DIY Obsession....

Finding quality workers is a big reason I do stuff myself. Only one person to blame if it is not done correctly. Labor intensive jobs like detailing I pay for. Engine work that affects reliability I do myself.

In defense of boat mechanics most people don't want to pay for the time to do a thorough job so the mechanics do things as simply and as fast as they can. DIY and you have as much time as necessary to do it right.

RT Firefly said:

I am the personification of decorum and humility.

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:lol:

I do everything myself, I wish I could haul out my boat without help. I know that is why Ehrlin, my old Marina manager bought a marina because he likes DIY and doing projects and he like working on his own engines and boats.

I have rebuilt my wood hull completely over several years, rebuilt both engines, one velvet drive, and an Onan MCCK given to me free by Ehrlin. I used to work as a car mechanic at a dealer for about 5 years before working in hospital as an MT ( the people who do your lab work). I enjoy the challenge of doing things, and like figuring out how to do things well and how things work.

You can not pay another person enough money to do a better job than you can do for free yourself if you have the skill, the time and the motivation. But you need to be honest about your ability. I can also see myself getting older and I likely won't want to do so many things I do now, so enjoy it while you can.

sdowney717 said:

I do everything myself, I wish I could haul out my boat without help. I know that is why Ehrlin, my old Marina manager bought a marina because he likes DIY and doing projects and he like working on his own engines and boats.

I have rebuilt my wood hull completely over several years, rebuilt both engines, one velvet drive, and an Onan MCCK given to me free by Ehrlin. I used to work as a car mechanic at a dealer for about 5 years before working in hospital as an MT ( the people who do your lab work). I enjoy the challenge of doing things, and like figuring out how to do things well and how things work.

You can not pay another person enough money to do a better job than you can do for free yourself if you have the skill, the time and the motivation. But you need to be honest about your ability. I can also see myself getting older and I likely won't want to do so many things I do now, so enjoy it while you can.

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If you're gonna own an ol' woody in 2018 - Egg Harbor boats are top of the list. I always loved them!

A tooner at our marina was leaving a few years ago and passed my boat while I was varnishing - and exhorted me to enjoy my boat instead of varnishing.


I was enjoying my boat. Varnishing is therapeutic.

Islanddreamer said:

A tooner at our marina was leaving a few years ago and passed my boat while I was varnishing - and exhorted me to enjoy my boat instead of varnishing.


I was enjoying my boat. Varnishing is therapeutic.

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Anything is therapeutic on a boat. Any bad day on a boat still better than a good day at work!

sdowney717 said:

I do everything myself, I wish I could haul out my boat without help. I know that is why Ehrlin, my old Marina manager bought a marina because he likes DIY and doing projects and he like working on his own engines and boats.

I have rebuilt my wood hull completely over several years, rebuilt both engines, one velvet drive, and an Onan MCCK given to me free by Ehrlin. I used to work as a car mechanic at a dealer for about 5 years before working in hospital as an MT ( the people who do your lab work). I enjoy the challenge of doing things, and like figuring out how to do things well and how things work.

You can not pay another person enough money to do a better job than you can do for free yourself if you have the skill, the time and the motivation. But you need to be honest about your ability. I can also see myself getting older and I likely won't want to do so many things I do now, so enjoy it while you can.

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And benefit to do it yourself is that when sh##t happens you know how to fix it.

L

Art said:

If you're gonna own an ol' woody in 2018 - Egg Harbor boats are top of the list. I always loved them!

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It is a good boat for us. 37 foot with extended salon. Very beamy roomy feeling boat. We have a 10 cu foot fridge I put in couple years ago. Fits very well. Easy to have room for 10 people to enjoy a trip. It is a little slow. I need to replace the trim tabs which it seems helped it plane better.

Lou_tribal said:

And benefit to do it yourself is that when sh##t happens you know how to fix it.

L

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And stuff does happen, but not too often. Recent problem Onan Gen impeller failed. So working on it. Going out for boat ride Sunday and have to reli on inverter till fixed.

New anchor windlass: $9000.

Old anchor windlass and "new" anchor windlass. Its still ugly but it works! $2000 in parts and welding courses and hydraulics self-learning. Still not quite finished, need to cut that flange on the deck and I will wet-blast the deck this week when my new wand gets here.

I grew up on a farm. We fixed almost everything ourselves, and serviced our diesel and gas tractors, and did a lot of repara, ourselves. It has come in handy owning boats!

108 year old house, built 5 small wooden boats, fix everything I can for the satisfaction, job quality, and $ saved. I come by this naturally. When cleaning out my Mom's house, I found three cigar boxes in the kitchen. One labeled 'long string', one 'short string', one 'string too short to use'.

My son-in-law, in a moment of insight, recently told my daughter 'when your Dad passes, we're going to have A LOT of stuff to get rid of'. I still laugh.

Rough Magic said:

108 year old house, built 5 small wooden boats, fix everything I can for the satisfaction, job quality, and $ saved. I come by this naturally. When cleaning out my Mom's house, I found three cigar boxes in the kitchen. One labeled 'long string', one 'short string', one 'string too short to use'.

My son-in-law, in a moment of insight, recently told my daughter 'when your Dad passes, we're going to have A LOT of stuff to get rid of'. I still laugh.

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Yep, my kids have been telling me the same thing. But the sad part of it for my kids is that I am attempting to use up all of the good stuff by marathon building before I finally "retire".

So the "stuff" that they will have to deal will be a slight headache with will be useless scraps, literally, not stuff that will build a smaller boat. I built a 20 foot boat and then from the leftover stuff after using the number one stuff I built a second one three feet longer and modified my building method so that the cut off sticks could be used.

But as it relates to people living on a farm, for sure the folks rarely had a choice of calling someone else to fix stuff. One of the best skills that the younger generation is not taking up now was welding. There is a ton of money in it these days for the few folks doing it by comparison of many other professions of working with your hands. And there is a difference in welds across a wide variety of welders.

Scratchnsaw said:

One of the best skills that the younger generation is not taking up now was welding. There is a ton of money in it these days for the few folks doing it by comparison of many other professions of working with your hands. And there is a difference in welds across a wide variety of welders.

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One of my best friend’s father died last year at 90. He was a master welder since 1946, and could weld anything, anyway, gas, arc, everything, (even certified to weld nuclear submarines). He would do all our welding. At his funeral his son and I both lamented the fact that we had never asked him to teach us more than the very basics of welding.