It seems obvious to me how costs get out of control when you start thinking bigger boat but, from reading many emails from readers of Boat Bits, a lot of folks think there is some sort of magic workaround that allows them to get around it. I think it has something to do with magic …
More than likely some facts you don’t want to hear… Read More »
How to tell if a boat is a VolkCruiser… It’s affordable by someone on a blue-collar budget. It’s 40-feet or less. It has VERY simple systems. It has a minimal carbon footprint. It’s owner repairable. More on this tomorrow.
The whole VolksCruiser concept is, you might say, the polar opposite to what’s going on over at Attainable Adventure Cruising with their ongoing design riff of the Adventure 40… The Adventure 40 is an interesting concept but it is most certainly not the sort of thing we’re talking about with the VolkCruiser and, I expect, …
Speaking of VolksCruisers in general, a reader recently pointed out a book and asked me for my opinion and it raised a bit of a question… What the hell exactly does affordable actually mean? “Twenty Affordable Sailboats to Take You Anywhere” by Gregg Nestor is not a bad book… Fact is, we seem to like …
Since we’re speaking of sharpies I really have to mention Phil Bolgers Breakdown Schooner… It’s always been one of my favorite love/hate designs and, as such, deserves a bit of discussion. Of course, it has a lot working for it… Shoal draft, reasonable accommodation, a low sorta/kinda tabernacled rig that stows within the length of …
When most people think of sharpies they think of something like this… Ted Brewer’s Mystic Sharpie Kind of neat, is it not? At 32′ it’s about what most people think a sharpie should be. Salty as all get out and for me the little Pinkyish detail from at the stern just kicks some serious butt… …
All boats have limitations and are going to be a compromise to some extent, it’s just part of the gig… Why should sharpies be an exception? Sharpies have two big advantages: they’re inexpensive/fast to build and they are very shoal draft. I’m not sure about you but I find those pretty frelling big advantages. In …
“Once the departure is made from the true sharpie hull configuration and concept, one is beginning to gild the lily. Costs soar and the result is seldom an improvement.” – Tom Colvin In my mind, the only possible exception for a boat that just might pull off the VolkCruiser concept/budget that you can build yourself …
Dudley Dix has some excellent thoughts regarding the whole why it’s smart to build your own boat… I’d call it a must read. That said, I still think the most logical choice for a VolkCruiser budget is to rehab something cheap/free in reasonable shape but I’d much prefer to build from the keel up if …
Yesterday’s mailbag was sorta interesting so maybe a good time to set the record straight. First of all, I like multihulls. Sure, I’m somewhat critical of a lot of modern low bridgedeck multihulls fobbed off on an unsuspecting public but, on the whole, I think multihulls make all kinds of sense when they are designed …
