Thread: How Much Time is Required to Build a GIS?

IMO July would not be a realistic goal unless you can devote full time to the project and don't have to wait for materials. Give yourself a year of part-time work, plus or minus a couple months.

I was thinking that I could definitely get it done within six months, but you guys are the experts. I could easily devote 14 hours (minimum) a week to it. I guess these things take longer to build than I originally thought. I'm not discouraged though. This looks like a great design. Maybe some people who have built it could post how long it took them to build the GIS? Thanks for the reply, MiddleAges.
Roger

Hello Roger,

It took me close to 12 months to finish my GIS (that includes making the hull, spars, foils and epoxy coating and painting/varnishing everything): I started mid April 2008 and was able to sail her the first time April 5, 2009.

For nearly 6 months however I couldn't do any work on the boat (in total one month of vacation in July/October and November - February it was too cold and I was recovering from knee surgery). I have not kept track of the hours, but it was many! Working 14 hours a week and allowing 6 months for the build should see her finished (I think, but don't hold it against me if you pass your deadline! )

Building the hull is only a small part of the job, there are also the spars and foils to make, the rudderbox, the tiller and don't forget the epoxy coating, the lots sanding and the painting/varnishing.

Hope this helps.

Good luck and best wishes,

Joost

Excellent reply Joost! Thank you for taking the time. I will not plan on building the GIS for my first boat then. I will build something that I can finish by the end of July so I can take my girls out when they arrive, and plan on starting the GIS after they leave for the following year's visit. I'm sure I'll build one or two of MIK's pdrs before I get to the GIS. One nice thing about the DR where I live is that we have above 80 degree temperatures all year round. Thanks again, guys, for the help.
Roger

Hello Roger,

I think that the PDR will be good practice for the GIS.

Part of the build, putting the hull together, will go much quicker as the construction of the PDR is a bit simpler (less bevels to take care off) and the hull is of course only half the size of the GIS.

Something to consider however is that most of the spars, both foils and the rudderbox will take just as long as the GIS's (same construction method and not much smaller).

Best regards,

Joost

.
We bought the GIS plans in early December 2009 and will be floating in the middle of this coming May. Our GIS may not be 100% "finished & pretty" but I will be sailing in the Texas 200 which starts 22 June. The build schedule was based on a 6 month build time, but with help.

I hired a professional boat builder to build the following.
1. kit which included all the precut plywood panels.
2. mast, boom and yard

Without this help we would schedule a 12 month build time.

Locally we have no problem with getting supplies with 3 quality lumber yards, a couple of big box hardware stores within 2 miles and Ductworks’ Marine Supply in the same state. The build schedule also has required me to spend more money and I use a "find it and buy it" mentality to keep on schedule. If the build schedule was slowed to 12 months lots of money could have been saved.

By myself, I could not build a GIS in 6 months on a 14 hour work week. I am putting in close to 24 hours a week with 3 hours after work for 4 days, 1 night off, 8 hours on Saturday and 4 hours on Sunday. This includes running around gathering up supplies and actual boat building time.

My daughter and son do not mind getting coated with epoxy, maybe your daughters would help build the GIS during their summer break. The time we have spent together out in the garage covered in saw dust during the build has been memorable.

Your fall back idea of a couple of PDr’s might be fun too. Have one boat finished before they get home and then let them finish the second one.

Either way, welcome to the forum!

You guys are really great! Thank you for the warm welcome, and the information. I like the idea of working on (finishing up) a build while my girls are home. I also have three boys (ages 10, 11, 14) that are going to be helping me with the build. It should be a great family time.
Roger

I´m now into my second year - but I have not had anything like 14 hours a week on GIS building. If you cannot run an intensive building campaign, do at least get started by building and stockpiling all the bits as time permits and then you can 'blitz' the actual hull. Good to see another tropical GIS on the horizon.

Steve

My BETH is probably similar complicated and time consuming to GIS - I've started on may 2009 (with winter's break since half of October 2009 to end of March 2010). Hoping to finish my project before this year Summer...

Hello,

One more thing I just thought about: learning curve.

I remember that it took me two and a half 6-hour days when I built my GIS to finish a shaped and sanded tapered boom ready for epoxy coating/varnishing. Now a similar spar finished to the same degree takes me about 5 hours (I made a tapered mast of similar length this Easter Sunday).

In the beginning you just spend a lot of time figuring out how to approach certain things, where to buy certain things, how to make certain things, etc. whereas with the next project (if similar) it will take you a lot less time.

I am quite sure that building the PDR as a first project would speed up the build of the GIS as a second project as most technical challenges are the same or very similar in nature.

Joost

PS: just calculated the hours: 14 hours * 26 weeks = 364 hours. I do think it would be feasible to do it in that time.

It takes most people (including me) longer as most are not able to spend 14 hours per week for 26 consecutive weeks on the build (work, relationships, kids, vacation, injuries, other hobbies, need to also go sailing once in a while, etc.).

