Building a Boat
Splash! With excitement and terror in our eyes we watch as the boat is lowered into the water, will it float?
We want to share our story of our project Seabird that got us inspired with alternative living solutions in the first place.
Why to get a boat?
The sea called to us… Truth be told, we just wanted to have a place of our own, which could be moved to new places when we wanted to. We both liked sailing and the idea of spending our summers on a boat was exciting. Joe having experience of fixing things, found our fixer-upper boat, Seabird.
The story of Seabird
Seabird was custom made for a TV program in Sweden, where a family lived on the boat full-time year-round. She then sailed to Finland exploring the Baltic Sea. A couple of elderly men started to renovate her for a trip to Spain, unfortunately they never made the journey. She’d been on land for a few years before we came upon her.
A steel boat
Seabird is a 48ft steel boat with two mast, a ketch. She weighs 18 tonnes, so a sturdy fellow, and has been classified for longer offshore voyages. Because of her steel structure sea ice doesn’t destroy her hull in the northern winters. There’s around 20m²of living space inside, plus the on-deck area outside.
Overview of renovations
Seabird was built in 1977, and yes boats are made to last, but technology has improved since. The outside was painted nice and pretty by the previous owner, but the interior was from the 70s. The first thing we checked for was rust. The steel core was rusting on the ceiling and walls, the old insulation had not kept water and condensation at bay. With the help of a mighty crowbar, most of the interior was stripped down to its steely core. The bilge was washed and painted, we raised a part of the roof at the back of the boat, and inserted new electric motors for docking. We’ll post more details of the renovations in another post!
Building a boat yourself
Seabird is Joe’s free time project. When he isn’t working, he is working on the boat. He had to learn a lot along the way, but years of fixing cars and small motorboats along with the existing tools, it was manageable. Saga, not having fixed cars her whole life was at a loss sometimes but did the duty of an errand girl and a cook helping the project come together. If you want to build a boat yourself, you definitely need motivation and time to do it and money for the added cost!
The dream
Our dream is to have a sturdy and safe boat to explore the Baltic Sea and someday embark on longer voyages with her. We also want to put some time and effort in the interior design, so it feels homey when we spend a lot time on the boat. And hopefully someday we’ll be able to take people on tours with us.
Current standing (autumn 2020)
Seabird is in the water (floating) and we are so happy! After 500 hours of work, the hull of the boat is ready for the coming winter, the interior is still a work in progress. Now after 2.5 years, we hope we’ll have her ready to explore the Balitc Sea next summer (2021). Therefore, now we’ll get back to work. Good luck with your projects!
