Building a Boat--Just for Fun

This instructable is a humorous take on my attempt at building a boat. You can't actually build a boat from these instructions, but it gives you a basic idea mixed in with a little humor. Be prepared for a lot of time and the need for a lot of warm weather before attempting. This is also my second attempt at a boat so you might want to practice with some cheaper materials. Good Luck!

After sorting through all the designs on the Internet, pick one that is simple and suits your tastes.

While Mama is busy washing clothes, push her car out of the carport so you have some room to work.

Now that your dad is at work, sneak out to the shed and get some tools, he has plenty, he'll never miss a few.

Since boats are made of wood, we need some. Go to HD if you own stock in them (like me) or Lowe's if you don't...or if there isn't a HD for a long way.

An explorer is only about 7 feet long in the cargo area...if you couldn't guess a 4X8 piece of plywood doesn't fit in it real well...but you've got to make do with what you have. It looks something like this.

Now that we have plans and wood, we need to turn the wood into shapes that are on the plans...or at least close to them.

Once the pieces are all cut out, try to put them together...don't worry if they don't fit, they aren't going to the first time around.

Since the old plan didn't work, throw it away and make up your own plan that uses the shapes that you do have.

A great tool is the hand plane. Its kind of like an eraser. A piece a little bit big, just erase a little off the edges to help them fit.

The longest, hardest and most critical step is the fiberglassing. Since there are bound to be huge holes where two pieces of wood meet, its critical to seal those up with fiberglass...use a mask and gloves.

Once the fiberglass dries, you have to sand down all the edges to make it smooth.

Now that the framework and hull are finished, time to move on to making it prettier. Start by building a floor, then some seats and maybe some storage cubbies.

Paint the boat outside the water then after its first voyage you'll have to go back and paint the waterline, but we can't paint that yet.

Go Enjoy your new boat.