Plans for simple plywood boats

October 12, 2007 11:19 PM

Hannu's Boatyardis a site by a Finnish guy who offers free plans for two dozen simple plywood boats you can build, along with photos illustrating the build process of each. He also describes basic woodbending technique and some of the design process, in a pleasing writing style that makes me want to get off the internet and make things. My favorites: Portuguese style dinghy; tiny stubby halfpea; round, Welsh-style coracle -- if you click on no other link today, click on the coracle link and scroll down at least to the black and white photo.
posted by LobsterMitten (31 comments total)

Meant to say: I found the site through a comment on AskMe yesterday - some Mefite had built the Portuguese dinghy - but now I can't find the comment or the thread to give credit.
posted by LobsterMitten at 11:21 PM on October 12, 2007

Also, if you like this, there was a thread several months ago with a collection of links to other boatbuilding sites.
posted by LobsterMitten at 11:29 PM on October 12, 2007

One of my life ambitions is now to have my own personal boat and carry my coracle around like a backpack.
posted by thehmsbeagle at 12:08 AM on October 13, 2007

St. Brendan FTW. (Or for that matter St. Eia. I wonder if crossing a significant body of water in a coracle without drowning counts as one of the miracles needed for canonization?)
posted by hattifattener at 12:35 AM on October 13, 2007

Ooh! I was looking at that site just earlier. (Probably via mefi.)
http://www.foldingkayaks.org/ is great too. Also, here's a great photo.
posted by sebastienbailard at 12:49 AM on October 13, 2007

Coracle just needs some O RLY + KITTEH + chartreuse marine paint.
posted by rob511 at 2:10 AM on October 13, 2007

Or some green paint and nunchucks, AKA the Donatello model.
posted by empyrean at 2:39 AM on October 13, 2007

okay, so i'm not into boats, and i'm certainly no woodworker, but i found the sections about the properties of wood really interesting :)

thanks for the link
posted by Dillonlikescookies at 3:46 AM on October 13, 2007

I love that Half-Pea. So very weeny!

Awesome link. Thanks!
posted by Jilder at 4:40 AM on October 13, 2007

Psst, LobsterMitten, here is the comment. I know because I was intently reading the thread, discovering fears I never thought I had before.
posted by piratebowling at 5:37 AM on October 13, 2007

...makes me want to get off the internet and make things.

That's sad.
posted by Faze at 6:21 AM on October 13, 2007

As a woodworking teacher, boat builder, and longtime Wooden Boat Magazine subscriber I find this very interesting - Thanks!
posted by blaneyphoto at 7:45 AM on October 13, 2007

You don't need to be a woodworker to make a coracle, you can knit one! (Disclaimer: also requires composite layup skills.)

Coracles seem about as seaworthy as a teacup, and I've always wondered how the design came about and persisted for so long. You would think the ability to wear your boat as a backpack is less important than getting where you need to go without drowning. *shrug*
posted by Quietgal at 8:32 AM on October 13, 2007

What a nice man. I'd like to make him a cup of tea.
posted by Nelson at 8:32 AM on October 13, 2007

Cool post. I love the guy's disclaimer at the bottom of this page.
Also, del.icio.us makes a nice meta-search engine for topics like this: all and popular.
posted by spock at 9:10 AM on October 13, 2007

truly best of the web. Thx.
posted by dozo at 9:17 AM on October 13, 2007

That is a lot of boats.
posted by absalom at 9:30 AM on October 13, 2007

From my del.icio.us links above, this $100 catamaran looks like a lot of fun!
posted by spock at 9:38 AM on October 13, 2007

Metafilter: Killer sharks may attack You.
posted by everichon at 9:38 AM on October 13, 2007

Yeah, I love the use of capitalized You. I assume Finnish has a formal and informal "you", and he's trying to get the same polite effect in English?

All the links you guys have added are great - love the cat, the lace coracle, the foolish foolish St. Eia. And yes, I definitely want to march down the road with my coracle strapped to my back, Michelangelo style.
posted by LobsterMitten at 9:44 AM on October 13, 2007

And thanks for finding the comment, piratebowling - yes, boots is the one! Thanks boots!
posted by LobsterMitten at 9:50 AM on October 13, 2007

That was me who posted the comment. Here are some pictures of the boat I built.

Bytheway: Woodworking experience prior to attempting this project: zero.

Highly recommended.

Pic 1
Pic 2
posted by boots at 12:24 PM on October 13, 2007

And even more You must understand, that using a boat may be dangerous:
-The boat may fall over.
-You may fall out of the boat.
-The boat may hit a rock.
-Your shoes may get wet.
-The boat may get filled with water.
-The boat may sink.
-Another boat may hit Your boat.
-The boat may drift a long distance away.
-You may get lost with the boat.
-When rowing, You may get blisters in Your hands and butt.
-If You get into water, You may drown or get hypothermia.
-Killer sharks may attack You.
-Anything else may happen

I want to build a boat so bad now. This is the best thing I've seen online in months.
posted by mai at 1:22 PM on October 13, 2007

Boots, your boat is glorious.

(Really, no woodworking experience? My coracle backpack is starting to seem within reach.)
posted by thehmsbeagle at 1:45 PM on October 13, 2007

hmsbeagle, you already have a head start on the rest of us in naming yours

boots: kickass!

Re: portability: Under the "what others have done" heading on the site, there's a great pic of a guy with his "Micro Auray" boat neatly tucked in the back of his Ford Fiesta hatchback.
posted by LobsterMitten at 1:57 PM on October 13, 2007

Really, no woodworking experience.

Also helpful was this, and Instructable of someone who had followed Hannu's plans. Using both resources I was able to piece together the process. The entire boat was built with not much more than a hand saw and electric drill in terms of tools. It can be completed, by a rank amateur, for less than $300, in under a week of spare time.
posted by boots at 2:04 PM on October 13, 2007

Great boat, boots -- and great post, Lobster. I went through a period of spending quite a bit of time looking over boat plans, and while I never got around to building one I never totally lost interest. If I'd had this site I probably would have gotten around to building one.
posted by localroger at 3:31 PM on October 13, 2007

Woo winter project! This calls for a trip by the lumber yard. Thanks for the post.
posted by asterisk at 5:57 PM on October 13, 2007

A not-so-simple plywood boat project. I posted a link to this in my comment on the FPP LobsterMitten refers to above. What's changed since then is that I now have the space and the time to get started! It just means parking my car outside all winter :-/.
posted by Araucaria at 10:40 PM on October 13, 2007

Quietgal beat me to it. I've wanted a knitted coracle ever since I saw Debbie New's book!
posted by bitter-girl.com at 7:25 AM on October 14, 2007

if you click on no other link today, click on the coracle link

O noes, too late! But it is one of the coolest I've clicked on today. Nice post, thanks!
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 12:30 PM on October 14, 2007