize that certain equipment I may need
> to
> get a loan for (such as radios and navigation, sails, spars....). I
> want
> something that could potentially last the rest of my life and be sailerd
> all
> over the world.
>
> I am looking at Bruce Roberts designs. Does anyone have any opinion as to
> them. I will be doing wood construction in either Plywood or strip
> composite
> and the design I am currently most interested in is the Centenial Spray
> 38.
> I have never heard of a Spray as a type of boat elsewhere so i don't
> really
> know what makes that different from other designs. The best I can tell
> from
> looking at it is that the cabin seems to be raised a little further aft
> than
> the the rest of the designs giving them a little more headroom, they don't
> seem to have an internal cockpit and the hull shape seems to be a lttle
> different. I have no idea if I am right.
>
> Here is what I would really like to know. Has anyone out there done this
> or
> something similar that I can answer these questions for me.
>
> 1) How much will this cost.
> 2) How many man hours would it take.
> 3) How much of the build (in approximate percentage) must be done before I
> can launch it and move onto it.
> 4) Is it realistically cheaper to buy an old boat then fix it up to make
> it
> realiable and what I would want. (this would probably only be an option
> if
> building turns out to be too expensive but would not be limited to wood
> boats)
>
>
> Everyone seems to say that there is no real answer to these questions
> because
> it depends on the person and the boat, but that is really not very
> helpful.
> I understand that these things can range but if someone has done it
> themselves then that would give me some sort of comparison.
>
> Bruce Roberts designs say to buy the study plans and price out from there
> as
> they contain complete materials lists but I would like to have some sort
> of
> range before I spend $125. When i am ready I will definately do this and
> decide more definitavely but for now i just want a general idea of what
> it
> takes so I can think about it.
>
> Someone please help. So far I have not been able to get any kind of
> answers
> on these questions at all.
>