Aluminium and timber boat?

Question

I want to build a 4.8 metre bay fishing boat. I have quotes for an alloy kit but this requires specialist skill in welding. I am also looking at a timber boat with epoxy or bote cote exterior. Which do you think is better? The waters in Port Phillip Bay are treacherous so the craft in question needs to be able to high tail it when necessary.

Answer 1

I build with wood. I have a MIG welder and can most likely build Aluminum. I think what your concern should be is the actual design of the boat and what displacement it have when finished. I not educated as much as to what Aluminum weigh compared to wood, probably be easy to learn. The weight give more stability, but, this also part of design. We can not necessarily make a boat heavier beyond the weight it was designed for, this may throw off waterlines and change performance from the original design. Wood is a proven boat material. It has been used day one of boats. Actually wood is better than Aluminum as it can withstand impact better. Aluminum may bend to a extent. For myself, I feel wood is easier to work with, I not sure about cost difference. I use Bronze Nails and Screws for my wood. Today there are the "Stitch-n-Glue" boats and they fairly easy to build without a lot of "lofting" and they can be covered with fiberglass. I show you the link of a Boat I waiting on the plans now, it will be built from wood. This bad girl have 1,400 pounds of displacement and from study and comparison with some "Stitch-n-Glues" which are around 800-1,000 pound displacement, this boat (Being designed for this weight) should handle rough water up to the point of a total swamp. I know this different than what you want, but, the concept of Handling and Stability are the same.

http://www.boat-links.com/Atkinco/Sail/P...

Look around and learn, there many Free Wood Boat plans of what you want that may have the Horse Power rating you be comfortable with. I give you two links. The first are many Free Plans, they can be enlarged to a point of distortion and printed. Should be enough detail to build them. The second are some fun boats but the plans cost. He does have some books that be cheaper and you can build from the book with a magnifying glass. LOL!

http://www.svensons.com/boat/

http://www.instantboats.com/

Most of these boats in the second link were designed by Phil Bolger for a main focus of Stitch-n-Glue and ease to build.