# Summer project-building a duck boat! (Lots of photos)



## Pumpgunner (Jan 12, 2010)

This summer I decided to take on a project that I've been thinking about for a few years-building my own duck hunting boat. After checking out lots of different plans and designs on the web I settled on the Black Brant III from Devlin Designs for the basic hull, because it had all of the attributes I was looking for in a duck boat (stability, load capacity, low profile, seaworthyness, and good looks  ). I made some modifications to the basic design to optimize it for our shallow Utah marshes-I took all of the rocker out of the rear of the hull for more efficient waterflow for a mud motor, and also redesigned and reinforced the transom to mount either a short or longtail mud motor (the original has a motor well and sponsons to mount an outboard).

This particular boat is a stitch-and-glue design, which means that the hull is made of high-quality marine plywood that is held together by wire stitches until the construction of the hull is complete. Basically the plywood panels are welded together with a thickened epoxy fillet that is shaped into a cove and covered with 3 layers of fiberglass tape on the inside of the hull over the seam. All the bulkheads and interior structures are filleted and glass taped, then the interior of the hull is sealed with 3 or 4 layers of marine epoxy. The wires holding the panels are then heated and pulled out through the hull. Then the boat gets flipped and the entire hull is sheathed in fiberglass cloth and epoxy, then flipped back over and the deck is installed and sheathed in glass cloth. When the boat is done there is almost no metal in the construction-it's pretty much all wood and epoxy.

The plywood that I used is pretty crazy-it's a hardwood plywood called BS1088 Okoume. It's manufactured to the BS1088 standard which means that it is all hardwood, all the plies are a uniform thickness, and absolutely no core voids are allowed in the piece. It's laminated with waterproof glue, and all the batches of ply are randomly tested by taking a piece of plywood and boiling in in water for 3 hours-if it delaminates it's not accepted. It's also about 30% lighter than regular fir marine ply. There are a ton of layers in the laminate-for example the 3/4" that I used for the bulkheads has 18 layers in it!

After ordering the plans, epoxy, fiberglass, and wood, it was finally time to actually get out the saw and start making a pile of parts that would eventually form themselves into a boat.
Enough words, time for some photos!
Bottom panels cut out and wired together









Hull bottom unfolded









Hull sides stitched on









Another view









Installing bulkheads, filleting and taping seams









Rear ****pit bulkhead and more seams









Side view towards the bow









Looking forward from the stern









I built up a laminated transom-2 layers of 3/4" with an extra layer of 1/4" in the center to catch the transom support bulkheads









Ready to glass the transom in place


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## Pumpgunner (Jan 12, 2010)

Some more photos-

Rear bulkhead and transom glassed into place, along with transom reinforcements-The space in the middle will become a splash well, with the rest of the interior filled with foam for floatation.









Floor supports and the main keel support glassed into place









Looking towards the stern-starting to look a bit like a boat!









Another view









Stern view-most of the hull will be decked over, with a central open ****pit









I'm almost ready to flip her over and glass the hull bottom-then there's a little more interior work, electrical work, priming, and painting to do. I figure I've got about 60 hours of work into her so far, and I'd say I'm about halfway there-hopefully I'll have more time to work on her soon!


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## Pumpgunner (Jan 12, 2010)

Forgot to mention the dimensions- She's 14' 3" long with a 5'8" beam at the widest point. I'm thinking that the finished hull without the motor will weigh somewhere in the neighborhood of 225 pounds-not exactly light but lighter than a welded aluminum boat of about the same size!


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

looks good. that pretty cool. nice job


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## pkred (Jul 9, 2009)

that looks like a rad project.


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## Chaser (Sep 28, 2007)

Sweet project! Question is, how much cheddar do you have into it so far? Is it worth the cost?


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## Gee LeDouche (Sep 21, 2007)

Man, I wish I had that much room to do anything with. let alone build a boat!! looks [email protected]!


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

Pretty bitchin dude! Now all you'll need is a big sack of hand carved cork decoys and you'll be fartin through silk! 8)


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## Pumpgunner (Jan 12, 2010)

Thanks guys! Chaser- I actually have materials on hand to build 2 boats, I'm hoping to get both built this summer. I think that by the time I'm done I'll have about $1800 in materials into each boat. The materials are pretty pricey, the wood is anywhere from $80-130 a sheet, the epoxy resin is about $80 a gallon, and fiberglass is about $3.50 a yard. I already had pretty much all the tools I needed so I didn't have to spend much there. It also depends on how much you want to put into lights, batteries, etc, I already have a longtail motor for this one and I got a really good deal on a 13hp surface drive for my next boat. 
Tex-I agree, I would love to get ahold of some cork or cedar to make some new decoys! I have a fleet of foamers that I've made over the last 2 years though, my goal is to one day have my whole duck hunting rig be handmade.


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## paddler (Jul 17, 2009)

Nice project! Keep the photos coming.


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## StillAboveGround (Aug 20, 2011)

Yes, Excellent DIY Project... Love to see more pics as it is completed.


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## Pumpgunner (Jan 12, 2010)

Thanks again guys, I will keep the photos coming!


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

Wish i was talented like that. Keep the photos coming


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

Great job! That is a nice looking boat and I hope to see it out in the marsh this fall.


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