Answer these 10 most Important Questions Before you begin to Build Your Own Boat

These are fundamental questions that you should consider before beginning your Wooden Boat Building Project.  They have been distilled from reading Blogs, Forums, Comments, and from first hand experience; seeing people begin projects that never get completed and some that were completed but at enormous financial and or emotional cost.  Some of these questions may seem stupid, some you will have already considered, and some you may be tempted to dismiss but all are important. There are unquestionably many more but these are my personal list.

My top ten things that need to be considered carefully before you start a wooden Boat Building Project.

1. Why Do You Want a Boat?  Or more importantly what is the use you have for the boat.

A boat which is being built for fishing may be built very differently than one being built for competitive sailing and differently again from one built for family outings, even if the design was basically the same. Most often the design will be completely different, each type of use; fishing, sailing, rowing, or even motoring all require different hull designs etc; but the point being made is that You should have the use in mind before you can consider the other factors.

Of course there is the possibility that you don’t intend to use the boat; you just want to build a wooden boat. That’s perfectly okay but the question is still why? Is it just to get involved in a worthwhile project, to upstage the neighbours (they own a boat), to make some money when you sell it?

I don’t know the answer but you should before you begin. The answer (s) to this question will influence the design, shape, structure, construction methods and size of any boat building project.

2. Where are you going to use this boat?

You may laugh and say on the water, but not all water is the same. The protected shallow waters of an inland stream are very different than those of vast lake and that is different again to the raging surf bound seashore of some ocean. Where you are going to use the boat will determine its shape and form as much as the intended use.

3. What Is Your Boat Building Budget?

Decide how much you can afford to spend before you start thinking about other things. This is important; if you get further into the project looking at plans and dreaming more about the finished boat; you will overestimate the budget that you can afford. Boat Building is not a cheap exercise. Timber is only one cost among many other costs and timber can be very exotic and hence expensive or it can be relatively cheap. Fittings and fit-out of a boat can also be done with top of the range products or with more modest but none the less adequate fittings. A mere couple of feet cut off the length of a boat (and I don’t mean that literally) can reduce the cost dramatically. Finances will determine the finish and fit-out of the boat, finances should be worked out well before you decided on type, size and method of construction of your Wooden Boat.

4. Is this your first Wooden Boat Building Project? If so then have you considered starting with a small project first?

Wooden boat building can be a very rewarding and satisfying venture, but like most things in life it is often best to learn in small steps first. Taking on a small boat which can be completed in a short space; of both time and place; which develops your skills and builds a better understanding of the whole boat building process, would be my recommendation to any newbie. If you are only planning on a small (less than 20ft) boat then maybe okay but anything over that and I would be suggesting you take on building a small dingy as a first project. If you find that you can’t spare the 2 to 3 weeks to bowl over something that you will be able to sell at a profit, then how are you able to contemplate a bigger boat.

5. Where are you going to Build Your Own Boat?

Do you have a workshop, garage or maybe back yard large enough in which to build this boat? You need space to store and protect from the weather all the tools and timber, as well as to be able to easily get at all parts of the boat. Sometimes the build method calls for you to be able to turn the hull over in order to finish it.

6. When you have finished the build how will you get the boat to the water?

Having decided on a place to build the boat make sure you can get it out of the shed, down the driveway, through the streets and into the water. Don’t think that this is a silly question. Many a shed door or wall have had to be removed to allow a boat out or Crane brought in to lift the boat over the house, or special permit and police escort required to take the boat to the local marina. I personally know of one case where the cost involved was more than 50% of the cost of the whole build project.

7. Do you have the skills and tools to undertake the project you are contemplating?

Consider enrolling in some classes to catch up on those skills you lack or to learn how to use some of the tools you may be contemplating buying for the project. Better to do it before you decide that the project you have undertaken is beyond your current skills. You want this boat to at least be finished to a standard which won’t be an embarrassment to yourself.

8. Do you have the support of your family and friends, neighbours and relatives?

Carefully consider the impact of long days and nights, (and whole weekends) with you working away in the shed or back yard; obsessively working on what may be your dream project. What impact will this have on your family, friends and even the neighbours? Not everyone will be in love with the sound of sawing and planning and hammering, or the smell of epoxy, glue and paint.

9. Are you sure you even want to build this boat?  Have you ever been out in a boat?

What a stupid question you say?  Well there is the experience of seasickness and unless you have tested yourself and family in a small boat for a few hours you won’t know if you will get seasick. (Well so what? We’ll just take some motion sickness pills. Take a Note here! They don’t work.  If they did the Americans would give them to their astronauts to prevent the motion sickness that plagues them.)

There are more “boating life” dreams abandoned through this curse than any other cause.

10. Where are you going to get some decent plans for your new boat?

There is any number of free Build Your Own Boat Plans out there and some of them are absolute rubbish. Some of them are using plans from 50 years ago without them having been updated for new ideas and methods. While they may work, why not take advantage of new tools and the methods they allow; new glues, epoxy compounds and even completely new building techniques that will get you in your boat and on the water with a lot less pain. Be sure and source some decent plans from a reputable designer or boat-shop and if possible why they shouldn’t come with a DVD of build techniques and instructions. Be sure they are recommended by somebody local to you.

So that’s it go and consider, think about the questions, write down your answers; think about them; be truthful to yourself. Take the family on a day trip or weekend away in a small boat, try, what you are thinking of doing with your boat before you begin committing yourself to an expensive project.

If you and the rest of those involved are satisfied with the answers to these vital questions then buy some books on boat building, search the internet for ideas, join some forums, your local yacht club, hang around the marina asking questions, and let the enthusiasm build back to where it was when you first got the idea.

There are thousands of people all over the world, from all walks of life, with all sorts of skill sets who begin and complete building their own boats. There is no reason that you can’t be one of those who happily start and finish a Build Your Own Boat project

Every step of this new venture is exciting from buying and reading that first build your own boat book (or blog), buying the plans, equipment and materials; to the end result; sitting in your own boat enjoying the full fruits of your labor.

While the prospect of starting from scratch and completing a wooden boat building project may be daunting for a new-be boat builder there are plenty of people like you who proudly complete such projects. It just requires some thought before hand and the use of some patience, determination and helpful hints from more experience builders.  Wooden Boat Building is alive and well, in workshops and back yards all over the world, home builders are building wooden boats, from tiny surfboards to large yachts, you can join them and Build Your Own Boat.