My Little Cruiser

I'm looking for a design:
easy to build with common tools,
built with materials available at Lowes or Home Depot,
A cruising home for two people,
sleeps two more not so comfortably,
bunks at least 6'6" x 30",
powered by an outboard motor of around 20 Hp,
max beam 8',
proper head and holding tank,
seaworthy for coastwise operation.

Add something if you think I forgot an important requirement, and point me in the right direction, please.

 

Houseboat

If you are in Florida a houseboat is your best bet. You can cruise both coasts and down the St Johns further than Palatka, across the State and Lake Okeechobbee and all within protected waters.

There are plenty of good designs for houseboats that meet your requirements.

 

There is a design by Bolger that fits , but I cant remember the name .
30x8 and looks solid.

 

The highlighted points are contradictive.

Either quality or seagoing, both, dirt cheap and seagoing, is not in range.
And Bolger did his plans at a time when the quality of stuff from the suppliers you mentioned, has been a lot higher than today, so, don´t step in that trap!

Regards
Richard

 

you can get good material at a big box limber yard . Many exterior plywoods are of good quality you just have to know what you are looking for . But this argument will go on and on. You should be able to get a good 20 years out of a basic ply boat. Just build it right.

 

Here is a small one, 22" . with an eye on the weather you could use it for limited coastal excursions .

 

Nice boat Frank! Look like my bike could go on top!

Can CDX be glassed over and sealed for a boat.....that would last? Can the lanau 1/4" ply be glued togther, over lapped, to build up the material?

 

Again, a little extra expense up front will save you great expense later on.

http://www.intercitylumber.com/Marine_Plywood_Page.php

 

What is CDX and Lanau???

 

CDX is exterior roofing grade plywood. A-B-C-D being surface veneer quality from best to worst with A being clear or plugged to clear quality, and D having fairly large knot-holes on the surface veneer.

 

It is a case of buyer beware . 1/4 luan is crap, I have seen some underlayment ply that was very good , and much that was crap.
I would do my own research. But marine ply doesn't coast that much in relation to the whole project.

 

in short: cr@p.

And Lanau maybe Lauan?

 

He probably meant lauan when he said lanau.

 

Apex gives you good advice. The savings on -to quote his eloquent turn of phrase - crap materials will be negligable in the overall scheme of things.
It takes just as much effort to build a boat out of crap materials as it does to build out materials intended for the job....

 

There is a fellow named Dskira on this forum who is building a very nice boat along the same lines as yours. Take a look at his posts. There is plenty of Juniper and Cypress in your area. Buy good materials and set her up right.