Duck Punt - building a boat in a week

[dylanwinter]

The duck punt plans are now available on the web

http://www.keepturningleft.co.uk/blogs/duck-punt/


the wonderful blokes from West Mersea - Tags and the amazing boatbuilder John Milgate have given permission for them to be turned loose on the world

this bloke

http://flo-mo.weebly.com/boat-design-studies.html

is going to recreate the punt as a lightweight stitch and glue design

it will have to be light as I intend to car top it on a Nissan Micra and also tow it behind my bike as I use the boat to to explore the sand estuaries of North Norfolk.

it is a wonderfully simple and practical boat that can be built in a week - apparently.

The plans are on this page as pdfs

http://www.keepturningleft.co.uk/kt...-the-wash/ktl-vlog-duck-punt-01-plans-arrive/


there are also some films of blokes sailng them

For those who cannot cope with pdfs then the plans are here as jpegs

http://www.keepturningleft.co.uk/galleries/duck-punt-gallery/


each image is 2mb

so if you have a lousy connection you will have to be patient


Finally, I am planning to build the duck punt over the christmas period

so there is also a short tour of the area where I am going to build it and also some shots of my £400 micra that has only 12,000 miles on the clock and is set to become the new KTL car.

http://www.keepturningleft.co.uk/kt...-the-wash/ktl-vlog-duck-punt-01-plans-arrive/

http://www.keepturningleft.co.uk/ca...res-of-great-boats-encountered-along-the-way/


first question is.... can I go thinner than 6mm ply

I intend to use a lot of cheap self driving stainless screws to assembling the boat and am also considering using polyester

this is going to be a quick and dirty build

any suggestions about using the screwfix stainless screws, polyester and external grade ply

dylan.winter(at)virgin.net

Dylan


At the very least it should be a fascinating way of attempting to drown myself- I will be wearing a life jacket

 

[paul.norton]

Hi Dylan

The third and fourth links don't work.

 

[tillergirl]

I scratch build a pram dinghy from 1/4" exterior ply years ago. I doubt you could go smaller than 6mm!

 

[dylanwinter]

the links work now

Hi Dylan

The third and fourth links don't work.

I hope

Dylan

 

[paul.norton]

When I was 15 I built a Goblin praam dinghy designed by Percy Blandford - I think. This was in the days before stitched ply came into being. This dinghy did not have any framing - just chines, inwhale, gun'll and a stringer upon which the thwarts were secured.

I would not go thinner than 6mm ply for the sake of robustness however, I think I would only have one permanent frame for the mast and use temporary frames elsewhere during construction.

A thing I did on one dinghy which I used as a tender was to install water-tight lockers fore and aft. These were fitted with cheap water-tight hatches on their vertical surfaces. Not only did they act as buoyancy chamber but small items could be stored there. (Flares, folding grapple anchor, camera etc)

 

[Searush]

You can glue cheap beading inside the floor to stiffen it (not looked at plans so they may suggest this anyway)

 

[DownWest]

Good on yer, Dylan.
Not much point in going thinner than 6mm. Esp in exterior grade. You would just have to put more framing in to keep it stiff. Might be worth thinking of PU glue, as cheap and quick.
Thousands of Mirrors lasted for years on polyester and tape. No prob with cheap ss screws either, you are not leaving it in the water for years. Tip.. I always boil a small sample of any ply that might be iffy. Couple of times the 'exterior' has delaminated pronto. Or, leave a bit in the dishwasher for a few cycles. Or, split it with a chisel, if the glue is not brown, be very suspicious.
As it is a bit Bolger, I would just use small chine logs and glue and screw the whole thing with PU adhesive. Sikaflex 11FC comes in 300ml tubes at around €5.50 around here, not too many needed. A week is generous.....
DW

 

[Blueboatman]

I have always quite liked the idea of laying up really light grp flat sheets, say gelcoat, one light csm, one wr, then assembling as per a plywood one and taping the seams in grp.
Reckon it is maintenance free and very very easy to strategically reinforce as and where necessary, whilst keeping the weight right down.

 

[DownWest]

I have always quite liked the idea of laying up really light grp flat sheets, say gelcoat, one light csm, one wr, then assembling as per a plywood one and taping the seams in grp.
Reckon it is maintenance free and very very easy to strategically reinforce as and where necessary, whilst keeping the weight right down.

Apart from the fact that GRP is not very stiff in thin layers, I like the idea tone could choose any size of hard chine and then carry on inside to build up the thickness to match the production boats. Guy on the Canarias used to build his fishing boats with a hardboard female mould, then laid enough GRP to get the stiffness required.
Snow Leopard has just built a dinghy in thin foam with GRP layup. Bit like your idea.

But Dylan is looking for 'cheap and dirty' So ply is the medium of choice.
DW

 

[concentrik]

I built one of these in a couple of days, most of which was drying/curing time.

http://koti.kapsi.fi/hvartial/oss_sam/oss_sam.htm

I've been using the blasted thing for four years now as a tender; it has been sunk, bashed, ridiculed and abused and it is still going strong. It couldn't even win a scruffiest tender competition.

But I can lift and carry it over my head. Returning to the slipway I just lean backwards to lift the front, ground it and walk straight off. With dry feet! No-one would nick it but if it did expire I'd build another just the same.

 

[TQA]

If you want light check out these guys

http://gaboats.com/boats/

I know of a cruiser with a Whitehall and it is an amazing bit of kit

Theirs weighs 20 lbs and carries two people.

 

[dylanwinter]

tough

If you want light check out these guys

http://gaboats.com/boats/

I know of a cruiser with a Whitehall and it is an amazing bit of kit

Theirs weighs 20 lbs and carries two people.

I do need a tough boat as I intend to abuse it

the sampan mentioned earlier looks very intersting

but I need something that will sail

some-one siggested that I put a toughened glass panel in the bottom so that I can film the fish while I am sneaking up on the birds

sounds like a great idea

Dylan

 

[Yantlet]

I do need a tough boat as I intend to abuse it

the sampan mentioned earlier looks very intersting

but I need something that will sail

some-one siggested that I put a toughened glass panel in the bottom so that I can film the fish while I am sneaking up on the birds

sounds like a great idea

Dylan

Just a thought but not really a home build option, out our way aluminium is king when it comes to small and not so small dinghy's, fishing boats etc. My 12 footer is light and tough as teak built from 2mm welded sheet, they are pretty inexpensive and will last for decades. If enough of you blokes want to skid around with wet arses why not get them cnc cut and welded up?

 

[greenalien]

If you're using wbp exterior ply, take extra care to seal the end-grain - best to do this on each piece as soon as possible after cutting to its final shape. If you don't, it'll delaminate and won't last a season.