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A custom phinisi under way

Five days to settle the design

A slower programme built around three design sessions, with the craft workshops and a day at sea that make the decisions easier.

You arrive with an idea and leave with drawings

Almost nobody can specify a boat in one meeting. Five days lets the brief change after you have seen timber, joinery and the water the vessel will work in.

The week opens in Ubud, away from the yards, because the first conversation is about how you want to use the vessel rather than what it is made of.

By the last morning you are approving a general arrangement, a material list and a build timeline.

Formal design meetings
3 sessions
Ubud, the coast, one yard
5 days
Typical build once approved
18 to 24 mo
Deck joinery on a finished vessel

Five days, in order

Two nights inland, three on the coast. Transfers are handled.

  1. The brief

    Ubud. An informal evening about range, guests, crew and how you actually intend to use the boat. Ninety minutes, no drawings.

  2. The craft

    Workshops at Celuk and Mas. Silver filigree and woodcarving, the same hands that cut interior joinery. You learn what is possible before you ask for it.

  3. First design session

    The south coast. Hull form, general arrangement, propulsion and materials against preliminary sketches. Two to three hours.

  4. A day on the water

    The Badung Strait and the Nusa islands, then a working yard in the afternoon. Sea state and hull behaviour stop being abstract.

  5. Approval

    Final review, last adjustments, and formal sign off on the plans. You leave with a timeline and the next payment stage.

Roughly 18 to 24 months from approved plans to handover on a custom vessel.

A custom vessel under sail

What each design session covers

Three sittings, so nothing is decided in a hurry.

Session
Day one, evening
On the table
Use, range, guest and crew numbers
What you decide
Nothing yet. This one is listening.
Session
Day three, afternoon
On the table
Hull form, general arrangement, propulsion
What you decide
Layout in principle, and the material family
Session
Day five, morning
On the table
Finishes, systems, electronics, timeline
What you decide
Final plans, signed off

Between sessions you are looking at timber, joinery and open water, which is when most owners change their mind about one thing.

Three bases

Where the five days take you

Inland first, then the coast, then the water itself.

Traditional timber construction inland

Ubud

Days one and two

The brief, and the workshops that shape interior joinery.

A vessel off the south coast

The south coast

Days three to five

Design sessions with the water your vessel will work in outside the window.

A hull in build at a working yard

A working yard

Day four

Timber, lamination and hulls at frame stage.

Three, five or seven days

Pick by what you still need to decide.

Best for

3 days
Judging the yard and getting a number
5 days
Settling the design itself
7 days
Seeing where the hull is actually built

Where you go

3 days
Denpasar, Benoa, Serangan
5 days
Ubud, the south coast, one working yard
7 days
Bali and South Sulawesi

Design time

3 days
One session
5 days
Three sessions
7 days
Two sessions, after the yards

You leave with

3 days
An indicative range in writing
5 days
An approved general arrangement
7 days
Specification and contract structure

Flights inside Indonesia

3 days
None
5 days
None
7 days
Denpasar to Makassar and back

If you already know what you want to build and only need to judge the yard, three days is enough. If the hull will be hardwood, take seven.

About the design week

Block out a week

Send your dates and a sketch of the vessel, even a rough one. We will build the five days around the decisions you still have open.

  • Your dates, or the month you are free
  • Vessel type, length and intended use
  • Anything you have already drawn or collected

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