I'd try a search at www.google.com for "nesting dingy".
I'd also go to www.duckworksmagazine.com and look under Contests at the
entries in the "apartment sized boat" contest for some ideas although the
plans there are too small for what you want. They are all plans for
collapsable boats.

Quarter inch plywood is fine. You don't need very much polyester or epoxy
if you build with chine battens. Take a look at the small plywood boats on
my website www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm and at the Summer Breeze on
www.somplicityboats.com. Those are just two website with photos of this
kind of plywood construction. they use polyurtheane construction adhesive,
"liquid m]anils" and wood screws. I don't tape the seams, just round them
with sandpaper and spread on two coats of resin along the seam to keep out
water. all it takes is a few drops spread with a toothpick to do the whole
boat. you do have to seal all the seams and edges of plywood to keep it
from soaking water into the panels. You can desing your first small boat.
I did with mine (DogSkiff on my website) and it came out perfect for my
needs. That's the beauty of desgining your own small boat. It's also more
than half the fun. I'm not fond of boatbuidling but I like designing and
using boats. I borrowed TF Jones books from the public library to learn
how to design my own small boat. He now has a website at
www.jonesboats.com. I went to the lumber yard with my bathroom scales and
weighed the different sheets of plywood and boards before selecting the
material for my boats. I also got a great deal of advice and opinion from
this newsgroup and still do.

I'm sure he will enjoy designing and buildign his own boat.

sandy ) writes:
Hubby, with no real boatbuilding experience (if you don't count the
styrofoam liveaboard sailboat we built years ago...aptly named "Holy
Mackeral"!) is thinking of trying his hand at boat building. We want
a very light 2 to 3 person sailboat to carry upright on a cargo
carrier at the rear of our "new" '92 Winnebago and we plan to use it
for fishing/sailing/messing around on small lakes. We're thinking
about a maybe 12' nesting boat thinking that each part of the boat
won't weigh as much and the whole thing won't be too tall at the stern
of the RV. He's thinking of using exterior plywood, stitching it
together and hasn't yet decided on whether to use epoxy or polyester
or how much glassing to do. He's also stubbornly planning on devising
his own plans. We'd like to do it fairly inexpensively but not
stupidly. We'd like to end up with a lightweight boat as I'll be
supplying most the "man"power in loading/unloading (hubby has a really
bad back and can't do much of any lifting).

Really appreciate some comments, pointers and suggestions such as...

1. Is 1/4" exterior plywood (such as you'd find at Home Depot)
adequate? The people at HD said that the glue is NOT the same as with
marine plywood and looked sceptical when we told them what we wanted
it for (their special order marine plywood was ridiculously
expensive).

2. Is the generic epoxy (and/or polyester if we decide to go that way)
from our local fiberglass store adequate or is it really adviseable to
go with West System or ?.

3. Anybody have any experience with "Nesting Dinghys"? Any problems
with them?

4. Outside of glass/caulking the seams...is it adviseable to put a
layer or 2 of glass cloth over the whole exterior?

Any and all comments gratefully appreciated!!!

Thanks!

Sandy


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