Contemplating building a boat

[t4topcat]

G'day all,
I've recently been investigating the idea of purchasing a bigger boat in the near future. I've been looking at both imports and local equivalents in the style I'm interested in (a Florida style flats boat: Hewes, Maverick etc), So far my problem has been cost as any decent option I've looked at has been way out of my budget. But I came across this little beauty whilst surfing http://www.boatdesigns.com/18-1_2-Fl.../products/821/ and became interested immediately. Some quick background first; I'm a sheetmetal worker by trade (15years); but I have been teaching Industrial Technology and Design at highschool for the last 11 years, I have a young family - 15 month olds (identical twin boys with a lifelong medical condition that take up a lot of our time). So, now to my way of thinking - I realise that this build will take time, but as it is I'm stuck at home most of time anyway and I've got a 6 x 7 shed thats screaming for a "project" ; I've bot enough skills to deal with most of what I think that this style of build will throw at me and; I have access to a local boat builder who is also a cabinet maker and specialises in GRP; also given my job I have acces to workshop facilities as required (also works toward my professional currency - nice bonus).

Anyway, sorry for the long post, I suppose my questions are these:

1. Has anyone had experience with building a hull in this fashion and what are some of the pitfalls to watch out for?
2. I'm thinking of powering the hull with either a 90 or 115 (Yamaha 4 or ETEC), does this seem like a reasonable range to aim for?
3. I'm considering using Biaxial cloth instead of Chopped Strand Mat for the strength benfits internally and externally, for those in the know does this sound feasible?

I may have more questions later but for now I thank you for your attention and advice.

Cheers

Chris

[jack20000]

W.A has good plywood and cable ties help. Cootacraft build strong boats, when you surf the web they build great wooden boats in indo and thailand.

[Chris1984]

Hey mate, i have no idea about your questions but i'll take my hat off to you for having a crack at it. Would be a nice feeeling cruising in a boat that you built in your shed i reckon

[Jarrah Jack]

W.A has good plywood and cable ties help. Cootacraft build strong boats, when you surf the web they build great wooden boats in indo and thailand.

WOW Thats out there..

Chris......Have you considered getting a project hull and doing that up. Something like a Haines 17 r with some rot that you should get very cheap. There are a number of threads on here where people have done similiar. A Haines 445R or 16R would also be in the frame for me.

[Stuart]

I have built my own 7.4 meter centre console alloy boat. Have you considered building that hull in alloy?

Stu

[Tickleish]

W.A has good plywood and cable ties help. Cootacraft build strong boats, when you surf the web they build great wooden boats in indo and thailand.

I love this guy.

[t4topcat]

G'day all,
firstly, thanks for the replies so far.....keep em' coming people, all input is welcomed.

Stuart: mate, I can weld ally and fabricate sheetmetal but I have also done some training in GRP when I was at uni so that I was qualified to teach Certificate 1 to the students. So, I thought I'd give it a go, something different and a personal challenge.

JarrahJack: I thought about a project boat but I have seen a mate of mine get fully swamped by a glass hull he bought with the idea of customising it. So many problems kept popping up that it actually became completely unenjoyable for him in any respect and he gave up. I think that with this method I've got a fairly good idea of what's coming at me, you know what I mean?

I also believe that mooching around over the flats around here and the Whitsundays and up the dams with my two lads when they're older in a boat that I built would be one of the most rewarding things that I could do in my life. I also love the idea of knowing what has gone into the build and being able to customise the hull fit out to what I want in a boat not what is dictated to me by a manufacturer.

Cheers

Chris

[Nathan Tuskes]

hey mate im doing a haines 146 rebuild/conversion to a tournament boat and can say the only experience i had was a very very small amount at school and to tell you the truth im finding it pretty easy to knock down all the problems. Sure It takes a little bit of thought and imagination how various systems in a boat work to get things set up but once worked out the end result is great( well at least for me it will be when im finished )

[PB]

Hi, theirs a bloke down this way that pops in every now and again that is building a ply wood boat from an alloy boat drawing. sounded very simply how he was going to do it, he even spoke about building his own CNC router to cut it all out.

[matt fraser]

Like Nathan, I'm in the process of a Haines rebuild, a lot of hours, messy, but enjoyable, and I can customise it how I like.

I thought with your training and background a kit plate boat would be more up your alley. Have you checked out plate alloy australia or specmar?

http://www.platealloy.com/

http://www.specmar.com.au/Plate-alloy-boat-kits.php

Good luck,

Matt

[t4topcat]

G'day folks,
Matt: yeah mate being a sheety I could go down the plate alloy road but to do it properly you need access to a MIG (GMAW) that's set up for aluminium welding, that is the machine pulls the wire with a set of rollers in the gun itself as opposed to a standard set up that pushes the wire through the line. I have acces to a TIG (GTAW) at school but thats not really suitable to welding a whole boat together (you could do it, but.........). Also buying the right equipment to do the job would be an expensive exercise whereas with this timber kit it seems you can achieve a quality outcome with a set of basic power tools (drill, battery drill/screw gun, sander, jigsaw,and possibly a plane) and hand tools. I'm still thinking of fabricating a real bling curved console out of ally instead of timber/glass and getting it powder coated to match the boat (just to keep my hand in so to speak), I also wouldn't mind having a go at fabricating a jack plate for the motor if I can work out the engineering and hydraulics (might have to talk to a couple of engineers I know to help me).

Pelagic: I'm thinking of trying to scan the patterns or draw them up in CAD and then create the NC code and get them lasered up here, the only problem is that the plans are all imperial so I'll have to convert everything or at least reset the properties of the CAD package to US imperial. We've got a CNC router at work , but she's a bit small, that's a shame.

Nathan: thanks for the encourging comments, I'm actually really looking forward to having a go at this thing. But I realise that it will take time, it's a marathon not a sprint.

Cheers

Chris

[t4topcat]

G'day all,
does anyone know where I'll be able to get high quality Marine plywood for this build in Queensland? We have some local suppliers but being in Mackay I'm not sure if they will be astronomically priced or if they will actually stock Marine ply.

Cheers

Chris