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I had ideas of turning out a few dinghies so templated every part in 3mm MDF to facilitate cutting out.

With that in mind, cutting out all the plywood bits took me 3 hours. It would probably take 2 -3 days to cut out from the plans. The instruction book that acompompanied the plans assumes that you have bought the kitset ie all the bits precut but no assembly, and says 40 hours of construction time is needed. A lot of that will be waiting for epoxy to kick off.

I used cable ties to hold the planks together whilst the epoxy cured. I wouldn't do that again. Cable ties need a bigger hole which then all need to be filled and sanded. The much smaller hole that the more traditional copper wire would need would be filled by the epoxy primer coat. Save a lot of time. The use of masking tape either side of the fillets would save time sanding away the filler discoloration if you plan on using varnish.

So it took a little more than 40 hours to construct, but from what I have learned, quite a bit less should I build another one

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I realise I'm probably making a rod for my own back here, but I would like to varnish or oil the inside of the dinghy. I don't care whether the finish is flat, satin or gloss.

Any advice on good long lasting UV resistant products please?

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On a slightly more serious note..

I have spent a couple of hours rowing the dinghy around the harbour here in Whangamata and I really like it. With a bit of effort I can keep up with my wife in her kayak (and she's a sea kayak instructor) so it rows and tracks well. We can both stand up in the dinghy without worrying too much about an unexpected swim - not the same amount of stability as a deflatable but by far the best out of any rigid dinghy I've owned. The photo a couple of posts back was for a bit of fun but also experimenting with assembling and disassembling the boat in the water. It as remarkably easy to do which gives us the option of launching and retrieving the dinghy from the mother ship in light easily handled bits.

I had intended to make my fortune by building and selling these dinghies so templated every single part in 3mm MDF but, plans change. So whereas I would like to retain ownership of the construction manual and templates, I would also like to make them available free to anyone who would like to build themselves a nice little tender.

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On a slightly more serious note..

I have spent a couple of hours rowing the dinghy around the harbour here in Whangamata and I really like it. With a bit of effort I can keep up with my wife in her kayak (and she's a sea kayak instructor) so it rows and tracks well. We can both stand up in the dinghy without worrying too much about an unexpected swim - not the same amount of stability as a deflatable but by far the best out of any rigid dinghy I've owned. The photo a couple of posts back was for a bit of fun but also experimenting with assembling and disassembling the boat in the water. It as remarkably easy to do which gives us the option of launching and retrieving the dinghy from the mother ship in light easily handled bits.

I had intended to make my fortune by building and selling these dinghies so templated every single part in 3mm MDF but, plans change. So whereas I would like to retain ownership of the construction manual and templates, I would also like to make them available free to anyone who would like to build themselves a nice little tender.

Chris... I would love to build one of your tenders. We currently have the 8' deflatable at home for repairs (done) and are using a 7' pram. The reason I haven't switched back is we are looking for a better option and you have it. We are happy to pay our share.. I will pm you my email.

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