Time for another Navagear feature at MadMariner! It discusses a few of the small custom fabrication projects I’ve recently dared to DIY, or should that be “DIM” (“do it myself”)?
I don’t claim to be any sort of workshop prodigy, but I love being able to work up solutions on my own, and each project gives me a little more confidence for the next one. Well, each successful project, anyway!
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Good post, Tim. DIY is becoming more and more essential, not just because of the economic considerations and the satisfaction of knowing your own boat, but also because of the seemingly dwindling percentage of truly competent professionals. I paid an absurd $80/hr for a holding-tank installation last year and have spent at least 20 hours since tracking down the smell (a botched spinweld and, believe it or not, a missing gasket on the cleanout fitting!). I had an upscale marine electronics outfit do my autopilot hydraulics, and the guy overfilled the pedestal fluid reservoir so badly that new bedsheets and latex mattresses were ruined from weeks of oil streaming down cabin walls.
When I screw things up myself, which of course has been known to happen, at least I know why… and how to go about fixing it. Doing so eliminates the angst of the above scenarios.
As I build systems for my boat and otherwise proceed with the geeking-out of the ship, my “business model,” although very casual, is publishing the designs and in some cases assembling kits. I think a lot of boaters are coming to the conclusion that hiring professionals should be limited to cases of highly specialized skills, true gurus, or jobs requiring expensive capital equipment. This little stuff we can do ourselves.
Cheers,
Steve