Build a boat

[skeeter2]

Has anyone here built their own boat? I’m thinking of a 15 foot stitch and glue, fiberglass coated crab skiff. I’d put a 25 hp engine on it. If you built one let’s hear details and pictures.

[foesgth]

I have built some. Built a 31' ketch and lived on it for 8 years. Stitch and glue is the way to go. Epoxy is the best stuff. I built the first one with poly resin ala Payson. Never again. The difference in the price of the resin isn't great in the long run. In most of the s&g info they tell you to tie the sections together with copper wire. That works OK, but for a small boat like you are making I did the last couple using tyraps. The cheap ones from Harbor Freight. With a tyrap gun you can pull the sections together without any helper. Is this a boat you designed yourself? I tried a couple myself using a program called plyboat. I am not a very good designer. I am off the water and out of boats now. My wife lost the use of her right arm from a bout of West Nile Virus. It wasn't safe for her to be out on the boat anymore. I miss building and the ocean.

[Hickory]

I've build two stitch&glue boat.
A 12' sailboat and a 16' canoe.
I used West System epoxy. Both easy projects.
Don't skimp on epoxy, fiberglass cloth or filler.
Cover the whole bottom with 6 oz fiberglass cloth for strength and durability.

[GhostHawk]

I looked at building a stitch and glue. Bought some plans and tried some smaller projects.

My best was a sort of sit on kayak using west system epoxy. Solid as a rock, could have driven a truck over it I think.

In the end that is one of those projects that just died on the vine for me. Ran into health issues, had severely limited energy and stamina. Other things were more important.

One test project was a 1" square white foam block 12 inches long. Used west system epoxy and the stuff they sell to put under mulch to keep weeds from coming up through.

Thin, not really woven more like a super thin mat. I wrapped 2 layers around the foam block. Used about a tablespoon of epoxy, wet it down and wrapped it in saran wrap.

Incredibly light weight and if I'd only made it 12 feet instead of inches it could be a sailboat mast.

It does not bend at all. Put it between 2 bricks and 250 lb guy stands on it, doesn't wiggle.

My final idea was to use 3/4 inch PVC pipe as a sort of wire frame. Heat gun to bend it, few fittings like T's for crossbars. Then screw the plywood to the pvc with short sheet rock screws. When the epoxy goes on everything is sealed. No copper stitch's to pull. No holes to patch. I was thinking a spliced together 2x4 or several actually to get the curve. So you would have a solid surface for beaching.

If I lived closer to sailable water I think I'd of done it. Minnesota has lots of small lakes nearby, but in and out means a trailer and a lot of work to launch, setup, sail, take down, trailer and tow home.
More work than it was worth IMO.

Still, was a lovely dream.

[Hogtamer]

Glen-L Jimbo. Don't do it for economy's sake if you're building something pretty heavy. Of course I overdid everything and added a few things. You'd better enjoy sanding too! Mine took some heavy use on the coast nearshore out to 10-11 miles and big lake water. Having said that I wouldn't trade the experience...Yeah, I built a boat! The small skiffs and such could be done cheap enough and pretty quick.

[Johnch]

I have built 2 Plywood and Fiberglass Jon Boats
All treated wood , with a pressure treated 2 x 10 for the motor mount area
With bracing

Heavy , but I use a 18' x 6' wide one I built for duck hunting with a 9.9 horse on it
An other one is 14' long and we use it in the marsh

The 18' boat is not a fast or pretty boat
But I use it to hunt the river for ducks and it will easy carry 3 of us , decoys , a dog and the blind for the boat and take hitting a rock or stump


I used a OLD boat as a model , it was free and had holes in it

But I will admit it took a while to do the 18' on in the barn
But I also didn't work on it every day , as I had planned on

John

[kens]

I built a Glen-L Double Eagle, built it into a center console sport fisherman. Have taken it 20 miles offshore, and many trips up the Tennessee river.
http://www.glen-l.com/picboards/picboard9/pic503a.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inT-vDWh2I8&t=17s

[skeeter2]

http://www.tangoskiff.com/index.html

I’m thinking of the 15 foot model. Thanks for sharing your stories.

