Customer Reviews

Buehler's Backyard Boatbuilding

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What sets George Buehler apart from the rest of the pack is his complete lack of pretense. There is so much ego and posturing and snobbishness in sailing, even at its friendliest, that it can really turn the stomach of the uninitiated. Buehler cries BS to all that, and says, "Hey...if you want to build a good boat and sail it, I can show you how." That can be mighty welcome news to someone who maybe isn't the son of a son of a sailor, or an orthopedic surgeon (with the associated bank balance.) This book shows you how you can, yourself (honest!) build a sailboat that will take you around the Bay or around the Horn (for real!) and do it on a budget that will keep you from using your retirement funds or your kid's college money. We're talking pretty short money here, for a boat that is built like Fort Knox and looks pretty sweet to boot.

But there are other considerations. Firstly, you have to want the sort of boat George likes, which is one based on the great British workboats - massive construction, long keels, heavy displacement, solid timber masts, usually even gaff rig. Lost you yet? That's what George likes, and if you're looking for a racer/cruiser to take you on a Jimmy Cornell rally to compete with all the Jeanneau 42's, you can forget it. It ain't happenin'. But, come a blow, you can heave your heavy, long keeled gaffer to and sleep the night away while the rest of the fleet white-knuckles it all night. You have to make choices in life - you're at the fork in the road.

The second consideration is resale. Now, I know you're *never* going to sell your boat, you're going to be buried at sea in it like a Viking. Right. At some point you're going to want to sell your boat, or at least be rid of it. The downside of George's boats is that they aren't "yacht quality", and you are going to have a hard time selling them. With their 2X4 lumber yard ribs and plywood interior and houses, they look very home made. If you are a talented craftsman, and want to spend a lot of money (and I thought we were trying to save money, right?) on teak and brass, you can make one look right shippy, but it's still going to be painfully obvious that this is a boat you built in your back yard. It doesn't matter that your boat is as tough as nails - things like steel and concrete ballast and iron fastenings in the hull just terrify people (not without some reason, let's be honest) and will dampen the market. Don't hold your breath waiting on the phone to ring come time to sell. It's something to think about.

For the flip side to this sort of boat building, check out Larry Pardey's masterwork on classic hull construction. His idea of a backyard boat is one that would make the cover of every magazine in print, and sell for $100,000 after years of cruising. But it takes years of work and LOTS of money and tools and equipment and skill to pull that off. Maybe you don't have all that. Maybe you don't WANT all that. Maybe you just want to take a year, build a tough little boat, and spend a few years in the Caribbean. In that case, let George Buehler take you there.

Some hobbies can grow into overwhelmingly large projects. After a while, it could become drudgery and you start to wonder why you started doing something like this. Building or renovating a boat is one such project. Look in the classifieds of boating magazines and count the "partially renovated" boats. Or listen to the endless stories of failed attempts and dollars poured into large structures that never saw the water.

If you are lucky, you have found this book before you have started building your boat. If you are not, this book will still give you some perspective on why you are working on that huge contraption in your garage every weekend. This book tells you what can be done, what costs can be cut and what you can shoot for when you do not need to impress well-heeled shoppers at a boat show or build a boat that will look good on the cover of "Yachting World" with a bikini-clad beauty at the helm. You cannot and should not shoot for the cover of "Yachting World" when you are building your own boat. This book will tell you what you should do. And how to do it.

This book is best read alongside the catalogue of George Buehler's designs. His simple, yet practical boats are not the stuff for glossy magazines, but will no doubt offer just as much sailing pleasure - and safety - for less money. That, according to Buehler, is the advantage of building your own boat. You can cut the costs that go into making the boat "marketable" and concentrate your expenditures on the beef.

Even when you are not building to one of Buehler's designs, you will learn what NOT to do when you boatbuilding project begins to seem like a daunting task. If you are not building to one of his designs, you should own other books on boatbuilding as well. This book is not comprehensive if you are planning on building boats that are not built by his method.

Also, the rustic, rugged philosophy behind his designs is a refreshing departure from modern sailing magazines written for leveraged buyout kings. It will remind you why you are dealing with those heavy chunks of lumber in the first place. You are doing it to have fun.

George Buehler is well known as the designer of the economical Diesel Duck series of ocean going troller style motorboats. These charming and seaworthy boats are gaining popularity as alternatives to 'gotta win the lottery' marine industry offerings. This tome explains the philosophical and design issues underpinning the Duck series. Buehler's writing style is fun, clear and irreverent. Various boat design issues are explained in a way that educates novices and challenges more experienced readers to rethink their assumptions. He begins to explain, but does not flesh out, the myriad practical details and decisions one must understand before following his iconoclastic vision to sea in a motorboat. I use the word iconoclast here to distinguish Buehler from the conventional wisdom for sale at boatshows. Buehler's ideas are actually more representative of a commercial seamen's considerations (sound fundamentals, less frills, no nonsense) than those of the weekend party boat set. The KISS principle abounds in his design approach and in his straight shooting opinions on mechanical, electronic, galley, head, water, fuel etc. systems appropriate for a passagemaking yacht. Too bad he doesn't write as voluminously as the Dashsews (who put out >700 page encyclopedias explaining their vision of high cost, hi tech cruising boats). Though I wish Buehler had written a longer book, this one is sweet, to the point and a delightful read. I highly recommend it for all the rest of you dreamers as a humorous, no nonsense antidote to boating industry marketing hype. As an enticing but teasingly short reference on the utilitarian and charming Diesel Ducks, it is a wonderful appetizer and will leave you wanting more. (And Mr. Buehler, next time besides larger portions, please make the illustrations bigger so I don't need to squint as I pore over construction details to avoid sending you $ for full size study plans.)

