Re: Glen-L 21' Canyon Cruiser - Aluminum
Everyone, I thought I'd put up one last knowledge post on this subject and share a few things that might help anyone attempting this in the future. Here's my top ten tips.
1. Make sure you have a least twice the size of the boat for your workspace. That will be self explanatory if you don't.
2. Spend the extra money for CAD plans vs. paper plans. Having all of your materials cut for you means everything fits right. It's no fun finding out a frame is out of whack when you're laying the keel.
3. If you build the boat upside down on a form, make that form out of steel. Wood changes with the weather and your form needs to remain straight and true no matter what.
4. If you can, build the boat right side up in a form. This might sound harder but it's acutally a lot easier.
5.There is a company in Washington state that sells boats as kits if you can afford it, this is the way to go. It comes complete with the forms for building it rightside up. The downside is that you have to pay a lot more to get started.
6. MIG or TIG .. With the new pulse MIG welders building these boats would be a snap but TIG is the strongest and the most controlable. It's a toss up but you should choose one or the other if you want to stay in budget.
7. Power, go with an outboard and you'll save yourself a ton of money and work. Inboards are historically trouble free and you can save money with a used engine and pump or out drive but think about it, you're building a brand new boat, do you really want to stick a rebuild in it?
8. Lock in your costs if you can. Try to buy all your materials at one time so you know what the cost will be. You can always take delivery at a later date.
9. Don't over do it. Stick to a planned work schedule and don't get so involved that you start neglecting things.
10. If it stops being fun, it's over.. don't think that you'll get back to it because you'll just hate it from that day on.
#1 and #8 resulted in #10 for me.
