Cheapest, simplest, and fastest shantyboat build?

Hi there, I am new to these forums and boat building alltogether. I want to build myself a fair sized shantyboat to live in on the docks of vancouver for a few months. I have quite a bit of experience in woodworking and hands on diy projects. I have no doubt in my mind I can do it, although I am having trouble deciding which design to go with.

I have always wanted to build a boat of my own, but I really would like to start with something manageable.

I am looking for the cheapest, easiest, and quickest build. I will be willing to work on this everyday. Needs to be trailerable. ANY tips and help pointing me in the right direction is very very much appreciatted.

Thanks
Mike

 

look this one over. http://www.boatdesigns.com/12-28-Huck-Finn-trailerable-pontoons/products/169/ Put a catamaran pontoon on it for speed.

 

Hey rarsonic thanks for the reply, I'll take a look at that. Im preferably looking for something with free plans though, so as to get a good look at what im doing before i commit to it. I was also hoping for a complete plan for a shanty boat.


So far I really like the look of the Lisa B Good:
http://duckworksbbs.com/plans/browne/lisa-b-good/

For cost it seems great as this guy got away with building it well on $2500:
http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/09/projects/lisabgood/

My main question is if anyone with boat building experience can tell me how long this would take if I were to work on it for about four hours or more everyday. Ballpark?

 

Nothing is free except arthritis.

 

I've seen plenty of free plans!
But come to think of it I actually might go with the Huck Finn plans and build the cabin atop it. It looks very easy.

How long (ballpark) do you think it would take to complete the Huck Finn at 4 hours a day everyday?

And any books/guides you might reccomend on glassing?

Thanks a lot! Seem to be headed in the right direction... I hope

 

fastest and cheapest way to go is buy a used neglected boat; clean it up and go boating.

 

Cant seem to find any cheap liveable boats to fix up in western canada! Am I not looking in the right places?

 

Go to the Glen L site and under outboards look at the Wild cat and look at the pictures and customer build photos. do the same with the Bear cat. these show the catamaran hull which will give you speed and will handle the weight you will need for the cabin. Buy the study plans for the Bearcat same hull design as the Wildcat just wider and longer.. Only $15.00 us. LOOK AT ALL THE BOOKS GLEN-L HAS TO OFFER. sorry for the caps. I built my 1st boat in 1958 from Glen-L plans

 

you need to expand your search, I am sure out there some where this is the ideal boat waiting so you can give the current owner the happiest day in his life. to find such a specialized boat you will have to travel, search the ad in larger markets like Vancouver, or even Seattle. Both have very large boating communities. It is somewhat inconvenient, but taking several days to go check out, and bring home a usable boat is WAY faster than building it yourself.

You will not save any money building it yourself, that is poor reason to build a boat you want. You build your own boat because you like the creative act of making something with your hands. But you will pay dearly in terms of time and material costs as compared to buying a used boat.

Good luck.

 

Have you checked to make sure you can actually live on a boat where you are going?

 

Valid point, though the Calgary, Alberta area is full of live aboards and houseboats.

It will cost 2 or 3 times as much to build a houseboat then to buy a well used one and fix it up. There are lots of candidates in this area ripe for the picking.

 

semi derelict boats are 10 cents a ton on Craigslist here in the SF Bay area. all shapes and sizes. something to consider if you ever visit civilization.

many even come with their own trailers, although you might need to spring for a tire or set of bearings.

I'm pretty certain many harbor masters would have leads on boats for sale super cheap, especially those behind on rent where HM is loathing the additional losses from disposal fees.

I remember when they changed the rules on small commercial fishermen a few years back and a massive fleet of small trawlers were suddenly out of biz and owners trying to unload them. Most were at least fairly seaworthy, as our ocean gets pretty rough often enough.

 

When truly interested in finding the ideal boat, the best course you can take is to make friends with every marina manager in the area. Most will have several where the owners have lost interest, are way behind on slip fees or are stacked up against the back fence in the yard, eating up valuable real estate. This boats are easily identified with tattered blue tarps and old car tires holding down the remains. They'll be parked tightly in the back corner of the yard, as far away from the entrance as possible, just to get them out of sight and make room for paying customers, that are on the hard. In most cases, you can buy these, just by paying part or all of the outstanding yard bill, as they've already had a lien placed against them and the yard now owns them. These boats aren't advertised, you just have to do the leg work and look around. Every marina will have some. I bought a nearly perfect 35' old CCA war horse some years back, for the $3,000 yard bill. New sails, fresh running rigging and new replacement winches in locker down below. The engine was smoky, but still ran and she really only need paint, new cushions and other cosmetic stuff.