# Wooden boats - Anyone?



## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

So, since moving to Idaho four years ago, I've seen the need for a drift boat. Well, being the enterprising person I am, I figure I need to build one. So last summer, as a practice endeavor, I decided to start by building a canoe out of plywood. I looked on line for several patterns, watched various videos on YouTube about it, and then through the summer, I got one built. (I'll post pictures of that later).

I figured the canoe would be a good learning experience. From it, I learned that I spent right around $200 in materials - most of that in fiberglass cloth and resin. It really wasn't that hard to build. I used a pretty basic stitch and glue method. It turned out pretty good. Good enough to hold my fat butt anyway. The finished canoe came out about 15 1/2 feet long, and something like 29 inches wide at the middle. It is a flat-bottom, and really quite stable. My main two hiccups with the canoe were the paint - which when hitting the water, just peeled right off the resin covered wood, and the seats. I mounted the seat brackets to the sides of the canoe with heavy duty liquid nail, not realizing that it didn't stick well to the resin covered wood, and that I should have used epoxy instead. Lessons learned. The boat shell itself is very solid. The bottom has two layers of 6 oz figerglass cloth. The inside bottom has another layer of the 6 oz cloth as well, to add durability when stepping in and out of the canoe. The outsides of the canoe also have a layer or the 6 oz cloth, and the insides are painted with two coats of the resin. All the seams have 2 layers of 4" wide 6 oz cloth as well. All on 1/4 inch thick plywood shell.

Anyway, it was really a good practice project. For Christmas, I got the plans for my drift boat. It will be a 14 foot McKenzie style drifter. It'll be a similar construction technique - not totally stitch and glue, but a combination of stitch and glue and some framework as well. It will be plywood with fiberglass cloth and resin, and I'll certainly improve from my mistakes on my canoe. Anyway, here are the designs. 
https://www.boatdesigns.com/14-16-18-Drifter-McKenzie-drift-boat/products/471/

It will be my summer project. My wife informed me that I can't start the boat until I build the playhouse for my daughter in the back yard. I hope to get that done in April, so that means May before I get going on the boat. My hope is to have it done in time for the fall fishing on my backyard river, the South Fork of the Snake.

So all of that said, has anyone else build their own boats? Any suggestions? Things to know NOT to do? (like use liquid nails on resin) Or things I SHOULD do? Any pictures would be great inspiration as well.


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## bowgy (Oct 10, 2007)

Sounds like a great project.

This brings back some memories.

When I got out of the service I wanted a boat but couldn't afford one so I tried talking both my father in law and my father into buying a boat. Didn't work too well, my father in law's friend had a boat dock on a mountain lake and over one winter one of his old rentals got crushed by the snow, it was and old 60's 15 foot fiberglass over wood. The beam that went from gunwale to gunwale and supported the fore deck and the steering wheel and controls was broke and crushed. For a joke the friend dropped it off at our shop and told my father in law that it was a gift.

After looking it over my father in law said that if I rebuilt the boat that he would buy a motor big enough so that we could ski behind it. That was all it took. I rebuilt the beam out of a 2" x 10" x 8' piece of oak, I rebuilt the transom replaced some of the broken marine plywood and my father in law and I recovered it with fiberglass.

He bought a 75 hp Johnson Stinger motor and we skied a lot behind that boat until I bought my first new boat in 1985.

We used tint (blue) in the resin for the color and that was the only paint we used was tinted resin. That is the only tip I can remember. Except one that you don't have to worry about and that was the the keel had some weakness and it flexed and tore the fiberglass the first time out and we had to restructure the keel and do some fiberglass repair.

That is the worst part, sanding fiberglass and resin. I would do that part outside with a little breeze if I could do it over again. Completely covered head to toe with a good respirator.


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## Steve G (Nov 29, 2016)

I'm envious. Its a dream of mine to build boats; particularly wooden boats, but I haven't the time or space. Perhaps in retirement.

Please keep us posted on your progress and post pics of the canoe.


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

I say go for it!

There's a ton of stuff on building drift boats on YouTube...some of it might be good.


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## massmanute (Apr 23, 2012)

Have a look at boatdesign.net, including the forum section.


