Where do I start ?

Looking at this page is an indication of how serious you may be. A few key decisions that may sound obvious but are a little more complex than first thought, may be causing the barrage of questions or excited-confusion and include:

What type of yacht to build

This is very dependant on the budget. One cannot have a AUD500,000 yacht with a AUD100,000 budget...period. It is all relative and the money spent will heavily influence the type of fitout too. For those with a budget of AUD300,000: many of the composite designs are well within reach with a good fitout.

For those with a budget around AUD100,000 (as we were), there are a few designs within reach. However, the bigger you go (i.e. greater than 11-12m in length) - the more you have to outlay and the less one has for the fitout. We fitted within this bracket and discuss this in the Pure Majek Diary. We started with a AUD100,000 budget which we soon realised was not enough for the fitout we wanted. Is the yacht to be built for private use or used for charter (or to be In Survey)? the latter costing about 30% more.

What budget do you have ?

Ours was a budget over a five year period, making the pain more bearable. While it came in 'drips-and-drabs' and we managed fine. One needs to be very realistic too, money does not grow on tress (or on our trees anyway). The budget statement above in 'What type of yacht to build' will come to haunt you if one is not realistic in the investment.

All the 'wish-list items' from ALL the projected crewmembers, need to be carefully analysed and a cost apportioned. Its here too that the realisation of what you really need, hits home. Do you really need a 240vAC hair dryer? If yes, you have complicated a simple electrical system with the tick of a pen. This is where the Power Requirement Generator comes in very handy. All your wishlist items can be plotted into the spreadsheet and an idea of what one needs electrically can be seen at a glance.

What is 'The Plan'

One must have a plan and . The plan needs to include various goals, objectives and outcomes. It does not need to be fancy, complicated or even complex. Consider what we have done and catalogue your journey, there are many who want to know how it was done and what we did. We are still today being harrassed to sell Pure Majek - a sign how we tackled this area and the positive influence that we have made. We discuss this in the Pure Majek Diary and give some other great ideas that may have been overlooked during this important decision stage.

 

Who to listen too; decipher the 'armchair waffle' from the important information

Many an 'armchair critic' will babble all the wish-list items that they consider mandatory without applying a practical angle to their approach. We recently provided data on a Building Forum, the Moderator/Administrator (of all people) chose to respond, his response being very critical and negative toward our safety input. We were later advised privately that he had a catamaran on his wish-list only, sadly out of touch with catamaran/multihull design and safety requirements not only in the EU, but throughout the world. And its this type of information that sadly clouds the thought processes and one ends up not knowing who to believe.

It is important to join a good Forum where you can feel free to ask a question without being ridiculed or made felt a foolish. However, you will only get out what you put in, if you limit your input - others will limit their responses and are only as active as the participants make them. There are some fantastic books around that help in all the areas discussed here, a classic being Nigel Caulders   - cruising handbook. We found this the biggest help in the decision making process. Ther are also some very good well written books and YouTube videos if one needs to convince the partner, especially with children.

After all the feedback you may still not like the responses, but they will provide food-for-thought and more avenues that may help justify the expense or build-change.

Picking a Designer

There are many very good catamaran or multihull designers around. The only suggestion we make if it is your first build, pick a designer that is close by or very easy to contact. They prove critical in those difficult times and we would have had delays had our designer been in another country.

Lastly, Don't join the 'Lemming Squad'

They say that many a dream is lost, because few take the bull-by-the-horns in fear of failure, the gamble being too much or the job being perceived as too hard. Having said that, the idea of a large sailing Catamaran was lightly bounced on some of our friends and work colleagues, who all joined the 'Lemming Squad'. Lemmings being little rodents that have a habit of being followers. Iif one runs - they all run, if one jumps of a cliff - they all jump.

We have proved that it can be done and you do not have to be wealthy or a professional builder either.

Having a family of four and very little sailing experience, we took the plunge to fulfil what many only dream. It was time for a change and a move to Brisbane (Australia) as well as a new job, that gave us this opportunity.