Is it possible to build a small lightweight 8ft portable fishing boat you can use with oars or electric motor, that folds away into the boot of your car and still remains stable and solid in the water?

I've taken a look at the Porta-Botes and think they're great, but unfortunately these just go down to surfboard size so you'd still need a fairly big car to put this on the roof, plus they also cost a lot of money at £1591.00 just for basic 8ft boat on its own.

Sure it is.
Like this:
Duckworks Boatbuilders Supply

or this:
Duckworks Boatbuilders Supply

or a folding kayak like the Aleut here:
Folding Kayaks & Folding Boats from Folbot - Kayaks - Aleut

and there are any number of small inflatables too.

But when you weigh up the necessary robustness and weather-worthiness of very small fishing boats, if you plan to keep it under a thousand, the kayak and float tube alternatives stand out above the others.

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Norm

Float Tube Fishing 30+ years
Float Tubing Info Resource

I can't speak to the Duckworth boat (totally new to me) but the folding Kayaks; work a treat. Quite a few folks use them 'around here' for lake fishing. Disassembled, they're about the size of a large suitcase.

Takes a bit of time to assemble/disassemble, but (the ones I've seen) were very well made. That said, they're not 'cheap,' but you get what you pay for .....

fae

It's the folding part that's tough, John. It's really difficult to engineer that feature into a boat and still have a solid boat for fishing use.

Suggestion: Woud it be feasible to add a roof rack to your car and then build a lightweight boat that could be loaded on your car top?

There are a LOT more self-build options in this category. I'd say you're a prime candidate for the pram style.

Look at the boats here: Spring Creek Prams

There are many sites where you can buy plans to build a pram and it's not that difficult because of the shape of the pram. Just looking at it, I'd guesstimate you could build an 8 foot pram that weighed about 70 pounds. Set up a roof rack right and one person could easily load that onto a car by himself.

Grouse

The eight foot folders I've met have been dancing bears...
Stability in small boats is an intensely personal question - and what is perfectly fine for one person can be terrifying for another..

Grouse's put it on the roof suggestion is a good one - but you'll want a shed for the rest of the time.

Classic 12 - Geodesic AiroLITE Boats

Then there's the whole matter of where you can and can't legally use a boat - powered or otherwise - which in mainland Britain is a whole lot more complicated than you might have guessed.

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Plusnet/Madasafish > Liars to the internet community

Hi John,

First of all, try out whatever you decide to go for first. I had a porta boat. I was not impressed with them. Although they are safe and you can pack a bit of stuff into them they spin around like a basin in a tank of water plus they don't drift properly. Have recently started fishing from a kayak and its the business. Planning on fitting a bracket for an electric engine so that should conserve me of some energy..!! The other idea is to get a float tube. How big is the water that you intend to fish?

Regards
buzzr

Almost anything that's in the 8 foot class is going to spin in the wind, I'd think.

Anyway, every boat is a compromise. Buzzr, you're exactly right, whatever you think you want, try it out first. Several times, I'd say.

In many cases the disadvantages don't become evident with just a casual test, you have to spend a number of hours actually in a given boat before some of the issues will dawn on you.

Also, Downstream brings up the excellent point of making sure you can actually use it where you'd like to.

Grouse