home built boats

[Nelly]

Anybody familiar with the boat plans at www.bateau.com? They seem to claim their boats are cheaper, stronger, and lighter than factory hulls. Wondering if anyone has any experience building one of these boats.

[fishingdan]

Nelly,

They are excellent designs. I went with a Glen-L design only because of timing. Most of these designs were not available at the time. Building boats using these methods results in a very strong and light boat as they say. It is hard to believe it until you see it, but it is true.

The OD16 and OD18 are very large and stable boats for their size. They have a flat bottom, but are great for in-shore New England waters.

The OB17, OB19, C19 and C21 are even more capable.

One of the builders from Floriday built a C19 (19' center console). He powered it with a 4-stroke yamaha 115hp engine. He gets great fuel economy and and his top speed is a little over 46 mph. He has been 60 miles+ offshore.

A gentleman in RI has built a HM19. The recommended hp for that boat is 50hp. Given today's fuel prices, that sounds very good to me.

In New England, there are several builders. The local builders I know have built OD16s, OD18s, a GV13, a D15, an HM19 and a host of smaller boats. I also know there is a local builder building a DE23 I believe.

Do a search for a "MA/NH Builders" on their tech support board. You will find several people to contact.

Some examples:

OD18
http://www.bateau2.com/gallery/OD18/photos/OD18_EM.jpg

C19
http://www.bateau2.com/gallery/C19/photos/C19_onwater.JPG

HM19
http://www.bateau2.com/gallery/HM19/photos/HM19_side1.JPG

Dan

[Nelly]

Fishingdan,

It looks like you built the OD16 - or something close to it? I really like the look of that boat - similar to the Amesbury Dory built by Stur-Dee boats down in RI.

I was wondering just how difficult a project it is to build one of these boats start to finish? Are their estimates of man hours needed accurate? I have NO boat building experience what so ever!

[adson]

fishingdan , what do you think of the panga20 design ?

I have the plans but am still trying to decide whether to build that design or not. the narrow beam is what is holding me back. that transom is only 3 or 4 ft wide. and the width of the gunwhale caps makes it seem even narrower.

other designs I am considering are a 21' Nexus dory or a simmons 18' skiff.

I want a boat thats light enough to trailer easily and something I can use for inshore fishing up on the north shore. usually just fishing with one other guy.

[Nelly]

FWIW - and I'm no expert, but that panga does not look beamy enough to be comfortable

Adson, have you built one of these boats before?

[fishingdan]

Nelly: My boat is a design from Glen-L (www.glen-L.com). The design is called the Console Skiff. It is a 16' boat. I liked the OD18 from bateau, but I was nervous of the flat hull. Knowing what I know now and seeing where I typically fish, I wouldn't hesitate to build one of those.

My boat took 1 year of very part-time work to complete. It could be done much faster, but I was working around 5 small kids, work (of course I got very busy during this time :mad: ) and about 6 weeks of very cold weather in late Dec/Jan of 2003/2004 where I didn't want to work in my garage. I only about 2-6 hours per week. It is about 250 to 300 hours of actual work. No special skills are needed. If one can draw a line, use a jig saw or circular saw and can read, they are good to go.

Adson: I like the Panga designs. All Panga designs are narrow. This gives them a better length to width ratio and this makes them more efficient and seaworthy. It will be light enough to tow with just about anything. Given fuel prices, I think seaworthy boats that can be sufficiently powered with smaller engines are going to get much more popular.

The Simmons and the Nexus are plywood on frame designs. They will be heavier than the a comparable Bateau design.

A deep comfortable, beamy and heavy v-hull is great, but it requires a lot of horsepower to get it on plane and keep it there. It can travel greater distance in a given period of time, but one is burning fuel at a tremendous rate. The Panga style is a good compromise. It has a semi-v hull for comfort, but its narrow beam makes it efficient.

I saw a Bateau HM19 last week (see picture in post above). The HM19 has the same flat bottom hull as the OD18. The boat I saw was powered by a 50hp mercury (not bad for a 19' boat!). It cruised comfortable at 18-21mph and max speed was about 27mph. I was surprised by the ride. I was expecting to pound more than it did. Honestly, it didn't pound much more than my boat at given speeds. The operator did slow down more for wakes.

Boat design is all about trade-offs.

A larger picture of my boat.
http://www.glen-l.com/picboards/picboard11/pic601f.jpg

[adson]

Nelly, I havent built any bateau designs yet but I have built about six kayaks with the same construction methods. working with epoxy plywood and glass is very easy to learn. I think the only differences between the experienced builders and the complete novices is the novices tend to overbuild the first time and use more epoxy. the boats end up a little heavier but just as durable.

fishingdan, I know the narrow design is the essence of the panga but another 6" of beam on the panga20 would make a world of difference. based on the pics from the guy that is building the 20" now, I don't feel comfortable that the boat will really look like the computer generated pics on the plan specs. go look at the pics of the panga22 on the specs pages and then look at the actual pics from that guy in the islands that built one. looks like two different boats to me. I guess I will have to wait till someone gets a pic of one floating before I'll be comfortable in starting to build.

[LandlockedinMI]

I've built a 14 ft garvey designed by Jacques of BAteau.com. His plans are great and I have never heard anyone say his designs do not do EXACtly what the web site says they do. check here http://forums.bateau2.com/phpBB2/ for their forum.

