Boat that doubles as a truck cap

You're building it too heavy to be easily managed.
Will there not be anything in the truck box or will there be provisions to protect stuff from weather and thieves while the top is on the water?

 

I recall bouncing into this one some time back. It's a 50's retro concept, but could be adapted for a contemporary design. Your vehicle or camper top would need to mate with the gunwales. The hull shape is whatever you want it to be. If it compliments the vehicle like this all the better!

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Are going to leave all those ribs in the boat? A boat that size can do with a lot less framing than the picture suggests.

 

Good call SamSam.
3/4" is Waaaaay to heavy.

The size you want is 4mm( 3/16")
You will want to put a light epoxy/glass layer on, and that will be plenty, with some light framing.

The concept is a great one, and I have been through the process ( and may again )

Keep up the good work

 

I agree with you at this point. I am trying to build it light, but as its a boat, and we will for sure be in alligator infested swamps, I was erring on the side of caution. The ribs are spaced every 12". They are 3/4" plywood by 3" wide. What I did do is cut the vertical parts of the ribs down to 2".

 

The boat will be skinned with 1/4 in Luan plywood, then 1" thick foam will be glued to the plywood. I will glue canvas to the foam and paint it. At this point I have the whole boat skinned and the excess luan trimmed off, just a few steps further along then this picture. I can lift it by myself, barely. Its hard to say how much it weights. The canvas is maybe 5 lbs, 5 lbs for the foam, maybe 20 more for all the glue and paint to finish it. It will be manageable by 2 people, but it would have been nice to make it lighter. I might put some handles on it to make it easier to move.

The plan to launch the boat is to back down the boat ramp and slide the boat off the back of the truck. The front of the boat will touch the ground, and then the boat will be pivoted on its nose, and flipped back into the water. I plan on putting some bumpers on the nose so it doesnt scratch and so it grips the ramp. Getting it off should be easy, back on maybe tougher

 

The BS 3hp motor is "BS", You can't get that kind of power out a small electric motor. Most of the electric motor suppliers outright lie about the HP numbers.

This doesn't really have any effect on the project, just letting you know.

Looks extremely over built and much heavier than it needs to be, a small plywood boat that size can be very light and still strong enough to do what you want it to do.