From Latitude 38
January 2001

Starting From Scratch

Seayanika was nothing but a bare hull, sitting across the street from our house in Vista, California.  She looked more like Noah’s renowned Ark lost on a hilltop, than a vessel capable of transporting us around the world beginning October 2002.

We'd been in the market for a used sailboat in the 40-plus foot range to overhaul and take around the world on an eight to ten year adventure.  But every boat we'd looked at was either out of our price range or 'not quite right'.  One thing we knew we didn’t want was a new boat with an astronomical monthly payment.  Then on the fateful day, we saw an ad in one of the local boating weeklies advertising a bare hull with loads of parts, at a fraction of their original cost.  My husband Erik was intrigued, I was horrified.  He couldn’t seriously be considering building our yacht practically from scratch in the three years left before our departure!  Oh, but yes, he was.  The lure of designing, fabricating, sanding, improving and improvising was just too heady for my general contractor husband, so off we went to take a look at this 1974 Cal 46 factory-built hull.

She was sound, she was fair, she was a bargain -- and in no time at all, she was ours.  The professional and friendly experts at San Diego Boat Movers that helped us relocate her, swore she made it up to 55 mph on her freeway jaunt from Costa Mesa to Vista.  I’m pretty sure that will be her top speed, ever.

Her name came about in the usual way.  What were we going to call this huge hunk of fiberglass perfectly framed in each of our front windows?  We tossed out all the philosophical and rhetorical possibilities and settled on the more apropos Seayanika, -- 'Sea ya', as in goodbye with a nautical twist, and 'Nika', the name of our 16 year old daughter, who would not be accompanying us on our voyage. 

Before his recent retirement, Erik was a general contractor building upper-market custom homes, although he hardly new to the marine environment.  Aside from being co-owner of Vader Marine, he has built two smaller vessels, has a registered patent for a fishing lure holder called the 'Lurack', and has  manufactured quality teak tables and tackle centers for sportfishing yachts.  Even though I can't make any similar claims, I do have the traveling experience as I have previously been around the world twice and am a freelance translator in six languages. 

 Funny, Katriana and Erik

 don't look delusional

 (just kidding).

plotted, pondered, discarded and designed, in his head and on paper, the ideal cruising boat for our needs.  Last summer he even made a detailed 1/16^th scale model of Seayanika, which he sailed in our backyard swimming pool on lazy afternoons.  Then on one glorious morning Erik sat up in bed and said, “I’m officially retired now, so I’m going across the street to work on the boat”.

Erik already had every tool, toy and construction implement known to man, including power saws, drills, routers, planers, compressors -- and  battery-powered backups for most of them.  He also owns his own bobcat tractor, which I must admit came in handy when the lot needed grading to accommodate the boat.  To complete the boatbuilding arsenal, he purchased a remote power generator, tig welder, airless paint sprayer, a power washer and a chipper/shredder.  (What was that for?)

It’s amazing what can be accomplished in such a short time when the will and desire -- not to mention the tools -- are in abundant supply.  In less than three months that bare hull has been transformed into a full-scale boat building factory, complete with fenced in areas, storage shed, power generation, roofing and wraparound scaffolding.  In the past two months, all the bulkheads have been tabbed in, the majority of the stringers have been put in place and the beginnings of a deck are taking shape.  Aluminum grid flooring systems were designed, fabricated and installed, along with cutting and installing the plywood sole.

We’ve heard and read many accounts and reasons why building a boat from scratch or a bare hull is fraught with disaster.  Stories of divorces, bankruptcies, disillusionment and unfinished projects abound.  We believe we have looked at all the possible pitfalls and have prepared and planned accordingly.  We also have the faith and assurance of a few marine product leaders who believe in our dream.

So woe be it to the naysayers!  We have the time, the finances, the health, the skills, the commitment and the desire (and the tools!) to complete this project, on time and professionally.  Stay tuned!