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by whartung 999 days ago
A fellow I knew would build boats. Sailboats. I don’t know much about boats but I’d say that these were something like 25-30 foot boats. These were not dinghies.

He started from raw plans, build the hull ribs, layer on the fiberglass for the hull (he bought his resin in 50 gallon drums). Now, of course, he has to sand and finish the fiberglass.

Once he got to that point, he’d build a rig around the hull out of wood that allowed the hull to rotate in place around its axis with a hydraulic Jack. He did all of this alone.

Once upright, he’d have about 5000 lbs of lead delivered to be placed and secured in the keel. At this point he gets the top parts of the hull and deck in place so he can weatherproof the interior.

The interior is all hardwood. Mahogany and such. His two car garage was a dedicated woodworking and cabinetry shop. The boat was in his fenced backyard.

When it was all said and done, 4-5 years later, a truck and a crane would come, lift it out of the backyard, and take it to the local harbor, 30 miles away.

Then, he’d sell it, start over, and make another.

He didn’t sail.

I know he made at least 3 of them. I’m sure he profited on raw materials, not so sure on time, certainly not on time/value of money.

He was a software developer by trade. He wrote accounting systems.

2 comments

Software is a winner takes all market mostly. The best software of its kind captures almost all of the users. While making physical items is not. There will be loads of other people better than you, but it doesn't really matter because those other people will be sold out / too expensive / not local.

So even if you are far less talented than most, you'll still find a good market at the right price.

Great, uplifting story, thanks for including it.