I'm going to risk the ire of the "fur and feather fundamentalists" and post this here, because it's related to my flyfishing and because the viewpoint forum seems to be all about weird and wonderful topics. I hardly ever read it because it's not about fishing... sorry I'm digressing aren't I .

I'm considering winter projects when the season closes and I've thought of building a wee boat for loch flyfishing and maybe some sea-fishing mostly inshore in bonny weather.

I expect some of you out there have built boats or can offer more general advice about suitable designs, kits and construction methods.

I'd really like to have my cake and eat it with a trailerable boat that's sea-worthy as well as loch-worthy, and if I can mount a rig as well as an outboard that'd be good too saving fuel and the fun of a wee sail, but I'm guessing that having enough clearance to deal with ocean swell and chop will preclude easy rowing? So maybe just something suitable for inland sailing and fishing?

But I really don't want to preclude any good advice so feel free to suggest almost anything you like. Only thing off limits is open canoes and sit-on kayaks which I'm really not interested in for fishing purposes.

Over to all of you... thanks very much for reading.

PS. I meant to type "your" own boat

I'm in the process of building a 15 foot wooden driftboat, Wrongfoot. In fact, I just got to that milestone moment of taking it off the strongback jig and turning it upright last weekend. At this point I'd say we are 75% done and a buddy and I started it last march.

For this first boat, I'd say focus on something simple. I'd say don't try to build a boat that's all things to all people, based on your post, I'd say build something like a basic 16 or so foot power dory or similar. A good general purpose fishing boat that you can row or use an outboard is what I'd shoot for.

Let me know if you want sites for plans.

General advice:

- Plans vary in their quality and so do the instructions that come with them. I made the mistake of buying plans that looked easy, only to discover the instructions were absolute **** and were general, not specific to the boat plan I bought. So basically, from about the second day I was building from my own plan.

Try and find someone who has built the actual plan you want to build and find out how good it was, easy to build, etc.

- How good are your general woodworking skills and how well are you outfitted as far as tools? At some point some plonker is going to tell you that all you need to build a wooden boat is a few common hand tools and common sense. My ass.

The thing I learned right away is that when it comes to boat building, NOTHING is square and easy. Everything is built on a curve with multiple bevels and tapers to every piece. This makes for very slow work that requires precision. You need to know how to scribe, bevel, and taper accurately. I thought I was a decent woodworker when I started and let's just say I had to get a LOT better over the course of this project. But hey, no one ever got good at woodworking just by reading books about it.

Tools and Shop Space - Having good tools makes the work go faster and gives greater precision. Both of which are very, very good things.

A brief list of tools that I'd consider essential: A minimum of 30 wood clamps of various sizes, a compressor and air brad and finishing nailers, a power plane, jack plane, Stanley #5 or similar plane, pattern-makers rasps and files, large and small belt sander (essential!), cordless drills, table saw, drill press, skil saw, recip saw, jig saw (handheld), band saw, spirit levels, 2 sets of sawhorses, and all the usual hand tools for woodworking.

Then you need someplace to work. I'm building my boat in my garage (2 car), so my car has been homeless since April. Uou need someplace dry and with LOTS of very good light. I installed 4 more 200 watt fixtures before we started, so I have 8 lights in the gargae total. I should have put in 4 more flourscent 4 foot lights as well! A dim garage with one bulb won't be good enough.

But it's a lot of fun building the boat, I've enjoyed it tremendously. We should be on the water in September.

Hope this helps.

Grouse

Wrongfoot,

I wanted to build my own boat, and like you, wanted one that could do everything. Such boats do exist, but they are inevitably a compromise and are then actually not really good at anything. As the Grouse pointed out then building your own, from plans can be difficult, involving a significant investment in tools, euipment and space, not to mention a reasonable degree of woodworking skills.

I finally decided to bite the bullet, but after watching my Father build his little dinghy from a kit (he manages to put shelves up wrong, but built the boat easily in a small garage!) I decided that this was the way to go. It is definitely easier, and probably cheaper, as materials are provided, cut to size, and therefore there is less chance of an expensive cockup.

The kit I got was from Fyne Boats and the chaps their are really helpful, always available on the phone to give helpful advice and guidance. This link will take you to their website:

http://www.fyneboatkits.com/trolleyed/index.htm

I think the kit route would be good to consider, but a couple of things to think about in that direction.

- What's your motivation for building a boat in the first place? Saving money? Building a design you cannot readily buy and one that's built to your exact needs? The satisfaction of building a boat on your own and one that looks good?

For me it was a combination of all 3, but mostly it's the fact that driftboats are almost unheard of in these parts. So so the main driver was to build something I could not buy, for a price far cheaper than I could buy it if it were available. To be honest, I enjoy the woodworking challenge as well.

- It's not always cheaper to buy a kit when compared to a used boat. You have to decide is it worth the time and money to build it rather than just buy a used boat. I suspect for many common designs out there it's far cheaper to just buy used. If I lived out in the PNW, I could buy a used alu driftboat for about $1000 more than it'll cost me to build a wooden one. But then there's the $1000 in fuel and the 4 days of driving it would cost me to go and get it . . .

- I'm going to get into trouble for saying this, but wood boats = maintenance. Lots and lots and lots of maintenance. They also need proper storage or the maintenance problems are compounded.

The advice I've been given for my driftboat is to keep it either inside a garage (not possible, I'm afraid) or completely under cover to avoid exposing the fiberglass and wood to water and UV light. And unlike an aluminum boat that will forgive you for occasional transgressions, wood will not. When you need to do something to maintain wood, you can't put it off or you will have rot.

Grouse

Grouse,

some very good points, well presented. My mtivation for building my own boat was mostly the satisfaction of building my own, but with limited time, very limited space, and almost no skill, I decided a kit was for me. If I ahd more tiem and someone to show me how to do the difficult bits I would have loved to have tried a "properly built" boat.

I have an inflatable canadian canoe that fits into a car boot, and is ok for quick trips, but did not have the wow factor of a wooden boat.

You are right about the maintainance. Wood boats take a lot of TLC to keep them nice, but for me that is part of the fun of owning a boat.

After all I drive an old Land Rover......

You are in the wrong plaice Try Here - where there is lots of well intentioned advice aimed at residents of Maine, Florida or Washington.

If you izz a Brit - you will end up Here.

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Well, you have to be something of a sadist to own any kind of boat, IMO. Basically, you're never without something to fix as long as you've got a boat and a trailer.

Now you having both a wooden boat and an old Land Rover, well that's just sick. You should seek help.

Grouse

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

I've seen the Fyne boats pages too. What design did you choose in the end and why? I'd be really interested to hear whether you'd choose the same design with hindsight?

I'll enjoy the woodworking, and the job satisfaction. You're right that I'll need to chose the right boat for me, I'd be pretty upset to find I'd made a poor choice and completed a build that wasn't the best choice for me. That's why I'm asking for advice now.

I had heard that epoxy-on-ply boats are relatively low maintenance compared with a tradtional wooden build? Am I misinformed?

Oh and thank-you very much for replying too.

Relatively low maintenance - yes - but if you ride a boat hard there is always something that needs doing.

The modern epoxy based approaches - strip, glued-lap, cold moulded or S-n-G - build very different hulls when compared with the traditional techniques - hulls which are MUCH better suited to sitting on trailers and the inevitable wet-dry cycling.

The Selway-Fisher booklets are good - Ian Nicholson on strip and cold moulding is pretty comprehensive - and the WB bookstore ( http://www.woodenboatbooks.com/WBB/_Home_.html ) a fine way to mash the wallet.

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