Built a Boat?

I built a sailboat quite a few years ago. It was built using Wood and Epoxy and what is called Tortured Ply Wood. It doesn't require a framing jig or strongback. You might not be familiar with those terms - in essence it means that there is no framing waste. My boat is made out of @ 1/4 marine ply wood and coated with epoxy. Terms that you might not be familiar with. I intend to built another one.

Go to the Wooden Boat Magazine website. They have a series of plans that are good for first time boat builders. Those plans are designed for first time builders. They have plenty of instructions for their plans and plenty of help available through their forums.

If your interested in kits there are plenty of company that make them. Everything from from Kayaks, Canoes and Sailboats.

That said - a good book for canoes can be had by Ted and Marilyn Moore and called Canoe Craft. I've seen it on the shelf at Barnes and Nobles. Canoe Craft has plenty of instructions on how to do it without a kit using strip built construction. Most of the work can be done with just a few standard shop tools with their canoes.
 
Those are all terms that I have seen when I have been researching on what i would need to do to build a boat. i would like to make a plywood with fiberglass overlay. What type of boat did you build?
 
yeah, ive been staring at the clarkcraft site for a year now. looks like a fun project
 
i've been looking at bateau, quite a bit. that seems to be the best website to me at least. i have been researching hard. just wondering if anybody has any personal experiance and could tell me about it.
 
BigBody79 said:
Those are all terms that I have seen when I have been researching on what i would need to do to build a boat. i would like to make a plywood with fiberglass overlay. What type of boat did you build?
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I built a Spindrift 10 from B&B Yacht Designs. http://www.bandbyachtdesigns.com/ They are located in Vandemere, NC. I believe he can also be used to source the okoume (a mahagony) plywood and epoxies used in construction. You'll have to check with them to verify that information. The designer (Graham) is involved with a webforum that's linked from his website. There is a plenty of assistance from both him and the other folks that have built his designs. Check out the forum and see how he handles questions. He makes himself available as the designer to answer questions concerning the designs and responds to questions about modifications. I've even seen him come back with additional calculations about how a change might effect things as COG and design limits. I don't know that you get that kind of support from places like GlenL. Sure - GlenL has folks that have made changes - but I've not seen the marine architect pop in and answer a question about how proposed changes will effect the boat. A good case in point is the Rascal Design from GlenL. Lately folks have taken to building the boat and dropping the outboard in favor of JetSKi engines. If that was one of Graham's design, he would likely chime in with some answers about how things might work or be made to work better.

My construction was stitch and glue - tack and tape. It goes by a few names. Strong and light weight construction. My boat is over 15 years old and lives under a cover and outside 365 days a year. It has held up remarkably well for being exposed to the weather for that long. Until you penetrate that epoxy encapsulation and allow moisture into the wood ply's the boat will last for years. I should add that the outer hull is painted and that provides UV (ultraviolet light) protection for the epoxy coated exterior. The interior is finished bright with varnish and protected from UV by the cover. Moisture penetration into the ply and UV breakdown of the epoxy are the two concerns for longevity in that style of construction.
 
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