: Case in point: my best friend from college and her husband bought the
: "Bullfrog," a 1978 29' Bristol (fiberglass hull), last year for
: about $8000. It was in very fair shape and sail-able when they bought it.
: Since then they've spent about a thousand bucks getting it how they want
: it (new paint, varnish, electronics, etc). Fun little boat.

: It'd be impossible to build one for that price. I had thought about building
: my own that size as well some day. Now I'm leaning on buying a used hull,
: gutting it, and at least redoing all the wood work, the fun part. I know
: the temptation of wanting to build your own sailboat. I have it as well.

: Dan

Hi Dan,

I did the same thing a number of years ago with a 30' Pearson. Older boat but only paid $6k for it and very heavily built. Couldn't have bought the rig and sails for that for a homebuilt.

The biggest thing prospective boat builders forget is once you have the hull built you've got perhaps 5% of the project done both in time and cost. Fitting out that hull is wildly time consuming and the materials are awfully expensive. Very much unlike building a kayak where once you've got the hull built, you're almost done.

Bill H.