It all started when my neighbor (we'll call him Rick because his name is Rick) said he always wanted to build a boat. Thinking I knew what I was doing Rick asked me to show him the ropes... It had been such a long time since I had tortured some plywood, epoxy and glass together to float that the memories of sanding fiberglass had sunken to the deep part of my brain where I conveniently lose unpleasant thoughts..."what the hell Rick lets get started"...
Rick had been researching designs for months...Phil Bolgers Diablo kept coming up the winner. As simple as a boat can be to build, good looking and with ridiculous reports of performance. Next thing I knew Rick was rolling out all two and a half pages of Dynamite Paysons plans in front of me, we where off. The original plan was to build one boat (last thing I need is another boat) a couple days later when we had Ricks boat stitched together I found myself driving home with a load of plywood.
This boat goes together so quick theres no time to get discouraged!
After butting together the plywood and epoxying both sides with 4" wide 10oz cloth, lofting and cutting out the panels and bulkheads we where ready to assemble....
We simply added legs to the bulkheads at the height we wanted to work (when flipped) temporarily screwed the three stations to the bottom panels along with the laminated plywood stem (not shown) and flipped over.
When it came time to assemble my boat Rick was out of town so I made a stand to hold the transom roughly in place as this was a two person job...
This shows the boat "stitched" and siting on the temp legs... the legs also double as "molds" so its best to add them right when you loft the "bulkheads" or stations...at this time you need to figure what height you want to work at.
If you cut the panels out accurate there is no fuss stitching! Dynamite Paysons numbers are spot on!
This picture shows the shop getting a little crowded... Ricks boat in the foreground has just been flipped and the mold/legs are still in place. My boat in the background is getting ready to have the bottom pulled in and stitched. The lumber laying across Ricks boat is left over cypress from my house that we will spliced and use for rails.
Here we see Rick taping the seams we used two layers of 10oz. Rick decided he wanted a bright transom so he added 5/8" mahogany. This shot also shows the liberty we took with Phil Bolgers design...we added a more conventional transom and removed a little bit of the rocker from the sheer aft. Rick and I had different ideas for our interiors....Rick stayed a little closer to Phils vision then I did.
I stretched the boat by 6"...something that is easy to do and no additional ply is needed. I also moved the middle station forward about a foot and made a low and large casting platform forward. This gave me a large open cargo area in the middle of the boat. I carried gussets back from the platform to help add stiffness to the extra open area.
Rick and I both decided on a raised console offset to take advantage of the flat part of the floor. This should be very servicable wether sitting centerline, sitting to starboard with two aboard or even standing.
The casting platform has a anchor locker forward and huge storage below. (here you can see Ricks boat in the background freshly painted...I'm falling behind)
Heres Ricks boat outside before the rails where installed to hose off the epoxy blush.
Thats it for now we'll post something new when it happens.
http://www.saltyachts.com/
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The console was cobbed together with 1/2" ply scraps and epoxy, then epoxied in place. The keel I added after the fact, I needed to do this because the bottom was flexing...I simply ground the paint off and laminated two pieces of mahogany to the bottom the finished keel ended up about 1 7/8" x 3" ...helps tracking, beaching is less scary and rolling on and off the trailer is easier
I always wanted to build a lift off cab for a small powerboat to extend the season. I couldn't waste another Sunday watching football (thank you Andy Reid) so I got started. My idea was to make something light and easy to take off, completely enclosed with good solar gain and built using mostly scraps on hand. The first cocktail napkin had a big hatch/companionway forward so I could stand at the helm and still run the boat. The interior I designed for my Diablo lends itself to this as I had no middle seat, just a big "hold" and casting platform forward. However, I soon realized it would be more complicated and difficult to make it watertight, back to the napkin....Once I mocked it up I really like the front door and I did away with the hatch. I used left over cypress siding strips from our house build and had to buy one sheet of 1/4" fir A/B plywood. Not wanting to get sticky I built it conventional with wood glue cleats and screws...avoiding the epoxy. I used hard plastic window material that the good canvas guys use for the clear bits, made a door hinge with a couple layers of white duct tape, and a back enclosure out of used Sunbrella from an old trawlers awning. 
