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outsourcing interior on steel home-built
On 17 May 2004 00:12:57 -0700, (jimthom)
wrote:
I was wondering if anybody has experienced or planned to complete a
yacht's interior in a third world country such as the Phillipines or
Viet Nam? I've been building my 35' steel Robert's for the last 4
years in Australia, and obviously want to get it in the water; this
sounds affordable (i.e. a day's wages for a skilled tradesman in the
Phillipines is about $10), both of theses countries have a boat
building tradition, and even materials, especially marine timbers will
be cheaper. The alternative is do it myself, but it will take an
extra 1-1.5 years.
I could rough-out the interior with bulkheads and temporary
accomdations, and have the work completed elsewhere after sailing
there.
Cheers, jimthom
Having lived in South East Asia for nearly forty years I can comment
on your thoughts of out sourcing the interior work on your boat.
First and foremost it is possible and will certainly be much cheaper
then doing it in Australia however there are problems.
Local builders are usually mainly interested in getting paid so there
is temptation to make it work. If he just sawed a 20 dollar teak plank
in the wrong place the builder certainly won't want to drive down to
the lumber yard and buy a new one. Much better to bolt it together
somehow if the owner is in Australia.
Local builders also probably will not be up to date on the latest
techniques. In Phuket, Thailand, for example, if you ask for "epoxy"
you get epoxy glue. If you ask for "resin" you get polyester. If you
ask for "epoxy resin" you get a puzzled look
Expatriate "Managers" are nearly always unqualified. After all, if
they really were craftsmen they would be in Australia making $50 an
hour, not here in Thailand making a tenth of that.
Having said that it is possible to have work done here, as well, and
far cheaper then you can have it done in Australia.
One method would be to plan on supervising the work yourself. You will
have a pretty steep learning curve -- few Thai boat welders, for
example, speak english. But you can do it. If you take that path I
would plan on making several trips to visit various areas and compare
work quality versus costs. A crooked weld bead on your chine at $0.50
an hour is not cheaper then a straight one at $5.00.
Another thought would be to locate a really competent builder and sub
the work to them (I'd still plan on a lot of inspection trips) and the
possibility of a really good builder having spare time is problematic.
In this area, Singapore would be as expensive, if not more, then
Australia. Malaysia is not known for great craftsmanship. Thailand,
and Phuket in particular, has competent people. Viet Nam, unless you
have spent a lot of time there is nearly impossible to operate in;
Burma and Cambodia are almost impossible to get a boat into and the
Philippines have good craftsmen.
If I were going to out source work I would look at the Philippines or
Thailand.
If you want to continue this discussion off line you can contact me at
bruce-at-inet-dot-co-dot-th.
One last thought -- if you are in Australia you are about 3,000 miles
from Singapore and it is another 600 miles to Thailand and about 1,000
to the Philippines.
Cheers,
Bruce
(reply to k4556[at]inet[dot]co[dot]th)
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