DIY Boat Building Plans Review

Build Your Own Wooden Fishing Boat

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

Building your own handcrafted wooden leisure of fishing boat is not nearly as difficult as you might think. I have built many from scratch, but the first is the most educational. And that’s what this article is all about. You don’t need special expensive tools or any carpentry experience. Just follow simple instructions and you can build an incredible wooden boat of your very own and save thousands of dollars for that new rod and reel.

So what would you like? A saltwater fishing boat ready for the bay? A freshwater cruiser primed for the lake? If you can imagine it, you can built it. And for less than $250 using top-grade marine plywood and certified materials!

Let’s start with the basics. My first boat-building project was an eight foot outboard ready motorboat. The plans were for a simple “Portuguese style rowing dinghy” designed by a boat builder in Finland named Hannu Vartiala. All I had to do was add a motor-board (all of ten minutes work) and all of the sudden I had a handcrafted motorboat ready for an outboard. Let’s look at a similar simple project.

First, get some plans and, if possible, building instructions. You can buy them at a number of online boat building shops by searching for “plywood boat plans” on Google, but Hannu’s are incredibly easy to follow and free. Here’s the link to the first project I did. It’s an eight foot car-top model that goes anywhere:

http://koti.kapsi.fi/hvartial/dinghy1/simboii.htm

For materials, all you need is

1.) 2 sheets of 1/4″ marine plywood. You can use other types but I always stick with marine. You can get it in most places for about $39 to $45 per sheet.

2.) Marine epoxy with hardener (1 gallon kit is plenty) and about 40 feet of 4″ fiberglass tape.

3.) A couple 3/8″ x 1.5″ pieces of trim board for the rails

4.) A piece of pine for the bench and reinforcements

5.) A set of cheap oarlocks (optional.)

You can find everything by searching Google and the wood at a local home supply store or lumber yard.

The boat construction method we will be using is called “stitch and glue.” Note: Hannu has a modified stitch and glue method that saves time, and in my experience, builds a better boat faster.

Moneysaving Tip: Everyone who even knows someone who has built a boat will talk about West Marine for all of your supply needs. And they certainly do have it all, but I found I could find deals averaging 40% less by shopping around. There are plenty of real bargains out there. If you can find the online store of a shop in a popular boat building area like coastal Maine, Cape Cod MA, Nags Head NC, Santa Barbara CA, or just about anywhere in Florida – you can usually get better deals on supplies and expert advice from anyone working in the shop. Raka, Inc down in Ft. Pierce Florida is a good example (http://www.Raka.com) but certainly not the only one.

As for tools, all I use are an 18V battery operated handheld power drill, 18V battery operated circular saw with a plywood blade, 24″ metal straight edge and square combination and a whole lot of “C” clamps.

If you start with an easy boat like the one I did, you can build beautiful wooden boats like a pro without ever doing anything more complex than a straight cut with a circular saw. That’s how I got started and now I build custom wooden saltwater fishing boats you might see in fishing tournaments.

You can do this. Best of luck!

Tags: boat, build, fishing, wooden
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Amazing Sailboat Design Plans To Build A Sailboat – Easy Boat Building Construction Plans

Sunday, June 20th, 2010

And if you’re expecially courageous — you may be looking for sailboat design plans to build a sailboat yourself.  Don’t be dismayed — it can be done easily!

When I built our three-story home without prior construction experience OR contractors to help me build, I realized how easy building can be.  It’s just a matter of doing one step at a time to completion and then moving to the next step.

It’s kind of like that idea if you take one penny, and double it every day, first day is one penny, second day is two pennies, third day is four pennies, at the end of thirty days you have over $5 million dollars.  That’s the way a do it yourself project works.  As long as you stay on track and complete each step, in a very short time you will have a finished sailboat

The best way to do this is to find sailboat design plans that match your planned usage.  For instance, do you just plan on day sailing, or do you want to spend nights on your sailboat — this will need to be decided so that you can get the right sailboat plans to fit your needs.

I’ve discovered that you can easily build a sailboat with the right plans and the right materials.  If you group like tasks together and follow the step by step blueprint in no time at all you can have a sailboat that you’ll get years of worth from — without having to spend thousands upon thousands of dollars to do so.

Whether you want a yawl, ketch, sloop, schooner, or motor sailer there are plans to fit your needs.   These different kinds of sailboats are determined by how many sails the boat has, where these sails are placed on the boat and whether or not you add an inboard or outboard motor as backup.

I prefer to build a sailboat with sailboat design plans that allow me to trailer my sailboat to and from the water.  Special care must be taken for a boat that isn’t berthed in the water, but berthing fees are so expensive, I’d rather just pay to launch my boat rather than to berth it.  Heck in some spots that I like to sail, you don’t have to pay anything to launch your boat.

And because I sail in rivers and along the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta that has many low-slung bridges, I need a mast that I can easily raise and lower by myself if I want to sail alone.  That way I don’t have to radio the bridge guys to raise the bridge.  Or instead of sailing along the river where the bridges are, I can go out into the delta past all those low slung bridges and sail all the way to San Francisco Bay unhindered.

