sandy wrote:

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

Packing tape up a bunch of 2 litre pop bottles pressurised with
vinegar and baking powder into a 'wire frame skeleton' gunnel and
chine frame with 1/2" plywood ends and doubled frame at the 3/8 -
5/8 point. Line and steady it up with cardboard panels and
battens taped in, to be discarded after curing. Upside down,
cover it with poly plastic, taped, tucked and draped for shape.
Glass with poly resin and one layer of mat, or two, plus an
exterior layer of light cloth and tinted thickened poly gelcoat
later. Cut out the plastic sheeting. Enclose the pop bottle and
tape frame inside with a layer or two of glass mat and cloth over
plastic sheet draped and taped to provide a doubled hull
freeboard narrowing to a single layer at the chine. Glass over a
filler carved from a pool noodle inside the chine space. Cut
access holes into the shapes below the pop bottle gunnels, for
gear storage, or not, if you want extra reserve bouyancy. If you
use pop bottles or pool noodles and tape to make up a thick
floor, you will have a self bailing, ultralight dingy hull which
you can cut almost in half and it won't sink, so it does not need
a lot of freeboard height by comparison to non self bailers. Bash
it on a rock? Slap on a patch. Bolt and wingnut the semi halves
together while afloat. Add a sail rig, using a paddle held or
lashed to one side for a keel, hinging it for tacking and
grounding. Steer it like a windsurfer, by moving the rig or your
weight, or add an oarlock on the transom for a steering paddle.

Try for a 2 or 3" cathedral hull bottom shape if you want to get
airborne in a catamaran tunnel hull using a trolling motor.

I've been wanting to try this myself for years, but just not
yet. Good luck.
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