Logistics of Working on Boats

[Matt sachs]

I am doing exactly what you are talking about. I'm a year and a half into it. I bought a 50 ft steel hull on Ebay (insert joke here) It was in New Hampshire. I'm in Tennessee. The hull cost $1,025.00. The haul bill to my front yard was $4,500.00. Having it literally in my driveway next to the shop is nice. I dont have any neighbors to fuss about the noise or the mess. It's been an adventure already, and she is 2 to 3 years from splash in.
Follow your dreams...what else is there?

PS. Go with steel.....just sayin...

[Catamount]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

e.g. What places should you look for to keep a boat on land outside of a boatyard? Check out your local ___________.

Parent's house (worked for me)
Neighbor's yard
Back lot at your employer's shop
Your sailmaker's loft
High School, Vocational School, or Community College (make it an educational project)?
Your auto mechanic's shop back lot
A nearby farm?

[blowin bubbles]

Here is the link to my blog as it relates to almost exactly what you are talking about as you try to decide what to do... Hope it doesn't scare you away...
http://benger.blogspot.com

Good luck
Kyle

[SabreKai]

Most certainly, truck the boat to your home. I've had one long distance rebuild back in the 80s. The boat was on a farm about 125Km from my home, and the farm was in the sticks. So, every task had to be organized, planned in detail and supplied. Tools, raw materials, etc. About half the time the job would go south, and the tool or material was not available without driving at least half way back home. After having it sit there I moved it to a storage yard which was only 15km from home. Things progressed much faster, and with less cussing. I never did get that one done, health problems, and loss of a job put paid to it. But under no circumstances attempt to do a long distance rebuild. It just isn't worth the suffering.


Sabre

[SaltyMonkey]

Hey Catamount - thanks for the tips! Some good ideas here especially "Your auto mechanic's shop back lot"

blowin bubbles - VERY impressive deck work.

[barnakiel]

I always try to work in a place where I can allocate max of my time to the project AND where there are max facilities (tools, boat services, whatever I need to do the job). Try to minimise the non-project, non-productive time - commuting, shopping, waiting for others, etc..

If you sit down and write down the options you might find it easier to write off the options that are not going to work for you.

If you plan and then go ahead to find you have made the wrong choice, STOP, correct, change and adjust, and grind on.

Good luck with your project!

b.

[SaltyMonkey]

Two places I thought about in the past:

airplane hanger
warehouse

With the first, was too expensive to rent
With the second, hard to find one with a big enough door.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

Two places I thought about in the past:

airplane hanger
warehouse

With the first, was too expensive to rent
With the second, hard to find one with a big enough door.

A tent perhaps?

May work fine, in some climes!

b.

[SaltyMonkey]

yes, tenting is goody, but looking for a place to put tenty. I live in apartments so putting boat in apartment complex impossible. Hence...where where do people keep boats to work on if not close to water

[Boulter]

Originally Posted by blowin bubbles

Here is the link to my blog as it relates to almost exactly what you are talking about as you try to decide what to do... Hope it doesn't scare you away...
Blowin Bubbles Re-Fit 2011

Good luck
Kyle

Thanks. I'll check it out when I get high speed. Still on dial up, but we have decided to give the turbo hub system try. Probably nect week some time.

Thanks for the feedback folks. Yes, it is likely worth any amount of money to truck the boat to the house. I have 1000 sf of shop, why would I want to schlep tools and materials some place 130 km away, and pay $300/month plus about $100 auto costs and 4 hours driving per trip out. Just a recipe for exhaustion and likely to cost more in the long run.

Boulter

[mrohr]

Been there done that,traveled same distance for 3.5 years, got very little done. Trucked to nearby boat yard ,got serious and sailed away after 1.5 years. Never again!!
Reread what others have said above,they know! Even newer boats can be huge projects that will make enormous demands on your time ,patience ,pocketbook,and knowledge. .
Boatyards world -wide are full of partially finished craft that were somebody's dream but will never see the water again.
From your post I gather your pockets are fairly deep along with your resolve, but your experience is thin; this argues for spending as much of your time searching for something that is more or less "ready to go" and already close to your ideal. Searching and shipping are the easy part, the rest is uphill.Buying a large cruising boat is a lot like getting married; so marry in haste and repent at leisure. Best of luck.

[Therapy]

Some may have done it but I think many have only tried.

I am not sure why you want to do all that work on something you may not even like when it is over.

I vote: Get little boat. Learn what it is like. Decide then.

[blowin bubbles]

Well what most of you have said is true, but I am happy to report that after 18 months and $46,000 (I have a budget of $50k) I am ready to get my boat back in the water. I still have a few minor jobs to complete, but come September I will cover her for the winter and launch her in the spring... See benger.blogspot.com. What can I say except that the learning curve is steep and one REALLY has to shop carefully. I have found many people who offer fair prices and good advice, but sadly I have also found some who, well, lets just say caveat emptor.

[avb3]

Originally Posted by Boulter

Hi:

I am wondering of the feasibility of working on a boat given that I am 130 km away from the water. What are the logistics of this? Can you camp in the boat when it is out of the water, that is does whoever’s land you are on allow this? What about ugly messy sanding and the like, is the yacht club going to allow this?

Or would I truck a boat to my property? Is this even feasible at 40 feet? If not, what is the biggest boat that is reasonable to move on land? What does this cost?
..............

Boulter

A friend of mine encountered this boat in a RV park in Arizona. Apparently the couple had been there for a month, and slowly are moving themselves and the boat from CA to FL.