Building (And Extending) A Home Built Boat

[Woodnaut]

I wanted to build a boat, so I shopped around and found some plans by "Hartley". When they arrived they were dated 1966 and had the country "New Zealand" written in the title block. I had the plans and a few power tools, so now I needed some wood. I purchased some Philippine Mahogany, several sheets of marine plywood, a couple of gallons of Epoxy, a few pounds of ring shank nails, and about a zillion silicon bronze wood screws. I built a stock and cut out the frames. After a gallon or two of epoxy I had her framed up.

I ripped some boards, spread some more epoxy, did lots more sanding, and then I had the stringers in and the chine in place.

Two layers of 1/4 marine ply followed on the bottom and sides, with copious amounts of epoxy. This little boat has a flared bow, so two overlapping layers of 6" wide plywood strips were worked onto the bow.

Over she goes. A little trim work here and there, then it was flipped upside down again where she was sanded all over. The bow was faired with epoxy and silica filler. Then the entire hull was fiberglassed.

Time to start thinking about the topsides. There are some thick sections of mahogany in the transom, under the gunwales, and especially under (and in) the forward deck. She measured out at 14" 6".

Building was easy. In addition to time and money, what you really need to build a boat is persistence. Preparation for painting seemed to go on forever. Man, that was a long, hot, humid summer. I turned my garage into a paint booth and sprayed the whole shebang. I'm glad I did. I got a really great finish that lasted for years. I used an Interlux single part polyurethane.

 

[Woodnaut]

Re: Building (And Extending) A Home Built Boat

Okay, now it's off to Texas Parks and Wildlife to get her registered. All she needs is some letters and numbers, a few wires, and an engine. Dropped $2k and some elbow grease into reworking a 1977 Merc 70 hp. It turned out to be the right thing to do.

I finished in Jan 2000 and she was launched. Everything. I used her like this for the next six years.

In 2006 I decided that it was about time to repower. I had my heart set on a 4 stroke. I like the saltwater, and wanted to try to get a little more protection from a following sea, so I opted for an engine with a 25" shaft and a full transom. The smallest 4-stroke I could get with a 25" shaft was a 90 HP Yamaha, but that weighed a bunch more than my old engine. So, I needed additional displacement to support the heavier engine. The solution was to add on another 2 feet of boat. So the old girl got stripped down and the transom was cleaned up.

I started by building an extension to the transom that would "adequately support" the weight. Yes indeed. The bottom piece is several thick sections of mahogany that was epoxied and screwed together. Built into it are two 316 SST 1" diameter drain tubes. (I had to take the bilges to the outside world.) The sides of the box are three layers of 3/4" Okume marine plywood and fiberglass. The bracing is 10 gauge 316 SST, and the bolts are 3/8 SST. Pictures fail to adequately display the strength of this section.

The transom was built from two layers of 3/4" and one layer of 1/2" Okume plywood. Notice the entire transom is edged in thick sections of Mahogany. This protects the edges of the plywood from moisture ingress, as well as providing protection against the inevitable dents and dings.

After the sides and bottom went on, the transom was compartmentalized into three sections. The center will be an air chamber, and the outer two chambers were filled with foam. The computed buoyancy provided from the two outer chambers is well in excess of the weight of the motor.

 

[Woodnaut]

Re: Building (And Extending) A Home Built Boat

The transom gets capped, finished and fiberglass. Again, more epoxy, silicon bronze and 316 SST fasteners.

Now it's time to paint. (Not to mention the sanding......) Once again the garage gets turned into a paint booth.

Okay, Now she measures 16' 7". Add the engine and some controls, rigging, plenty of wiring, and a pair of custom fuel tanks. Forward is a Garmin 185 Chartplotter/Sounder and some stowage under the bow. A handy shelf is under the bow on the port side. Twin batteries are all the way forward, and the battery switch is under the bow on the starboard side.

The aft bulkhead is the old transom that was filled in - nice and strong. Just forward of that are two custom built 12 gal. fuel tanks, fuel tank selector and 10 micron fuel filter. Above them is a bench seat. The 4 stoke Yamaha was so quiet that I decided to add a CD/stereo. Forward of the bench and under the floor boards are a pair of independent Rule 1500 GPM bilge pumps.

Yep, there's nothing like overdoing it. It's time to head to the water.

If you would like to see her on the water, here's a short video. (There might also be a fish or two.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4Liuc0V0DA