Looking for plans for a 2 person pontoon boat for fishing.

Jon boat can be rowed, though they're not the best shape for this. In the shallows they are "poled" rather then rowed and if you stand forward, poled easily. Jon boats pound unmercilessly, because of the flat bottom and flat plate bow, which is why I've recommend a garvey or skiff style of hull.

Finding a good used outboard isn't hard, if you know about outboards. Rebuilding them usually is reserved to people like me with the appropriate tools, but in many cases a used, possibly poorly running outboard, just needs maintenance, which you should be able to perform. I can't tell you how many engines and outboards I've bought, that just need to have it's carb rebuilt, a switch or relay replaced and they ran fine afterward. The owners couldn't figure out what was wrong and assumed it was dead, so the price was cheap.

 

Can you stand up in a garvey style boat? Or will that be tippy? I like to stand when I cast.

As for the outboard, I can handle gas motors well. Built my lister diesel generator from parts, rebuilt my lawn mower engine and have worked on a half a dozen automobile engines with my friends. A 50$ outboard doesn't scare me much. Id probably strip it and rebuild it. Or is there something special about outboards that sets them apart from other gas engines?

As I think about it, poling is probably better than rowing for fishing, less likely to scare the fish. But I defer to your expertise on design. If I can stand in it and cast without ending up face to face with the fish (or more appropriately if my 8 year old can) then I am fine with that design. Can you recommend any plans?

 

Yes, you can stand in both a garvey and a skiff. Outboards have some unique elements about them, often requiring special tools, such as flywheel pullers, etc. You can borrow the tools as you need them if you know someone willing to do so, but it's not like running down to the local NAPA and renting a harmonic balancer puller.



This is my Digger 17 design. It's a flat bottom clamming skiff design that's very stable, very tough and easily propelled (small outboard). It can be built as a regular skiff, with a 1" thick bottom or as a heavy duty version, which has a 1.5" thick bottom. This means you can beat the crap out of it and not have to worry about something punching through. A 10 HP engine will get her up on plane, though she's better with a 15 HP, so she can bash through chop and contrary currents. She'll float in a thimble with the engine raised up, she rows and can be poled easily too. Her heavy construction means she isn't as affected by chop as other flat bottoms and this is also why she has a fine entry, to cut through things in her way. The boat is designed to be built from Lowe's/Depot materials too.

Now that I've blown my horn:




Above is the Garvey 17 from Bateau.com and well suited. It'll need a bigger outboard than Digger, but it's a good, stable platform with lots of room and storage.




This (above) is Wee Hunk, from Glen-L.com and a power dory. It's similar to Digger, though has dory styling instead, but still a flat bottom boat. It requires about the same amount of power as Digger and as you can see doesn't need much water to float. She's a taped seam build and a pretty simple thing. This boat will be ever so slightly less stable (at rest) then Digger 17, but a noticeably more stable boat then the Garvey 17. In the garvey's favor will be a softer ride in a chop.

 

I am wondering about something with the larger boats. Do you have to find a source for a 17' piece of plywood or can you butt join together different sheets of plywood to make the span? Also what sources can you recommend for the Marine grade plywood? You mention Lowes and Home Depot, would these be special orders or stuff off the shelves? Im curious how much I would have invested in just the boat if I went the route of something like that skiff, just the hull, obviously extras are extra.

 

Plywood is available in over size sheets, but it's costly and it's just regular plywood that's been factory joined, which you can do yourself with standard 4x8 sheets. The sheets can be joined a few different ways, but a scarf or Payson butt joint are the most common. The big box store plywood I employ in Digger is off the shelf stock. I know of about a dozen marine plywood suppliers in Texas. Marine plywood is always the better choice, but on a simple skiff, not as important as on a 45' ocean crosser.

Plywood recommendations, as well as the other materials in the build, are supplied in the BOM with the plans set.

 

Kraythe,

The best marine plywood I have found in Texas is in Austin - Fine Lumber and Plywood. www.finelumber.com They have Ocume and Meranti plywood - both expensive but higher quality marine ply. I drive down there to get my supply (but I have another excuse to be there).

I assume you live close to Austin?

There is some Fir marine plywood up in Ft. Worth where I live, but it is so poor I won't use it for kayaks. It might be perfectly fine for a jon boat. You probably can find fir more local to yourself if you call everyone you can find.

Another suggestion for other boat parts is duckworksmagazine.com located in Harper, but they don't have plywood. They might know where to get it.

 

Some lumber suppliers in Texas:

Plywood & Door Corp. - 214/631 8458
Fine Lumber & Plywood - 512/836 8990
Plywood Company of FT Worth - 817/834-8831
Plywood & Door - 214/631 8458
Hardwood Lumber Company of Dallas, Inc. - 972/869-1230
Hardwood Lumber Co. - 713/862 6628
Houston Hardwoods - 713/686-6176
The Hardwood Barn - 903/822 4113
Stuart Adams Hardwoods - 903/567-1308
Hardwoods and Plywood's of Athens, LLC - 903/675-7509
Acadian Hardwoods - 866/769-8665
Allen & Allen - 210/733 9191

My Digger 17 design is built entirely of 1/2" plywood, with a few linear feet of solid lumber for rub rails, etc. The big box stores sell a 1/2" underlayment (meranti) that'll work, as well as a lesser grade of BC "Exterior", which will also work. Un-grooved "T1-11" siding (plywood) will also work if you can find it (it can be ordered and is cheap).

 

So is there a difference between the stitch and glue and taped seam methods? It seems to me that stitch and glue actually do tape the seams from what I've researched.

 

Taped seam is the method, while stitch and glue is just one of the techniques used to join panel edges. You can build a taped seam boat without a single "stitch".

 

hmm how do you do that? Any videos you can direct me to? I know the cedar stip method i have found videos on but I can't see how that would work with plywood and hard chines.

 

Again, stitch and glue is simply one method to join panels, before they are filleted and taped. You can align the panels in many different fashions. In fact, most find that "stitches" are a tedious way to do things and develop other panel alignment techniques, such a duct tape, nails (often called tack and tape), ratchet straps, Spanish windlasses, taps, blocks of wood, super glue, creative cursing, etc.

Cedar strip (strip planking) is a wholly different hull building method and has no relation to a taped seam build.

Simply put, the build method called "taped seam", takes plywood panels and joins their edges together with epoxy, fillets and 'glass fabrics (often in tape form). Stitch and glue is a technique using "stitches" (of several materials) to join the edges temporarily, until the goo, fillets and fabrcis are applied, locking the panels together.

 

Yeah I know cedar planking is different. I have seen a lot of videos on it. I also have seen videos on stitch and glue but none where the panels are held together with other methods and still able to hold to take the shape correctly. Is there any videos you know of for taped seam without the stitching? Also is there any reason the Digger you mentioned could not be a taped seam construction with stitch and glue? Also is there any disadvantage to the stitch approach?