This section of our website may be a bit long, but we assume anyone possibly contemplating the construction of a cruising catamaran with us will want to know in detail what are the circumstances involved in the construction of a boat in our shop. Please Contact us for any other questions you may have.

Where are you?

We are located on the island of Cebu more or less right in the middle of the Philippine islands. It is a one hour flight to Manila and 3 hours to Singapore or Hong Kong, all of which have direct daily flights into and out of Cebu. It is a one hour drive to our shop from the airport or downtown Cebu City, which is the second largest city in the Philippines. Our shop is located on a small very protected bay in a rural area. We have our residence just a few minutes walk away from the shop. If you plan to visit, we will send you a clear description how to find us. [back to menu]

The Philippines seems to receive more than it’s share of bad news concerning natural disasters, rebel fighting, and so on.. Are you in a safe place there?

Yes, absolutely. The Philippines is a fairly poor third world country with all the usual difficulties thereof. We have lived and sailed in this central area of the islands for 21 years however, without feeling any particular concern for our family’s safety. The levels of crime here are typical for any poor country, but foreigners are not targeted nor in any specific danger. You can expect a safe and friendly reception if you visit us on the island of Cebu. Are you sure you are in a safe place??

Admittedly there are real trouble spots however, in the southwestern areas of Mindanao Island where the interface between christians and muslims, as in so many other areas of the world, creates unrest and occasionally real conflict. We (and the US State Department) do not recommend traveling or cruising in the areas around southwestern Mindanao and the Sulu island group. Cruising sailboats proceeding south from here towards other SEAsian cruising areas, generally pass through Balabak straits at the southern tip of Palawan island on their way out of the Philippines.

The Philippines is located on the western edge of the most active area in the world for major tropical ocean storms. Almost all of these storms sweep northward in an arc offshore of the eastern coasts of Samar and Luzon islands, but a few do come ashore every year generally passing over the northern Luzon area. Cebu island is generally south of the storm tracks, but we have experienced 5 damaging storms in the 21 years we have been here. It is not a frequent problem, but we do keep a careful lookout. Our shop building is a strong all-steel arch structure, safely away from the open coastline, and we are confident of minimal damage in the event of another storm hit. You can find current and statistical information about these storms here.    
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What are your shop rates?

We charge $9.50 (US) per manhour for all work perfomed in our shop. We apply a flat markup of 25% on all locally sourced materials and contracted services, and 15% on the landed cost.of imported equipment. We are for the most part able to purchase directly from manufacturers or major distributors at OEM or significantly discounted prices. The client receives weekly accountings throughout the project. [back to menu]

Will you give me a fixed price quotation for your Visayan ‘XX’?

No. We are a small custom boatbuilding shop. We do not have sufficient office staff (or the overhead costs of same) to take the amount of time necessary to accurately cost out large custom yacht projects in reply to numerous inquiries. We can tell you what similar projects have cost previously, and make forward estimates based on that.

Every project we have undertaken has been significantly different from previous projects, even when of similar design. We find our clients have very particular preferences in practically all areas of their boats, and we make a real effort to be sure the finished boat is what they wish to have, not what we may be able to provide within the constraints of a contract negotiated months before their (or our) ideas of the finished boat were fully developed. Larger shops with sufficient staffing (and did we mention overhead costs?) can compute costs for a tightly drawn contract. Ask them however, to make even minor additions or changes in mid-contract, and see how quickly your project costs will rise at their change rates. [back to menu]

How long will it take to build your Visayan ‘XX”?

All of our Visayan projects or similar boats from other designers are minimum one year efforts. The larger designs can take up to 18 or 20 months, depending on level of finish and equipment installed. As we are busy and our output is limited, you will have to factor some lead time into your project. [back to menu]

I assume there is a limited availibility of yacht finishing equipment in the Philippines. Will we have to pay Philippine customs duties on imported yacht equipment?

No. But there are some conditions. Boatshop Philippines is accredited as a re-export manufacturer by the Philippine Department of Science and Industry and Bureau of Customs. This accreditation allows us to import duty and tax free anything destined for installation in newly constructed boats that are not built for local use and will be exported. (We do not do repairs or maintenance except to our own boats.) This means that we cannot install duty-free imported equipment on a boat built for a local resident or one that would remain indefinitely in the Philippines after completion. Fair enough, you didn’t pay duties. As a consequence, a finished yacht must clear customs and depart to a foreign port within a reasonably short period of time after final completion. Plenty of time is available to perform thorough sea trials in the local area however. You will not be rushed out. You may later return to the Philippines as a foreign registered cruising yacht without difficulty. The closest easily obtained foreign destination is Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia) about 3-5 days away, with some island hopping along the way.

Shipping and handling charges on imported equipment do add up however. We average about 7 % incoming shipping and handling on top of original purchase prices. [back to menu]

I would like to stay nearby and work on the boat with your crew. Is this possible?

