December 20, 2004
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Adam and Cris and Their “Basket Case” Project
I love these guys’ ambition — to purchase a run-down sailing cruiser and completely overhaul it to their specifications. I am in total agreement that if you are the one doing the overhaul yourself, you learn your boat backwards and forwards. So, I have to admire this pair of diehards.
As for those who mock what they are doing, Adam is right when he says,
“How much money are you going to save doing it this way?”
Ha Ha Ha Ha! You must not own a boat! This will probably take longer and cost more than we know, but I’ve also gotten a lot of advice from people that came in under budget and ahead of schedule. We will not come in under budget (or over budget) because we do not have a budget for the project. We have the vision of the finished project, and we’re too dumb to know that it can’t be done. Any email that I get telling me “You’re never gonna get your money back out of this boat” will be ignored. If that’s your attitude, you won’t “get it” no matter how much I describe our philosophy. You’ll never get your money back out of your spouse’s wedding ring either.
Because it bears repeating:
Samuel Adams
“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”
Comments (2)
When my dad bought our boat, the engine was shot. (Inboard Universal Diesel, 11hp.) He completely overhauled it himself since he used to be a mechanic. At one point, he had the entire thing dissasembled on the floor of our garage. He said to me “It’s more fun to rebuild the engine than it is to use it.” I think that sums up their feeling as well as anything can. It’s just as fun to restore a boat as it is to sail it, and it’s more fun to sail a boat you restored than one you bought new.
Of course, I’m preaching to the choir.
Well, you’re singing a tune I know well!