[Lord Roberts]

Thank you all for your replies. Just to follow on from some of the points raised...

Obviously the timbers would be laminated, grown frames would be slightly mad, I think. And I don't think finding enough wood would be quite as difficult as indicated. Sailcloth? Well, of course sails are expensive, but if you were thinking I was planning to go for a truly authentic, original sailcloth, I can assure you I wasn't. I mean, I also wasn't thinking America's Cup modern style either--there's good stuff in between the two extremes that looks nice like the old-fashioned sails but is up to modern standards.

To be honest, I probably should have said that I wasn't really asking about a completely authentic reproduction. You could even have an aluminium mast, a plywood deck (covered in veneer so it still looks proper), etc. 

As for why anyone would build it? Well, I can't speak for everyone, but I can tell you why I would. Principally to live on, and to charter, and to travel about in. Why a wherry? Well, there aren't that many classes of boat that I know of that are big enough for several people to live on and have a draught of around 4 feet. And before you say narrowboat, I must stress that I'm only interested in sailboats. Of course if I wasn't interested in sailing, or in wooden boats, I'd just buy a steel canalboat and settle down comfortably, saving myself hassle, time and money!

But seriously, other than a Thames Barge, which would be even madder, what else is there? 

And I know I do sound a bit mad. But after all, they probably thought that about Edison before he invented the lightbulb, or to use a more relevant example, Linda and Vincent when they decided to restore Maud... :)

 

[Lord Roberts]

Thanks for the figures, much appreciated. I assume that was materials and labour, not just materials alone? 

On 19/10/2022 at 09:40, oldgregg said:

I seem to remember hearing that White Moth cost £150,000 to rebuild in the late eighties.

Anyone that saw her in Colin Facey's shed during that rebuild will know that VERY little original timber remained - I think essentially the keel is original, but pretty much everything else was replaced.

Having myself stood in what was at the time essentially a massive half-decker and being surrounded by new timber everywhere, I'd say White Moth is the closest anyone has come to building a Wherry in 'recent' times.

A quick RPI check suggests that £150K in 1987 is north of half a million notes nowadays. And that's assuming you can find someone who can / will build one.

 

[Lord Roberts]

Sorry to bump up a rather old conversation, but I was reading it with interest, as I am rather obsessed with Norfolk Wherries, and I note that Carol suggests that it might be cheaper to build a new one than restore one of the sunken wherries. Which made me wonder: how much do you reckon it would cost to build a new Norfolk Wherry (assuming materials only, and not labour)? Thanks.