Boats, Dories and other Watercraft

The idea for this pram came to me as I sat in the shade beside the dock of a small Breton port in late summer. A small boy not much older than my six-year-old son was playing in a round-bilged little simulated clinker pram; he was an expert at rowing and sculling and he seemed to be having a grand time.

Ever dream of building a boat? In your own backyard? We thought so. Building a boat is one of the truly great fantasies that most grown boys and girls have indulged in at one time or another. For most of us, it never gets beyond the dream.

A good canoe, cleanly cleaving a glassy lake or haystack wave as it transports its passengers in silence and harmony with the outdoors, has a functional beauty that is unsurpassed by any other of the tools that connect humanity with the natural world.

The character and object of this book are set forth on its title page. It is a manual designed for the practical assistance of those who wish to build their own canoes.

This is a link to a Google 3D SketchUp drawing for an easy to build stand to support your small water craft. You will need the SketchUp software to download this drawing and its freely available online. We do not provide support for this software. Not all drawings have the measurements displayed but you can use the measurement tool in SketchUp to easily and accurately determine the dimensions of each lumber part. Most drawings do not have instructions, its assumed you can build it based on the completed drawing provided.

Welcome to the home of free boat and model airplane plans. Plans at this site are large and slow loading so be patient.

I am just waiting for the day when I become a grandfather. From that day on I will have a good reason to build things like this.

A 20 foot cabin cruiser. Be patient when downloading, images at the site are large.

This is a miniature version of the same punt, adjusted to be made of one and a half sheets of plywood. Or two boats out of three sheets. As it happens, the boat scales down very nicely. The overall shape is conserved beautifully.

I think this boat could be quite something - a fast 14ft one-man rower that comes out of two sheets of ply. Designed for flat water, you will notice that in order to reduce the fuss at the waterline to a minimum, I have worked the waterline at the design displacement so that it just kisses the chine.

This runabout is designed for speedy transportation over protected waters.

Class F Three Point. Large images to download, be patient.

Building wood, reclining water transportation, includes materials and tools list, diagrams. ...

Flat bottom cajun style boat. DXF Format

Welcome to the home of free boat and model airplane plans. You will find many interesting plans to inspire yourself and those you care about.

Welcome to the home of free boat and model airplane plans. You will find many interesting plans to inspire yourself and those you care about.

Swamp Thing looks fairly sleek in some ways, but has low freeboard and holds only one person. We wanted to be able to go rowing together, but we also wanted to be able to pick the boats up and put them in the back of a small truck. That meant we each needed our own boat.

Welcome to the home of free boat and model airplane plans. Plans at this site are large and slow loading so be patient.

Mouse started life as a one-sheeter, that is, an exercise to develop the smallest, cheapest possible boat. As a result, it is not a boat to which you can safely trust your life in any sort of waves - as anyone who climbs into a Mouse will quickly realize.

This is a one sheet version of the same punt, adjusted to be made of just one sheet of plywood. As it happens, the boat scales down very nicely. The overall shape is conserved beautifully. Both length and beam are 3/4 of the original, so the L/B ratio is the same, about 2.2.

A 7 ft 8 inch one sheet skiff.

A 15ft three point hydro runabout.

This little gem is from a 1948 edition of Boat Builder is Annual.

An 11 foot outboard. Images are large so be patient when downloading.

This updated and completely revised publication follows an exhaustive study by the author in collaboration with research institutions and engineers on structural timber design applied to wooden boat construction. The designs included are appropriate for inshore and coastal fisheries and emphasis has been placed on relative ease of construction and minimum wastage of timber.

These drawings have been made available by John Kohnen, keeper of an amazing set of Nautical and Boatbuilding pages.

The Qivitoq is an Inuit-style Sea Kayak, and was heavily based on native design. The original inspiration came from the Chewonki Kayak. That article and others on Greenland type kayaks were the foundation.

This little gem is from a 1950 edition of Boat Builders Annual. Hi Sibley may have foreseen the Bolger Box boat movement! You think?

The Ozarks has many things that are all its own, One of the most interesting products of the Ozarks is the johnboat, a combination of the ingenuity of the people and the natural features of the region.

Welcome to the home of free boat and model airplane plans. You will find many interesting plans to inspire yourself and those you care about.