The ways I have found to save money on this project are too numerous to list. Here are some of the highlights.
Not using marine grade plywood and using exterior-grade AC plywood instead will save $13,000.
Not using expensive veneers or solid hardwoods in the cabin paneling, and using painted plywood and plastic laminates for countertops and tabletops will save around $2000.
Linoleum tile for the cabin sole will save a few thousand.
Not using portlights but using deadlights covered over with lexan will save at least $3000.
Using concrete for ballast saves a lot. Lead is around $15 per pound for wheel weights (a convenient form); concrete is $0.25 a pound. A 3" slab of concrete will weigh around 17,000 lbs, or $4250. The lead equivalent would have cost $255,000.
Rigging
There will be about 60 sheaves in a number of blocks for routing all the lines, over a dozen fairleads (rounded holes for feeding lines through without resistance or chafe. If purchased from a marine parts supplier, each sheave works out to about $30, or around $120. So I plan to make my own. A 3.5" diameter Acetal (Delrin) rod is about $50 a foot; grooved on a lathe, chopped into 1" disks and drilled through the center, each foot length makes 10 sheaves, at $5 a sheave. To make blocks, 1"x1/4" aluminum bar is drilled and bent into various shapes, then bolted together using 1/4" stainless steel bolts and washers. The cost savings are around 60%.
Most sailboats use fairly thick double-braided Dacron line, which is quite expensive. QUIDNON will use 1/4" 3-strand nylon for the sheets, $60 total. For everything else, 3/8" polypropylene "trucker's rope" will suffice, about $150 total.
Wiring
A great deal of expense goes into "marine-grade" wiring and electrical fixtures. Marine-grade means tinned wire rather than stranded copper. Experience shows it to be unnecessary. The cheapest way to wire a boat is to use heavy-duty extension chords. An AC circuit beaker panel is around $150 from home depot; a similar-featured marine-grade one is around $350. The situation is similar for DC circuitry; marine grade parts more than twice the cost of RV parts.
Plumbing
The most cost-effective solution is to use PEX plumbing, available from Home Depot. Runs of pipe will be kept short by locating both the heads and the galley close together and directly aft of the water tanks. Instead of deck fills for the water tanks there will be hose connectors hidden behind plates set into the topsides. These will make it possible to use tarps stretched over dinghy forks for rainwater collection while at anchor. The two sides of the pilot house roof will drain into their respective tanks via additional runs of hose.
Sanitation
Having used both a regular marine toilet and a composting one, I have decided that I hate both, but that I hate the regular marine toilet even more. This is normal; toilets aboard small boats always elicit strong emotions and lots of discussion. The least offensive solution I can think of is as follows:
There are two seats. The one for “number one” is plumbed directly into the shower sump and drained overboard immediately. This is not illegal; storing and dumping urine is illegal in some harbors; urinating directly into the water is not. The seat for “number two” will use a two-bucket system: while one is being used for collection, the other is composting away, and when the time comes to dump its contents (overboard or in the marina dumpster, as local conditions dictate) it is light and looks and smells like soil.
The cost of this system is the cost of the plywood shelf on which the seats are installed ($20 finished) plus two 5-gallon buckets ($6), two toilet seats ($12), a computer fan ventilating the buckets ($12). The rest is odds and ends: a length of sanitation hose and some 12V wiring to hook up the fan, a large funnel and some sanitation hose to hook up the drain for the #1 toilet seat.
The "marine" alternative is a marine toilet ($140 for the cheapest one), holding tank, macerator pump, deck fitting for pump-out, through-hulls for raw water intake for flushing and discharge (while at sea), lots of hose, electronic holding tank overflow sensor (the most important part of the whole system, believe me!) lots of sanitation hose... ugh!
Instrumentation
The entire instrumentation budget is around $3000. It will include a GPS chartplotter with a touchscreen, radar, depth sounder/fishfinder, VHF radio and autopilot with sail-to-compass and sail-to-wind capabilities. An AIS receiver integrated with the chartplotter (which displays ships' names right on the chart, together with their radar blip) would cost an additional $300 or so.
With all these various cost savings, there is a good chance that the total sail-away price of this boat will come in under $50,000, my labor not included.
