I'm thinking about building a small boat over the summer to take on the rivers and inlets where I live in Florida. I'm a teacher and I've got a newborn at home, so I'm looking for a project I can work on in my garage in my free time while keeping an eye on him.
It seems to me the simplest and most affordable way to do this is using plywood. Do you think it would be better to go with marine plywood (more expensive and harder to source) or non-marine plywood and seal it some way?
I'm not expecting this boat to last me a long time: I just want to get my feet wet (heh) and learn some basic boatbuilding and piloting skills while I work my way up to larger, nicer projects. My intent here is just something I can row or put a small outboard on while I poke around flats dropping crab pots and netting mullet.
Any recommendations/tips on technique, materials, sourcing, bottom paint, etc would be appreciated! Also, general discussion about boatbuilding.
I know nothing about boat building but a quick search brought up
https://www.diy-wood-boat.com/support-files/handy-andy.pdf
Which given the dimensions could fit on a single sheet of ply pretty easily except the thicknesses are different but the cost of marine ply isn't that much more?
>non-marine plywood
you have to make these decisions on your own, after seeing the plywood in person. Preferably before you buy it. Personally I would expect to scrap my first effort anyway, but a lot of people seem to get usable results if they're following plans.
This, plus success depends a lot on the general methods and adhesives/covering materials (if any) you use.
If you intend to use an epoxy saturation technique to seal the plywood and cover it with fiberglass, then you can get away with lower grade ply as long as there's not a bunch of voids that might cause it to bend weird and/or collapse in the process...that's a lot of what marine and aircraft plywood is about, rather than "marine grade" wood species.
In fact, less dense open grained woods can be an advantage when saturating with epoxy.
If you are going old school and just painting it, marine grade materials are best.
Personally I'd suggest the epoxy/glass route, and coating out each part fully before assembly rather than assembling and then trying to coat it; areas buried under stringers and chine logs and such can still get wet if that applied layer cracks.
10 years ago I built a Bolger Diablo, its a 15ft semi-V open skiff, using stitch and glue construction.
Fiberglass over plywood is the way to go, it seems more expensive initially but going the "traditional" route usually means lots of thick and heavy beams/sheet which adds up. Also consider the strength to weight ratio of epoxy can't be beat, the end product will be much nicer and you can get away less than perfect joints, plus exposed wood requires constant painting. I went with marine plywood and don't regret it, lots of older books will recommend something like "AC" exterior plywood or similar, the wood they had back then was nicer old-growth stuff and the chemicals used for the glue probably isn't legal, the modern marine ply is about as close as you can get. Once you factor in the amount of time you spend on the boat, using materials to make it last is a small investment, non-blushing epoxy is also nice.
>coating out each part fully before assembly rather than assembling
Pay attention to this guys comment, last year I ended up rebuilding the transom on the skiff due to some rot issues. When I built the boat I was a broke teenager who just splurged on expensive plywood, I was running out of epoxy when it came time to finish the inside, the rear seats were completely covered in glass and and filled with foam so I thought I could get away with not glassing the insides, I was very wrong. I went away for a couple of years and wasn't around to make sure rain didn't pool on the cover, water got inside one of the seats and rotted a good section of the transom, it even started to wick around to some of the sides, if I had glassed components separately there would have been a barrier to limit it to one panel.
At some point I'd like to build a Tolman skiff, I'm glad I had something small and inexpensive to learn lessons on.
All good points, thanks. My plan was to do a scale model first using some thin low grade plywood and then sizing up. I was thinking of just doing wood and paint, so I'll probably opt for the marine grade plywood. The big issue was finding somewhere to source it near me, but I found a place that looks like they've got it.
Maybe make a small model boat first?
I've been looking into the same thing lately. I want a boat just narrow enough to fit in the back of my shortbox pickup with the tailgate down and short enough not stick dangerously far out the back that is light enough to carry/drag down to a lake and can take a small sail and row decently and that's a lot to ask for apparently.
There's lots of dinghies around 15ft that can manage that but I don't need to be able to seat 4 and I'd need a roof rack to carry it. There's a few designs at 12 that seem promising, I like the look of https://www.simplicityboats.com/summerbreeze.html a lot, it's a little longer than would be perfect for me but maybe you just can't get reasonable performance in any smaller and the build seems as simple as it is possible to make a boat.
The amount of use he gets out of a sheet of plywood is honestly incredible. Two sheets for the whole boat and the only waste on one of them is the saw kerf.
any licensing restrictions?
Cedar strip canoes might be easier to put together since you can build it gradually. cheap if you can find a source of cedar ripping offcuts.
Oi M8
depends where you live but around here if there's no motor on it and it's not large they're completely unregulated aside from general boating safety stuff like presence of lifejacket and signaling device etc
Best, simple boat building website that has existed.
http://hvartial.kapsi.fi/
Very nice, especially interested in that little two sheet dory
not op but this is my first time on PrepHole and I instantly find all the resources I needed for a summer project, thanks anons.
I'm building a small boat out of extruded insulation foam and fiberglass right now. (Not the crumbly white foam Styrofoam) Boat building is a lot of fun and being on the water in a boat you built yourself gives you a real sense of accomplishment. Just winging it can be difficult for a beginner so I suggest finding plans and going from there.