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Who said I don't have any experience driving a boat? I've driven tons of boats. There isn't too much to it. Throttle goes up, boat goes forward. Throttle goes back, boat goes backwards. As long as you don't take turns too sharply and pay attention, everything is easy and fine. My opinion is rowboats are much harder to operate. Because of the slow speed, you have to take into consideration every gust of wind, every little current. Even your steering needs tending to. It's not like turning the tiller and going. It's "If I want to go port, how many times do I paddle port and how many starboard?"
I was thinking about a used boat but let's face it, you can be suckered pretty easily. You can never tell what damage is inside the hull. That's the problem.
As far as the hull, nothing to it. All it is made of is plywood really. There are other pieces for the frame but not too much to it. Epoxy isn't too expensive. The most expensive parts is going to be the t-top which goes for about 2 grand. I don't have too much experience welding so I'm better off just ordering one premade. The motor is also going to be expensive. I can probably get an older model that's been rebuilt for considerably less money. The electronics are going to be expensive. I can probably get a package deal if I tell a company like Garmin I want to use their set up exclusively.
Then there comes the matter of the tools. Most the stuff we own already. My dad is one of those DIY kind of guys so we have a bunch of tools. All you really need is a jigsaw, beltsander, palm sanders, a drill, pliers, diagnol cutters and a rasp. There are other tools out there that work better but you can get by with just those. Technically, you could do all of the work by hand if you had the guns for it but I don't. You guys have no clue how easy this is. All it takes is dedication.
As I journey through this process, I'm going to be keeping a daily log with photos. If there is enough interest, maybe John will post it. Once you see how great this is, all of you will want to do it.
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