The site is very active and Jacque answers any and all questions very quickly.

Be prepared to sand. Alot. And then some more......

[fishingdan]

Adson,

Sorry, but I am not seeing the big difference other than the motorwell and the fact that the boat is not yet complete. However, it is a relatively new design and I'm sure that more pictures will be available as builders complete their projects. As you know, one of the reasons for building a boat is that one can modify it as desired. I think the graffics in the renderings (nice paint job and boot stripe), throw off the eye a little. The one thing I have noticed in the larger v-hull boats is that the real-world water line tends to be lower (i.e. boat has shallower draft than expected) than shown in the images. In the past, the designer has explained his assumptions regarding the load and resulting waterlines in the renderings. He assumes a fairly heavy load. Look at the water line of the boat with 7 or 8 people in it. It is barely below the rendering.

Regardless, take you time. Its a big commitment and one you have to feel good about. What about the C19 or C21? Beamier boats, but require bigger engines. What about the Panga 22 (81" beam)? The difference between the Panga 20 and 22 are not significant in terms of power requirements and towing requirements. The trailer difference may be more significant.

http://www.bateau2.com/gallery/PG22/photos/PG22_crew.jpg

http://boatplans-online.com/images/boatpics/PG22_bow_350.jpg

[WeeHooker]

I've built a 1/2 dozen smaller craft and will offer two other thoughts to consider before diving in.
1) it is a big comitment but can be an AWSOME and even spirtual experience. There is really something exciting and rewarding about watching a boats lines take form under your own hands.
2) Hopefully you will love your creation for a LONG time. I'm my experience, resale on a home built boat is HORIBLE even if you do a super job. The words "wood" and "home built" will kill off 85% of potential buyers. Of those left, most will want it for the price of the materials or less.


FWIW, I believe #1 outweighs #2 by far. Planning my next project right now.

[fishingdan]

I agree with you Weehooker. Resale value tends to be close to material cost. People shouldn't go into this thinking they can make a killing on building and then selling the boat. It can happen, but it is rare.

[Roop]

There's a guy that posts on Florida Sportsman & The Hull Truth that has built at least two of the Phantom flats boats from bateau.com. The look like great boats but not very utilitarian for New ENgland waters.

I think the big, old work skiffs would be great fly fishing/ bay boats with just a little modification to add some slight deadrise to them.

I have been wating to do this for years, now I found a motor I need to match a skiff to.

http://www.myfishingpictures.com/img/064625.jpg

I have subscribed to "Messing About in Boats" for years, it's a bi-monthly mag that is solely about building small boats. They don't have a web site but I will give you the contact info if you want to subscribe. ANyway, one of their regular contributors, Robb White, has taken the Atkins rescue skiff design and modified it a bit so that he has a shallow draft (under 6 inches), small diesel power, high capacity & a very sea worthy boat that has alot of people's attention. His designs are discussed on the Atkins group on Yahoo.
(edit - check out http://www.robbwhite.com/rescue.minor.html)

I have tons of material on building wooden boats, feel free to ssend me a PM to discuss further.

Good luck,

Roop

[dusty]

I just posted to another post about homebuilding, and I'll post a different rendering here of a center console kit boat that I've been working on. As I commented in the other thread, the boat has been designed to fill the void that the other kit designs leave for people who are serious about fishing as far as the layout and hull shape are concerned. This boat has a true deep vee (20 deg at the transom), large integrated livewell and lots of fishable deck space. It is basically a boat that you can build as an alternative to a well thought out, offshore cpapble, production glass boat. Let me know what you think.

http://reel-time.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6229&stc=1

[BigBoatDog]

Nelly,
In the event you are interested I built the OD 16 and while I have not put the center console in I like the boat for the fishing I do. It also came as a kit,
which made the process Easier. If this is your first boat a kit will make life easy and have you on the water much sooner.
Have also seen fishingdans boat up close and it is a nice one. not that different from the ob15 on the bateau site.
If you live on the north shore there are several local builders who could help if you decided to build.
I am also thinking of building another.
BBD

[fishingdan]

...Have also seen fishingdans boat up close and it is a nice one....
BBD

(#$119) Who is this masked man????

[BigBoatDog]

Dan,
we met at the get together in June.I was unable to bring my boat due to car problems. You may remember my nom de plume- stripedbass. Bateau site could not reset the password for some reson.
Mark

[Markymark]

I've always liked the "Carolina Dory", I don't see any of those in these waters around here.

[lowwall]

I have been kicking around the idea of building a boat for years and have done a bunch of reading on the subject. The one thing that has held me back is a place to build. You need a place out of the weather that is warm enough to allow for glue/epoxy to dry. I am now reading up on building Barns so I can Build a Boat! I want to build a Shallow draft old timey family picnic boat for Plum island sound area.
Some Day!

[Bob Parsons]

What about one of those tempory garage storage shelters. the ones the that are fabric over arched supports. Open the doors for ventilation and add a space heater for colder weather. Cheaper than building a barn and no permit (I think) required.

[dusty]

You can build a boat in an easily build polyethylene cathedral style shed. Can be put up in a day, and as Bob say, is easy to heat and ventilate. The other obvious advantage is the great natural light. In the winter, the solar heat is amazingly effective.