Easy Boat to Build?

[bsol]

I have always wanted to have a boat and want to build one this summer. I am by all means an amateur. I have looking for an easy plan to build from. By easy, I mean the following:

-easy to build
-relativly inexpensive to build
-size (small enough to transport atop my SUV if possible)

Any ideas? From initial research and no background in boat building, I'm thinking a of a stitch and glue drift style boat. I'm planning to use it in the Isle of Wight Bay on the coast of Maryland.

Thanks guys!

[lewisboats]

check out DuckSkiff on Duckworks magazine http://www.duckworksbbs.com/plans.htm Yours would look similar but with a bit less height on the side...I raised the shear by 3" at his request.

Steve

[VV Cephei]

I recently made a small (10') wooden boat, and I was given a few links in a thread I made that helped me decide on a design and gave me some building ideas and tips as well. You should check out Steve's site Lewis Boat Works for some ideas, there's lots of things there that you'd find helpful.

[thudpucker]

Have a look at Lewis Boats little Jon boat. I'm still sketching the way I want the inside of it to be(for me) but the outside is just what I want for a lake boat and it looks like an easy build as well.

[bsol]

Thanks! All these posts have been helpful. I like the Duckskiff and am trying to decide whether to build the motorized or rowing version. I've never used a rowboat to get around and really have no idea if I could get anywhere in it. A motor really jacks up the price. Any tips on finding a motor suitable for this project? All motors I can find are $500+.

[thudpucker]

Eastern shore of what?
Motors are around, if your handy you can pick them up pretty cheap.
I've been rowing all my life.
Fly fishing is best done from a Row Boat. In my 12' Aluminum I do a mile in 10 minutes without working very hard at all.
Try it, you'll like it.

[bsol]

I could give the rowboat a shot. I'd be on the eastern shore of Maryland around ocean city. The waters are sometimes choppy so hopefully I can row through it. I fish with a sinker and normally catch sea bass and summer flounder.

Say I want to build the rowing version of the duckskiff. I would also like to be able to put a motor in it if I can find one eventually. Do you think I'd be better off building the rowing version and then putting a motor in it? Or rowing the motor version before I can get the motor? What is the reason for the different hull shapes?

[thudpucker]

Only Lewis can answer that. But my guess would be to build the Engine version and then row it. Be sure to put in two sets of oarlocks so you can row from the Fwd seat if you have a couple of riders in the back.
Make those oars as well. If you can make a boat you can also make oars!

[lewisboats]

The rowing version is better for human and very small motor propulsion. The aft end of the boat has rocker which allows the water to better come back together after going around (and under) the hull. This makes for an easier to move boat but restricts the boat to hull speed unless you way over power it. The Motor version is optimized to plane with a decent motor but will be difficult to row because the transom is submerged and "sucks" a lot of water, using up much of your rowing effort to overcome the drag. You would only want to row the motor version for short distances and in relative calm waters like a small lake or if your motor is down.

Steve

[thudpucker]

Originally Posted by lewisboats

The rowing version is better for human and very small motor propulsion. The aft end of the boat has rocker which allows the water to better come back together after going around (and under) the hull. This makes for an easier to move boat but restricts the boat to hull speed unless you way over power it. The Motor version is optimized to plane with a decent motor but will be difficult to row because the transom is submerged and "sucks" a lot of water, using up much of your rowing effort to overcome the drag. You would only want to row the motor version for short distances and in relative calm waters like a small lake or if your motor is down.

Steve

Holy Cow. I didnt know all that. I've been rowing Motor boats all my life. I wonder how much further I could have been if I'd had a real Rowing boat?

Locally I dont have to license a boat if I dont use a motor on it.
So my boat is gonna be one of Lewis's Rowing Jon boats.
He's promised me an easy life of Rowing with the application of all that Technology.