Thread: Building a boat

I'm thinking of building myself a small boat for inshore fishing and diving.

Who has built their own before?
What design did you use?
How much did it cost?
Was it worth the effort vs buying a new one?
Any suggestions?

Curious to hear others info and experiences before I plunge head first. Thanks

Myself and the kids built a canoe, as a practice run for building a boat. Haven't got around to the boat yet.

https://bowdidgemarinedesigns.com/

This bloke has some good plans, anything from a 12 footer to however big you want to go.

@veitnamcam on this one

Nothing wrong with building your own, but consider a ‘hull only’ as sometimes found on trade me. Reconfigure to your specific needs.

I'm building a bowdidge design now, doing the sportzmaster 19, good plans and support through a builder's forum, when planning think how long it will take then times it by ten! Great process tho, most people doing those boats have no prior experience learn as you go

I built a small one...build thread on here somewhere.
What type/ size of boat are you thinking of building?

https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....y-build-34548/

Sounds like you could do with a Viking style longship. Ideal for inshore work.
Have thought it would be cool to make a dingy sized one, would end up being cheaper to just buy rather than build I suspect.

My advice... buy someone else’s boat and go out this week not next decade


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I bought plans for a Canadian Canoe. Stitch and Glue. Pretty simple but as @Spanners put it well, you need time to actually build it. Mines still plans.

Here it is. A Selway Fisher 15'7" https://www.selway-fisher.com/Opcan16.htm

I build ally boats for a living, and personally, id suggest to not fuck round with it, just buy a new one or a second hand one and get out there straight away. Much easier. If you still feel the need to build your own after 12 months of owning one, go ahead and do it, that way youll know what you want, how you want it and how to build it to suit your method of maintainace

Originally Posted by silentscope

I'm thinking of building myself a small boat for inshore fishing and diving.

Who has built their own before?
What design did you use?
How much did it cost?
Was it worth the effort vs buying a new one?
Any suggestions?

Curious to hear others info and experiences before I plunge head first. Thanks

I like the idea of self building a boat - however, I like fishing and shooting.... Etc.

If its your first boat, don't build it. Buy it. And maybe sell it and buy another
Then build one, when you have one. That way you can still fish or play on water when you're building your perfect boat.

Building a one off Al boat, if you don't have @vietnamcams skills, will be expensive compared to going and buying one that are new or second hand.

Iv done a few, worth it? Well that’s up to you , me I like building things , and most of the time you are about half what it would cost to buy (not including your time)
If you have the gear it helps, lots of plans/ kit set stuff about,
My advice is research, go look at shops go on other peoples boats find out what you like /don’t like
Then If your still keen go for it

Some good feedback so far. Iv owned 2 boats previously. Both 5.5m one a pontoon and the other a mono hull. Ill make it from aluminium. I'm an engineer and have all the gear to weld fold cut etc etc. Something 4-4.5m would be ideal for me as most of the time It will just be me or me and the Mrs and having had a bigger boat before its a pain in the arse trying to handle it alone. Was thinking more id save a bit of money doing it myself. Which kind of hull is easiest to build and customize etc is probably what I need to know more about.

Originally Posted by berg243

easiest option buy a frewza f15 bare hull and customise the interior. dont have to bother with getting deadrise and width right.

i was originally leaning towards doing exactly that, those boats really appeal to me

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

I built a small one...build thread on here somewhere.
What type/ size of boat are you thinking of building?

https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....y-build-34548/

that is a brilliant little boat, im hoping to acheive something long those lines maybe slightly longer