Comments on: Plans for simple plywood boats

Plans for simple plywood boats

LobsterMitten — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 23:19:03 -0800

Hannu's Boatyard is 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.

By: LobsterMitten

LobsterMitten — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 23:21:40 -0800

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.

By: LobsterMitten

LobsterMitten — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 23:29:14 -0800

Also, if you like this, there was a thread several months ago with a collection of links to other boatbuilding sites.

By: thehmsbeagle

thehmsbeagle — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 00:08:05 -0800

One of my life ambitions is now to have my own personal boat and carry my coracle around like a backpack.

By: hattifattener

hattifattener — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 00:35:04 -0800

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?)

By: sebastienbailard

sebastienbailard — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 00:49:34 -0800

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.

By: rob511

rob511 — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 02:10:05 -0800

Coracle just needs some O RLY + KITTEH + chartreuse marine paint.

By: empyrean

empyrean — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 02:39:32 -0800

Or some green paint and nunchucks, AKA the Donatello model.

By: Dillonlikescookies

Dillonlikescookies — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 03:46:03 -0800

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

By: Jilder

Jilder — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 04:40:48 -0800

I love that Half-Pea. So very weeny! Awesome link. Thanks!

By: piratebowling

piratebowling — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 05:37:25 -0800

Psst, LobsterMitten, here is the comment. I know because I was intently reading the thread, discovering fears I never thought I had before.

By: Faze

Faze — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 06:21:31 -0800

...makes me want to get off the internet and make things. That's sad.

By: blaneyphoto

blaneyphoto — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 07:45:34 -0800

As a woodworking teacher, boat builder, and longtime Wooden Boat Magazine subscriber I find this very interesting - Thanks!

By: Quietgal

Quietgal — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 08:32:15 -0800

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*

By: Nelson

Nelson — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 08:32:20 -0800

What a nice man. I'd like to make him a cup of tea.

By: spock

spock — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 09:10:34 -0800

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.

By: dozo

dozo — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 09:17:53 -0800

truly best of the web. Thx.

By: absalom

absalom — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 09:30:41 -0800

That is a lot of boats.

By: spock

spock — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 09:38:01 -0800

From my del.icio.us links above, this $100 catamaran looks like a lot of fun!

By: everichon

everichon — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 09:38:08 -0800

Metafilter: Killer sharks may attack You.

By: LobsterMitten

LobsterMitten — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 09:44:28 -0800

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.

By: LobsterMitten

LobsterMitten — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 09:50:54 -0800

And thanks for finding the comment, piratebowling - yes, boots is the one! Thanks boots!

By: boots

boots — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 12:24:44 -0800

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

By: mai

mai — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 13:22:17 -0800

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.

By: thehmsbeagle

thehmsbeagle — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 13:45:58 -0800

Boots, your boat is glorious. (Really, no woodworking experience? My coracle backpack is starting to seem within reach.)

By: LobsterMitten

LobsterMitten — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 13:57:58 -0800

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.

By: boots

boots — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 14:04:53 -0800

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.

By: localroger

localroger — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 15:31:57 -0800

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.

By: asterisk

asterisk — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 17:57:58 -0800

Woo winter project! This calls for a trip by the lumber yard. Thanks for the post.

By: Araucaria

Araucaria — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 22:40:44 -0800

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 :-/.

By: bitter-girl.com

bitter-girl.com — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 07:25:34 -0800

Quietgal beat me to it. I've wanted a knitted coracle ever since I saw Debbie New's book!

By: Alvy Ampersand

Alvy Ampersand — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 12:30:47 -0800

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!