Our NEW Dream Boat?!?...Sailing Vessel Delos Ep. 451

Ohhhh man! We haven't been this giddy about sharing a new video with you in a loooong time🥳We hope you enjoy Part 1 of our trip to Australia as we begin to explore what the evolution of this project might be...If you're on the edge of your seat and can't wait for part 2, consider joining our inner tribe on Patreon! Our Patrons get to watch all our videos a week early with no ads, plus we've got lots of exclusive content & juicy details in there of what's on the horizon for us and Delos 2.0! Visit patreon.com/svdelos to learn more

Hello . I am a retired welder. I have a life time of experiences with structural , Pressure welding an millwrighting . Thought about this for awhile. Think the best plan might be to help design the interior, the sail plan , rigging , systems . Then leave the building of the hull to the experts . That way you can still be making sailing content with Delos , in till you jump on the new boat . Your sailing content I think is why you are the best sailing channel. Not that you could not complete a vessel yourself, but I think it would be overwhelming building an making the content . Just my thoughts . Excited to see what your future brings you 👍

After watching you work in Delos over the years, I’d recommend buying a bare hull and decks, like that boat is now, and then fitting it out yourself, so you then know all the systems onboard. That would be more valuable than learning how to weld.

A project like this takes an enormous amount of emotional and physical energy and stamina. The same energy required to equip, prepare for and carry out ocean expeditions only more gruelling. It's likely to take at least five years if you remain 100% committed to it. You only have so much of this energy and this could be very draining for you. I know you will be thinking of this but having been through this myself, I would suggest you save your energy for sailing and get someone else to do most of the building. You can be very involved but being able to take time out to sail and enjoy your family and know that the project is still moving ahead is really valuable. Whatever you choose, good luck

As someone who has done high latitude sailing for 33 years, I can tell you that you're on the right track with an aluminum catamaran. I've travel to very remote places on aluminum jetboats that only have a 4" draft and can basically operate in less than a half foot of water. Been in them in really bad weather here in Alaska, where the hull was just slamming and pounding into big storm driven waves and the boat just eats this type of weather up like it's nothing. I would worry less about the hull than I would the mounts on the engine, it's that tough! That said, and based on years of traveling to fjords and glaciers, I would look for the following in your new boat: 1. Combination of wind and solar for power generation. High latitudes are known for cloudy weather. I live in a temperate rain forest, so go w/ solar cells that are shade resistant, and get two wind generators. When it's dark here, the wind still blows and we get a good amount of wind most of the time. 2. Skeg hung rudder. The yacht in your video has the prop shaft and prop coming out of the hull between the skeg and the rudder. Perfect. Add a folding prop and you're golden. In icy areas, some small bergs and/or submerged logs will impact the hull and having the protection of the skeg for both the rudder and the prop and shaft will ensure protection for both. Because of our high tides, we can have a lot of flotsam in the water during different times of the year. 3. Watertight bulkheads, forward. Between the boat's bow and forward cabin, there should be a watertight bulkhead, in case of collision. Also, perhaps bulkheads in the stern between engine rooms and interior space. 4. Very good insulation. Not only for cold weather and interior heat but also for hot weather sailing, to help keep the interior at the perfect temp, year 'round, no matter the outside weather might be. The insulation will also help keep humidity down on the inside of the boat because it moves the dew point closer to the outside of the hull, rather than inside of it. 5. Hanging locker for foul weather gear. Heated if possible. Drains to bilge, etc... 6. Full cockpit enclosure. Makes the cockpit into an extra room that can be used even in cold weather. My cockpit is half enclosed and the heat rises out of the salon and heats that area up nicely. Plus, it's nice on rainy days to sit out in the cockpit w/out worrying about the wind and rain making it miserable! 7. Hard bottom RIB. I believe Maggie is hard bottomed. You'll need that to get close to glaciers and to land on remote beaches. Wish I had one. Also important if you're using it as a lifeboat because if you need to get to shore but it's a rocky shore, a hard bottom RIB stands a better chance of withstanding the beating than other options. Also, some dinghy wheels because the tides in Alaska and other places can vary up to 24', so if it's a flood tide and you want to get the dink up the beach, the wheels come in real handy! That's about all I can think of, but I'm sure there's more. Garcia yachts makes a nice 54' aluminum cat but it has saildrives and I wouldln't use those in areas where logs and ice might be in the water. I'm sure there's a manufacturer out there who will let you be part of the build process and wish you luck in your search!

Guys we love you!!!! I built a lot of things, fixed a few boats, worked with wood and metals and all kinds of equipment. Here is what I think :-). Do not bury yourself in a project of that magnitude. I have no doubts you can do it, but the world needs you as the most interesting adventurers out there. I understand that you want to build it your way so get into a half built boat or retrofit some solid hull. From scratch… will take years, it will take a toll on your health welding metal and sanding tons of interior, spraying horrible finishes, the situation can change with your loved ones, also especially these days when the prices of material become unaffordable…and we need you to travel more amazing places. Spend a year or two, not more. Sorry, I’m being honest because we truly love you guys.

