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Uh, what is a GPS trolling motor?

I thought a GPS was a navigational instrument. No matter, I know what a trolling motor is -



Yes.

A boat designed for such a low powered motor should...

I bet it will be lighter than a rotomolded boat too, and I know she will enjoy that, putting it on top of the car and launching it!

I generally consider those plastic boats as little more than...

I hate Ranch, and would never allow it on any boat of mine!
My wife does occasionally sneak it into the home though, and eats it just to gross me out.

If you need to slather that goop on food to...

Just over 14' long?

That's still a kayak.

My wife has a "recreational" rotomolded kayak that's shorter than that. She bought it so she could have a boat she can easily carry and load into the...

Any kind of varnish or epoxy will peel with exposure to the sun.
When I built our little trappers tilt I used some kind of free leftover wood preservative I found at a recycle center. Don't...

An even simpler boat to build that checks all the boxes is the Selway Fishers Simplicity 14, a boat I came real close to building myself.

Designed to be able to cross the channel.
Can be built...

Actually, I was just going to nominate the Bolger Micro!

The smaller, original version checks all the boxes just fine. It even fits through the barn door! (Probably....Might have to chisel a bit...

I've looked real hard at the Eco 55 cat. The interior is nice, it trailers easily because it's narrow, and that's why I hesitate. It's narrow, and when pressed can capsize. It is not a big boat and...

Why is everyone thinking monohull?

I think a Tiki 21 would be ideal. Easy to build one hull at a time in the shop.
No doubt what-so-ever about it being suitable for any crossing - One was...

More of my amateur wood work -

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An early shot showing the hatch and anchor rollers I made.

I'd never actually seen an anchor roller platform before in real life, so sadly i made mine...

Sailing -

The San Juan 21, being a one design race boat, sails very well and (for it's size) seems quite fast. ( it's hull speed is a bit over six miles an hour, and it reaches that speed easily)....

We always handled the boat by paddle, sail and kedge rather than motor. For us the motor is a last resort because in the past it’s been notoriously unreliable, and it’s painfully noisy! I tell people...

On the water we learned an awful lot pretty fast, such as;

Just because we had a car stored at a marina did not give us the right to leave our boat tied to the dock all day as we went to shore...

We towed a canoe for a tender, which was both a very good idea and a very bad one!

It was the perfect vessel for resupply missions ashore and for exploring the innumerable backwater channels of...

So I'm sitting in a motel in Montana, almost done driving back from Florida to Washington state where we just spent 48 days afloat in a San Juan 21.

Yep, we drove a 17 year old Jeep liberty...

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What's nice is the seats are just lashed in place so I can set the stern seat forward for solo use.



They are laminated up of two pieces of good Doug Fir with tightbond III, 1-1/2" square.

I had to think about this requirement for a few days before answering. Let's see -

1) Sailboat.

2) Easy build

3) Under 14 feet.

4) Simple rig, shallow draft.

You may wish to look at my Dart tacking outrigger canoe thread in the Building / repair section!

It's my design of a 50/50 sail/ paddle outrigger canoe. Two sheets of ply for the main hull and one...

Too many other projects have gotten in the way this year, so I haven't had it sailing yet, but she paddles nice.
For solo use it's best to slide the stern seat forward a bit, which is possible...

I inherited an 1947 model from my grandpaw back in 1970!

Nobody else wanted it...

I still got all the bits and pieces and the original manual too.

I still use it, mostly as a drill press,...

When I rebuilt a trashed kevlar canoe I used doug fir rails ripped out of nice 16' 2x4s.
No hardware was used, just PL3X construction adhesive.
It was the first time I'd ever tried something like...

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Nice boat!

Yeah, I think yer stuck with the center thwart, looks like a tall plywood frame there. But I'd remove the stern seat.
If she were mine I would be tempted to try and remove...

I too have removed the thwarts from my skiff and use a rowing seat/storage box of about the same height -

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I use a floatation cushion on top.

For sailing, you sprawl on a cushion as...

Oh yeah -

The Bolger system of lacing a sail on -

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Maybe I should add that because I use flat-cut tarp sails, I don't typically mess with snotter tension much. If the wind really...

