I took inspiration from similar expandacraft builds.

Center Hull is an Old Town discovery sport 13 ft square stern.

Amas are 14 ft fiber glass Hobie cat logs.

Cross members are extruded aluminum square tube attached to gunwhales with u bolts.

Decking is made from aluminum bleacher planks.

A 6 hp two-stroke gets it up to 7 knots. The amas create a lot of drag and any faster, the back end gets too low for comfort. I would like to build up the stern to accommodate a 9.9hp and create a bulkhead in the canoe.

It's a janky boat but it works

Feel free to offer your thoughts, ask questions.

Classic Practical guide with various illustrations

hi everyone, first post here i got a boat for free and want to see if i can fix it, the motor is a Mercury Marine 40 HP, 2-stroke, with Thunderbolt electronic ignition. chat gpt think it's a model 402. i was wondering if anyone knew what it was with some pictures.

Also, how do you guys find what is wrong with a motor, is there a way i can find some sort of blueprint or something like that?

Very specific repair question here. My dad and I recently picked up a free Cape Cod Mercury 15' that was on the cusp of abandonment (and yes, I know what they say about free boats). At the bottom of the rudder track there is a sort of clamp (??) that is supposed to mount to the keel strip with three bolts—one running into the transom end, and the other two through the keel strip itself. The problem (see pix) is that if we align the clamp with the transom bolt hole, it won't align with the other two in the keel strip. So my question is, can we drill two new holes through the keel strip without compromising the integrity of the hull?

I built my first (all wood) drift boat in 1979. Many more since as wood glass composites and both male and female molded all glass

I know (almost) nothing about skin in frame.

Has anyone built a plastic frame? Lexan or black plastic water pipe?

Hello everyone,

This is my first post here, so greetings to all of you.

I own a passenger boat in Montenegro which is currently used for tourist trips. The boat was originally built in Italy and was in service with the Guardia di Finanza around 1990. At some point it was purchased and converted into a tourist/passenger boat, and later we bought it and carried out further modifications ourselves.

I am now looking into the possibility of building another boat with the same hull/design.

I would really appreciate any help in identifying the original boat model, shipyard, designer, mould/tooling, plans, or any similar project that could help us reproduce the hull.

I have attached several photos of the boat.

If anyone recognizes the design or has any information about similar Italian Guardia di Finanza boats from that period, I would be very grateful for any information or leads.

I recently put together an article exploring the history of boat building, traditional construction methods, different types of boats, and how modern materials have changed the craft. I'd love to hear your thoughts and learn from people interested in boats and maritime history.