A little boat building.

[tbx-4]

I live close to a large lake, been hankering to get out there and enjoy it. Not into fishing but I like to get out of the house and challenge myself.

But... I don't need another thing to register or trailer and all that. I considered a plastic kayak but they're boring. Why not build something light that I can car top, something that can be paddled like a kayak and maybe take a sail too. https://www.kayakhelp.com/the-bateau...free-download/

I came across some plans for a 14' canoe, really the hull is more like a cajun pirogue. Flat bottom with a little rocker. The plans give you enough info to build a basic hull, I wanted to add a few things for safety and longevity.

I'm about 3/4 finished but those who are interested I'll post photos of the progress because everyone like good photos!

[Texarkan]

I, for one, would LOVE to see photos! I probably don’t need to see them, as it gives me bad ideas, but I’d love to see the project!

[tbx-4]

Instead of using 1/4 marine or exterior ply, I purchased 5mm luaun underlayment because it's light and cheap.

You have to cut out 6 pieces to make up the sides and bottom then butt splice them together.
Like this.




The construction method is called "stitch and glue". Originally, they used 18-20 gage copper wire to stitch the seams, I used Gorilla Tape.




Then you mix some epoxy and wood flour to make puddy. This spread into the seams for fillets then topped with 4" glass tape and wetted out with more epoxy.



When it cures out the hull was flipped over and the bottom was covered with fiberglass which wrapped around and with up the sides 2" covering the outer seams. Bow and stern seams had epoxy and 4" tape applied like the inside.


When that's done, I epoxied on some outer gunnels.

[15meter]

Looks like the "Six Hour Canoe", detailed here:https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/six-hour-canoe/

I've considered building one, got too much other stuff going on. Actually have several of the small detail pieces done. If I was going to do it, I'd probably do a tapered lap joint of the pieces, done correctly, a skarf joint can almost disappear on the outside and if you get a long enough lap, it can be as strong as the original piece. Skarfing that thin can be a challenge though.

I've got a 29-1/2' long skarfed together mast for my big iceboat. It's held up for 50 plus years. Needs to be rebuilt so I can get it back on the ice.

What you've got done so far looks pretty dang good.

[country gent]

Looking good.
Back in the 60s an uncle made an 8 foot row boat. Borrowed a bigger one from a neighbor. Coated it with Vaseline, then laid layers of fiberglass mesh and fiber glass to form hull. When hull was laid up. the borrowed boat was removed, transom finished and 2 seats laid up over Styrofoam filler blocks. was a lot of fun on smaller ponds and reservoirs.

The others I find interesting are the custom made aluminum flat bottoms used on the tv show croc hunters. they were very stable fast and maneuverable

[tbx-4]

15meter,
Similar to the six hour canoe but different.
The gunnel rails are scarfed joined but I agree a scarf joint for the sides and bottom would be cleaner. This design lends itself to easy modifications. I'd like to do a small version of a duck punt using stitch and glue.

Ice boats... where I grew up, we had "dirt boats".

Country gent,
Using an existing hull as mold is a good idea and the foam does double duty for buoyancy and light construction!
I built a 16' fiberglass canoe about 35 years ago. It was a bit heavy at ~60 lbs. I helped a friend build a 16' cedar planked canoe that came out to 45 lbs and it was glass reinforced. I like glass reinforced wood boats...

[tbx-4]

Outer gunnels trimmed and sanded.



For safety some sort of built in flotation would be good.
Framed up each end using cedar fence pickets ripped to 1" to install deck and bulkheads.
Ends up looking like this. The black circle is watertight access port double as dry storage.





Now to start on the inner gunnels.






While the epoxy cures lets throw together a seat. It'll be removable.

[tbx-4]

As of today, here it stands.




I weighed it, 32 lbs! Not too shabby.

Tomorrow will be sanding. Then, mix up some puddy and fill some gaps and more sanding. Add a skeg and more sanding. Add some cleats so seat don't slide around and more sanding!

If my paint gets here soon I might have it done next week.

[Winger Ed.]

Way cool. Home made boats have a special place in my heart.

A few years ago, I was going to build a 26' Steel hull cabin cruiser.

I'd already built a 12' (D Class) and a 16' All Aluminum Hydro plane.
That went well.
The 12' had hot rod 50hp. Mercury on it.
I out grew that pretty quickly, and then went on to build a 16' after teaching myself to TIG.
It came out to be right at 500 pounds with the solid foam made into it.
Then I hung a 450 pound Mercury (150-200hp) 2.4 Ltr. Black Max on it with .10 shaved off the heads.

That went well too.
There's something about going out over flat water in a tunnel hull, ground effect boat, at 90-odd mph,
with your butt about 3" off the water that keeps your mind off your problems.

As time went on, I decided instead to do a re-overhaul on the 4 cyl. GM Mercruiser
attached to my old 1968, Alum. hull, 21' Cherokee day cruiser.

As we speak, it's hanging in a lift at the end of the back yard
waiting for the drought to end, and the lake to come back up.

[Wheelguns 1961]

I built an 18’ flats boat. The kind they use to fish shallow water in Florida. The hull was stitch and glue. I also used luan. I added a console, storage, a livewell, and a raised casting deck. I faired everything smooth and painted it using all grip paint. It came out nice. I put a 60 hp Yamaha on it. It took me 1 1/2 years to build it, working nights and weekends. I’ll see if I can post some pictures.

Your boat is looking good. Congratulations on a wonderful project! I really enjoyed building my boat.

[HWooldridge]

I’m not into boats but appreciate good craftsmanship. Very nice work!

[tbx-4]

Thanks guys!

Ed, you be careful with those hot rod boats!

Wheelgun, I'd like to see your boat. Sounds like a nice boat for stitch and glue!

HWooldridge, my craftsmanship is based on the TLAR technique... When you step back about 10' and say, "ya, That Looks About Right!"

[Shawlerbrook]

Looks good. Wish I had the time for another project.

[Plate plinker]

A few years ago, I was going to build a 26' Steel hull cabin cruiser.

That would be ambitious!

[waksupi]

Nice project!

[HWooldridge]

I was good friends with a Cajun from Lake Charles and he had a dugout pirogue that his dad made from a cypress log. We used to paddle out to his duck blind before dawn and C-clamp it to the blind’s framework. We would stand up in the boat and shoot ducks until we got tired. Lots of fun, I miss those days - and he’s gone on to the happy hunting grounds. Not sure what happened to the boat, but it was already 40 years old when we were on it.

[oldblinddog]

Are there supposed to be pictures in this thread?

[15meter]

There are bunches of photos of the progress he's made.

And a question for the OP, which epoxy do you use? I've been a fan of WEST System since the 1970's, they are a bit pricier that System 3 and a couple of the others, but their technical support is second to none.

And back in the old days you could show up and pick up a gallon right in Bay City on the way up north on the way to skiing.

Freaked a girlfriend out by doing that, she thought that anybody that bought epoxy by the gallon was crazy.

[John Wayne]

I thought it would weigh more. Sleek and graceful!
JW

[Wheelguns 1961]

Although my boat was technically stitch and glue, it was built with 4 panels to give the bottom a vee shape. The panels were assembled over a jig to hold the shape. Since it is 18’ long, each panel had 2 butt blocks. It also had 2 transverse bulkheads in addition to the transom. I installed a 30 gallon fuel cell under the deck.