Building a Small Boat

Mommy! Ok...here's MY concrete mixing box...'scuze me...tub



4 or 5 have been built and a few stretched versions are on the verge.This is the original at 12 ft long and 4 ft wide. PAR is right tho...sitting headroom is about all you can expect from something this small. Even then...visibility is a TAD on the restricted side. Best to rig up a steering station on the aft bulkhead of the cabin and " stand your watch".

 

Here's another waterbago...Jonbird. This was designed as a river runner to go from the headwaters of the missouri to the gulf...in a bit of comfort. Maybe this can give you some ideas.



You can read more about it here: http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/05/contest/2/free.cfm

 

Yeah, but I guess that you aren't a true boater if you haven't been afraid of 2 foot waves...

 

Where did you get that picture from? That is the exact boat I was thinking of! (Not the flat bow though... kinda ugly)
thank you alot,

 

Cute! Looks like a PDRacer that's been fed the wrong diet. PAR - no offense taken, I was amused!

 

Could somebody give me a general idea what the superstucture of that type of boat looks like?
thanks,

 

Why don't I just have a sail instead of an outboard? Well, I could still have the outboard for backup.
Thanks,
Mike

 

You're looking at it. Plywood sides, roof, probably a few beams, some window trim, that's about it.

 

I built it and that ugly wart manning the motor is me. A friend of mine took the picture. As far as the "superstructure" goes...what you see is what you get. It was cut from 1 1/2 sheets of ply, the curved moulding is just that...moulding. Believe me...it took a bit of horsepower and fancy footwork to get that stick to bend like that without steaming.

Here is the inside:




a small panel drops into the slot to make a 7ft double berth

This is NOT designed for sail...the hull is completely wrong for sailing to be frank. You would have to reshape the bottom which would preclude planing with a motor so you would be stuck maxing out at about 5 or 6 mph. Besides...on a beam reach you would probably go further sideways than forward with all that flat panel windage...besides I though you wanted to go on river and canals...no real room to sail there unless you hit an impoundment.

 

Yeah. I'll stick with the mud motor. Would you recommend making the front of her come to an edge like a regular boat? Say if you were looking at her from the side, she would look like her bow is flat (like your design) but on my design, her bow come to an edge and you can see that looking from the top.

Thanks,
Mike

 

How come I only have 10 rep points? I should have about 30 by now... Yeah, I jumped projects, but that doesn't mean I'm undereducated. I have made the final decision, and that is to build a 12 foot boat. Why don't I start with an rc boat? I figured that I could use the time waiting to move designing my boat. It's better than being bored all of those months. And yes, I will post pictures of the building process and all of that good stuff. I will even post pictures of it completed and running. I hope I will get more rep points when you see that I have designed and built my own boat.

Mike

 

If you click on user CP you can see if anyone has docked you points. Negative points is a feature a lot of us dislike.

 

Nobody docked my points...

 

Mike build something like this. I penned it up in a few minutes.

12'x 4' though it would be a lot more stable at 5' or better in beam, though it's efficiency will drop quickly.

This shape will handle chop and passing powerboat wakes much better then the floating shoe boxes others seem to enjoy. It looks like a boat, it has full standing headroom, requires very modest power and will leave a clean, unmolested wake.

I'd not use a mud motor, as I don't think you understand the limitations of these things. They have an 8' or so long shaft and prop sticking out the back of the boat. You have to steer it from the back and it can't be easily rigged to helm steer. It's a fine arrangement if you're needs require the few things they actual offer, but your needs aren't as suited to a mud motor as you might think.

The design above will easily out perform any of the shanty boat, box boat or square micro cruiser thingies. It'll out maneuver them, use less fuel, leave a cleaner wake and look a fair bit better.

The sides, bottom, stem and stern are dead plumb, making building a piece of cake. Everything is 90 degrees. The bend in the rocker and sides is gentle and very easy to do. No beveled chine logs or frames either. The twin skegs will permit it to beach bolt up right too. 5 to 15 HP will work fine.

Would you rather be seen in one of these or one of the concrete mixing tub/boats?

 

Par i like your design - it will most definately work well

when i built my "Chigger" the initial idea was to see how well it would plane - hence the upturned bow and completely flat bottom (like a water ski). I also had a 15 hp outboard on loan and my own 5 hp Mercury. Now with hindsight i can assure you that i would build it with rocker in the bottom as your drawing indicates and a plumb bow that cuts trough the water. 5 hp two stroke outboard is PLENTY - believe me you dont need more. I weigh 90 kgs = 190 lbs? and the boat would plane with me in it @ 5 hp WOT
Having said that i can once again assure you that you dont want to go that fast in a 12' x 4' (4m x 1.2m) boat. You will soon see that you want to cruise comfortably with sitting head room under the cabin roof to escape the sun. You dont want to skim over the top of the water - you want to cut through it.

the pictures show the boat on its maiden voyage (incomplete) when i slept on it - and painted and finished by its new owner

absolutely loads of fun - turns heads ALL the time - people absolutely LOVE the boat

i will always recommend build a small boat first
buy plans from somebody like PAR he has got the drawing setup going well

and finally i can assure you that the hull design of PAR will work extremely well AND handle waves when the wind comes up VERY IMPORTANT