Progress on my boat

[blueyed-goof]

I've been working on my foam boat now that i've had a little bit of time off to relax. Here are a few pics of just fitting the wood for the cockpit. Today I scarfed the plywood pieces together since my cockpit is 8 1/2 ft long (3 ft wide) and used a butt joint with the help of biscuit joints to join the two little pieces of 1x8 pine boards together to make the front part of the cockpit. Tomorrow I hope to install the cockpit or a part of it. I will be glassing in the floor of the cockpit after the plywood is layed down and the sides put up for added protection. Just by dry fitting the cockpit, I have seen that I need to work on cutting the foam out a bit straighter. The wood may be warped a bit, but I know that I need to cut in a straight line. :) It's been a lot of fun so far!!! I am expecting it to be ready for early teal season!!!!!

Dani

[Converted]

Good job, keep us posted. It's special to hunt out of a boat that you have built. :icon_salu

[Wilbur]

Looks great! Have you done this before? I built a boat once out of plywood and fiberglass and it worked great... only bad thing it weighed a ton. Keep the pics coming, its nice to see how a project comes together... especialy when someone knows what they are doing. Keep up the good work! :icon_salu

[DUCKWHACKER]

Good lookin' boat ya got goin' there :thumbsup:

[blueyed-goof]

I got to work on the cockpit and was able to install the flooring saturday and then had to wait....and wait....and wait....and wait. Today the sides were put up but as you can probably tell in the pictures I didn't cut the foam very straight. The wood is a bit warped but that didn't make a big difference in the gaps. We ended up sealing and filling in gaps with the Dap window latex sealer. Tomorrow I plan on laying down glass on the outside of the cockpit to help bind the wood to the boat. The transom is cut out and is being waterproofed and sealed with epoxy. After all this I have to figure out what to lay on the bottom to help the boat track better. It's gettin there!!!

Wilbur-

My dad and I built a pirogue out of mahogany marine plywood and scrap mahogany lumber and glassed the out side of the hull...it's pretty light...i think around 50 lbs or so. It was 13'6" long w/ 11" sides and the beam was about 40" at the very widest. This is a learning experience for me that's for sure....my dad has built two kayaks so I get a lot of help from him when I need it.

[blueyed-goof]

here are a few more shots....I got my transom on yesterday during the storms ...now the cockpit is totally enclosed! all I have left is a bit of filling, laying another layer of glass on the bottom and putting on some kind of runners on the bottom to help it track better. I can't wait to test it out!!!!

[blueyed-goof]

Well I am just about finished!!!!! As for the building I am done. I need to add a few more coats of resin to completely seal everything and then paint it. Not sure what color yet, but I'll get to that later. I really can't wait to test it out. I am in the market for a little 3-3.3hp motor for my boat now. Figured gas would be better for me than electric. Especially for cutting down on weight. I need to get a picture of the topside finished but I didn't want to do it in the rain so that'll come later. Early teal season here I come!!!!!!!

Dani

[Steve W]

Nice.

Boy would I like to have a work area like that.

[blueyed-goof]

Well I finally got my boat registered...what a fiasco that was...and I took it out and did a bit of moorhen hunting. My boat ended up being the cargo boat mainly but I did get to do some shooting out of it. Paddling was nice and easy sitting up on that cooler in the middle and shooting was even easier. I ended up getting 7 moorhen that day and overall the three of us hunting got 20. Not bad. Here are some pics of me and my boat out on the water. I am so very excited...I think that my little boat will be great for teal season. A shame I will only be able to go one day, but oh well. Better than no days.

[DUCKWHACKER]

Great pics and a nice job on the boat. :hello2:

[Wilbur]

Great job! Thanks for sharing your progress along the way. I know hunting out of a boat that you built yourself will add extra enjoyment to each hunt. :icon_thum

[D Duck]

Nice job BEG!

[duckmanJR]

I've followed your build... It came out very nicely....looks like a duck slayer for sure!

[uncle D]

Looks like a Guana special.

Good job, Dani!

:thumbsup:

Duke

[backcast]

Sweeeeet! I'm sure you'll swat a few down in that this season.

[Randy Clark]

looks really nice now my fifteen year old wants to build one

[Duckaholic Doug]

Did you have a kit or pattern for that build? What size motor did you put on and why did you not choose a trolling motor?

[blueyed-goof]

hey, sorry it took so long to get back to you DDD...I made the boat from a pattern I drew up. And I chose an outboard ...3.5 HP over a trolling motor for several reasons: weight (though the boat won't sink, I don't have to haul around an 85 lb battery, just a 30 lb motor), I have found that trolling motors are more of a pain in the butt for me than outboards, and it was cheaper for me to buy the little motor than it was a trolling motor and a new battery.