7 hours per week on average is probably a more likely figure for most (and guess what: 7 hours * 52 weeks = 364 hours! ).

Wow, you one or two year build guys really have some perseverance. Joost, that's pretty cool the way those numbers worked out. I guess it is a matter of hours as opposed to weeks, months or years. It just depends on how hard you work at it (at least to a degree). Well, I'm about fit to be tied. I've just got to build something! I picked up some lumber today to get going on a plywood cutting table / work bench / saw horses (all rolled up in one). I'll get that built tomorrow, then start working on a boat.
Roger

Originally Posted by RogerintheDR

Wow, you one or two year build guys really have some perseverance. Joost, that's pretty cool the way those numbers worked out. I guess it is a matter of hours as opposed to weeks, months or years. It just depends on how hard you work at it (at least to a degree). Well, I'm about fit to be tied. I've just got to build something! I picked up some lumber today to get going on a plywood cutting table / work bench / saw horses (all rolled up in one). I'll get that built tomorrow, then start working on a boat.
Roger

Maybe I am not the right person to comment, but I built an Oz PDR in 45 hours, over 10 days (a couple of 8 hr weekends, and 2 hours a night during the week) which included the painting, sanding, spars, hull, foils and making the sails. I think the GIS has only a few extra pieces than a PDR, and the foils, spars and sails look identical. It is all about staying organised and focused. Most of that starts with a clean shop and an understanding spouse.

The other thing is that you have to start cutting wood. Lots of folks seem to spend copious amounts of time in the planning/dreaming stage, then find every excuse not to start (wrong time of year, tax season, kids, holidays, not enough tools, self-doubts). But in my experience, anytime is a good time to start, because these boats do not build themselves!

The difference I see, is that I never wanted a carpentry project, I wanted a boat to use, and it's easy to lose sight of what the end goal is.
It would be tempting to start with a smaller boat like a PDR, but if you really wanted a GIS, you should start there, because every hour you devote to another project, is an hour you will not be building the boat you really wanted.

Rick.

The build times are very variable.

I am finding this a really interesting discussion - because it is my experience that most take 6 months to a year of part time work to get a Goat to water.

However I have helped people assemble them in a class type situation over 9 days (72 hours). This will get the hull assembled - end tanks done, the gunwales glued on (not inwale structure) and probably the centreboard, rudder and mast blanks glued up but not finally shaped. I would estimate that another 3 or 4 days would see most of the interior done and the inwale in place.

During the classes I will hold things and explain things but don't really contribute much labour.

So that takes to finish the hull structurally close to 100 hours. I think this fits in quite well with the other estimates above - by the time the spars and foils and rigging is taken into account.

The part that everyone underestimates is in time spent painting and varnishing.

I think it is quite interesting how if you have a big piece of time available the boat goes together quite quickly, but also this is rare in the framework of most peoples' lives.

Best wishes
Michael

Originally Posted by Boatmik

I think it is quite interesting how if you have a big piece of time available the boat goes together quite quickly, but also this is rare in the framework of most peoples' lives.

Best wishes
Michael

I’ve only just caught up with this thread. As Mick says, each builder is different and devotes varying amounts of time to their build, so in terms of the calendar, no two builds will be alike. I’ve been quite fortunate in having had two days out of nearly every weekend available during the hull building phase, but weekday evenings were ruled out due to other things in my life, such as family matters, my 9-5 job and a hair salon business.

Because of delays with my ply delivery, I made my foils and spars before the hull was started. Upon reflection, I think this order has proved quite good for me. It also meant I could make the mast step and mast partner to suit the finished mast dims. Also, I’m glad I’m not facing those now that my build is complete!

I’m not a fast worker by any means, but working both days of the weekends has seen the hull completed in 9 weeks. To me, it hasn’t seemed that quick, but the kids and friends have remarked on the speed of the build. From my wife’s perspective, it has taken forever, so everything is relative. Other chores like house and yard maintenance have suffered, so I can see why she feels that way!

There are a number of contributing factors for the hull coming together quite quickly. The hull and its components are brilliantly simple to make and assemble. There is very little freeform shaping and the plans and methods set out by Mick worked well for me, and I didn’t experience too many “gotchas”. Any that I did have are documented in my thread and were easily enough resolved.

The time taken to mark out the ply was 3 days. This seems quite a long time but it is a significant task. This is where you cannot cut corners, unless you buy a kit! By the way, if I were to build another GIS, it would be a kit. However, the process of marking out sets you up to appreciate the significance of what this means for the building process, and the importance of accuracy.

If you look at my transom, you will see weird pencil markings. This is because I redid the transom on the reverse because I did not allow for the required cutting outside of the true transom line markings. Attachment 134648
The same thing happened with the foredeck and rear deck, but I was saved because the measurements in the plan are only approximate as these components required shaping to fit and they were very close, thankfully!

Overall, the Goat comes together quite quickly, and if you tend to be impatient as I sometimes am, this is a good thing because it holds you attention. At the end of each week I was able to see a significant advance, and this has an inspiring effect.