How big is the sail we're talking about?

On the 96 sq.ft. mainsail of my cat-yawl the snotter is made fast to the end of the boom. I raise the sail, stand on the foredeck with the end of the boom...

The Featherwind fits this bill the best that I know of

Photographic proof -

http://forum.woodenboat.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=118453&d=1662428180&thumb=1

...

Heh, I do it at the courthouse in Colville, Stevens county. The nice ladies there don't mess with you, and waived inspections and so forth for me in the past. I'd rather shoot myself than try it at...

Boatbuilder and designer Thomas Firth Jones (who sailed over 50,000 miles on his plywood boats) once wrote something to the effect that he'd "rather paint a boat with ketchup than with epoxy". He...

You should send Thomas Vetromile a copy of this photo!

http://forum.woodenboat.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=118451&d=1662428026&thumb=1

A lightweight, simple boat for a family of four?

Sounds like the "200 dollar" version of the Bolger Featherwind ​would fit the bill.

Here is one that was just launched by a member here -
...

I have trees that big but they are all green and standing.
I have a tree stored in my loft for a few years now for a spare mast for one of my boats, but it ain't that big!

Outstanding!

It's great to see it on the water and I'm please it does everything you wanted it to!

Happy sailing!

A simple little flatiron can be an awful lot of fun and it sure is easy to build!
This is David Beedes Summer Breeze design.
11-1/2 feet long, three sheets of ply and a few weekends to build her....

A simple boat for two person rowing?

Bolger's stretched dory comes to mind -

https://middletonstreamteam.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Image-1-for-7-3-15-Gulls2.png

Taped seam...

For my first dolly I tried drilling holes in the end of a 2x4 and epoxying in axles. It lasted a season, but the 2x4 split.

For the next version I table-sawed a groove in the bottom of a 2x4,...

Any brand recommendations?

When I go looking for them on-line the Marinco keeps popping up, but all the negative reviews on amazon keeps me from ordering one. They are not cheap, and it's an...

I'm thinking about installing one or even two of those solar powered day / night ventilators in the cabin top of our sloop, right over the forward V berth, pulling air in. The idea is to have a nice,...

Huh, I've used exterior latex house paint that my wife mixed up from various leftover cans for this and haven't had any problems with it.....

I thought you'd be sailing for months now, but life does get in the way!

I have two new boats in the yard that I built last winter and have yet to launch either one! Most of my free time goes to...

Yep, I forwarded the Malibu plans to Pete in Australia to put on his site. I figured they needed a permanent home.
I got 'em from Gabriele Armeni early last year when I got interested in designing...

So let me get this straight....


You want someone to store yer boat for you and take Real good care of it, and pay you to boot...


Heh, ain't gonna happen.

Ouch!

Ah, remember, "happy wife, happy life!"

Now my wife is a very experienced canoe paddler with a full repertoire of pry and draw strokes, and she is always the bow paddler.
However,...

As a general thing, I find canoe seats are more comfortable up rather high. I'm 5'7" myself, I don't think height has much to do with it.

I have a modern kevlar canoe that came with the modern...

In Dart​ I set the seats about eight inches off the floor.
You want them pretty high for ease of paddling.
I set the boat on the ground and sat inside on various boxes and what-not to make sure I...

Heck, I'd grab it if I lived closer to you!

Something you can get on the water right away with??

Nothing is easier to build than the "200 dollar" verion of the Bolger Featherwind that Dave Carnell came up with.

I made mine outside over...

I used ordinary oil based Rustoleum on one of my canoes after a repair and it's held up fine. The red Rustoleum was a pretty good match for the original color. This is a kevlar canoe with no gelcoat,...

I second the Bolger Clam Skiff!

Not a Garvey bow, but no matter. Put a few old tires on the bow or grab a mess of old rope and cover the bow with baggywrinkle.

Plans are here, for 45 bucks.
...

Oh no!!

He's hooked! :d

It's true the Featherwind doesn't have seats. You don't usually get them in car-toppable boats.

Sailing in one looks like this -


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