[John Robertson Posts: 5137 Status: Offline WWW]

I don't understand how you could spend that much on parts for a Surveyor let alone an Explorer Al?  I could source everything brand new to build three Surveyors for £10K.  The Explorer plans call for a 3 blade Ivo or PowerFin prop which costs about $250 more than the 2 blade PowerFin the Surveyor uses.  The Surveyor uses am new industrial engine costing £1K more than the car engine needed for the Explorer so the overall difference can't be very significant at all and would probably be almost covered by the engine saving alone.  There's nothing as easy as spending money as we all know 

[implanecrazy]

I've built a 20 foot explorer hull and it is a lot of work, but my next build is likely to be another explorer.  I have also built a 16 foot surveyor, and there is considerably more than a £100 difference in price.  For starters you have the extra foam & GRP, then there is an extra lift fan, hub, pulley & stainless shaft, a pair of lift fan ducts, (but they could be built with foam).  The two ally skirt frames & fittings.
 
The prop for the explorer is in the region of £1500, the prop for the surveyor is somewhere around the £700 mark.
 
To build an explorer reckon on £10,000 and 1000 plus hours labour.  You may be a grand or so either side of this figure to build a quaility craft.  Some of the bits though you could probably get at trade prices being in the boat trade
My surveyor cost me around £6500 + 500 or 600 hours labour.
 
The explorer though has an amazing amount of space onboard
 
There are loads of videos of my builds on youtube.  Just seach (lochcarron) and you will find my vids.  My user name is Highland Hovercraft.
 
The sevtec range are very straight forward to build once you get your head around those drawings

[John Robertson Posts: 5137 Status: Offline WWW]

.... meant to say thanks for the offer of a launch site - would tomorrow be OK 

[John Robertson Posts: 5137 Status: Offline WWW]

Hi David,

Welcome to our club!

We passed right through Dunstaffnage Marina a few weeks ago (stopped on the shore next to the houses at the far end) on our way to Oban from Taynuilt (we didn't make Oban due to the sea of white caps on Loch Linnhe  ).


It's an incredible area to explore by hovercraft (you can stop almost anywhere you like - no mooring or anchoring needed  .  The only concern might be wind - a hovercraft is affected by wind as, unlike a boat, it's not actually IN the water at all.  For the same reason, it can (and must!) be built light (you don't have to worry about whacking underwater rocks or shoals).  Like a boat, sea handling improves with size.  The Sev range are well proven in rough water conditions but I would recommend going no smaller than a Surveyor size in your area.  Building bigger doesn't cost significantly more - it's just a few extra sq ft of core foam and some glass/resin - the difference in material costs between an 15ft Surveyor and a 20ft Explorer (for example) is likely to be less than £100.

There's a huge range of different craft in the club - take a look a the galleries/videos (and the database) and ask away!

[Hoverbat]

Hi Skipper, John Robertson will put you right on all things Sevtec. Don't worry about parts everything is available from the UK.

[Skipper Billy]

Hello !!


Just thought I would say hello - my pal and I are experienced boat builders and repairers and we have decided to build a hovercraft - bit of a busmans holiday but we live on the shores of Loch Linnhe / Loch Etive / Sound of Mull so we thought it would be rude not to explore by hovercraft as not being constrained by draught and going faster than 6 knots will be a new challenge for us.


Our technical skills and workshop facilities and many years of experience should stand us in good stead (hopefully!)


We haven't decided on what to build yet - we initially looked at an Eagle 1 stretched to take a 2CV engine but after further research we fairly quickly decided that it is probably too small and our current favourite is a Sevtec Surveyor. Our only reservation is availability of parts from the US as freight charges from the US are ridiculous.


Maybe I have misinterpreted that ??


Any suggestions / guidance etc most welcome.


PS - we own Alba Sailing at Dunstaffnage Marina and if anyone ever wants a base near Oban to sail (fly?) from we will happily look after you with car and trailer parking, launching etc etc   www.alba-sailing.co.uk