If I had the dosh, I'd go for it

[RupertW]

Just saw that phrase on the Lithium battery thread and wondered what other people would want if they didn't care how much something cost. Not the next good-value item you can't afford yet, but the over-expensive bit of kit that you would love but never buy.

As we anchor (and alas re-anchor) a lot in despish water and have to keep bashing the stack of chain as it comes up, my folly would have been spending £2.5k on stainless steel chain last year instead of £700 on galvanised.

 

[webcraft]

.
We've got a fair bit of 'best' gear on our cheapo wee MAB (Spade anchor, decent plotter, ocean spec sails) as we have put her to some hard use and hope to continue to do so.

However . . .

I'd pay the best workman I could get to do all the work on the boat that for cost reasons I have to do myself.

It took well over an hour lying in a locker in our Albin Vega in temperatures barely above freezing yesterday with SWMBO on the other side wielding a screwdriver and moaning vigourously just to get the exhaust hull fitting for our Webasto in the transom and the exhaust pipe on at that end. Today I have a stubbed toe and a lot of miscellaneous aches and pains. I anticipate several more hours squirming around in said locker and even worse, in the locker on the other side where the fuel tank is, before this one job is finished. Not to mention lots of stress and mental anguish as I go over and over each step to be sure I am not about to do something irreversibly stupid.

People who have a yard they can trust and just wave a chequebook when they need something fixed or fitted are very lucky indeed.

- W

 

[Cardo]

I claim copyright on the phrase!

However, to answer the question - in addition to the batteries , I would do much like Webby. Our boat looks pretty poor cosmetically, the topsides have damage that has been repaired on the cheap, and whilst sound it looks naff, as well as various holes and bits and bobs on the deck that could do with tidying up. The steering system could also do with sorting out properly. If I could throw money at it, I'd get someone to sort it all out for me.

 

[tidclacy]

.
We've got a fair bit of 'best' gear on our cheapo wee MAB (Spade anchor, decent plotter, ocean spec sails) as we have put her to some hard use and hope to continue to do so.

However . . .

I'd pay the best workman I could get to do all the work on the boat that for cost reasons I have to do myself.

It took well over an hour lying in a locker in our Albin Vega in temperatures barely above freezing yesterday with SWMBO on the other side wielding a screwdriver and moaning vigourously just to get the exhaust hull fitting for our Webasto in the transom and the exhaust pipe on at that end. Today I have a stubbed toe and a lot of miscellaneous aches and pains. I anticipate several more hours squirming around in said locker and even worse, in the locker on the other side where the fuel tank is, before this one job is finished. Not to mention lots of stress and mental anguish as I go over and over each step to be sure I am not about to do something irreversibly stupid.

People who have a yard they can trust and just wave a chequebook when they need something fixed or fitted are very lucky indeed.

- W

But what satisfaction you get when you tackle a job and get it done, money cant buy that. When you come to do a similar job, that knowledge and experience you have gained gives you more confidence and takes less time. You can also let other peeps know through forums like this the pitfalls to avoid. Happiness is all about achieving what you thought impossible.

 

[dylanwinter]

But what satisfaction you get when you tackle a job and get it done, money cant buy that. When you come to do a similar job, that knowledge and experience you have gained gives you more confidence and takes less time. You can also let other peeps know through forums like this the pitfalls to avoid. Happiness is all about achieving what you thought impossible.

not for me

I would rather pay another person to do it and get on with the sailing

better yet..... buy a new boat every three years

of course anyone who has watched my films will realise that I am a reluctant yachting DIY er

rudder, stock and tiller hanging in the garage having been painted and varnished

just realising that the mast will need varnishing as soon as the weather warms up

trailer needs some new bearings and electrrics need replacing after the bloke who borrowed it last year gave it a good dunking

pleased to see the back of every job I have ever done

although I do quite like building wooden boats as long as I can walk away

some of the most miserable moments of my life were spent looking down that god forsaken hatch in the cockpit floor of the slug and staring at the inboard and wondering how I was going to solve the latest problem it had thrown at me

several times I felt like just walking away from it



D

 

[oldbilbo]

.

