Custom Fishing Boat

[kirkster7]

Hey guys, Im a newbie to boat design and concept. ive got an idea for a fishing boat that i want to build. I live next to a river and have alot of lakes to chose from. My idea for a boat is something like a typical pontoon boat. Think of a johnboat on pontoons, with the pontoons slightly to the pontoon to be half way outside of the sides instead right under like a traditional pontoon boat. Im thinking of making the actual deck part out of wood and fiberglass, and the pontoons out of aluminum and fiberglass. i think it would be best if i made the pontoons and fastened hat channel across the pontoons and put the deck part on top of this channel. I would also brace the channel as well to the pontoons to make it more "structuraly sound"
What i have questions about is the pontoons and the deck portion. I would like to takt this thing down the sioux river which can get shallow in spots, maybe 3-4 feet when it is high. There is no way a boat can make it down this river when it is low. Ive got stuck in a canoe during the dry season. I ve thought about making the pontoons with a sharp, reinforced, crease down the middle ,from the tip of the bow,going into a flat bottom. i think this "crease" would help glance off of rocks and the flat portion would help with the shallow parts. I think for cost. a fiberglass/aluminum pontoon would be most effective. With the aluminum part being on the nose and bottom, to resist cracking and puncturing.

One question is how to make a pontoon out of fiberglass and aluminum?

Next i would like have a twin prop propulsion. I have thought of having one engine powering two props, but i think two engines would probably be easier. So far that is all i have figured out and im kinda stuck. I would GREATLY appreciate any info and advice to help me make this idea come true. I do not have any idea on how to make a boat and i hope i have explained this idea so that you guys can get a mental image of this project. PLEASE HELP!


Eric

[flyinwall]

do you have any drawings of what you have planed as that would make it easier to understand what you are planning on doing and what sort/size of motors are you planning on using

[thedutchtouch]

a few thoughts from someone else also in design stages of his first boat.

1. why pontoons? a flat bottomed jon boat would allow the most shllow water access, where a pontoon boat would sit lower in the water for any given weight than a jon boat of the same weight. and why bother having them stick out halfway on either side of the deck? all you're accomplishing is limiting your deck space, if you want a wide boat, fine, then just make the deck full width- there's not really any reason not to.

2. why twin screw? you should be just fine with a single motor/prop, particularly with a boat this size

3. i'd advise not going to 1 motor- 2 props route unless you're experienced with fabrication and engineering, it's just another unnecessary feature that'll make this project harder to build, weigh more, and have more things that could break.

just my opinion, good luck. as for the aluminum/fiberglass, this type of bonding is done frequently in model aircraft building (ie to attach aluminum landing gear), perhaps you could research that route a bit to find some answers, although i do not know how that information will transfer to a marine environment.

[kirkster7]

I have thought about it more and i dont need it to go into shallow water. So i can scratch that off of the list. As for the pontoons being sticking out halfway past the sidewall, I thought it would look different than any other boat and mabye look kinda cool. I would like it to be wide, I think it would look good to me. Im working on some pics to give you guys a better idea. I have thought of some dimensions as well. I m thinking like 16 foot long and 6 foot wide deck. I have also scratched the one engine driving two props, instead ive thought of just having one engine. I was wondering if anybody had any good sites on building a pontoon boat, like a kit or something.

[flyinwall]

you could always build like a sailing cat and convert it to an outboard drive

[kirkster7]

Thanks flyinwall that was the concept i was going for, i just didnt know what it was called. Im going to have to change gears though. Could you guys steer me in the direction of making a custom jonboat out of fiberglass with a wood frame?

[flyinwall]

you could always find your dream jonboat and build it out of ply then cover it inside and out with fibreglass that way you have a strong and tough boat