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Beginners Guide to Boat Building


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Hi SanFran, yep - westie born & bred.

 

Will b in touch when I get back from the islands. Stunning over here - blue skies, blue water, no crowds, no traffic, 25 - 29 degrees - so it's not too hot.

 

It'd be perfect but there's no yachts...........

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She's pretty hard finding the perfect place. Err, you get back around the time I'm off the Thailand however I'm sure we'll be in the same country at some stage. Looking forward to some warmth.

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I've managed to largely answer one of my own questions I asked at the start of the thread, 'is it worth building a dinghy in composites?'

 

The cat designer in Aust, Craig Schionning has plans for a very handy looking cat dinghy, the ripple range, in sizes from 2 m to 4.2 m.

The key thing is the designs are available in ply or foam. For the 2.8 m dinghy, Gaboon ply weighs 45 kg, while the foam model weighs 33 kg.

https://www.spiriteddesigns.com.au/ripple_tenders1

 

This looks moderately complex to build, as in it requires frames etc and isn't stitch and glue, but it gives a good insight into what is achievable. In this example you can save 12 kg's or 26% of the dinghy weight. Personally, I wouldn't bother. After adding oars, outboard and other gear, there is probably better weight saving by getting the latest outboard. Also, the dinghy has a 300 kg payload, so 12 kg seems a bit triffling. That said, horse for courses. I've got a 6 ton keelboat. If I had a nice performance cruising Schionning cat my view on weight would probably be entirely different, esp with the tender weight hanging off davits at the back.

 

The big design question with the foam construction appears to be how to stop the hull / foam getting punctured, i.e. spec and weight of lay-up.

A guy is building a bigger one at the below link on SA. A few photos etc in that thread:

http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?/topic/206688-boat-building-advice-building-foam-core-dingy/

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I've looked at that design before. Do you know the dimensions? All it says is its less than 8 ft, describes half of the designers life story, but doesn't give the length or beam...

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I don't think he built his for sailing Prince - there's no centreboard case in the pics he put on the thread.

My build is on hold. My back didn't like all the leaning over involved - in bloody agony at the moment. Might have a 'project boat' going on trade me dammit. Old age is a bitch.

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Rightio, resurrecting an old thread.

My back is good enough to allow an hour or so of dinghy building each day in lockdown.

I've got to the stage where I'm starting to think about the final painting - maybe 2 weeks away. Subject to being able to get various bits and pieces at level 3 etc, etc.

She's in 2 pieces, joining bolts made and an unbelievable number of building errors also made - first attempt at this and, in my defence, the plans from Bateau (as Abel Seaman said earlier in the thread) aren't for nesting. So a bit of guess work involved.🤔

 

I've learnt heaps thru this - and I've enjoyed it. I love the building process. I'm already thinking about another dinghy project. But my wife tells me "one at a time".

 

So anyway, it's a dinghy - not a work of art. So I think enamel single pot - but does it have to be marine??? Waddaya reckin?

I also have some 7 year old, never opened, International Pre-kote and Toplac - might be okay when opened?? Makes a nice liquidy noise when I shake it gently.............

They're only small tins so won't cover anywhere near the project - my gut says dump them and start afresh.......... maybe?

 

As always - your thoughts are appreciated.............👌

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Yep, got it thanks guys - twas what I thought I'd do, just needed supportive advice 😏

 

And you can place orders at Burnsco on line as of this morning - for non essentials. You just can't receive them by courier (or pick them up from Burnsco) until Tuesday.

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Yeah, nah. Was always going to go to a hardware store - but thanks KM.

My note on Burnsco was just to let everyone know that you can now order anything, not just essentials, from them. Just can't get it until tuesday.

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3 hours ago, Terry B said:

Yeah, nah. Was always going to go to a hardware store - but thanks KM.

My note on Burnsco was just to let everyone know that you can now order anything, not just essentials, from them. Just can't get it until tuesday.

If colour is not important there are sometimes some strange ones in the clearance cart at my local Bunnings

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Thanks TL - Durepox looks like a great product (just looked it up on various websites) - but it's a 2 pot - not really needed on a plywood dinghy that will only ever have the 7 metre viewing rule applied to it............

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