More Fuselage Frame Boats

Book excerpt: The second edition of Fuselage Frame Boats is now available, titled More Fuselage Frame Boats. In it I will show you how to build light weight boats at a very low cost.While my new book covers some of the same material as the first book, it also has some new techniques and of course new boats. One new item is how to build a Fuselage Frame boat with a varnished wood transom.Included are offsets for four of my boat designs. Flyfisher, a small rowing boat. Matilda, a performance rowing boat with a wine glasses shaped varnished wood transom. The Mess-About 12' recreational kayak along with a kids kayak, Tadpole. Also there is Crawfish, a two person Pirogue. All offsets are listed in Metric and English.The Fuselage Frame style was very popular in the 1950's and 1960's and many boat plans appeared in magazines such as Popular Mechanics and Popular Science. Even though it is no longer fashionable in the magazines, the fuselage style of construction is still probably the most cost effective way to build a small boat. Recently I have seen a renewed interest in this type of boat construction. People are rediscovering the advantages of Fuselage style Skin Boats.Fuselage frame boats cost very little to build. A sheet of marine plywood, a lightweight wood such as cedar for the stringers, a few yards of a synthetic fabric for the skin and something to waterproof the skin. Materials cost are typically around $300. Nice wood for varnished seats and trim will add to your bill.This book will walk you through the process of building your own boat. I start by addressing the space needed to build a boat as well as tools needed. There is a detailed section on laying out the frames from a table of offsets. Progressing to how to assemble the frame, skinning the boat and through all the steps to preparing your boat for launching.