Floatation under the floor is a desirable trait for any small boat,
especially in a dinghy. with it, the floor should be self bailing;
that is, when empty with a drain plug out, the boat will drain itself
dry. with a plug in, it will not take in water when loaded. This
suggests a double hull, or alternatively floats under the seats, not
nearly so good an idea, as they will not allow self bailing.

I have often thought I would like to make a boat out of polyurethane
foam like pool planks, clad in sailcloth and velcro so as to lie flat
as cockpit cushions or form a wet, floppy, unsinkable floating toy
bathtub of a boat. Dogs and kids might love it.

Make it with waterproof material and a spine, it might do even better.

The thing about stitch and tape is that the wire ties are actually
alignment guides. Spanish windlass, clamps, glass tape and resin do
the hard work.

Terry K

On Jul 28, 9:04 am, "Jerry" wrote:
I am contemplating building a stitch & glue boat but have never built
anything (boats that is) before. I'm curious as to how easy or difficult it
really is before I start investing in plans. Are there any plans that are
truly easy for a novice?

I am interested in something unsinkable that can handle rough water pretty
well in the 16' to 20' range. Either a cuddy, small cabin or a center
console would be fine.

Jerry

Jerry, first spend alot of time picking out a boat design you really
like. You have to like the boat.
It is not that hard to do. If you inherently enjoy figuring
stuff out and learning
new things than it won't be that hard. Anything you have
problems with you can get help on
groups like this one. There is a lot of help out there.

You build boats because you enjoy the process as much or more
than the final result. Otherwise
it's probably a better idea to buy a boat instead.