Epilogue
OK, after a long, long time, here are her pictures on the sea. Click on the thumnails to enlarge. The following five pics show my cousin Volkan rigging the boat and setting off. Other pictures scattered in the text show yours truly at the helm.
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How did she sail?
First of all, this is a small (actually very small) boat. If you sail her on anything bigger than a pond, she feels even smaller. I don't think it is wise to have more than one person on board unless you are sailing on a small lake or similar. I could handle waves up to one ft., but given any more, I would quit. As I have said before, I modified the rig. Since sailing characteristics depend a lot on the rig, what I say here pertains to my D4 only. Sailing close hauled is troublesome, especially if the wind is weak. I would have gone for the Marconi rig if I were to build the rig again. Beam reach is very entertaining, and this is what I did most of the time. The rudder is sensitive enough, though not much. Jibes were dangerous, perhaps because I am inexperienced. Obviously, she is not very comfortable on a choppy sea and I think, would be more at home on a lazy river or a small lake. We capsized her a few times. She does float, but it is impossible to turn her over in the event of a capsize. Even if you managed to turn her, she would be filled with water and would capsize again in case you tried to climb aboard. If I find flotation foam somewhere, I plan to fill the open compartments with it and seal. This may ease the task of turning her over somewhat. She does attract looks and people wave at you (I think mainly because they think that any guy who is on a boat of this size must be out of his mind). |
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What was the cost?
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I spent a little less than 500 US Dollars. I must admit that I wasted some epoxy until I became familiar with the material, and with the stitch and glue technique. If you are very cost conscious, you can build the sailing version for about $350. Of course, these figures are for Turkey. One thing I must stress here is that amateurs do not build boats for the reason of economy. At least, this is not (or should not be) their main purpose because they usually end up spending more than they would have if they had bought a production boat. Actually, I could have bought a comparable fiberglass boat with what I have spent on her. Backyard builders build boats mostly because of the satisfaction they get from creating such beautiful things. |
What to do next?
A bigger boat? Why not? If only I had time and place to build. I have been working on a number of plans, but studying the plans is one thing, starting to build is another. Money is also an important factor and you never have enough. In addition, Ankara is very far from the sea, and transportation is also a problem. If I had the opportunity though, I would have started the following in the given order:
| 1 | A 15 foot boat to go fishing. She will be able to accomodate a 10 hp outboard. Since she is not a sailboat, she can be built quickly, and will not cost much. In addition, I don't have to mess with the rig and other sailboat idiosyncrasies which require a lot of time and effort. |
| 2 | A 20 to 25 ft sailboat for coastal cruising. She will have a small cabin for two, and accomodate four people for daysailing. I like to imagine this one as my retirement project. Maybe I can build her one day, who knows? |
 out in the open |
 returning to the beach |
 beaching, daggerboard up |
 d4 resting on the beach |
Amateur boatbuilders are a family worldwide, so, feel free to write to me if you have any comments on these pages. If you are a first time builder and have questions, I'll try my best to answer.