I'd pay the best workman I could get to do all the work on the boat that for cost reasons I have to do myself....People who have a yard they can trust and just wave a chequebook when they need something fixed or fitted are very lucky indeed.

- W

'Roger that.... aye!'

Finding a creative, seasoned and reliable 'fixit man' is often harder than finding a receptive chequebook. I like the idea of 'enjoying the satisfaction' of good boaty DIY, but the pleasure is fast fading this Spring with a debilitating deltoid problem scheduled for 'tendon sheath steroid injections' soon ( but not soon enough ), which may return the capacity to lift and wield a hand-tool such as an antifouling brush, and something degenerative, painful and currently-inoperative in a swollen knee joint, which makes climbing up ladders - and down again - something of a challenge.

But, hey! "Do the pain to enjoy the gain...."

 

[prv]

But what satisfaction you get when you tackle a job and get it done

+1

Even with loadsamoney, I don't think I'd hand over all boat work. As well as the satisfaction, I can get stuff closer to what I want by doing it myself, than trying to explain to a craftsman. I would farm out all GRP work though, which I can do adequately but not beautifully, and pay for new parts (instead of doing repairs) a lot more than I do now.

Main thing with having loadsamoney suddenly appear from nowhere would be that I could stop working and have the time - that would actually make more difference than the cash directly.

Pete

 

[RupertW]

I am amazed - on the PBO forum the emerging wish is not for high price kit but to avoid doing anything practical again.

Im still at the stage with my current boat that I'm loving pulling Jabsco's apart, fitting mains circuit, fitting a new course computer, changing filters and all the other things which I hope will keep me safe and comfortable sailing when nowhere near a good techie. Each job removes a bit of mystery and therefore fear.

However on my little dayboat I've lost all interest in the jobs I'm now doing for the 3rd or 4th time and would also love to give them to somebody else.

 

[laika]

Not the next good-value item you can't afford yet, but the over-expensive bit of kit that you would love but never buy.

Decent hydrogenerator (rather than the high drag, low output options which creep into the just-about-affordable bracket):
http://www.wattandsea.com/en/cruising-hydrogenerator
http://www.cristec.fr/en/new-products-and-on-going-projects/hydrogenerator.html
Sadly €4k+

 

[macd]

But what satisfaction you get when you tackle a job and get it done...

another +1. Not least because you've more chance of knowing how to fix it when it all goes wrong and the 'best workman' is miles away.

Well, apart from those hateful, grotty, frustrating, back-of-a-bulkead-with-your-elbow-up-your-a*se jobs. Which, come to think of it, seems like most of 'em.

 

[prv]

Decent hydrogenerator (rather than the high drag, low output options which creep into the just-about-affordable bracket)

I read that as "hydrogenator" and thought you were planning to start making margarine on board

Pete

 

[Halo]

Piles of cash would mean I would not have to juggle work and boat time so would be able to take time over each job, think about it and savour it. This would eliminate most of frustration for me.

When a "professional" does a job they are thinking about a rate per hour so things are bound to be done swiftly as possible and this must lead to a compromise on quality.

I talked to a boat engine manufacturer who told me most of problems in replacement engines came from professional installations done in a hurry rather than ameteur ones where the owner has taken time and, if anmything does go wrong, is more likley to have the knowledge to sort it

 

[prv]

most of problems in replacement engines came from professional installations done in a hurry rather than ameteur ones where the owner has taken time

Certainly applies to my engine on the new boat. Don't think there are any fundamental problems (touch wood), but it was clearly a rush job. Control panel plonked in the nearest available position (where you can't see it), tacho attached to the side (?!) face of the binnacle because it was easiest to get a holesaw onto, and the base of the old manual stop pull left in place with a bolt jammed into it for some approximate sealing. Most of the screws in the engine box were missing or not done up.

Pete

 

[Highndry]

I'd heat the barn my boat's in. I don't mind doing the work, I do mind freezing while doing it!

 

[laika]

I read that as "hydrogenator" and thought you were planning to start making margarine on board

South til the margaraine hydrogenates then turn right?