Motor Canoe Question

Been thinking about building The Boy an outboard canoe. With spring nearing, I've been looking for stitch and glue plans for a large motor canoe, say 20ft. I've Googled plans,forums, everything I could think of, and I can't find such a thing, and I ain't paying $3,000.00 for a freight canoe kit.

Any idea where to find plans like this? I've never built anything but aluminum boats, but I live in the desert now. I figure a ply boat is the way to go up here since I don't have the aluminum fabrication shop at my disposal any more. I'm leery of trying to draw my own plans my first go at S&G, though.

Any help would be appreciated.

Lance.

 

Lance,
I have not seen plans for motor driven canoes like the Grand Lakers that are stitch and glue. Look at this site ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/007/y5649e/y5649e06.pdf they have complete plans for plywood fishing boats that are for use with a small motor. The plans on the site above are for easily driven small boats that could be built by anyone with a few hand tools. They are very detailed and I think you and your son would have a lot of good times with the finished boat. The best part is they are FREE.
Gary

 

Thanks duluthboats,

I'm a competent fabricator, and have every confidence that I can draw a set of plans that a boat can be built from, I just wanted to avoid little corrections by using a set of proven plans.

I'm also prone to experimentation, and without a set of plans, I may not be able to keep myself from making this into a step hydroplane or maybe an inverted vee at the stern. Just have to be different. Just have to have the fastest 10hp canoe around.

If I have plans to work from, I can just plow through the project with an end in sight. Who knows where it might take me if I am allowed to run wild.

Lance.

 

Don't know if you can adapt the plans, but Selway-Fisher http://www.selway-fisher.com has a couple of good canoe designs that might work.

 

Seems you've been looking in the wrong places!

How about this one, plans are only $27. It's a 15 footer so just add an extra frame and stretch it out to 20 feet if that's the length you need:





Check here for the details:

http://www.jemwatercraft.com/proddetail.php?prod=DKDingy15

 

Thank for the responses, guys.

I've seen all of those, but like Ken Grome said, I may just have to modify(stretch) an existing set of plans.

Thanks again.

Lance.

 

Seen the Lutra laker?



http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/06/designs/laker/index.htm

This is a pretty similar boat to what you state, a little more complex, but similar.

Also here is another, the SC16:

http://www.bateau.com/proddetail.php?prod=SC16



Neat little boat....

E

 

You might switch to building a 20 ft dory which would have an engine compartment inboard. Much more appropriate for efficiently powering around as the beam is wider and the engine better located.
The dory also takes to oars well, again due to a somewhat wider beam. Best of all, there are plenty of stitch and glue plans around. All dorys are made from boards or plywood panels, but few canoes are.

Alan

 

I've been looking at dory plans, too. You're probably right about them being the way to go. An inboard motorwell sounds good, too. Better balance, nice and quiet if it's covered, too. Flat bottoms go faster than rounded canoe hulls, too.

I've also been thinking of a thwart-seat mounted steering wheel like on a small whaler or maybe even a tiny center console.

Do you know of any plans that fit these criteria?

Lance

 

http://www.boat-links.com/Atkinco/Utilities/BigJake.html

Something like this? This one is a real inboard, but it would be convertable to a well and lifting motor type. A lot of boat but easy to build. There are plenty of 18-22 ft dory designs out there with detailed drawings showing a simple motor well.
I could have googled longer, but you'll get lucky if you spend some time on the search engine.

Alan