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

About 20 years ago I built a flat bottom plywood boat for duck hunting. I framed it with 1/4" oak strips layered to make 3/4". Glued and screwed the plywood to the frame and covered with cloth and resin. I had it finished within a month, and then built a trailer. Kind of spooky for the "maiden voyage". I didn't know if it would fall apart or what. The boat turned out to be a great duck boat! It had a 3" draft, and would move fast with the 20hp long shaft Evinrude. The boat was 16' long, 4' wide at bottom, 22" sides that were at a 10 degree angel. 


I've made plans a few years ago for a 18' boat, and I think I'll build it this summer. This time I'll use Aluminum and weld it together. Have an idea of making a Hyper Drive mud motor using a spare Harley motor I got in the garage. If Aluminum prices are beyond high, it won't happen this summer.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

BPturkeys said:


> I say go for it!
> 
> There's a ton of stuff on building drift boats on YouTube...some of it might be good.


Yea. I've been through several dozen, maybe over 100 videos on YouTube. Most are slide show kind of videos, which make sense. Most show boats at various stages of construction, but offer little in way of explanation, tips, lessons learned, what NOT to do (like the liquid nail thing), or hints on how to do things better. The place I got the plans from has a pretty good photo sharing sections where people have posted pics from their own projects, which is pretty helpful.

I had a ton of fun on the "practice" canoe last year. So I learned a great deal on that one. We'll see how it goes. I'll try to post up pics as it progresses along this summer.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

massmanute said:


> Have a look at boatdesign.net, including the forum section.


Awesome! Thanks!


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## Pumpgunner (Jan 12, 2010)

Hey Gary, these are all stitch and glue boats that I've designed and built over the last 8 years, you ever want to talk boat building or design shoot me a PM, I am a huge boat nerd! Haven't built a drift boat but I'd love to one day.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

Those are FREAKING AWESOME! Love it! Those are all great looking boats. Like I said, I've got my design. If its OK, can I ask questions here? Maybe others would benefit from answers. 

A couple of questions:
Did you glass all of your boat?
Have you tried glassing the wood prior to assembly? If so, how did that work out?
After doing my canoe, I'm considering glassing one side of the ply wood before making my cuts in stead of once the boat was assembled. Have you ever tried that? If so, how'd it go?
Do you glass both sides of the ply? or just one side and then resin the other? 
What paint did you use?

Lots of questions. Sorry. But dang! If my drifter can look half as good as your marsh boats, I'll be pretty excited!


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## Pumpgunner (Jan 12, 2010)

GaryFish said:


> Those are FREAKING AWESOME! Love it! Those are all great looking boats. Like I said, I've got my design. If its OK, can I ask questions here? Maybe others would benefit from answers.
> 
> A couple of questions:
> Did you glass all of your boat?
> ...


Thanks man! Here goes-
1.All my boats have the hull exterior totally sheathed in glass and epoxy, and the power boats have a layer of Kevlar on the outside as well because they get used in ice a lot. The interiors have epoxy fillets and glass tape over the seams, and the rest of the inside is totally covered with 3 layers of epoxy.

2. I've never glassed the wood before building, I think it's important to have your glass totally cover the outside of the hull in one piece, the only time I've done something like this is when working with foam core, that needs to be pre glassed before assembly but that is a whole nother can of worms!

3. The best boat paint in the world in my opinion is Flat Marine Enamel from Lou Tisch at Lock Stock and Barrel. http://www.lockstockbarrell.com/
Seriously, I don't even bother with anything else. I use 2 part epoxy automotive primer under my paint also but that's probably not totally necessary. Also, US Composites hsas the best epoxy available in my opinion http://www.uscomposites.com/epoxy.html 
My computer is acting up, I might need to wait till Monday to write some more, can't wait to see how your project goes!


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## hardman11 (Apr 14, 2012)

I remember when I was a kid we built an boat with bike wheels on it to float the Jordan River. It was made out of old billboard signs and sealed with expando foam we used for around 3 years till it finally sank in Utah Lake. We would tie it behind our bike and fish from Midvale to Provo then pull it back home.


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