making a punt boat
 

Hey, I've decided i'm going to make a punt boat for this summer. Nothing fancy, just a simple 10 ft maybe. I'd like to be able to row or put a small 15-25 hp motor on the back. I'm thinking of a deck on the front for a fishing, casting, netting platform. If anyone could help me out with deciding on materials, I'd greatly appreciate the help. I'm new at this which is why i'm not trying anything beyond simple. :p

My first choice would be plywood, cheap, quick, and relatively easy for a beginner, as long as you can live with a somewhat boxy look.

Yoke.

My original plan was to make the two sides. (rectangles with equally cut curves on the front ends) and a back and a front brace sorta deally to keep the sides and back together. After i get that put together, i'll flip it upside down and attatch *one at a time* the bottom boards -3/8" plywood two sheets- i'll press those on and make sure they stay on. After i get the frame, im not sure where im going.

I was thinking of making the dimensions as follows- 10 ft long 5 ft wide 3 ft tall.
for the deck i'd like to have it one foot lower than the lip of the sides to keep a sorta toeboard, so i don't slip off when pulling up a net or something. the deck is going to be the 5 ft wide and about 5 feet from the bow back. Underneath i will fill with foam, to keep my raft afloat if it happens to fall apart at sea.
If i can figure out how, i'd like to make a couple little storage compartments under the deck, cut into the foam.

i need help figuring out what to use to keep the boards together, what to use to seal it, how to paint it and any tips on making it easy ;-)

Here are some free plans from my site, just adjust the side panel height, bottom width etc to match your specs. Use a chine log or Stitch and glue and seal with a couple coats of primer and a couple of paint.

http://www.angelfire.com/ego/lewisbo...ilJonboats.doc

Steve Lewis

thank you, that helped me out a bunch :-)

Sounds like a fun project!

I'd watch out with your HP desires. Heavy motor and punts aren't meant to plane. Might want to consided 5hp maximum.