Many years ago I got the bug cruise the world but building a boat was the
only way I thought I could afford the boat I THOUGHT we needed. In my
searches I found the boat of my dreams but it had just been sold. In
talking with the guy that built it, he had some very sage advice that is
somewhat apropo to your question. He said: "if you want to build a boat,
build a boat. If you want to go sailing, buy a completed boat and go
sailing. Don't try and mix the two." It was only after 6 months, with no
end in sight, into converting the huge fiberglass bath tub into a livable,
sailable boat, that I understood the wisdom of his words. The time invested
in building the boat, would have been much better spent in sailing a less
grandiose but servicable completed boat. Learned a lot in the construction
of the boat, got in really good physical condition, lost a few fingers, and
ended up with a boat that was a perfect fit for my wife, our dog and me.
Even with all that, we should have bought a finished boat and left. Might
have gotten farther than Moorea if we'd gone two years sooner. We didn't
really want to build a boat, we wanted to go sailing
The Rovers are another story, I really want a simple, fix it myself
'erector' truck. Don't want anyone else mucking about with my Rovers.
From the success, but mostly abandoned dreams of all the backyard
boatbuilders in Costa Mesa in the early 70's, you need to seriously look at
why your doing what your doing. Most of the boat projects weren't finished
by their original creators. Almost all the ones that were finished were
sold almost immediately after completion because the reality wasn't the same
as the dream. If you like working on vehicles and bringing some abandoned
derelict back to life, sell it as soon as the project is finished. Then go
out and get yourself another new project. If you want to go four wheeling
you could do something as heretical as Peter H. says and actually go out and
use the truck for its intended purpost. If trackless exploring and camping
is your raison d'etre, might think about buying someone else's finished
project or (heaven forbid) a J**p and getting out there on a weekend.
Maybe we need a twelve step program for frame over withdrawal!!! Actually,
I keep a number of Series trucks about as continuing projects. Seems like I
get one up and running and something goes wrong with another so I never
really have to worry what to do when I'm finished working on one truck. So
between the trucks and the coffee farm, my time is never at a loss.
Aloha
Peter Ogilvie
Kona Coffee Rover
1970 88 soft top, 'huli' Mine since '84 but recovering
from exposure of the dark side.
1966 109 pickup 'slime' In my garage since '90, finally running.
1965 88 parts car, slowly sinking into the lava.
196? 88 hard top, possibly 'phoenix' if it rises, it will
certainly be from ashes or at least a pile of rust
> > How
> > has anyone that has performed the frameover successfully transitioned
>from
> > the "I've gotta get out there and finish this project or my wife will
>kill
> > me" to after it's done, waking up on a Saturday and having nothing but
> > regular maintenance to do?
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Sun Apr 29 2001 - 18:19:05 EDT