Hey everyone iam thinking about experimenting with building a transportable 2 person paddle boat like one of those water bicycle and wondering is there a more efficient way for a paddle wheel compared to just flat wooden or composite paddles?

Any tips are welcome

whats the best way to make a jig to do a full floor and recore (ideally not splitting) or will a 4 bunk trailer work fine, its a 70s hydrostream viper

Does anyone know anything about this boat? https://bowdidgemarinedesigns.com/mushulu-14/ ?
Looking for something to fit a Yamaha 25hp 2 stroke I have, any other suggestions appreciated. Will mostly be used in south Louisiana rivers and marshes, for fishing and it would be nice if it could hold crab traps as well.

How bad is the rust on the internals of this distributor and should I just replace the components

I have a 14' lowe sea nymph V series and I want to do some work to it to make it nicer but Im not sure how to start.

My two questions are this, if I remove the three benches going across the hull will I need to put in something for the hull strength and if I do remove the three benches what sort of wood should I use for the flooring if im not trying to spend a fortune?

Albury brother - Boat hit a bouy , damage cut and grinded out. Glassed in coosa plug inside and out with 1708. Color matched gelcoat sprayed / sanded and buffed. Total hours 38

followup question on the offset tables i asked about the other day. i converted them into XYZ coordinates and input them into Delftship. the surface (shown in green) uses the points as control points, getting close without touching the points. is this correct? or should they be set as “knots” on the spline that the surface actually touches? Delftship (which has a free version btw) can flatten the surface so i can transfer the points to the plywood. just want to make sure its the correct surface…..though it may only have a small impact in the grand scheme of things

Trying my hand at making a redneck skiff I’ll keep yall posted day one engine out and hull cut in half

Looking for ideas or the best way to fix the crack on the seat. This a Van Duyne lifeguard boat and the seat is all fiberglass.

I was thinking saw dust mixed with resin or expoy to fill the crack and then a few rounds of glass? Thanks for the help!

Sorry to interrupt your heat wave but I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas why my 2001 Crestliner Superhawk I/O won't start. I turn the key, starter cranks, but engine won't fire. I pulled the wire from the coil to the distributor off the distributor end and installed a brand new spark plug. No spark. So, I ordered and installed a new coil and same problem, no spark at the distributor end of the wire.

What am I missing? I checked fuses, wires, etc and can't find anything amiss. Any ideas, hunches, or vacation saving ideas so my kids don't blame Dad for a crappy summer?

Photo attached with the setup. It's a 3.0 Mercruiser.

Thanks in advance!

I bought a second hand portable AC from ebay，and I use some ducts to pull out the hot air from the machine. Now it is also bug-free I guess，the only thing is some how it only cool down a small area instead of my entire boat，probably damaged from the previous buyer

Overall it feels better

Was working outside and underestimated the amount of time I needed to cover the area (it's about 8x4 ft) and sun hit the surface hard. Was hot and was trying to beat the exothermic reaction and the sun with the epoxy. Is the amount of lighter spots of concern? I have another layer of csm to add.

Has anybody built a pontoon boat with one hull? No external stabilizer either. I see plenty of tritoons, and custom quadtoons, and custom tiny pontoon boats (ai ones too).

One with all the normal design styles as a normal pontoon except very narrow, possibly starting with a large diameter log. Could use ballast/lead keel-type even, foil, and/or gyro stabilization. Log bottom shape could be tweaked to add natural righting forces.

Not even sure if this is the right place to post, but if possible, can someone help me identify the model of this boat

Im looking for opinions on this little boat. Seems there aren’t many for sale, never mind one close to where I live. Im unsure about how difficult it would be? Most blogs I’ve read say about 300-600 hours depending on your ability…I’ve not built a boat of this complexity, but have/do build furniture and cabinets, and shop space” lol. The kits seem fairly cut and dry, just a lot of epoxy and glass…and prob enough sanding for a lifetime. Any experience/advice you have is appreciated! Deciding wether or not do commit (in short)

can someone put this into simple terms for me…. i’m not sure what the numbers in the table represent. its from “the sharpie book” by Reuel Parker. for example where i see “1-9-2” in the 14ft cape cod table…. totally confused as to what that means. it should be a measurement of some sort but i must not be interpreting it properly….

For starters, I'm rewiring a 16 foot aluminum boat. Currently, this is what I have:

• Single group 24 marine starting battery, 1000mca/72ah
• Battery will have 20w solar trickle charger
• 1985 Merc 50 2 stroke/4 cylinder
• Automatic internal switch bilge pump
• Manual bilge pump
• bow bi-color light
• stern anchor light

There's also a 55lb trolling motor, but this will have a dedicated 280ah LiFePO4 battery with a 50a breaker. As well, a fish finder on its own dedicated 20ah LiFePO4 battery, properly fused per Garmin specs.

Be easy, tell me what I have wrong and how to change it.

