I am planning on starting 2 boat builds in the early part of 2018, both will be pontoon style, a 6ft one for me to fish from,and the other slightly bigger for cruising but has to accommodate a wheelchair, i have some ideas in my head but nothing down on paper yet, i am leaning more to doing something in a flat pack modular system that can go on a roof rack as opposed to a complete boat, just to add using a trailer is out of the question as our car is a wheelchair accessible one and has a rear ramp and lowered floor so a tow bar cannot be fitted, just looking for some advice for things to watch out for, i am looking for function over looks, so it just needs to float and be stable, cheers.
Any wooden boat builders on the forum ?.
- Thread starter dynax
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Blockplane
Established Member
Have a look at Phil Bolger's designs.
It is quite possible he designed something along the lines you are thinking of, if not his approach will give you a lot of practiacl, low cost ideas.
It is quite possible he designed something along the lines you are thinking of, if not his approach will give you a lot of practiacl, low cost ideas.
I would suggest a rib boat. Inflatable sides but with a wooden board floor.
My brother used to own one and with two people it was easy to inflate at home, lift it to the roof of the car and drive to the river.
Of course that was before powered air pumps, now you could inflate it at the rivers edge.
One fit person could lift the parts of the boat by themselves.
My brother used to own one and with two people it was easy to inflate at home, lift it to the roof of the car and drive to the river.
Of course that was before powered air pumps, now you could inflate it at the rivers edge.
One fit person could lift the parts of the boat by themselves.
There were one or two "punt" designs in Woodworker years ago. If you have no joy on the web, I could do a trawl(!) through my collection and see what pops up.
Keith 66
Established Member
Im a boatbuilder, i also have a keen interest in boat design. I too would look at Phil bolger designs but limiting to 6ft long or slightly bigger is going to be very very borderline on size to make a safe boat especially for one intended for wheelchair access. A friend built a small pontoon boat of that size & to be honest it would have been too small for a wheelchair acessible boat, it simply was not stable enough. I reckon you would have to go 10 or 12 ft minimum, that is going to be hard to roof top.
Perhaps a catamaran with solid central flat deck section might make a better option, such a boat could be built to be easily demountable, two hulls & a centre section, & each bit would be considerably lighter than a pontoon style boat. Centre deck section could also incorporate a ramp for wheelchair access without compromising the hulls watertight integrity.
Perhaps a catamaran with solid central flat deck section might make a better option, such a boat could be built to be easily demountable, two hulls & a centre section, & each bit would be considerably lighter than a pontoon style boat. Centre deck section could also incorporate a ramp for wheelchair access without compromising the hulls watertight integrity.
dynax":1ypys0p0 said:
Check out these designs:
http://woodenwidget.com
(detailed) plans for sale from £30 quid a go.
Boat design is a complex science and the suitability of a design will also depend on the nature of the water you intend to use it in.
Why not look at proven designs and build from a set of plans?
Try here:-
http://www.selway-fisher.com
or if you want a stacking dinghy here:-
http://www.duckworksbbs.com/plans/sf/di ... /index.htm
http://www.clcboats.com/shop/boats/wood ... t-kit.html
Why not look at proven designs and build from a set of plans?
Try here:-
http://www.selway-fisher.com
or if you want a stacking dinghy here:-
http://www.duckworksbbs.com/plans/sf/di ... /index.htm
http://www.clcboats.com/shop/boats/wood ... t-kit.html
