Building a wooden boat - Anyone on here with experience?

[Porthandbuoy]

To build or not to build

I don't want to put you off doing a self-build, but if wood's your thing, why not consider a wooden boat which is at least a sailing project? That way you get to go sailing and can learn about yacht construction at the same time.

Okay, there are some real dogs out there, but there are also some beautiful yachts, by well respected designers, just begging for a new owner to give them another lease of life. Buy wisely and you should get a bigger boat for your buck.

 

[Strathglass]

www.jordanboats.co.uk[/url] ) these might look a bit like some of your model a/c stuff!
A

f you are serious about building a boat then Jordanboats as the url above is one of the better places to buy a kit from.

By doing this you will end up with material which will not fall apart after the first year.

You will also get a proper indication of the potential real cost.

He has a lazer cutter and used good Robbins Marine ply. The quality of his precut panels is very good. He supplies kit's for a range of craft.

Do not go to a builders merchant and ask for 'marine ply' most of it is complete rubish and full of voids. The minimum you need is Gaboon marine ply.

Do not expect to build it in six months.


Iain

 

[DownWest]

While Robbins sells very good ply, I looked around and found marineplyonline, near Bristol, and took a punt. Friend happened to be driving past us on his way south (in a van) and dropped it off. Quite good enough and void free, and MUCH cheaper than Robbins.

While mulling ply, I priced it locally and it made the Jordan kit look cheap, including the transport. OK, Jordan get massive discounts from Robbins, but stuff is more expensive here in general. Example. 3.1x 1.5 mt. 10mm Occume (Gaboon) €170 two years ago. While I needed only 3 sheets of 6mm for my little boat it was not important, the 21 ,at that size, odd sheets for the CH21 made it look a bit eye watering.
Bit irrelevant, but better than the footy...
A

 

[Georgio]

It may be worth taking a look at the boats from Scruffie, I would like a Secret for my next project....

http://www.whisperboats.co.uk/

http://www.scruffie.com/

It's worth looking at how they go together, what they call a tab and slot construction. I believe the kit includes everything but the paint.

If you are going to be using epoxy ply construction the course run by wessex resins (West Epoxy) is very good. That said, West is expensive and I'm planning to start using MAS when my current batch runs out.

Hope this helps.

 

[nispete]

A few suggestions

In addition to the good suggestions made so far, I'd like to make a few more:

1. Michael Storer has some great designs for smaller boats that are practical, simple, easy to build and cheap. My favourite is the Goat Island Skiff (GIS), and he also has 8ft and 12ft versions of a Puddle Duck Racer, perhaps the simplest and easiest small sailboats to build. His website and blog also have lots of great advice about building boats, particularly from plywood and coating with epoxy.

Storer website: http://www.storerboatplans.com/

Storer Blog: http://www.storerboatplans.com/wp/


2. Bruce Kirby (Laser dinghy designer)' Norwalk Islands Sharpies seem to meet most if not all your long-term requirements for easy to build, strong and seaworthy, highly manoeuverable and easy to sail by 1-2 people, shallow draft, tabernacle mast raising / lowering system for quick and easy rigging and making travelling under bridges in canals, etc a breeze. You can tell I'm a fan, and am about to start building an 18 footer (NIS 18) which is the most compact version but surprisingly "big" . If you buy a kit like me, they come in laser cut plywood pieces with an ingenious self-aligning strong back jig which the bulkheads slot into.

There is lots of information on the worldwide agent Robert Ayliffe's website www.nisboats.com (Robert sailed his 20 plus year old NIS 23 across the treacherous Bass Strait and back a couple of years ago.) and also on the Nisboats Forum http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nisboats.

There are also some great videos on Youtube which display their easy sailing and manouevering capabilities:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrLUTKogMqA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaA9fTnL2y4&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W59FaYtgvlE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrDqNIHUOWI&feature=channel


I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have re the NIS or Storer boats.

All the best
Peter

 

[Bobobolinsky]

Followed this thread, but no one has mentioned James Wharram. The hull of a wharram cat can be built in a garage, so long as it is long enough, and then assembled in a boat yard.