Free Guide · 2026 Edition

The Expedition Restomod Cost Guide

The real numbers behind converting a commercial vessel into a world-ranging expedition yacht — cost ranges by size band, the Project ORCA line-item budget, the five cost drivers, and the 10-point donor-vessel checklist we apply before a client buys a hull. Written from live projects by Paul M. Madden.

What's Inside

Five pages. No fluff.

  1. Working cost ranges by size band — 45m trawlers to 90m ice-class platforms, acquisition through sea trials.
  2. Project ORCA, line by line — a live $25M Restomod against a $104–129M new-build equivalent.
  3. The five cost drivers — where conversion budgets are won and lost.
  4. The 10-point donor-vessel checklist — the survey discipline that keeps you out of a bad hull.
  5. How an engagement works — from first call to delivery.
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The Author

Written by the principal who does this work.

Paul M. Madden has spent 25 years inside the world's premier shipyards — Blohm+Voss, CRN, Camper & Nicholsons — and now advises a select group of owners on commercial-to-yacht Restomods, acquisitions, and new builds. The figures in this guide come from engagements currently underway.