Step One: Planning and Plans
- Michal Dwojak
- Mar 14, 2017
- 2 min read
Ok, for the longest time I have wanted to either buy or build a boat. I love the idea of being on the water, fishing and just hanging out. I thought about purchasing a boat but then I thought, "What if I buy someone's trouble? What if I have to rebuild parts or for that matter rebuild nearly the entire boat? "Gads that would be a chore, and besides I'd have to take it apart first before I could even think about getting the repairs underway.
Decisions, decisions.
A word of caution here, A home built boat will in the long run be no cheaper than a commercial product. That said you do have choices in materials and outfitting and the like so maybe you can save some money but not a heck of a lot.
One more thing, building a boat is a project, so do not get into it if you think the project will stall. You'll have a significant amount of money tied up in plywood, lumber, fasteners, and epoxy (depending on your build) to just walk away from it. I did a lot of reading, surfing and made really sure I wanted to do this.
So, after much thought I decided to build my boat. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted in a boat but I had no plans or a place to even build the craft, but a small fishing boat and day time fun boat was what I had in mind. I was lucky enough to secure a spot through my work and then came the tricky part deciding on a set of plans. Here are a few places to consider for your plans if you're looking to build;
1.Hannu's Boatyard,
Great free plans, with nice diagrams and how to's
2. Duckworks Boat builders
A lot of plans, some free, many builders and if you're looking for video on how to do stuff Redbarnboats channel on Youtube is really good.
3. Lewis Boat Works
Unfortunately he is no longer with us but I can only hope his web site stays up for a long time as it is full of great pictures and how to's.
4. Bateau.com is another great site with plenty of material and video to learn from. Plans are not free but they are tried and tested. Some very nice boats here.
My boat will be the based on the plans for the Lewis Duckskiff with some additional bits from Hannu's 15' 8" fishing punt. Plans for both boats are free and available for download at the above locations. Be aware that should you build your own boat you do so at your own risk. Total responsibility is yours. I'm just going through the steps I used to complete my project.
Need help, This site is really good. Very experienced people here that can offer all kinds of help with your build.
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