Hey Thinder,

In a similar vein, I've thought about trying to build two at the same time and selling one to pay for both.  One would think that as many people who stop me and want to chat about the boat at the lake that this would be an slam dunk.

Thats what I thought too!  But i know selling my dory didnt cover the cost to build it!  otherwise Id just build and sell again.    What part of the country are you in?

Hey Thinder,

If you just want to cover materials, then there should be no reason why you couldn't sell a hand built boat for that.  I know from first hand experience that it's difficult to convince some people to pay for quality.  I've had trouble even getting $10/hour for some of the oak furniture I've built.  With that being said, I bet that if I put my boat out by the walking path with a sign, I could probably sell one per day.

Just as an exercise, If I had $1000 into my Eastport Pram and it took about 100 hours to build, then I'd be right at the $10/hour mark.  Not great, but still...  

If it took $1500 each to plan build two Passagemakers ($3,000 total) and 300 hours.  Guess what?  You might be able to sell a Passagemaker for $3K or close to it, especially if you have it all setup to sail.  

My EP basically sells itself.  I often times set it up on the edge of the walking path and go across the way to sit for a while and watch people stop and check it out.

I'm on Greenlake in North Seattle every weekend with my family and my EP.  I'm currently trying to figure out how to either build a PM here and take it to the USVI or build it down there.  I would also be interested in building a Nanoship when those become available.  I've also contacted Dudley Dix about his Oppikat, which is a cedar strip version of a Hobie Wave.

   HEy CaptainScully,

I think location has a lot to do with it. Im down here in the Texas Hill Contry.  I won 1st place at the wooden boat show with my rowing dory, and I got 2100.00 for it.  BUt when I look at all the router bits and sanding pads etc plus all the varnish and reducers (mine was stainded and bright finish) i might have broken even but i doubt it.  I dodnt get a single phone call from the boat show, I had no interest from craigslist, and i ended up selling it on eBay.  

We just dont have the serious interest in wooden boats down here.  But Ill probably build another anyway.  

Hey Thinder,

I lived in Austin for four years and loved it, but Central Texas is not exactly a wooden boat mecca.  I think if you want to build a boat you should and let the monetary side sort itself out.  The beauty of plans building is that you can buy as you build, making it a self-financing prospect.

I'm actually getting ready to move into my Mother In Law's house (she's moving to a home) so I can build my next boat.

Have you thought about what boat you'll build next?  Same one, another for more challenge?  I actually made templates of all my EP parts in case I want to build another one without the hours of lofting.  I'm also going to be looking into cutting out the coffee table size version on a DIY CNC machine, which is half scale to the real boat.  

I've got most of the stuff for the Passagemaker already (except for the actual plywood), which is nice.  I also was lucky enough to get sponsored by MAS epoxy, which helped with the cost of the build immensely.  

With all that being said, I'm seriously considering talking to John about becoming a beta builder for the NanoShip.

I have built three CLC boats, but now I am serioulsy intersted in either a Welsford Navigator or Pathfinder or a River of Grass by Bedard Yacht Design as a family boat. But if I come with another boat building project my wife will kill me.     

Those are all great boats.  I've been drooling over some of those Welsford designs for years.  At a certain boat size, I get deterred because they become so expensive per boat foot and thousands of hours it makes sense to do a quick search on Yachtworld.  Bummer.

I had to let my wife join Women on Whiskey and Toastmasters in order to have the "me time" necessary to build a boat.  We're also moving into my Mother In Law's house (she's moving to an assisted living home) in order to have the room to build.

 "  Women on Whiskey "

There has got to be an interesting story about that organization.