Anyone ever build a boat?

I'll start by saying, I have a boat. It's not a bad boat, but I really don't like the way it rides or drives. It has a 85hp Yamaha on it and burns a fair amount of gas. I despise listening to a 2 stroke outboard at 4K rpms for hours on end. It also has no character, it's just another plastic boat, in a sea of plastic boats. I prefer driving things that are different.

I like building things in wood and steel. I have a 20hp 3 cyl diesel engine I could use as propulsion. I found a boat plan that looks perfect for what I use a boat for. Using a 20 hp diesel, it's supposed to get excellent fuel economy and cruise at about the same speed as my current boat. The only problem is I've never built a boat. I've rebuilt a couple, but never built one from scratch.

So, how hard is it to build a boat.

Namely this one. 19' Rescue Minor by William Atkins. I love the lines of this one and it wouldn't be just another plastic boat.

Looks like fun. My next one will likely be built at home. I've owned many boats and they all seem to be lacking in one or more parameters for my taste. I built a little hydro once when I was a kid. It was basically two sheets of plywood with some tapered stringers to give it shape. I put a 6 hp Evinrude on it and it was fun.

I'm thinking about one of these from Glen-L:

In reply to curtis73:

I'd love something like that and I have a 260hp MerCruiser looking for a home, but feeding it gets expensive. Like 30-40 gallons of gas a day expensive.

curtis73 wrote: I'm thinking about one of these from Glen-L:

Drool

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNpKzAucP8Y

I've got a mostly finished kayak down in the garage that I need to finish. I want to build a small sailboat, like this Core Sound 17 (plans available here)

you guys should check out duckworks magazine and duckworks boat building supplies. All about home built, wooden boats. A lot of their focus is on small stuff but there are plans for things like 21' plywood lap-strake construction schooners all the way down to one-sheet-of-plywood canoes. Hundreds of plans for different kinds of boats, many of them free. I just received some parts I ordered from them for my little sail boat. Good prices on stuff, great service.

Its not hard, just takes attention to detail, and a lot of man hours. And sufficient interior space.

The designer at bateau.com has made a stitch-n-glue version of Rescue Minor. His designs are geared towards novice builders, with comprehensive plans, and a supportive web forum.

http://www.bateau.com/studyplans/ST21_study.htm?prod=ST21

I once owned this for a year. This is the before picture.
My partner/co-owner was very good at this stuff. He could build a wooden boat. Sold before completed due to the fact that he was leaving this area to go work for Boston Whaler in R&D dept.

Was a 1950's local crafted custom boat. Sold to someone else who was going to complete. I have lost track of it but it is still in the area.
We got it to water tight but still needed drive train work.

That's actually pretty close to a build that a friend and I are designing / planning (dreaming) about. Camp cruiser for small family 3-4 day trips:

I will be building a Rowing Wherry sometime this winter.

For easier to build boats, look up Devlin Designing Boat Builders

or Chesapeake Light Craft

In reply to Toyman01:

I can't say that I've "built" a boat, just that I've started building one. I worked on it long enough to know that I CAN finish it when the timing is right. It's a "Graefin-10". I chose it because free plans were available. It is the simplest of all those on my short list. It will seat two, and it can be powered by sail, oars, or a very small outboard. My hope is to finish it in the not too distant future and hopefully use that experience to guide me through building a larger boat with a cuddy cabin. At this time the stitched basic structure is waiting on it's glue, which consists of fiberglass strips and resin. The original plans called for using body filler. I'll use either "fiber hair" or "fiber strand".

Here's a link to the plans if anyone is interested:

https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?resid=2439DC6E32DB69D6!272&app=Word&authkey=!ADwdGKwoQK7Jjb4

http://www.messingaboutinboats.com/

Nope, don't need any more time/$ soaks...

I think I have 2 of the one TJ posted about in my Dad's barn. Sure looks like it anyway. I remember my Dad was pretty proud of it being capable of running as a motorboat, sailboat, or row boat. My Dad started building them and got one pretty much assembled and the other just fiberglassed sheets of plywood before he passed. No one in my family has the cubic dollars to dump into a hole in the water, so I should probably pass them along to someone else.

If I wasn't chasing racing I'd be building a PT Skiff right now. Lovely stitch and glue laser-cut plywood outboard skiff w/ sweet lines and an excellent design and construction.

PT Watercraft

I've been dreaming of building a boat since helping a friend build a CLC CH-17L kayak kit over a decade ago. I currently have the parts and plans to build a Laughing Loon North Star once I have a space to do it:

http://www.laughingloon.com/north.star.html

The cedar strips are bundled up and waiting patiently on a rack in my garage...

One of my "retirement projects" is to build one of these: http://www.boatdesigns.com/Biscayne-18/products/725/

In reply to motomoron:

I looked at that one yesterday. It is a pretty boat.

Well, we are going to find out what it's all about. I downloaded a set of plans and ordered $100 worth of epoxy and glass. I'm not going to start with the Rescue Minor, instead I'm going to build a Arrow Point kayak.

It should be a simple, cheap, build, to get my feet wet. (See what I did there? )

Should be fun and I'm going to drag my two boys into the project as well. We might end up building a couple of them.

I'll start a build thread when I get it going, probably next weekend.

In reply to Toyman01:

Cool. That was my thought as well. Figured I'd build a kayak and see how that goes and if it something I like doing before tackling a larger boat.

In reply to oldopelguy:

Where is this barn you speak of? SD is too far for me, but I figure there is a chance that your dad's barn isn't there.

In reply to T.J.:

I have a fairly short attention span so I figured I better start with a smaller project.

I'd hate to buy $1000 worth of lumber and adhesives to have it go to waste.

I made something similar to this in middle school. 1 sheet of 1/4" marine grade plywood, wire stitch and fiberglass. Parents still have it today and my kids row it around their pond.

1 sheet boats

In reply to motomoron:

I love the looks of the PT Skiff. I've not seen one in person. The cost of the kit seems high and then there is the cross country shipping. If I were looking for a powered skiff around that size, I would go with the Marissa.

I will have to wait a little bit, but I think the single sheet plywood would be great to build with the boy when he is a little older. Ill have to keep that in mind.

Building a 20ft Catamaran similar to a Tornado with cedar strip construction is on my bucket list..