One thing no one ever tells you is that all boat building and refit projects is mostly a lot of sitting around doing nothing while you try to figure stuff out. Which is not always a bad thing. So far this month, I’ve put in a couple of hours of actual work on the boat …
One thing you have to keep in mind is that no one is designing or building what I’d call a VolksCruiser. Take that Pop 25 from the last post as a good example. It starts out with a hull and accommodation that just screams VolksCruiser yet when it comes to the rig it starts getting …
It occurred to me that you just don’t see a lot of homebuilt cruising boats in the Caribbean these days and I find that all kinds of depressing. One reason is that DIY boatbuilding has become something of an antisocial activity in a “We are what we buy” world. A world that seems to look …
The other day I found myself listening to someone going on about their stainless steel bespoke water bottle as a must have for the cruising sailor. I was not impressed. The argument that an expensive water bottle is good for the environment is somewhat dubious in that its fabrication requires energy which is, more often …
I’m sure if you’re considering getting a boat and going cruising on a budget you’ll be getting a shit load of push-back from just about everybody that it just can’t be done. Kind of a bummer that. The truth is, there’s a plethora of good inexpensive sailboats just waiting for someone to find them and …
I’ve been following the build of a Bolger design of late and it’s akin to fingernails being dragged across a chalkboard to me. Admittedly, it’s a very common mistake that’s being made but I find that the misuse of epoxy just drives me batshit crazy. Epoxy is great stuff but it is expensive and it …
Way back when I was living on a peniche just outside of Paris, I seriously considered building George Buehler’s Hager design. I still think it would have been a great boat to cruise with. With a 28-foot LOD it’s a small boat of the Pardey mindset but shippy as all hell and more than able …
So, here’s the ongoing question most of us are trying to deal with: what is the most needed attribute for successful, low-budget cruising or building/refitting a boat? Is it your sailing ability? The ability to make a perfect dovetail? Having the right gear? Enough money? Maybe the correct answer is none of the above, and …
I spend a lot of tie trying to come up with cunning plans where one can build a boat that works for less money which, I’ll admit if something of a frustrating addiction. Made worse as budget building stalwarts like plywood, lumber, and industrial epoxies keep going up in price. This last week I’ve been …
I know everyone says that when using plywood aboard a boat that one should always use the best marine plywood you can get. So here’s where that advice does not quite add up. Some time back I built a hard dodger with marine ply, saturated it with epoxy and glassed then painted it. I was …
