For anyone who's built their own boat....

K

KnottyBuoyz

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For 7 yrs now we've the Admiral (Lori) and I have been planning to build our own boat. We chose the TW28 from bateau.com for it's ease of construction. This past weekend we took a 1000 mi road trip from Iroquois ON to Boston MA to pick up the CnC plywood kit for the TW28. We scored an excellent deal from a fella there who abandoned his TW28 project. This is what it looks like before assembly....

thebigstackowood.jpg


And if all goes well over the next 3 yrs or so we'll end up with something that looks like this.....

TW28_DREAM.jpg


Standby.... more details to follow....
 
Way cool! Good luck and PLEASE post photos as you progress. In my younger years I always wanted to try that but never got the gumption or time to get going.

I can't wait to see yours when it's finished and launched.

I went to the web site and looked at photos of finished boats. Man, what a nice looking craft. Very nice lines.

Bob
 
WOW, ambitious project. I built a 12' stitch n glue dinghy a few years ago. While the process is certainly rewarding, the constant fairing and sanding was driving me crazy! I can only imagine the time investment in something like that. Heck, I think the dinghy took me 50 work hours start to finish.
 
A buddy of mine started this sailboat "kit" some yrs ago.
He made a "start up" party at his house and the whole
Boqueron Power Squadron was in attendance as he and his admiral
glued/bolted the first parts and heard him proudly proclaim
"Next yr we will have a launching party".
That was 4 yrs ago and we're still waiting.
In his defense I can say he's not accepted help from anyone and
furthermore, his business keeps him away too much.

A 28' wood boat from the ground up is a big project, but when
finished will be a remarkable achievement.
Keep us posted on progress! Make a log with lots of pics!
 
Looks like a Sam Devlin design. About 15 years ago, I built his 13 ft duck boat and the design, plans and instructions were great. I visited him in his shop near Olympia, WA (I lived in Port Angeles then) and was very impressed with Sam and with everything I saw in his shop. Good Luck on your project. Eat the apple one bite at a time, but look ahead and keep an eye on where you'll bite next.

Lar.
 
Pee Ess.......While on the Pirate's Cove trip 2 years ago, ( http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=73 ) a Devlin designed boat - I think a Scoter, but looked much like yours - anchored near us for the night. When he left in the morning, it was amazing. The boat was outboard powered and I'd guess 26 ft. When he hit the throttle, there was no noise. Silence. The boat lifted about 6" and "slid" over the water at about 12 - 14 mph and made no fuss, no wake, no nothing. Almost like it was levitating. My friends and I laughed and commented on it and watched it out of sight. Devlin designs great boats.

Lar.
 
The boat pictured in the first post is not a Devlin design - says so in the post itself.
 
Just curious Rick. Is the Toro in the pix the recommended propulsion package? :D

Good luck and as stated...LOTS of pix.
 
Knotty...best of luck that is too cool!

Niles
 
May the force be with you! :)

( I hope you like sanding! )

--

That is one beautiful ?kayak? !
 
quote:
Originally posted by KiDa

Just curious Rick. Is the Toro in the pix the recommended propulsion package? :D

Good luck and as stated...LOTS of pix.

Click to expand...
No Kida, I'm going to stick a few weed whacker conversions on the transom! :-)

Thnx for all the kind comments and encouragement. Rest assured we'll post pics (somewhere, maybe a blog site). I need to pick Pascal's brain as I'm thinking a live web cam in the shed might work too.

That kayak is a work of art Dave. Very nice indeed.

The bateau TW28 is designed for amateur construction which is why we chose it. We looked at a lot of other designs, Devlin, Glen-L, Buehler, Simpson, Nevelle etc. before we chose this one. We've been purchasing equipment for the last few years, mostly e-Bay, and so far we're under budget. I expect we'll be able to finish this boat for $50K-$55K which some people find incredible but I'm tracking each purchase on a spreadsheet online.

http://www.editgrid.com/user/knottybuoyz/Spent_To_Date

The engine isn't new, 20 yrs old but it came out of a racing yacht and only has 300 hrs on it. I've had it serviced and it'll be more than adequate for our needs.

I'm fully aware that these kind of projects can run well over their estimated time and am prepared for that. I've got 5 yrs till retirement and would like to have this one done in 3. Plans state 1800 hrs for workboat finish. We're going to do a little better than that so probably 3000 hrs or more. I don't really care about that I just need to take my time and get it right the first time because I know I'll never go back and fix it later.

I've also had to keep a running inventory of stuff because I've almost started buying duplicates! Doh! So far the only part we've paid full retail price is the Python Drive. Everything else we've bargain shopped or found deals online. Well almost, we won't mention the electrical panel project.....

http://s237.photobucket.com/albums/ff166/KnottyBuoyz/KBIII/Inventory/?start=all

Most of that is in the rec room, which the wife wants back someday, so I got to get moving on this. Standby..... updates soon.
 
I just found this on Lori's camera. I think the look on my face says it all! "WTF have I gotten myself into?" *hehehe*

IMG_1838.jpg
 
Awesome Rick! What a project. Something I would love to do some day.

Cheers, John
 
That Python drive is interesting. Are you going to use soft engine mounts as well.
 
quote:
Originally posted by KiDa

That Python drive is interesting. Are you going to use soft engine mounts as well.

Click to expand...
Definitely KiDa. That's one of the side benefits of the Python drive. I think they're called "isolation mounts". Got them bookmarked somewhere.
 
The Python looks to be very similar to the Evolution marine shaft system.

Good luck , Rick ! Will it be ready for 4th of July?
 
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