Not using marine grade plywood and using exterior-grade AC plywood instead will save $13,000.
Not using expensive veneers or solid hardwoods in the cabin paneling, and using painted plywood and plastic laminates for countertops and tabletops will save around $2000.
Linoleum tile for the cabin sole will save a few thousand.
Not using portlights but using deadlights covered over with lexan will save at least $3000.
Using concrete for ballast saves a lot. Lead is around $15 per pound for wheel weights (a convenient form); concrete is $0.25 a pound. A 3" slab of concrete will weigh around 17,000 lbs, or $4250. The lead equivalent would have cost $255,000.
Rigging
There will be about 60 sheaves in a number of blocks for routing all the lines, over a dozen fairleads (rounded holes for feeding lines through without resistance or chafe. If purchased from a marine parts supplier, each sheave works out to about $30, or around $120. So I plan to make my own. A 3.5" diameter Acetal (Delrin) rod is about $50 a foot; grooved on a lathe, chopped into 1" disks and drilled through the center, each foot length makes 10 sheaves, at $5 a sheave. To make blocks, 1"x1/4" aluminum bar is drilled and bent into various shapes, then bolted together using 1/4" stainless steel bolts and washers. The cost savings are around 60%.
Most sailboats use fairly thick double-braided Dacron line, which is quite expensive. QUIDNON will use 1/4" 3-strand nylon for the sheets, $60 total. For everything else, 3/8" polypropylene "trucker's rope" will suffice, about $150 total.
Wiring
A great deal of expense goes into "marine-grade" wiring and electrical fixtures. Marine-grade means tinned wire rather than stranded copper. Experience shows it to be unnecessary. The cheapest way to wire a boat is to use heavy-duty extension chords. An AC circuit beaker panel is around $150 from home depot; a similar-featured marine-grade one is around $350. The situation is similar for DC circuitry; marine grade parts more than twice the cost of RV parts.
Plumbing
The most cost-effective solution is to use PEX plumbing, available from Home Depot. Runs of pipe will be kept short by locating both the heads and the galley close together and directly aft of the water tanks. Instead of deck fills for the water tanks there will be hose connectors hidden behind plates set into the topsides. These will make it possible to use tarps stretched over dinghy forks for rainwater collection while at anchor. The two sides of the pilot house roof will drain into their respective tanks via additional runs of hose.
Sanitation
Having used both a regular marine toilet and a composting one, I have decided that I hate both, but that I hate the regular marine toilet even more. This is normal; toilets aboard small boats always elicit strong emotions and lots of discussion. The least offensive solution I can think of is as follows:
There are two seats. The one for “number one” is plumbed directly into the shower sump and drained overboard immediately. This is not illegal; storing and dumping urine is illegal in some harbors; urinating directly into the water is not. The seat for “number two” will use a two-bucket system: while one is being used for collection, the other is composting away, and when the time comes to dump its contents (overboard or in the marina dumpster, as local conditions dictate) it is light and looks and smells like soil.
The cost of this system is the cost of the plywood shelf on which the seats are installed ($20 finished) plus two 5-gallon buckets ($6), two toilet seats ($12), a computer fan ventilating the buckets ($12). The rest is odds and ends: a length of sanitation hose and some 12V wiring to hook up the fan, a large funnel and some sanitation hose to hook up the drain for the #1 toilet seat.
The "marine" alternative is a marine toilet ($140 for the cheapest one), holding tank, macerator pump, deck fitting for pump-out, through-hulls for raw water intake for flushing and discharge (while at sea), lots of hose, electronic holding tank overflow sensor (the most important part of the whole system, believe me!) lots of sanitation hose... ugh!
Instrumentation
The entire instrumentation budget is around $3000. It will include a GPS chartplotter with a touchscreen, radar, depth sounder/fishfinder, VHF radio and autopilot with sail-to-compass and sail-to-wind capabilities. An AIS receiver integrated with the chartplotter (which displays ships' names right on the chart, together with their radar blip) would cost an additional $300 or so.
With all these various cost savings, there is a good chance that the total sail-away price of this boat will come in under $50,000, my labor not included.
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