I first toyed with the idea of building a boat some ten years ago, and when I was ready for one, the current cost of a custom built boat returned me to exploring the possibility of a homebuilt. George's book was written for guys like me, straight and to the point, Buehler tells it like it is, plus if you buy a set of plans from him, you get unlimited advice (he'll send you his phone number and e-mail) as well as suppliers who'll offer tremendous discounts. Do-able, you bet it is. I'd bet about anything I'm the only guy in the state of Missouri building a 60-plus foot cruising sailboat. Got a crane lined up to put it on a flatbed and head for the Missouri river to launch, then it's the Carribean for me !!

George Buehler builds boats based on northwest workboats. This book is not about building with fiberglass or steel or aluminum, it's about building with wood. A workboat from the northwest has two qualities that animate all of Buehler techniques and designs: they are made out of wood and, being from a part of the country where there are many forests, use lots of it and they are simple.
The designs presented in the book and most of the techniques are all based on chine-designed hulls. There is not much here about building carvel planked, round bottomed boats, nor anything about multi-chine designs, only hard chine very heavy craft that will be very tough for a very long time. Performance is not in the author's vocabulary.
This approach allows the author to use less than optimum quality materials and, accordingly, save a great deal of money. However, if you happen to reside in a part of the country where wood is less plentiful, you are going to have a hard time following the design principles that Buehler lays out and you are not going to recognize the same savings. Also, this book was published in 1991. A great deal has happened to the availability of timber since then.
What Buehler is very good at is debunking the myth that you need to spend top dollar on things that the industry says you have to have (e.g. galvanized stays work just as well as stainless steel stays for about a third of the cost). His emphasis is getting the builder safely into the water and there is a lot to be said for that. It's unfortunate though, that an acceptance of more modern and lighter weight building techniques that achieve the same level of safety could not be more explored. But then, that would be a different book.
Read it for his sense of debunking the modern sailing myths and to help you think out of the box. But if you are building in metals, strip or cold molding, or fiberglass, or anything which would be considered other than heavy displacement, this book will not help you much.

The hardest thing about this book is spelling the author's name.

Buheler sets out a wonderful and simple method for building a boat--any boat. While he has some small scale plans and offsets in the book (and available from him in large scale), the strength of this book is the advice. He's "been there and done that".

His boat designs and construction methods are RUGGED. I'm not a marine engineer or naval architect, but he seems to love massive wood structures, and uses them whereever he can, even if they may not really be nessasary.

But, as he says, when things start to blow, I'm sure they're a comfort. Even if you aren't building with that in mind, read his book for the ideas. The tips on nails alone saved me lots of money.

And trust me, you'll laugh, too.

I have had this book for over a year. I have read it several times and pick it up quite often just to dream and laugh. He is really funny and right to the point. I have lots of other boatbuilding books, but this is certainly my favorite. I only like power boats, so that's my view point.

If you want to build a boat-- this is really the only book you need. It covers everything and has plans for quite a few boats you can build. I think the 34 ft Alaska is great project. I already own a 35' wood power boat, but it is not constructed half way as sturdy as George's designs. He definetly uses really really heavy frames, which is a good thing! His views on Chine vs Round hulls are right on. His lofting chapter makes it so easy, and he's right, it is. The whole book is really an inspiration! He lets YOU know that YOU can do it. Kudos to George, I really think he has enabled people to achieve their dreams of cruising.

He will save you a bunch of money too. Avoid Marine products unless you really need too use them.

What else can I say. It's worth every penny.

His Troller Book is great too, but this is the best.

Check out his webpage and his diesel duck boats.

George rules!

Thank you George Buehler for turning a passing curiosity into an ever increasing obsession!
This book could be described as a myth-buster. Expect to begin, as I did, content that boatbuilding was a black art privvy only to wood working geniuses and 10th generation shipwrights. Within a few pages however, you will be bursting with enthusiasm as Mr Buehler opens your eyes to the practicalities and possibilities of mere mortals like ourselves building sturdy, safe, and exceptionally good looking craft for a reasonable price, using readily available materials and some of his expansive know-how.
Only somebody extremely gifted and experienced could produce such a wonderfully straightforward book
Thank you Mr. Buehler for this and also for the plans provided, unlike other authors who are too paranoid/penny-pinching to include proof of their suggested experience.
DO NOT BUILD A BOAT WITHOUT READING THIS BOOK!!!

George Buehler dispels the myth that only trained professionals can build a boat. His methods and instructions are based on real world, common-sense techniques that have been used and still are used by people who make their living on the water. His boats are meant to be used and abused and still come out working good and looking good in the end as compared to most production boats today that need a weekend of maintenance for every weekend out on the water. Best of all these are boats that can be built by the backyard boat builder.

In addition to the good information his unique personality and humor make the book very entertaining. He provides many anecdotes relating to things that he or others have tried which have worked, didn't work, or failed spectacularly. These anecdotes though funny at times are the ones that count and should be remembered when building your own boat - sadly stories such as these are few or non existent in books that try to take a more academic approach.

I have to admit, there is something about his garage style in writing, and his easy going manner that appeal to me. I loved this book, and he brings up points that only a person who does this kind of work day in and out can do. It is a really great book. It makes you want to go into the great north west and build yourself a nice sail boat and go to Alaska. Reading this book will make you smell the saw dust and the pine needles of the fresh cool air around you. He inspires and explains at the same time. I read this book twice and enjoyed it. I think that you will too.