Also see the FAQ in the Boatbuilding menu for many more methods
Is it revolutionary?
The Quick Canoe uses Duct tape to hold the plywood together while the glue or glass tape sets up. This can save a huge amount of time.
The Quick Canoe is designed to take maximum advantage from the method.
Slideshow and pictures resources to show some of the methods for building the Eureka Stitch and Glue Plywood Canoe.
This page compares the two plywood canoes in my range. Both have detailed plans and are simple to build.
The page is to explain the differences and to help potential builders see if one of the boats suits their needs.
Lots of links to pictures, build articles and even videos.
The cla
Melanie in the UK wrote to me. She has just bought an old Mirror dinghy and started sailing for the first time.
Problem is that the boat leaks and she doesn’t want to stop using the boat until the end of the season.
I have a philosophy of keeping older boats on the water and not pulling them off for months on end until you have the time to do the job.
So the article here is useful to see what can be done with an old leaky plywood sailing dinghy to keep it going.
It is perfect sailing weather at the moment in the UK and it is better she is out there learning but with the worst of the leaks gone.
With a disciplined approach she should be able to get all of this done in a week or so. The general leaks fixed permanently and the rotted area reinforced so that the boat won’t break.
Fast building was part of the aim of this plan! Also to keep the expense down. Rick surprised me – I was thinking it would take a couple of weekends. The Quick canoe is very simple to build and comes out of three plywood sheets. A very simple plywood canoe It has been designed to be as easy to build as possible while keeping some of the qualities of a good paddling canoe – in particular the ability to track.
This podcast/mp3 talks about why Australian (and New Zealand) wooden boatbuilding is different from the rest of the world..
Click to listen to the talk. This is the third of three.
This is the second of my talks in the USA. It focuses a bit more on construction and some of the methods that can be used to keep a boat light and simple, but very strong and stiff.
It also discusses how there is a “creep” in boatbuilding and design that increases the weight of boats way over what is really needed for a strong structure.
The basic problem is that end grain is highly absorbent so it can steal the resin from the join leaving insufficient for good bonding.
Just a simple wooden box with a lightbulb inside and a switch on the outside. The swing down lid has slots so the tops of the epoxy pumps are outside the box or a hinged lid you just flip up when you need to pump.
Epoxy that has not cured is a problem most of use come up against at least once. However it is unlikely to happen a second time as it’s operator error in 99.9% of cases. So what are the typical mistakes?
Teak and other timbers make great veneer decks. There are a couple of tricks with the sealant between the planks though
Battery Drills (most convenient) with a clutch and variable speed remove the need for dozens of clamps which can be a major cost.
Paint vs Varnish
Paint is more durable and will protect the epoxy and timber the best. But Varnish is faster and easier to apply and over epoxy needs fewer coats than paint.
There are a number of labour and materials saving techniques that reduce labour and reduce the quantity and cost of epoxy used – wet on wet coating, one hit gluing
If ply sheets are precoated before assmbling the boat it saves lots of time. Here are some guidelines
This is a basic section on the stages of fibreglassing areas on a plywood boat, canoe or SUP. Many problems can be avoided by being methodical and setting up each stage carefully rather than rushing in.
Where a seam or boat chine is fibreglassed and the glass bubbles and will not sit flat or go around the corner – a simple trick for boatbuilding. This article shows how to make your own double bias tape.
This is the normal method for fibreglassing small areas for home boatbuilders – typically using fibreglass tape to hull seams, very common on stitch and glue and plywood boats
