The ongoing thought process around the VolksCruiser...

Something to read and reflect on, this is strange, and the workaday world in the US of A...

Someone recently pointed out that rehabbing an old boat was not the brightest of ideas. He went on to recount how a friend had taken on a boat and did an expensive refit only to find when he sold the boat he'd lost over $80K...

Yep, shit like that is not an uncommon scenario, and anyone wanting to buy an older boat should think long and hard about what they really want. Ask themselves if they are the kind of person who can pull off such a project without simply making it a black hole to throw money in.

The same can be said for building a boat from the keel up. It can be done within a target budget in a timely manner or that budget can get out of control and eat you alive if you're not careful.

Being careful is important.

That said, I've known folks who have bought brand new boats and have them become black holes for a budget so that when the owner finally sells the boat he gets pennies on the dollars invested...

Like I said, shit happens if you let it. The fact is, in every case of runaway budget problems I've come across it's never the fault of the boat project in question but the person who's spending the money because he/she chose to do it or chose to do it in a particular manner...

Building a boat or rehabbing an older one does not have to be a horrible and expensive experience. Fact is, it can be one of the best experiences of your life if you do it right.

So, the trick is to let need/want be your mantra... Don't buy a boat, project boat or start building a boat you don't need or can't afford. When you have your boat or project, don't buy stuff for it because you simply want it but only buy what you need.

Watch the pennies and keep need/want in focus and you'll be OK.

A long time ago, I sat down to write a book on how to build a boat fast within a bare bones budget... I decided to not write it at the time because George Buehler had just come out with an excellent book "Buehler's Backyard Boatbuilding" that, while not exactly what I planned to write, was close enough in some areas that it made me rethink my book idea and it got put on the back burner. Maybe it's time to bring it to the front burner...

Listening to The Chambers Brothers

So it goes...