Ever thought of making your own Fishing Boat?

[pearcepestcontrol 1]

Done a little research on this, and quess what? Yes you can, and make it from plywood from the Builders Merchant.

The guys from the states build them for Bass fishing etc, I thought cant be that tuff, will give it a bash.

3 sheets of WPBP, 1 x 5/8" 2 x 3/8", a tube of Bostic waterproof glue.

I thought about the design, and what would best suit the water i was attempting to cover. Shallow waters, Esturies etc,

just something big enough to cast a fly or a spinner out of.

 

Decision made; a ten foot John Boat or Skiff with a flat bottom, just the ticket, easy launching, lightweight and float in 4"of water.

 

 

Gathered all the pictures and free boat plans off the internet, studied the information given on the methods used to

join Plywood sheets together. Printed off the free plans. Then added my dimensions to the print-off with a scale rule.

 

Marked out the timber, allowing some extra for the angle cuts. Most stitch and glue techniques i have read about

use filler to pack out the angles formed between the Bottom and sides. Then sand it down berofe glassing over it.

Not happy with that idea, i opted to form the angles. The saw was then setup to cut them automaticaly from template stage.

 

Cut out all the peices, and laid them out on the grass. Obviously saving time by using one side of the boat to mark out the other. etc. Then had to scarf the sheets together to obtain my 10ft overall length. It meant exstending the bottom and both sides a further 2 foot. I reckoned that having this join in the same place right around the boat at one point, would be a lot off stress. So I cut out the sides and bottom so that the scarf joints where a good distance appart.

 

Laminated the joints together with resin, clamped them and went for a cuppa. Bonus it all held together, so i glued all the angles and pinned it together. Mixed up enough resin, hardner etc to do one joint all the way from bow to stern. Cut out the Glass matt into strips, about 4" wide, and with the aid of a paintbrush glassed all the joints on the out side of the craft.

Turned it over and did the same on the inside, glassed in the seats, quick sand me down and ready for the finishing touches

 

Couple of coats of paint, some handles for carrage; bring on the river.

 

Have used it now over the last 2 years, bit of Bass fishing with the fly etc. Even took it off the beach for a bit of fun with the feathers.

Stuck a little 4HP four stroke yam on the back of her, fish all day for less than a fiver.

 

All the Fibre Glass, resin and matting came from halfords, is only polly resin but did the job.

The boat is still dry and sound so i think she will go on for a while yet.

I was happy with the overall outcome, except i wish i had built it bigger. Possibly 14".

 

Even better a 6lb Bass first time out with the Rapala

 

[trapper25 0]

good job there mate

how much did it cost you for materials mate?

trapper25

[pearcepestcontrol 1]

good job there mate

how much did it cost you for materials mate?

trapper25

 

£150.00 ish, but paint was extra. Put floor paint on it and was big mistake, should have just used exterior gloss.

Would have been far cheaper and might have dried properly. lol. Made a mistake also the engine i put on it was 2.5HP not 4. Does about 7knotts one up, down to 5 with two on board.

[PeakOil 352]

That looks quality, wish I could make a boat

[Malt 379]

Looks a good job there mate! Where did you get the plans from, if you don't mind me asking?

[pearcepestcontrol 1]

Looks a good job there mate! Where did you get the plans from, if you don't mind me asking?

 

Just did a search on google for free boat plans. was a while ago so dont remember the exact url.I think the john boat

plans came free but had no dimensions on them, hence being free. So i scailed it with a ruler to the size i wanted.

 

The next project is a tourning canoe, plans from jem watercraft.com . DK touring Canoe 18 ft, but am going to scale it

down to 16ft.

[mccroryart 0]

Nice work, good to get out on the water with something you made yourself. I made a stitch and tape open canoe a few years back and found the biggest cost was the epoxy resin. Last year I bought a small wooden clinker at auction and started repairing it. I hope to have it finished early next year. I was getting to some tricky bits when I came across this site http://www.loughneaghboats.org/ . I'm now working on the boat in their yard and getting lots of sound advice. The ethos is to persuade people to move away from plastic and petrol boats towards more traditional boats powered by sail and oars and at the same time keep alive traditional boat building skills.

 

Eamonn