thoughts on these 14 footers

[Larebow]

http://www.saunalahti.fi/~hvartial/rpunt/rpunt.htm

or this modified
http://www.gsahv.pp.fi/skiff/skiff.htm

Wich would be a better boat for my 3 kids and myself? Or am i dreaming?

[JimD]

First one seems to have an unusual amount of flair to the sides. Very dory-ish. I like the second one for putting kids in. Why are you looking at these two designs if I may ask? Just for something a bit different?

[Larebow]

They look easy and I have no idea of what i'm doing yet.:)

[JimD]

It says the 10.5 foot version has been built a few times but perhaps the version scaled up to 14 feet has not. It might be a very nice boat but as you know there's a lot of choices for simple plywood skiffs. How you intend to power her can be a very important factor in determining the design. Have you got that far along in your thinking?

[JimD]

Thought all this sounded familiar :D I see you have another thread going.

[JimD]

How about Glen-L's 14 foot Sissy Do? Dead simple flat bottom plywood row/power boat. Many of them built over the years. Although it looks like a planing hull so it'll do better with a motor than oars.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid201/pab74d3f37a4a9f750df6d5fe0b4641a6/f00644f7.jpg

[ 02-26-2006, 11:09 PM: Message edited by: JimD ]

[Larebow]

I'll look it over.
What do you feel would be a good learning build?
Something that will handle to peeps

[Mike Vogdes]

This is a nice easy to build design.

http://www.cmdboats.com/powerskiff14.htm?cart_id=0038862b5a0339109abaf6461 e3074f1

[htom]

We really need to know more, because the abilities of boats vary a great deal. There is rarely a perfect boat even for a particular use.

Are you going to be cartopping or trailering the boat, or launching it off the shore or beach in your backyard? What waters are you going to use it in? Boats for small lakes and streams are different than those that play in the ocean surf or big rivers or big lakes. How big are you and the kids, and how old are they? A boat for Dad and a trio of 300 pound highschool linemen has to be bigger than one for Dad and a 3, 4, and 5 year-old -- although those ages mean that there are other problems to consider.

You might want to look at Jim Michalak's Boatbuilding for Beginners (and Beyond), available in the WoodenBoat Bookstore (Not Found !?!) at DuckworksMagazine http://www.duckworksbbs.com/media/books/michalak/index.htm

[L.W. Baxter]

Larebow, you should pick up copies of John Gardner's Building Classic Small Craft , Classic Small Craft You Can Build , and The Dory Book . Heck, I'll lend you mine if you are in the area,(I live in Hillsboro)but you'd have to give them back, which you won't want to do.

I wouldn't build a simple boat someone contemporary just doodled up on his computer screen, when so many classic, proven designs and types are readily available. Gardner's books are full of boats developed over decades or even centuries of use, or drawn up by master designers. You can build an unerringly excellent boat and participate in boatbuilding heritage while you're at it.

[ 02-27-2006, 10:54 PM: Message edited by: L.W. Baxter ]