I don’t think people realize how big a state California really is and how many waterways are available for sailing in the northern part of the state.  There’s over 1,400 miles of delta — and sometimes on land you can look out — especially near the Vallejo area – and it looks like a sailboat is sailing on land because of these hidden waterways.

I’m anxious to get my sailboat design plans and though I can download them directly to my computer, I’ve ordered the special DVD edition, so I have a permanent copy.  The thing is with these plans, I don’t have to worry or pay more to buy the updates, because the updates are free for lifetime.

What better deal can you get?  And I can get more than 200 plans for 1/4 of the price of one set of sailboat design plans. This set also comes with plans for a submarine — which sounds like fun to me. 

Tags: Amazing, boat, build, Building, Construction, Design, Easy, Plans, Sailboat
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Home boat building – Fitting out & finishing

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

A taster of a 2 hour DVD programme showing how to fit out and finish a home built boat.

Tags: boat, Boatbuilding, boating, boatkits, boats, build, crafts, diy, hobbies, hobby, home, pastime, watersports, woodworking
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How to Build your Own Boat..fast!

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

From time to time I’ve been asked the question “I’d love to own a l boat, is it hard to build one?” It’s really surprising the looks of doubt when I answer, “No, no, no! If you know what to do and you’re willing to invest a little time you can do it easily!” The next questions that usually follow are “How much time?” and “How much will it cost?” Well, generally speaking, that really is the “How long is a piece of string question!” and it can vary quite a bit.

People differ of course, and what may take two or three weekends for one may painstakingly for others, take a couple of months. The short answer is, “It depends how fast you work, but two or three weekends should be average at a rough guess.” In 1998 the Wooden Boat Association chose a Dolphin 16 to construct at the ‘Down by the River Festival’ at Brisbane. In spite of several cases of VB’s the boys managed to build a 16′ Dolphin (non sailing version) in two afternoons and present it to a lucky prizewinner.

HOW MUCH?

Once again, quite tricky, some folks will splash out on camel hair paintbrushes and six pairs of throwaway overalls and new gloves… already they’ve spent thirty odd dollars more than the next chap who still has his fist wrapped around his dollars. For the average homebuilder they should be able to construct this boat for approximately $700.00 to $1000.00, if they don’t take into account their own time. Thirty to forty hours labour should be sufficient to complete this project to a reasonable standard. Remember, cost for materials vary greatly all over the country and this must be taken into consideration!

WHAT SORT OF BOAT IS THIS?

The DOLPHIN 12

Firstly, it’s a simple composite epoxy and glass ply boat, just under twelve feet by six feet in beam, big enough for a couple of adults and a motor roughly up to five to seven hp. It’s stable, open, has a couple of seats and will take inshore waters in its stride. I prefer to think of it as an open family/fishing craft that can be used in rivers, estuaries and lakes.

The DOLPHIN 16…POWER AND SAILING VERSIONS

This is basically the same as the 12 but is made of 4.5 sheets of 6mm ply and is strengthened more for the sailing version by way of extra glass in the chainplate areas and longitudinal stringers for the floors. There are three rigs to choose from. The ‘Batwing Gunter Rig’, the ‘Balanced Lug Sail’ or the ‘Standing Lug Rig’. See diagrams. In addition, the sailing version has a 10′ x 10″ keel that is ballasted by the inclusion of two 35 kilo lead ingots glassed into the keel during construction. Also, there is a rudder constructed of Oregon, coated in glass. Please note that a simpler plywood and glass version can also be built if required. The mast is a solid Oregon piece 12′ with an 8′ spar for the standing lug rig version.

THE DOLPHIN 19 KETCH

The 19 foot Ketch is the latest addition to the fleet. She also is a frameless boat, an extended Dolphin 16 with a couple of additions. The dimensions are 19 foot by six foot beam and she has a 20 inch freeboard but this can be extended to 22 inches at the expense of the sheer line curve. There is a 5 foot foredeck that leads back to the main mast. This mast is situated immediately behind the bulkhead that the deck itself sits on. There is ample storage under this deck for extra flotation or gear storage as required. Entrance to this area is through the cutout in the bulkhead.

The craft has the choice of two keel configurations, an eighteen inch keel or a twelve inch keel depth that runs approx. two thirds along the boat’s length. This is constructed from solid Oregon and provides the strong backbone needed for the frameless design. There is also provision for twin bilge keels that allow easy beaching and use of a slightly more shallow keel, around 9/10 inches. Ballast for the boat is four lead ingots that are built into the keel itself and is approximately 150 lbs in weight. It is envisaged that the boat, ballasted, should be in the area of some 450 lbs (210 kgs) unloaded.

The rig is a twin mast Ketch configuration with a jib area of 19 square feet, the mainsail, 56.5 sq. feet and the mizzen mast, 24 sq. feet in area. This is approx 100 sq. feet total sail area. The rig is a standing lug, boomless with a top spar approximately eight feet long. A gaff rig is also possible for this boat, in fact the first Dolphin 19 customer in South Australia has opted for this rig. The craft is designed to sail with jib and mizzen alone and should provide much more room aboard in this configuration. For any prolonged jib/mizzen configuration a slightly larger jib area would provide better sail balance and power.