We do not encourage this. Frequent communication about your requirements is necessary and can be quite enjoyable, and we do encourage frequent shop visits. Full time participation in the project, especially in the early stages of carpentry and painting is not likely to be a productive activity on your part, and to be honest, can be distracting to us. If you have particular skills that are truly useful to the final equipment installations of the boat, we can discuss it. If you are interested in participating in the building of the boat with the idea of saving costs, and have the skills to make it worth your time to do so, we suggest you consider having us build a partially completed boat for you, which you can take away at an appropriate stage and then complete on your own. We have done this. [back to menu]

Is construction insurance available to cover the boat while in your shop?

Yes. Philippine insurance companies have quoted insurance to our clients on a Peso basis at premium rates of approximately 2%. They have not been particularly co-operative in providing scaled coverage as the value of the boat increases however. Insurance of the boat during construction is up to and at the cost of the client. You may be able to obtain insurance abroad from your own preferred company. We will co-operate with you to obtain such insurance if you wish to have it, and also for later coverage of the boat once afloat. [back to menu]

Do you build power catamarans?

We are just beginning our first power catamaran. This project will be a 40 foot low-powered design for long distance cruising. See our Visayan Voyager 12 mtr. power catamaran design. [back to menu]

Do you build monohull sailing yachts?

We strongly prefer to build multihulls and encourage possible clients not yet decided on their type of boat to compare very carefully the advantages of a well designed catamaran over a similarly sized monohull for cruising purposes. We have numerous friends and acquaintenances who have cruised very enjoyably for years on monohulls of widely varying designs, but we still feel the advantages of a spacious stable catamaran will be most appreciated in the long run by our customers. (But we didn’t say no, did we?) [back to menu]

Do you build power cruisers, or trawlers?

See above. [back to menu]

Why do you show rotating wingmasts on your designs?Aren’t they just for racing?

Our use of rotating wingmasts actually began as a solution to the logistical problem of shipping long masts to our out-of-the-way location, which was expensive and subject to possible shipping damage. Those conditions have since improved considerably, but in the meantime, we discovered we could shop-build the masts for considerably less than an imported equivalent aluminum mast, we could repair them, and most importantly, in combination with a fully battened mainsail, they provide dramatic improvements in performance.

Our Visayan designs carry conservative rigs for ease of handling while cruising. The slightly reduced sail area is handily made up for by the efficient performance of the rotating foil shaped mast. These masts use much less rigging wire which reduces windage aloft and expense. Controlling the rotation of the mast is no more difficult than handling an inner staysail, and will be quickly learned. The masts are very carefully built to engineered designs from Barlow Wing of the UK.

If you prefer an aluminum non-rotating mast, we can obtain and install it for you. [back to menu]

Your banca designs look a bit weird. What are they for?

They cease to look weird after you have seen hundreds of them in use every day. The Philippines and other SEAsian countries have tens of thousands of very cheaply built power and sailing trimarans known by various local names. They would be technically designated as double-outrigger canoes, or in some areas they are single-outrigger canoes (proas). I have been on some that were 150 feet long! They change design from island to island, and all are built very cheaply to provide useful workboats for fisherman or cargo and passenger carrying. The very first Constant Camber project done in SEAsia by Jim Brown, which we assisted on, was a sailing banca with a Constant Camber center hull. We were later requested by local clients to construct boats of this type for them and enjoyed the experience. We do not regard them as open ocean boats, nor offer them for long distance cruising, but for local waters, they can be done very inexpensively, and can be a lot of fun. [back to menu]

What documentation will I receive with my completed boat?

We will provide you with a completed bill of sale and a “Master Builder’s Certificate” sufficient for you to perform registration of the vessel wherever you choose. There are representatives of Lloyd’s and Bureau Vertitas in Cebu able to perform official documentation measurements of the boat as required by your registeration location. We have not previously attempted to work to classification rules. This will require frequent visits from inspectors not available in this country, and will be quite expensive.

You cannot register the boat in the Phillippines unless you are a Philippine citizen, and if you do we cannot then import equipment duty free for you. [back to menu]

Where can I stay while visiting your shop?

We are an hour from Cebu City which has many accomodations and restaurants of all types. This distance is a bit inconvenient, but there are inexpensive beach resorts very near us. They are not top class, but all of our clients and visitors have found them friendly, comfortable and the food good, and have enjoyed their stays there. [back to menu]

Why should I have Boatshop Philippines build a cruising catamaran for me?

Two reasons: Cost and Quality. There are probably only a few places left in the world where you can obtain the very carefully supervised construction that we put into our custom boats…at the shop rates that we charge. Do not equate our low shop rates with possible low quality. Our boats draw praise wherever they have been seen.

We suspect that if more of the world were able to see our boats, and if we could increase our production, we would be swamped with orders. We prefer however to stay small, enjoy the rapport and friendships of our customers, and build a few good boats.

We appreciate that our location may be inconvenient for many potential clients, but for those who can work with us, there is a superb cruising catamaran in their future. [back to menu]