# Can anyone recomend good plans for a boat?



## RGtools (Feb 18, 2011)

I want to make a rowboat and I have no idea where to start. Any good resources out there that I should be looking at so the thing does not end up at the bottom of a lake?


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## neverenougftackle (May 6, 2013)

https://www.google.com/search?q=wooden+row+boat+plans&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7ADBR_enUS238&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=JNOlU5v4IoeGqgbi-oG4Dw&ved=0CCoQsAQ&biw=1152&bih=616

I like wooden boats, clear aways back there also. !!!! VERY high maintains though. There is a magazine called Wood Boat Magazine. Took it for a # of years,,,pretty good reading, pictures and passing on the craft. In the Northeast part of the US there are still boat shops that teach this long ago wood boat craft.


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## benchbuilder (Sep 10, 2011)

Hello RG, to find boat planes try glen-L, they have a
catalog of nice row boats and their not expensive. As stated above, woodboat mag. Is a good place to look. Or just go online and type in wooden row boat ideas or plans..


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## runswithscissors (Nov 8, 2012)

Sam Devlin, in Washington State, has plans for rowboats. Also Phil Bolger, who has several entire books out that include rowboats. William and John Atkin designed many rowboats, which can be found in the old Ideal Series published by MotorBoating many decades ago. Pete Culler has many lovely designs. And there are many others. Check libraries for books; also most of these have websites. WoodenBoat mag, as mentioned, has a catalog of plans, but these will not be free. Bolger and the Atkins give complete info to build their boats right out of the books; they're just small scale, is all, which shouldn't be a problem for a boat that little.

Good designs can be flat bottomed, which of course are relatively simple; or round bilged, which are more challenging, but maybe just the ticket for an ambitious woodworker. Oddly, there don't seem to be many Vee bottomed rowboats.

Just an opinion, but I am not a fan of Glen L designs. (Anyone want to duel me on this? Reciprocating saws at sunrise?)

Suggestion: if you truly want a rowing boat, not an outboard, pick a design for that purpose. Rowboats are narrower in the stern, and have some rocker (though not extreme) in the stern as well. Outboards are usually broad in the stern (to carry motor weight) and have little or no rocker in the stern. Any design that claims to be the perfect all-around boat may not do anything very well. Trying to row a boat that is designed for an outboard is an exercise in futility, and will make you question why anyone would ever row a boat if they didn't have to. But there are a few designs that function both ways reasonably well.

A well designed boat is a sweet thing to row.


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## RGtools (Feb 18, 2011)

^thanks guys. While perusing the net the other day, this plan caught my eye.










It's in a book by Edwin Monk.

From my minutes of experience in boat design it looks like what I am looking for (a good rower that I can build as my first boat and fish from). Does anyone have any critiques on this?


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## RGtools (Feb 18, 2011)

^how do I post that picture so it fits? I am pulling it from another site.


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## runswithscissors (Nov 8, 2012)

That looks like a good boat. Ed Monk was a talented designer. In fact, I owned a 21' deep keel sailboat of his design that was built in 1935. Had it for 18 years.

Notice how the stern is moderately narrowed from the midships beam, and the moderate rocker in the stern. I think it would row well (though no speed demon), and would putz around okay with a small outboard (3 to 5 hp.) But note he does not show a notch in the transom for a motor. It should make a nice fishing boat as well. The topside flare provides reserve stability and bouyancy, and helps keep water out of the boat in windy, choppy conditions.. The single-lap topside planks are an interesting touch. You could use plywood for the bottom, which would allow you to keep it on a trailer (cross-planked bottoms need to stay wet, or they leak when first launched). A pre-shaped side panel of that type usually is bent around one to three mold forms, which are removed when the boat is planked. Looks like a fun project.

Just took another look at the plan view (looking down). It does not appear to be cross planked, but rather fore and aft on the bottom. What my first glance took to be cross plank seams are more likely bottom frames. These aren't really for strength, but rather to keep the plank edges from working against each other when the boat flexes.


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## RGtools (Feb 18, 2011)

So do you think this is a reinforced plywood bottom (like a torsion box)? I really should just buy that book.


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## GaryW (Aug 28, 2011)

http://www.glen-l.com/phpBB2/index.php
I built a stich & glue, 15 ft, double ender, sail/row boat. It was called a Pea-Pod. It was used along the coast of New England by fishermen. They would row out to sea in the mornings, fish all day. Then with their catch used as ballest they would sail back to land. I used it in the waters around Balitmore Maryland. It has since been retired and now resides in our yard as a large planter for my wife's flowers. I used a trolling motor, which pushed it along at a good pace. Used two batteries, one to go and one to return with. Also used the sail (which had a chipmunk) on it. The sail was 15 sq ft. Used a closet pole for the mast and boom. If you build a sailboat don't forget to place silver dollar under (epoxied into the deck) the mast for good luck. If you use plywood make sure you use Marine or exterier ply. I used exterior and fiberglassed over it, well after about ten years the bulkhead which supported the mast delaimated and spilt. Thats the reason it's a planter now.


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## jmartel (Jul 6, 2012)

How labor intensive are you looking to make the boat? There's a ton of gorgeous boats out there, but if you are strip planking, it's going to take a while to build. Compare that to a typically less pretty stitch and glue boats that you can toss together in a couple weeks.


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## runswithscissors (Nov 8, 2012)

RG: I think Monk intended for the bottom to be fore-and-aft planked with boards (his plan will specify), I suspect about 4" wide. Wider planks are a mistake in a boat bottom, because they will swell, shrink, and warp. Planking the bottom with plywood is one modification I would make, simply because I can't keep a boat in the water; it would have to live on a trailer.

The athwartship lines are definitely bottom frames, as Monk has labelled them "intermediate floors," aka floor timbers. In a bottom planked with plywood those intermediate ones could be left out. Their only purpose is to keep the plank edges from working against each other. They have nothing to do with strength.

It's possible Monk has you incorporate the transverse frames as part of the building form, rather than the way I suggested above. It is the pre-shaping of the side planks that makes me think you would use removable mold forms, since that is a quite common practice. Oh, I took a closer look. He shows offsets for just two stations, 2 and 4, which is strongly suggestive that those are mold frames. In that case, you would build the permanent frames into the boat after planking and turning the boat upright (almost all small boats are built upside down).

Simple boats can be built stitch and glue, but the process hadn't been invented yet when Monk drew the plans. The old way, with chine logs as he shows in the plan view, isn't that hard, and makes for a strong construction.


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