The boat is pretty
stable with one person in it, but two people make it a little tippy. My
boat is 15 feet and 3 inches long and weights 70 lbs.
My wife was a bit nervous in it, so I might make some outriggers for it,
especially for sailing, to stabilize it more. It is possible it would
have been more stable if I made it a little wider.
I used 1/4 inch exterior plywood and I epoxyed the entire boat inside
and out. I fiberglassed the entire outside and also the inside bottom,
using 3.25 oz. fiberglass (tight weave, which is stronger). I then
epoxyed the fiberglass twice and then painted the boat with marine paint
(oil base). I had problems with the paint not drying, so I had to strip
the entire outside and then I repainted it with exterior latex house
paint, which works much better. I used wood flour to make epoxy putty
for filling the corners.
I bought all the epoxy stuff from Raka, plus the two plastic port holes.
The port holes work reasonably well but they aren't 100% water tight
when the boat is flipped over. A small amount of water does get in
through the seals. Maybe a little petroleum jelly would help. They do
the job though of keeping the boat afloat.
I used nearly all stainless
steel hardware.
It moves quite well when paddling, about the same as a canoe. The boat
isn't as stable as a 17 foot wide bottom canoe, but it is acceptable. I
made the sides 11 inches, but 12 would have been better.
The boat sailed quite well ! The sail held up well. Rip stop nylon makes a good
material for sails. I may make a couple of different sails later on, to see if
other types work well. I have a shorter mast section for the top half, in case I
want to use a smaller sail later. The mast held up well. It didn't bend
much at all. The bottom half is made of 1 1/4 inch hardwood closet rod. The PVC
pipe which is used for the connector for the two halves is 1 1/2 inch ID. The
top half of the mast was made by sanding down a small section of the wood closet
rod, so I could slide a piece of 1 inch aluminum tubing over it. I fiberglassed
and epoxied the aluminum tubing to the wood part. This section of the mast
slides into the PVC connector and then is held in place with two bolts and wing
nuts (two holes are drilled through it).
I am still considering making some outriggers for the boat to make it more
stable in a strong wind.
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