[zymguy]

I’m refinishing a 1963 ( its was restored in the late 90/ early 2000) wooden wayfarer, I’m not enjoying it . I’d love to build or buy a Pheonix III .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Hogtamer]

Great pictorial Kens! I didn't document mine with photos But it was a 1 1/2 yr project in my garage, every spare moment. Mine was built extra heavy and a 90 hp moves it at 38 mph. I had lots of nervous moments too! I learned what the highly tecnical term "fairing" means in boat building.....roughly translated it means "make it fit dummy"! I was always pretty good at that and it served me well for 15 years. My son peeled about 4' of lamination off the bottom a couple of years ago on some big rocks behind Clark Hill ham and I just don't have the energy or motivation
to do the fix. A good but grueling chapter in my life though.


Glen-L Jimbo

[historicfirearms]

I'm finishing up my second cedar strip kayak. My first one was a 19 foot sea kayak. The one I'm working on now is a 17 foot double. I milled my own strips from rough sawn northern white cedar. The first one took me two years of weekends to complete. The one I'm on now will be done in less than a year. I'm using Raka epoxy for this one and like it very much. It's not smelly at all and very easy to work with. And it's much cheaper than most other epoxies I found.

[MrWolf]

kens - Wow!

[Geezer in NH]

Built 1 pram out of plywood It sunk.

[Uncle Grinch]

I remember my granddaddy and uncle building flat bottom jon boats out of cypress planks. They were 16 feet long because I remember asking why don’t “we” build one bigger and he said 16 feet is as long as he could get the cypress lumber. No plywood, all planks and screws. After it was completed he would fill it full of water to swell the joints and seams. Used to get in it and play in the boat full of water. I could lay across the seats, so they must have been about 5 feet wide in the middle.

After the seams were tight, they would carry it to the Flint River. My uncle had a house on the backwater and kept the boat there.

Thanks for the memories that you triggered!

[Dorf]

I've built two. One was a Chris Craft 10' racing pram,that would do about 25mph with an old Martin 75 (7 1/2 hp) and FLY with a MK20 Merc. The other was an 8' pram in my mother-in-law's cellar (played Hell getting it out) rigged it for sail w/a spirit boom and daggerboard. Sailed the bejesus out of it. Used plans in Mechanics Illustrated. Good times, long gone. Enjoy, Stan

[tomme boy]

Look up USComposites for materials. Going to be your most cost effective. 6oz glass is WAY to light for the bottom of the boat. Unless you want to put 3 layers on.

Make sure to do some research and talk to people. I like to use a 4" or 6" tape over all edges of high wear areas.

[skeeter2]

Tomme boy, Thanks for the information on US Composites. I will definitely do more reading and research, before undertaking this project.

[tomme boy]

Fiberglass does not like to go over a sharp bend. Make your corners as rounded as possible. The glass will want to lift if it is too sharp.

Buy LOTS of tongue depresses or Popsicle sticks and red solo cups for mixing the epoxy.

Plain old vinegar will clean up the uncured epoxy you get on yourself.

Make sure to sand the blush off between coats or you may get a delamination. The blush looks like a gas or oil film on water. I like to sand then use a alcohol wipe down.

All fillets are covered with tape before the inside gets covered with glass. Some get covered with multiple layers in different directions and different weights of glass. The transoms and knee brasses I ordered 18oz. Everything else was 10oz.

[BD]

When I was 12 I built a 17' skiff with my grandfather, resorcinol and plywood, (pre-epoxy). In college I built, and helped build about 40 white water kayaks, hand lay ups in molds. Epoxy is definitely the way to go. You can vary the strength and weight considerably with your choice of fabric in the composite lay up, and by adding carbon fiber ribs if the budget allows . There are several weights and weaves of fiberglass available, use the bias weave if you need it to take a sharp bend. If you're wanting to be able to run it up on the beach, or gravel bars, adding a "scrunch pad" of ballistic nylon or kevlar under the keel at the bow will save you repairs later. When I lived on Anguilla the local boat industry was primarily based on West System full encapsulation of marine plywood. They used multiple thin layers where they'd need tight curves. They built "wet" with double head nails holding the parts until the epoxy set, then they'd pull the nails and fill the holes with thickened resin so there was no metal left in the final composite. They were great boats, much lighter than the all glass composite molded hulls that are primarily used for power boats these days. I believe they still build the traditional racing sailboats the old way though.