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Hi. In case anyone is interested in old wooden boat plans, you can check out the free plans on this site:
http://www.svensons.com/boat/
I am currently building a 12 foot Breeze Baby beginner's sailboat from Svensons. It's a plywood on frame design and I have slowly learned how to use hand planes, chisels and a little bit about lofting because of this project.
That looks sweet. Nothing beats messing about in boats!
I built the boat named Bebop for my son's 10th birthday. He's the dark haired kid in the pictures. The boat is extremely stable for the kids and scoots pretty good given that it only has a 2.5 hp Merc (Tohatsu/Nissan) on the back. I'm 6'3" and fit in the boat comfortably.
The only thing about those boat plans are the fact that they are dated and some of the items they require are unobtainable unless there is an old boat junkyard nearby. For instance, the steering pully/cable system is not supported by anyone that I found. I welded 2 pullys together and got some cable and sheathing like a motorcycle brake cable. It works well and has not had an issue with the steering. Other than that, the boat went together easily and it gets a lot of looks where ever we go. I have a Ford Ranger and the boat fits in the bed of the truck, so I don't have to have a trailer.
For the astute observers out there, you will noticed the angle of the motor is too far in. The prop which came with that motor was plastic. I replaced it with an aluminum prop which had a little better pitch, so now I have the motor sitting correctly on the transom. I guess the origional prop wasn't agressive enough to get the boat going good enough. With the motor, the boat doesn't get up on a plane, but I didn't want it to either because, well, you know how 10 year old boys are. I also made a remote throttle out of a lawn motor throttle and cable, so my son can focus on going forward, instead of turning around to worry about the tiller or motor.
I named the boat Devilish John, based on the fact his name is John, and he's in the Young Marines (Jr. ROTC). For those of you that don't know, the Marines are called Devil Dogs, the Young Marines are called Devil Pups, and my son has a devilish sense of humor, hence the name of the boat.
The only problem I see with building a boat is that now, I'm planning on building a bigger, faster boat. It gets addictive. BTW, all I used for tools on this was basic hand tools, a jig saw, hand held belt sander, and a power drill for all the screws. Paying attention to detail was what made the boat from something unique to something everyone raves about wherever we go.
Also, I sewed the upholstery. I got a lot of flack about going to the fabric stores from my brother, until I pointed out that the fabric stores are a great place for single dads (like me) to pick up women.:D
Quote:
Originally Posted by Luis V. Torres
Luis,
Your boat looks great and welcome to the group. Thanks for the boat plans link! Did you experience any difficulties in building Breeze Baby from the older plans?, surprises?
Mac