Wanted - Plywood pond toy boat design for 4-6 year old, 40-70lb child

Any ideas? Pond toy boat to be used under adult supervision. Ideal location - sandy creek at low tide, with shallow water pools and clean sand bottom. Boat size and weight - less than 6 foot long, 3 foot wide, 20lb. Fast-build, epoxy stitch-and-tape/fillet, no decking, flat bottom, 4mm or 3mm ply. To row and/or paddle, 3 plank chubby canoe/pirogue or 3 plank and transom canoe/dinghy, or 3 plank and 2 transoms pram.
Ideas/designs wanted, not construction advice, I have built several ply ultralights starting with a Mirror Dinghy and, later, a kind of upgraded coracle..
Definitely no "sheathing" or anything else that would make it heavier.
Bottom underneath would have a soft or hard wood centre runner and 2 outer runners ca 15-20mm square glued on without nails or screws because these would be sacrificial and when they got torn up I would plane them and glue new bits on.
Uncluttered interior, shake it and turn it over and all the sand and water fall out.
The only technical bit bothering me is how to make a flat 4mm ply bottom NON-SLIP, on the inside, without adding weight or using bare-wood floorboards, and without looking a mess! Something that is painted on or laid down AFTER the waterproofing with paint or varnish.
The boat would spend 99.9% of its life hanging on a wall indoors, so can I get away with water-based paint or varnish, what do y'all use these days? BUT - I would want the boat to absorb ZERO water when in use, no point in an ultralight if it gets heavier by absorbing water.
Fun, innit?
Mike

 

For the non slip bottom you can add sand or glass grain to the paint, I guess there is grain especially for this purpose.

 

Maybe try a small child's canoe design in ply, widened a bit, make the outer sacrificial runners as bilge keels 2 - 3 inches deep, so no centre board and case, with lateen or balanced lug, and rudder. Craft shop glitter can be mixed into varnish, paint, or epoxy, for anti-skid, it's not so gnarly as sand since it mostly lays flat, but gives some grip. Paddling may be easier for a youngun than the coordination needed for rowing. As a child I had a ball in a very simple flat bottomed canoe, - flat at bow and stern too, vertical stem and stern, with a slat floor so no wet bum. I'd fillet and epoxy the inside floor only, for wear, and then varnish / paint the lot.

 

Thanks, I have heard of that, I'll have a look round.
I wanted to "Like" your reply, but cannot see a "Like" button????
Mike

 

Not sure there's anything here that will precisely fit your brief, but perhaps some inspiration:

Bumblebee Sailboat https://angusrowboats.com/pages/bumblebee-sailboat

Micro Auray Punt | Free Boat Plans http://hvartial.kapsi.fi/ossauray/auray_u.htm

Sweet Pea https://gaboats.com/collections/canoes/products/sweet-pea

 

Thanks, there are some good ideas in there. Sailing might come later, so only small runners because the joy of that creek is, partly, floating on very shallow water.
I wanted to "Like" your reply but cannot see a "Like" button . . . ??

 

Hannu's boatyard has a lot of small, simple ply boat designs...

Hannu's Boatyard | Free Boat Plans http://hvartial.kapsi.fi/

For instance, he's built the Portugese dinghy at 7'4" and 5'. Worth noting that even at 5', he's designed for a 115kg adult, so it is very beamy. For a child, the beam could presumably be scaled back considerably, and the ply thickness reduced.

 

And, at risk of sabotaging your build ambitions...: Child's Sit On Top Kayak 1.8M (Junior Children Kayaking Fun) | DIY at B&Q https://www.diy.com/departments/child-s-sit-on-top-kayak-1-8m-junior-children-kayaking-fun-/0600988554122_BQ.prd

 

Some good stuff there, and that Bumblebee is super-cute! But they are all a bit beyond our 4-year-old, at the moment. Great sites to bookmark though!

I wanted to "Like" your reply, but I cannot see a "Like" button . . . ???

 

Thanks, I like this site a lot. Yes, big scaling-down needed for a 40lb-70lb child, I am looking at maybe a 6' x 3' hull overall, but flat floor maybe around 5' x 2.5'. My first effort at sketching a pirogue-style boat, for paddling and rowing, is drawn for 6' x 3' overall for a cardboard mock-up.

 

Not plywood, but a good build. FWIW, I have seen this idea (i.e. tugboat) also done in plywood by a friend NA for his kids.



Tubby Tugboat https://www.glen-l.com/9-Tubby-Tug-tugboat-for-kids/products/906/?srsltid=AfmBOooWndoBc4-utkbrdboq418DxAJ_NnLD-XeE9VxJzRYGclkK4hKj

 

Thanks, I am looking at those sit-ons with interest, but there is something down-to-earth about an ultra-simple sit-in plywood boat. I was a burnt-out dinghy racer at 20 years old, but I have gone full circle, and I now seem to appreciate daft little boats, the simpler and the least hassle the better.
In the same way as, although I am amazed by the various high speed modern racing boats (I loved the video of Ellie Aldridge winning the Gold Medal on that Formula Foil board at speeds up to 35 mph), we can still enjoy a sail in an 8-foot pram dinghy, making sure that we have an anchor, a flask of tea and a bun!
(Again, I cannot see how I can "Like" your thread, what is the trick, please?)

 

The trick is time.
You need to be a Forum member for a bit.
Oops, cancel that, you need a certain number of posts perhaps...

 

Thanks, it has worked this time!

 

Mike, would a little dory like 'Mark's Ark' in the link below be suitable for your child?
Setting the Record Straight: Mark’s Ark | Cruising World https://www.cruisingworld.com/setting-record-straight-marks-ark/

Unfortunately the additional links in this article for more information and plans no longer work

I have got a copy of this article saved somewhere safe (a hard copy though, not electronic) - and I cannot find it now......

This article is also mentioned in this neat thread on the Wooden Boat Forum about small boats -
https://forum.woodenboat.com/forum/designs-plans/131866-super-small-boat-for-kids