I highly recommend that you have the metal CNC pre-cut and have a professional builder with experience with aluminum hull fabrication) build the hull for you. You can then build out the interior (wiring, systems, cabinets, paint, ...) yourself. With your technical skills that should be feasible (I am sure you will get lots of help). Fabricating an aluminum hull requires a shit load of trade skills. Aluminum warps like crazy when applying heat from welding. I am sure you found Plukky's Elcano videos and "Distant Shores". If you still consider doing it yourself, start by building an aluminum dinghy. There are plans for that available for purchase. The only problem I see with having the hull build for you is that you will most likely will need to finish the boat in the same location (or close by) as where you have the hull built. I assume cost is important for you, so you would have to use a hull builder from cheaper places like Vietnam, Thailand or Philippines. And shipping an unfinished hull to a different part of the world is going to be expensive.

Plucky is buildinng a cat from scratch in Vietnamm. There's whole crew going at it as we speak and it's coing along fairly quickly. Doing the whole thing by yourself from the start...man-oh-man! - that's a hell of an undertaking.

I have a lot of experience working in machine shops that do a lot of fabrication, and I must say; I'm not sure you guys fully understand just how massive this project will be. This is a year long project for a shipyard dedicated to building custom aluminum hulls. A shipyard with dozens of skilled tradesmen, and millions of dollars of very expensive equipment. They have waterjets, sheet metal shapers, overhead gantry cranes, CNC milling machines, large hydraulic sheet metal brakes, and multiple $5,000 welders, and it still would take them a year or more to complete the build. This guy who built this thing took how long to build the first one? And he's an expert with this kind of stuff. I really think you aught to consider having at least the hull built at a shipyard. I do believe you have the skills necessary to finish out the rest of the boat, but that hull is going to be such a daunting task that I fear you'll give up on it.

David de Villiers has some great designs and Nahoa's 55 looks amazing. But, have a capable yard build it and you can have input along the way. I've been following you since day one, but not keen on watching another channel doing a 3-5 year DIY boat build. Do what you do best- travel to amazing places and let us follow along. Leave the boat build to the the pros!

I restored a hurricane damaged boat, like Colin (but a Leopard 48) and it took me about 18-22months, in Antigua. I'm also a software guy like you Brian, and only did (alot) of youtube before. But building from scratch is a whole other level. You really wanna spend 4-5 years on land? Have you seen what Plucky is doing? (sailing into freedom). I would suggest you do something similar, just be heavily involved rather than doing it all yourself. It's sooooo much work.

A note of caution. Watch mat and Jessica sailing. They are building a cat and it is taking way longer than they imagined. At a boat yard a cat will take a year with 15-20 skilled workers. Do two people learning will take ten years. But it is a great challenge if you are willing. But hire a lot of skilled help to make the build time reasonable.

Dear Delos long long time follower. So take this with the love it is sent with. You are out of your every loving mind if you take on that project. Welding Aluminum is a sub set of welding which is not an easily acquired skill. You are looking at welding for 8 hours day for 3-5 years. We have a friend who travels threw out the Midwest welding Aluminum power station for electrical companies. He travels not because there is not welders in those locations but because he is welding Aluminum which he has been for 30 years. You will not acquire that skill running a few beads on a workbench table. Brian you were right when you said you did not have a clue.

No experience in boat building 60+ feet = 6+ years, if you're lucky. Just buy custom or semi custom. Sailing is more enjoyable, than boat yards.

I feel sad for the Delos 1.0 because it has all, I mean ALL of the amazing memories which includes all people that the boat went with thousand of nautical miles, and baby Nugs grew there for the first 4 years of her life... but, it's amazing that you GROW in all technical, relationships, and intellectual sense. We're also excited for you. Let's go Delos 2.0!!!

I'm sorry Brian, I have seen you do some amazing things maintaining Delos but building your own boat from scratch will take a far longer learning curve than you think I believe. You will have to spend the next 7 or more years of your lives doing this, how old will you be then to start traveling again and how many subscribers will be left for you to take on the journey?

I was excited to think you were getting a new boat! Maybe a beautiful new catamaran like the one "Wynns sailing" finally just moved on. You are my favorite sailing channel, and have been watching you for at least 8 years now. When Ran sailing, (they too have a beautiful daughter Vera about the same age as Sierra) another favorite sailing site, decided to build their own boat, I watched a couple dozen shows about construction and sanding and then finally gave up! Although I like the family dynamics, I found that I really tuned in to watch the sailing adventures. I respect that you want to move back onto the land for a number of years as I too used to live on a boat and know that you can never rest knowing that you could sink at any moment. I wish you well! Perhaps I will start watching you again once Sierra is in her early teens!

Constructing your own boat from scratch is, IMO, absolutely mental. There are SO MANY fantastic boat designers out there working that have the manufacturing to back it up. I would never dream of building from scratch. From being on a couple cats, I can see several issues with this vessel already. Like there are no rear docking helms and there is no sail visibility from inside the covered wheel house. Good luck, this is a monumental challenge.

It’s so wild. I fell out of my watching routine when I caught up after watching all the videos a few years back. And I come back to start binging again and this is the most recent video. Which is interesting because I do a lot of fabrication. I personally wouldn’t take on that project without a massive team. With two people even hustling I would imagine 10+ years to build that. I’m overwhelmed just looking at all the pieces and weld joints. That’s insane. I still daydream about what boat I would buy if I decided to just sell almost everything and go live on a sailboat. Lol

Congratulations guys. The smiles on your faces say it all. Well done! Best of luck with the build...best location for a build too! You'll love little old Brisvegas. Hidden 💎