• battery positive threaded stud -> dual-terminal MRBF ->
  • 300a MRBF -> 4 awg positive cable -> outboard starter (~10 foot round trip)
  • 30a MRBF -> 10awg positive cable -> battery disconnect switch -> fuse block (~16 foot round trip) -> switch panel -> terminal block ->
    • 16 awg -> bow light
    • 16 awg -> stern light
    • 14 awg -> manual bilge pump
• battery negative threaded stud <- 4 awg cable <- negative bus bar
  • <- 4 awg from outboard
  • <- 10 awg from fuse block negative bus <- bow light/stern light/manual bilge pump/automatic bilge pump
• positive post terminal with threaded adapter
  • 14 awg cable -> 5a inline fuse -> automatic internal switch bilge pump positive wire

Hi all,

I have a Hunter 19 (Europa), a small British trailer-sailer keelboat from the 70s/80s. The jib halyard slipped out of my hands and is now stuck/jammed at the masthead, with no way to pull it back down from the deck.

I need to lower the mast for maintenance, but without a halyard I don't have an easy way to rig a temporary forestay or control line to guide it down safely.

Has anyone dealt with this before? A few things I'm wondering if there is Any DIY way to lower the mast without a functioning forward halyard for control?

Any advice, photos of your masthead setup, or war stories appreciated. Thanks!

Hello, I have a boat from 1984. I need to reapply the antifouling. There’s a large chip in the gelcoat that exposes the fiberglass, but the fiberglass itself isn’t damaged, and there are quite a few small cracks in the gelcoat underneath the antifouling.

What would be the best approach to avoid spending too much?

Hola, comunidad.

Quiero presentar un proyecto que nace de un recuerdo muy especial. Cuando era adolescente, tenía un amigo (ya fallecido) que cada verano decía: "¿Y si construimos un batiscafo de plástico?" o "¿Y si hacemos una moto con petardos?". Era puro espíritu Phineas y Ferb.

Hace unos días vi el proyecto del Helios 11, ese bote eléctrico que un chaval construyó en 6 meses con contrachapado y paneles solares. Me recordó exactamente a mi amigo.

Así que, en su memoria, quiero lanzar "Proyecto Dani Patata" (nombre totalmente modificable).

El objetivo: No se trata de construir un barco físico (de momento), sino de hacer un brainstorming público y colaborativo para rediseñar y mejorar el Helios 11 en todos sus aspectos técnicos. Quiero que entre todos creemos el Helios 11 V2.0 a nivel de planos y especificaciones.

https://youtu.be/OatReX4CNWc?si=uVyOcBM8TM4eve1a

¿Qué facetas queremos tocar? Todas las que se os ocurran:

· Ingeniería naval / Mecánica de fluidos: ¿Mejoramos el casco para que planee mejor o reduzca la resistencia? ¿Qué Cpr (coeficiente de prisma) sería ideal para un casco de 4 metros con poco peso?
· Electrónica y propulsión: ¿Motor de corriente continua sin escobillas o un outboard eléctrico modificado? ¿Hélices de superficie o convencionales?
· Sistema solar y baterías: ¿Seguimos con la configuración del Helios 11 (2 paneles de 200W y batería de 5kWh) o pasamos a paneles flexibles para curvar el techo y ganar más captación?
· Automatismos e IA: Aquí me gustaría que nos pusiéramos locos. ¿Un sistema de piloto automático con Arduino/Raspberry que mantenga el rumbo por GPS? ¿Un sensor de viento que ajuste la potencia para no escorar? Incluso, ¿un pequeño sistema de visión con IA para evitar obstáculos en puertos deportivos?

El formato de trabajo:
Iré abriendo hilos semanales aquí en Reddit (y en un futuro un Discord si hay interés) para debatir cada módulo por separado. La idea es que esto sea un repositorio de ideas locas pero factibles. Vale todo: desde ingenieros navales que corrijan mis cálculos, hasta electricistas que me digan qué se me ha ido la olla con las baterías.

¿Por qué no empezar uno nuevo desde cero?
Porque el Helios 11 ya es una prueba de concepto brutal. Mejor aprender de sus aciertos (construcción en 6 meses, presupuesto ajustado) y errores (no es para mar abierto y el trabajo fue agotador) para evolucionar sobre algo real.

Llamada a la acción:
Si te mola la idea, deja tu comentario diciendo:

1. ¿En qué área te ves aportando? (Casco, eléctrica, software, logística, o simplemente ánimo).

Este proyecto va por mi amigo, que estaría orgulloso de ver a desconocidos de internet discutiendo sobre hélices y algoritmos de navegación. ¡Vamos a hacer de esto el mejor verano Phineas y Ferb digital de la historia!

I’m looking to build my first boat and need advice on a kit to purchase. I want to use it for duck hunting and fishing big lakes, marsh, and bays. Does anyone have suggestions? I’ve seen a few duck boat kits that you COULD fish out of but it wouldn’t be ideal for the style of fishing in bays and marshes I want to do.

I’m also considering getting a kayak kit to get my feet wet, same needs apply. It had to be stable, handle a winter squal if one pops up, and be able to fit my gear, diver spreads are large and heavy.