Thanks for your answers. I will seriously consider adding the 4” sheer to the boat. Obviously, I cannot add the sheer to the frames on the floor since they are already assembled. Do you suggest adding them before or after the turning over?

 

I would add them now.  I assume you are building the hull upside down? You will find it much easier now than later

You mention The deck will be uninterrupted from port to starboard. You must still put the camber into the deck. I am not sure if I can follow you with the last one: What do you mean exactly with putting the camber (chamber?) into the deck?

The camber is the curvature of the deck. That is it is higher in the centre than at the sheer.  A flat deck will hold pools of water and would look quite ugly on a yacht.

To the riddle with the uneven frames. I think you got my question right. Also, I might have put the figure of the frame being 3 cm out too high. When checking it again it was more like 1  1.5 cm. When I asked the question we actually hadn’t installed any stringers. We are now at it, installing the stringers.  We have played a little bit around with the frames and now with some of the stringers and chimes put into the slots they are having a fair shape and curve overall. They do however not lie down snugly with the frames. There is a difference of up to 1 cm, i.e. the chines are out of their slots by up to 1 cm. Is that a problem with the chines and stringers being fair? I see what you say that this is the crucial stage for a fair hull!

 

I would bet that the problem lies with the frames. They should all be spot on however the fact that the stringers do not sit completely in all the frames is not a problem. This is the reason that the stringers are only tacked at this stage. When the plate is layed on, then if the stringers do not touch it, the tack weld is broken and the stringer is pushed out to meet the plate. The frames do not have to touch the plate.

 

Two things I forgot to ask. For the 4" raised sheer, sheet 7 states to slope it 15 degree inwards. Is it possible to not slope it at all and have it horizontal? I have the feeling, that would make it easier to have a toe rail by simply extending the hull plating.

 

This is purely an ascetics thing. You can have this section vertical but in our opinion it would not look very nice. Picture in your mind the two scenarios. A toe rail (35 mm to 50 mm high) would look better sloping slightly inwards than having the whole sheer section vertical however, once again, if you want to make this section vertical then there are no structural problems.

As per your material list, the frame bars are 2 1/2" x 3/8" , the deck beams are 2" 1/4" , i.e. substantial smaller. This has surprised a few people I have talked to. What's the reason. What's your opinion on choosing the same bars for frames and deck beams?

 

There is no problem in using the 2" x 1/4" however where steel sizes choices are restricted such as where you are then there is also no problem at all in using 2 1/2" x 3/8" as deck beams. All that will happen is that it will add a few more kgs (at a guess around 30 kgs) to the boat and reduce your headroom by 1/2".

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This next email is from a potential client in Australia. There is no way possible for us to give an accurate costing on the building of a boat by an individual. It is entirely possible to build a design like the Be 385 for anything between $100,000 and $500,000. Costing such as this can be used as a guide only. While these figures are in Australian dollars you can convert them into your own countries currency on the currency converter on our website.

 

Could you please send me some more info about the Bermuda 385 kit, including costs etc.

The price of the BE 385 delivered to anywhere within 50 km of any Australian
capital port and including GST is $37,500 Australian Dollars. This contains
all the structural steel, cut, blasted and primed.

Other costs can vary considerably but a current indication of spars, rigging
and deck hardware using all top quality components, including GST and in
Australian dollars is.

Mast with all fittings assembled.................$6050
Boom (single line reefing)..........................$2530
All rigging components...............................$3210
Halyards and Running rigging....................$1890
Electrical Hardware.....................................  $470
Headsail Furler............................................$3870
Deck running Hardware..............................$3370
Winches........................................................$3250
Hatches and Portlights................................$2850

Also required are the following major items which are estimates only.
Obviously one can use a second-hand engine that costs $1500 or a new Yanmar at $20,000. Similarly with electronics. One can sail around the world easily by spending only $5000 on a HF radio, a GPS and a sounder. One can also spend upwards of $50,000 on an integrated computer system with weather indicators, radar, etc

Sails (cutter, working)..................................$4000
Engine (Diecon low Km).............................$8500
Pilot house windows.....new........................$4000
All timber, screws, etc to fit out...................$9000
Lead (ballast)................................................$3000
Electrical and plumbing...............................$3000
Upholstery.....................................................$3000
Misc (paint, glues, screws, etc)...............$10,000

There is no labour costs factored in here at all. If you were to build a R
370 (similar design) from a set of plans and patterns all these figures would remain roughly the same except for the kit. To build from bare steel would cost
approx $20,000 by the time the hull and deck were finished, blasted and
primed.

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