Please help. Romantic here. One week deadline on a simple raft project.

[clam61]

My wife saw a pic of a couple having dinner on a very small simple raft...floating with a small dinner table etc. it was an ad for a place in the bahamas.

my one year anniv. is coming up and i want to surprise here with that, but used here on our local lake.

i know nothing about boat building. what is an easy way to build a raft with common cheap materials that i can fit in a mini van. it needs to hold me and my wife and maybe a small small table + food. i plan to load it in the van and unload it myself. just drag it to shore. total combined weight of my wife, me, + food is generously estimated at 300 lbs.

i was thinking maybe get some old junk tires and strap it to some wood?

i got until the 27th. thanks!

[Frosty]

What you saw was probably a computer generated image. A small raft of the size you are suggesting is not possible, it will be very very unstable.

Your wife with new hair do and new shoes will end up in the drink if either of you moved so much as an eyelid.

7 days only,--must go in a mini van. Very very very bad Idea.

Why not a small fishing type pier on your lake, at least you'lle come home dry and still friends.

[clam61]

what about this:

http://www.captainfletch.com/project...barrelraft.asp

[Frosty]

There you go then!!! Happy anniversary.

[Poida]

Why not tie the plastic drums to the side of your mini? Got a sunroof?

Poida

[Pericles]

Just the article here. TheRiftRaft designed an amazing raft. Photos and everything. Go build.

http://boatdesign.net/forums/showthr...light=pericles

Pericles

[lewisboats]

Buy two cheap 2 person inflatable boats at walmart...lash them side by side and put a 4x8 sheet of plywood on top. After the dinner you can play with the boats and use the plywood for something else. My $000000000.02

Steve

[clam61]

Originally Posted by lewisboats

Buy two cheap 2 person inflatable boats at walmart...lash them side by side and put a 4x8 sheet of plywood on top. After the dinner you can play with the boats and use the plywood for something else. My $000000000.02

Steve

hi steve. i like this proposal. two cheap inflatable boats...like those cheap yellow rafts?

[lewisboats]

Originally Posted by clam61

hi steve. i like this proposal. two cheap inflatable boats...like those cheap yellow rafts?

whatever you can find that fits the bill.

Steve

[clam61]

Originally Posted by Pericles

Just the article here. TheRiftRaft designed an amazing raft. Photos and everything. Go build.

http://boatdesign.net/forums/showthr...light=pericles

Pericles

i might go for this one, actually, just because i envision tying the platform to the pipes easier than attaching it to the rafts

[lewisboats]

The weight of the PVC is the problem...you have to have twice as much to provide the buoyancy.

Steve

[USCGRET/E8]

Originally Posted by clam61

hi steve. i like this proposal. two cheap inflatable boats...like those cheap yellow rafts?

Good luck getting onto that, let alone sit at a table...it would take at least four rafts to be anywhere near stable..the pvc pipe would be a bit expensive,
but at least there's pictorial proof that it floats!

[clam61]

Originally Posted by USCGRET/E8

Good luck getting onto that, let alone sit at a table...it would take at least four rafts to be anywhere near stable..the pvc pipe would be a bit expensive,
but at least there's pictorial proof that it floats!

the guy who made it...he had a table and some chairs. it's not stable?

[messabout]

Clam61 appears to be a romanticist who would please his lady with such a unique anniversary dinner. Good for him.

Great idea but not a practical one. Maybe next year. In the meantime you can explore raft options more thoroughly.

[clam61]

why would the PVC pipe design that was linked before not be a viable option?