kids are growing up and I am thinking that boating would be an interesting and wholesome activity for the whole family.
A friend has been encouraging me to get my own. He went so far as to convince the boys that they could build make a fiberglass mold off one of his boats (he has several from 16ft to 32 ft.) and build their own hull. He would help with the bulkheads and other stuff.
I dont know alot about boats, but what I have read so far (from the internet) suggests that it not cheap or easy.
Anyone ever built their own boat? Would you recommend it for a beginner?
Why should I or shouldnt I give it a try.
I wouldnt like to be 2 or 3 miles from shore and find out that I shouldnt be building my own boat.
Thanks in advance
Built one of these about 45 years ago,a lot of fun.
How about go canoeing some first to be sure the little fellers are into it - boating that is.
I wouldn't know squat about boat-building unless you are talking models.
I've built 4 Cutty Sarks (my favorite ship of all time), the USS Constitution and a few obscure others. All complete with rigging.
I would love to build a wooden kit of the Cutty Sark. But, dam, the kit (if you can find one) is about the price of a small used car.
Call me old school, but I'm partial to the big old sailing ships. For a bucket list item, I wouldn't mind at all to spend a few months at sea on a big old ship. Given my lesser physical stature and agility, they'd probably want me up on the high rigging and such. My problem with heights in recent decades might just keep land-locked. If I got something to hang on to, I might be ok.
I say you should go for it. Sounds like some good fun to have with the boys.
E
I would way rather buy a boat prebuilt and get right to the fun rather than waiting to build something myself that may or may not float :'(
Boy Scout boat project
At B.S. of A. Troop 64 we had a 14' row boat project. Mister Wee (yes, that was his name), the Scoutmaster, had a nice spread on a lake north of town, so a small boat project was a natural.
It took so long that some of the kids that started the project were out of Scouts by the time it was finished. They all came back for a cook-out, photo-op and maiden voyage of the "Wee-Wee".
I remember the plywood was purchased at two different times and the boat had a definite "two-tone" appearance. Mr. Wee eventually painted it white. It did float quite well. Fun was had by all...:-P
ps - There is absolutely no truth to the rumor that Nick McCarty and I were caught sniffing the marine wood sealer...
“I am thinking that boating would be an interesting and wholesome activity for the whole family.”
It is fun and educational at the same time. However, if you are a “newbie” it would be in your best interest, and for the safety of you and your family, to enroll in a small boating course. The local Coast Guard Auxiliary provides this course for free.
B-)
We are surveyors and experts at what we do. We shake our heads, because they don't know everything involved, when we see a land owners surveying their land because it is cool, fun, something to do with their kids and cheap.
1man Surveyor in this case think of yourself as the land owner.
I have been around boats my whole life. Also I have some boat building skills. When I was planning to build the boat in my avatar, I was told by friends to buy a kit and build it in my side yard. What they said went in one ear and a nano second later came out my other ear. I knew I did not have all the skills needed to built that boat. I went to Maine and had the boat built by professionals. It took a year and eight months the build and the boat and all of its equipment cost a third of a million. After delivery it took two years to pay off the loan.
I was told by the guy doing the lettering on the boat that there wasn't a surveyor in the state of Maine who could afford the boat I was having built. I said to him, "I do not survey in Maine, I am a surveyor in the Hamptons."
Floyd, What And How Much Power?
Looks wider than the typical wood cabin type construction.
My brother-in-law had a 24 footer cabin cruiser on Lake Ontario for a few years. Gas V-8 powered and cantankerous to get on plane.
I much prefer the sailboat he replaced it with.
I also fished with a Developer on his 24 footer out of New Jersey a few times.
Paul in PA
Floyd, What And How Much Power?
The boat is 38' long and 14' wide at it's widest point. It is constructed of fiberglass not wood. Even the deck supports are fiberglass WF beams. The power is a Cat 3406E (now called a C18) 800 hp diesel. No gas boats for me, I got blown up on a gas boat in 1982.
When I was about 12 or 13 I made a pram from plans in Boy's Life magazine.
When I was 20 I started building a 50' ferrocement sailboat with 3 friends. It took us 9 years to launch. That was 1980. We sailed her from New England to the Caribbean and back many times. Perseverance is sailed out of Scituate, MA. by my partner still.
Building boats is not easy, cheap or quick, but it is a wonderful thing to do. And I don't like the idea of building a mold to then build a boat. A good mold is a big project in itself. It's likely to be as much work as building the boat. And errors accumulate like running a traverse. Any problem from the original boat and the mold will be in the new boat. Fiberglass and resin isn't easy or pleasant to work with. I recommend building with wood or else get an old beat up fiberglass boat and rebuild it.
