Homemade flat bottom boat

[CJW]

Now that duck season is all but over up here, I managed to get my homemade boat out on the water with its new motor, a 15.9hp predator with a long tail. It's definitely a new experience controlling that thing but worked well once I got used to it. I actually had the boat out before but only with a trolling motor and not registered. Kind of neat registering something you made.

Boat is made from pink foam insulation and skinned with thin plywood.

 

[Bearbait1]

looks good. I bet it is light.

 

[R.M.C.]

Very cool!

 

[CJW]

looks good. I bet it is light.

It's not too bad but ended up being heavier than I wanted. Weight starts adding up before you know it and is easy to do when using wood. I'm planning another one for this winter to improve on it.

 

[BeeMaa]

It's tough trying to replicate an aluminum boat without having access to the same materials, tools and shop space. You did a really good job on it. How long will a build like that typically last?

 

[CJW]

It's tough trying to replicate an aluminum boat without having access to the same materials, tools and shop space. You did a really good job on it. How long will a build like that typically last?

I had a design drawn out for the hull/foam but then there was a lot of standing back and thinking about how to progress with the materials I had ready access to that wouldn't cost me big $ and weight. The transom took some time to engineer to support an engine hanging off the back and hopefully take the vibration and stress of operation and road travel. Foam isn't very forgiving unless you work WITH it. I can stand up and bounce on the transom at 205 pounds so the weight of the engine and long tail should be sustainable. Just the trial and error of how to properly glue sheets of foam together took days. Ultimately a call to tite bond was the best time spent instead of focusing on free internet how to. A simple spray bottle filled with water was the answer.

The nice thing about foam is that it has awesome floatation and stability. It drafts less than an inch of water without the motor mounted. I can also stand on any corner without counter weight and be 100% stable. That's at well over 200 pounds with waders and extra clothing. Not bad for a 12x4 boat.

So the short answer is that I could rebuild it in a few days. Letting the glue and paint dry take the longest.

 

[CJW]