No experience- Want to start small. Very small.

Hi speedracer I built/building two boats like the ones above the first was the Malahini built with no experience at all just what I picked up on the net and by trial and error. The outboard engine ones are a lot easier to build and setup as the engine includes your steering and cool system and is just a matter of sticking it on your transom and away you go. My second boat is a crackerbox the hull build is more or less the same but the engine setup, angle of the shaft, centre of buoyancy and gravity are a bit more brain testing
If you are thinking of using the boat for taking friends and family out for a spin I would look at the Malahini over the squirt as it's much more user friendly especially if your a long fellow like me
You can see my builds in the links below, best of luck.

 

Awesome builds man! That crackerbox is beautiful. Thanks for the advice!

Can anyone recommend a good book to start the learning process? Sorry if I missed something on the search bar.

 

Last question- difference in stability, rigidity, longevity, handling, general seaworthiness, etc. between general plywood construction, stitch and glue plywood, strip planking, fiberglass over wood, or any other construction methods I did not mention. Also- any particular construction method better for salt water? In terms of wear and tear on the exterior and actual seaworthiness (I know that probably pertains to the actual boat design itself).

Again, newbie here so just some general info might help, also haven't mastered the search bar yet so please forgive me. Thank you guys so much for your help.

 

The "boat building with plywood" is a very handy book http://www.boatdesigns.com/prodinfo.asp?number=12-430 but I'm sure there are 100's just the same.
My boats are flat bottomed and not suited to rough water, you would be better off with a v-hull if your going to be using it in the sea.

 

Some books to get you started, how about four?

First a fun book........

http://www.amazon.com/The-Nature-Bo...UTF8&qid=1368357042&sr=8-3&keywords=dave gerr

Next a more technical book.....

http://www.amazon.com/Boatbuilding-...-1-fkmr0&keywords=seward boat building manual

Some understandable engineering, this book was very helpful to me....

http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Boat...UTF8&qid=1368357218&sr=1-3&keywords=dave gerr

And my favorite (you might not need right away, but you will).....

http://www.amazon.com/Boatowners-Me... boatowner's mechanical and electrical manual

Read, study and ask questions. Take your time, plan your work and understand that you will make some mistakes and there will be "do overs". You will get frustrated at times and reach a point where you'll be torn between going forward with a project that seems to have no end and giving up. The best advice I ever got was to approach your boat building logically and plan it out but at the same time realize that the craft is assembled one piece at a time. Create the parts, put them together and eventually you'll get there.

MIA

 

Just ordered the first book on amazon. It got great reviews. I'll start with that, then work my way down the list. Thank you for the great tip MIA. You too Sean-Nos.

 

Type your offset table in excel, so you can decide on any scale that is big/small enough to be practical for the model building materials.

And if you decide to build a model don't scimp on the materials buy the model ply and the abachi model building planks.

ETA

As for the boat that broke in half after two days of use, the only thing I can say is, if you follow the buiding plans religiously, this will not happen.

 

Good advice here and I agree with making a real (not a model or scale) boat. A model is fine for checking how a new design goes together but it's not much easier than the real thing unless that is an oil tanker.

Question: do you really, honestly see yourself building the Atkin 28ft cruiser or something comparable? If the answer is "probably not" then ignore this.

If the answer is "yes" then the best plan IMHO is to start with a small rowboat that can be used as a tender for the big girl. That will be far more encouragement for proceeding with your dreams than something that will have little use down the road.

It really depends how much you need to learn about working with wood. If you are a total newbie an even better plan might be something uber-simple like a plywood canoe. Some time working with professionals would be great but they'll take you more seriously if you show you are serious about it, and you've learned some of the terms and used some of the tools.

BTW from the pic the Squirt will likely involve some serious bending challenges, requiring air-dried wood and/or steaming. It may be small but it does not look like a first-time build to me.