Wanting to build my own boat.

[newsmyrnaslayer]

I'm not looking to start a business right now, mainly due to the fact that I don't have near enough experience. That being said I'd like to build my own little skiff. I've had an idea for a while in my head, and it consists of getting a 13' Gheenoe, cutting it in half and widening it about a foot or so, and adding front and rear decks. However, I know almost nothing when it comes to fiberglass and boats. I've shaped my own surfboards a couple years ago but I assume it's completely different. If I were to do this, what type of glass, mat, and hardener would I use? Would I use roven or just regular mat? How many layers? Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks in advance!

[messabout]

If you wish to be pointed in the right direction, then abandon the split Gheenoe idea. That is an impractical thing to do. If you want a boat of some dimension, then build or buy it that way in the first place. A major redesign of an existing boat is usually more expensive and almost always less satisfactory than a boat built from an existing plan.

You need to tell us how the boat will be used. Is it a powerboat? Is your goal to get a fast boat, a fishing boat, rowboat or ....?

[Clinton B Chase]

What have you read for books or articles on the subject? You are asking big questions. I wonder if we would be more helpful if you had some specific questions...i.e., not the basics like what what resin and glass, but ones that would help us give you answers that would help you get going faster.

Books on fiberglass building, I do not know. I would check out System Three's how to epoxy manual. I also think their stuff and any non-blush type resin system is best. But a great resource, after you've done some homework -- honestly -- would be the Classic Plastic Forum. Google it. Great experience on that forum.

Cheers,
Clint

[jeff spinney]

i don't know what a geenoe is but splitting a fiberglass boat isn't always impractical.i have done about 10,all were aprox 45' long but all plywood on the inside was rotten.Most of the time you pick a point from the widest part,or forward and cut on both sides of the keel back.Their are tons of things to ad but i'm better at grinding glass than typing.

[newsmyrnaslayer]

I basically want something in the 13-15 foot range, and a super skinny draft. I mainly fish the mosquito lagoon area.

[jeff spinney]

well you can do allot with fiberglass,preping the boat by grinding will be a big part of the job.i don't have time to talk now cause i'm taking off for a couple day but i can tell you what i know when i get back.

[Thunderhead19]

ohhhhhhh! Get two books (they're cheap). The Nature of Boats, and uhh....Elements of Boat Strength. Both of them are by Dave Gerr. The Nature of Boats has a great little nesting Dinghy as well as some other cool ideas to try. I'd go with one of those first, then try mutilating an existing boat later. If you want to cut a boat up, you have to make jigs to line up the halves again, and you need something to form the FRP around, either plywood or core of some kind (or make a partial melamine mold to make a section of FRP to fill the gap). Its not that hard to do, and it's relatively cheap, but its time consuming. For a few more hours of work and not much more material you can do it from scratch. If you read those books, no matter what, you should get what you want.

[TeddyDiver]

Can you put a picture here of that Gheenoe? It could help to figure what you are thinking to get. One way to get started is to copy ribs from that Gheenoe and scale them wider. Some fairing and you are ready to go with the project