Characteristics of Zeewind

Boats can be built for speed, for comfort, and for price. If you want speed, a boat is constructed as light as possible, so it will plane or half-plane easily. One has to give in on accommodation, livelihood, and equipment. All reqs, that ultimately have to result in far less displacement.
Building for comfort, entails quite the opposite - much attention is paid to accomodation, and space for stocking up, while a propensity to restricted draught favors sailing in a coral environment. Enough equipment and spares need to be on board, to deal with long periods of staying 'out there'.
Costs are usually related to labor costs, and saving these costs by building yourself, used to be an option. However, nowadays saving should be more related to low cost countries, than to building costs in wealthier ones.
Considering Zeewind, the boat is obviously of the 'comfort' breed, as she is not intended for racing, but for living aboard, laying at anchor most of the time, and traveling long distances in-between. This type of boat was a usual appearence in the fifties and before, but largely replaced by better racing qualities and finishing standards of later years. They were, and are a bit less vulnerable to floating objects, such as dead heads, and drifting containers. Zeewind has less draught, and being slower and heavier, has a slight edge of offering more seakindliness.

For heaven's sake - why?

Why did I want to build a boat, and sail in her? Addictions may come early in life as a child, and have the property of not going away. Whatever one tries to do about it. Mine came when I arrived on a ferry in the harbor of Terneuzen on a bright sunny morning, and saw a sailing vessel at the opposite side of the pontoon. It was the only one, as times were harsh after WWII. And I was hooked.
As with most addictions, one might be better off (?), forcing them to the back of the mind by life's realities (as my other blog reveals: reinierscheele75). But then at last, being retired, I had the freedom to delve in my early addiction.
Does it make sense to build a boat? No, it does not. It is far better to have her build by others. Be it in the past, if you are poor, or in the present, when you are rich. It is not that bad to go for the first option, even if you are rich. First of all these boats are relatively cheap nowadays, cheaper than building them yourself from scratch. But they also have a record of their proven qualities and, above all, their peculiarities. Often, one can do something substantial about the latter, so one is better off, with a sound vessel in the end. However, it was not going to be, as addictions prevail.

Ode aan Laura Dekker

  waar zilte zee ons dra te voeren staat
waar lange deining voorbij de klare einder rolt
  waar squators' adem d'oude zeilen bolt
daar stuur' een vaste hand - recht zo die gaat