The twin masts are either clear Oregon or clear spruce but the spruce alternative would be fairly expensive! They are planed round from four inch square stock and are quick to make if an electric planer is used. They are soaked in epoxy and then finished in anti ultra violet varnish to prevent ‘milking’ of the epoxy. An unusual feature of this design is the twin galvanized wire stays on each mast. This gives a traditional look but also adds a significant safety factor. The solid Oregon chain plates, placed outboard of the hull provide an attractive old fashioned classic look to this very versatile little sailing craft.

As with all the Dolphin range the hull is beamy and commences with a vee sectioned bow that falls away to a flatter 7 degree hull bottom to provide plenty of beam stability. There is no floor in this design but that is not to say that one could not be easily added if required. The primary reason for not including a floor in the original design was for access to the bilge area for cleaning and to prevent water lying in the boat unseen, a primary cause of damage in boats left unattended for a while.

The boat is designed to take an outboard engine (10-12 hp approx) that could be attached to the transom with an outboard bracket but it is possible to fit an inboard if required. This necessitates the addition of engine beds and a floor and was omitted really because of the extra time and labour required to install.

This craft was designed with intention to provide a versatile easy to build ‘proper little boat’ for the owner that would like a boat that is a ‘no fuss’ design that can be built using very simple, easy build techniques that really do away with excess build times. There is nothing more frustrating than hacking way for weeks building complicated frames that must interlock with sophisticated “mortise and tenon joints” and the like, requiring quite advanced woodworking skills that are generally just a bit beyond the average D.I.Y. chap. If you can use a jig saw, tape measure and a sanding machine and mix up epoxy glue, the Dolphin 19 will be an easy project for you. Don’t forget that we are only a phone call away and pride ourselves in our after sales ‘help line’ that is available for advice and help anytime during normal hours!!

The Dolphin 19, with its simple, two page A1 plan and instruction book does away with the need for tiresome lofting and calculations normally required. It really is more like a simple case of ‘join the dots’ building that the Dolphins are becoming well known for. A hundred and fifty owners can’t all be wrong!!

WHAT SORT OF CONSTRUCTION IS IT?

Basically, the 12 footer is built from three sheets and a half sheets of 1220 x 2440 6mm plywood and the 16 footer from four and a half sheets of 1220 x 2440 6mm plywood and the 19 foot Ketch, six sheets of 1220 x 2440. They are built using a simple ‘stitch and glue’ method using epoxy resin glue thickened with Q-Cells or Microspheres and then layered on the outside with a strong layer of 300 gm biaxial glass cloth and epoxy resin. The instructions contained in the plan fully detail to the last degree every technique that will be needed to build these boats. The plans, known as the ‘easybuild’ method requires no complicated lofting but a very simple ‘join the dots’ method that can be drawn directly onto the ply. For example, the whole boat (a 12) can be drawn up in one afternoon and all the shapes cut out. The finished weight, minus motor, is approximately thirty odd kilos depending on the weight of ply, epoxy and glass that you use. The transom is a single piece of ply approximately 20mm in width. Built with these composite materials, it’s strong, tough, extremely light and with care will last for years.

SAILS AND SAILING GEAR

All dimensions for the above gear are supplied with the plan and all equipment is available from any local chandlers. The gear required is simple, cheap and easy to build for a first time builder.

WHAT TOOLS WILL I NEED?

Not many. A jigsaw, clamps, an orbital sander, a drill and perhaps an electric planer and a belt sander with a few assorted grade belts would be handy!

Materials – 4 sheets ply for 12′…4.5 sheets for 16′…6 sheets ply for 19’

Plywood sheets 1220mm x 2440mm ply, suitable for boatbuilding. There are many and various makes and grades and I’ll not enter into that can of worms, suffice to say that with the use of epoxy composites you will not be restricted necessarily to ‘marine ply’. Exterior ply treated properly will last for many years.

1 piece 15mm ply 3’ x 6’.

Approximately 6 metres 300gm bi-axial fibreglass cloth.

12 litres Epoxy resin.

Q-Cells or Microspheres.

Various assorted widths of Hoop Pine or Meranti 40mm x 10mm for rubbing strakes.

1 roll of glass tape, approximately 4” wide.

Copper wire or electrical ties.

Several polystyrene fruit boxes.

Twenty or thirty 10 x 40 clipboard screws (for temporary holding purposes).

1 litre Epoxy primer.

1 litre gloss enamel.

Several long, thin battens for curves, approximately 15’

Materials required for the sails and sailing gear will be listed in the plans and can be varied if required upon advice from your rigger or sail maker.

Interested? more informationon building your own boat can be found on the website listed below.

NOTE:If you would like to see some photos that accompany this article visit www.dolphinboatplans.com

Tags: Boat..fast, build
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