I’m at the point with the Islander that I’m overly aware of the current outgoing expenses and, while they’re minor compared to most boat projects, I’m rather miffed that the numbers are what they are.
For instance, my better half today is on an expedition to go and buy some 2AWG 3/8″ cable lugs which I suspect are going to cost a shitload more than they should from the local den of piracy that calls itself a marine store. My usual source of things wire and electrical stuff charges $1.31 a pop and throw in that they also ship to America’s paradise for free. I know for a fact that I should have bought from them but somehow miscounted my supply and find myself not able to move forward without some lugs this very day.
I’ll let you all know what the lugs cost here, if they have them at all and we’ll see just how much of a budget buster they are in reality. That said, I’m sure you’re saying to yourself how can eight measly lugs fuck up a budget? Call it the death of a thousand cuts. In the overall boat refit and repair gig, it’s the little stuff that comes around and bites you on the butt. Everyone forgets the little stuff and as a result it’s what’s going to cause the sort of budgetary havoc that will have you banging your head against a bulkhead.
Of course, the secondary effect of not having the small stuff in order is that not having a cable lug, correct size of bolts, or any other inexpensive bit of boat stuff is going to cost you time. One should never ever forget that in the grand scheme of thing time IS money. Another blogger with a couple of boat projects who always complains about how long their projects take, as well as how expensive it all is, always seems to be spending most of their boat building time chasing down parts or waiting for needful parts to be shipped. Add to the fact that their boat project is an hours’ drive to get to which does not exactly give them a lot of time to actually work and you have a recipe for an unhappy camper.
To be honest, my basic advice where it comes to saving money on a project is simply to buy the bare minimum of what you need, always put it through the need/want test, and get more than you think you need in the small stuff department because you don’t want to be like me who is writing a blog post instead of finally finishing the electrical system on the Islander.
More soon come on outfitting a VolksCruiser for pennies on the dollar…