Recently I was searchin for some good boat plans and found this great plan for these wooden grommets. A dinghy I was building needed a simple means to attach a line to the bow for towing and mooring. I really didn’t want a metal ring bolt sticking out of the transom, but simply drilling a hole through it wasn’t the answer either. These wooden grommets fit the task perfectly.

Wooden Grommets Step-by-step Guide

	1. step - Cut three wood discs with a hole in the center. Hole saws are an excellent choice for this operation. The center disc should be thicker than material it will be placed through by slightly more than the thickness of the saw blade you’ll be using the split ti later.
	2. step - Glue together with a dowel for alignment.
	3. step - Trim dowel flush with the disc faces.
	4. step - Bore center hole with hole saw or Forstner bit.
	5. step - Shape the edges and sand the center bore to your satisfaction. On large grommets, a roundover bit and a router will do this job. More delicate grommets will require less aggressive methods.
	6. step - Split into two rings.
	7. step - Bore opening for grommet. Dry fit, trimming and sanding center of grommet to fit.
	8. step - Finished assembly.

You can download a full DIY Wooden Grommets Plan in PDF format here.

Also be sure to visit our other great tutorials like Making Accent Stripes On Your Wooden Boat or visit Free Boat Building Plans Category on Free Woodworking Plans Archive.

Technorati Tags: boat, bore, center, fit, grommets, hole, plan, plans, wooden

Recently I found a great free accent stripes plan online that shows how to make accent stripes on your wooden boat, wooden paddle or any special custom made boat part that needs to look great Making accent stripes is a little more complicated than making a single strip that contrasts with the basic hull color. It takes some thought and a little extra time to spend to make it look good.  The free plan details making a three part stripe – that is, making three individual strips, that when mounted on the hull, form the perfect finished stripe. The technique can be used to make just about any sort of accent, from simple two or three lines to complex repeating patterns.

Finished accent stripe

Technorati Tags: accent stripes, stripes, wooden stripes

See how to patch a small hole in your boat’s hull using West System epoxy kit.  (Video Rating: 3 / 5)

Fiberglass Boat Repair Step by Step Guide

Step 1.

Examine the pattern and location of cracks in your boat’s hull to determine their cause. If the pattern or location indicates flexing, examine the interior side of the panel to determine the best location for additional reinforcing. If the cracks are a result of impact, examine the interior side of the panel to determine whether damage extends through the entire laminate.

 Step 2.

Remove any surface contaminants such as wax, oil or mold release. Wipe an area at least twice as large as the damaged area with a wax and silicone remover (Dupont Prep-Sol® #3919S), acetone or other appropriate solvent. Dry the area with clean paper towels before the solvent evaporate.

Step 3.

Technorati Tags: boat, boat repair, cracks, fiberglass, fiberglass boat, gelcoat repair, repair

Video of the equipment on my 90 gallon SPS tank. could not fit it in on the tank tour video without going over 10 minutes. Please support these videos by visiting: www.limpitsreef.com

Tidepool Tim – aka Tim Sheehan founded and operates a biology specimen supply company in Eastern Maine. He and his wife and children collect and supply over 300 species of blueprintts and animals to colleges, museums, aquariums, and school laboratories under the name of Gulf of Maine Marine Life Supply Company. This video is an introduction to the founding of the company and the area where it operates

Video Rating: 0 / 5

Technorati Tags: Equipment, Gallon, tank

People who are restoring old boats often face the problem of rotten wood inside their boat’s core. One of the most frequent repairs on older boats is replacing or at least repairing a plywood cored transom. I had a similar problem when rebuilding my boat and since I didn’t find any good How-To’s I decided to write one and try to illustrate how to replace the transom plywood core on a boat.

Preparing for the boat transom replacement

The first thing to do, before you start to remove parts from your boat, you should take some pictures of how everything looked in the start, so you will have some guidelines for later on. Also you should take some measures of parts around the transom, such as fiberglass thickness of the outside skin, plywood thicknes of the transom itself, inside fiberglass skin thickness, stringer location and thickness and so on…

Be sure to support your boat’s hull well, becouse when you remove structural parts from the hull it becomes flexible and it can twist. You will end up with a twisted boat, and that can’t be undone. Keep in mind that the keel should be heavily supported.

Gain access to the transom

I started with cutting away the outboard motor well and removed all the fiberglass that covered the transom. In my boat, the whole top back end of the boat had to be removed, but this may be different in other boats.

Next I cut out the inner fiberglass skin that covered the transom in order to get to the plywood core. It was very rotten. In fact it was already in little pieces. I cut the the inner skin in one piece and used it later on as a template for the new plywood transom core. If your transom is not completly rotten, you should remove it carefully, becouse it will save you a lot of time if you can use it as a template for the new one.

Old plywood core must be completly removed. I used all sorts of tools to do that, but an old crowbar,a hammer and a chisel did the best job for me. If you have an air compressor, a small air hammer is a good investment.

After you remove every bit of the old transom, take a good sander and sand the outer fiberglass skin to perfection. If you make it thinner with sanding, you should add a layer of glass and resin over it and sand it again. You must end up with a completly flat surface to bond your new peace of plywood to.

Once the old plywood is removed, make a template of the transom using cardboard or cheap plywood or construction foam. You will use this template to cut your transom core and also to draw/cut the wide fiberglass pieces that will make up the new inside transom skin.

Old transom removed and outer fiberglass skin sanded.

Installing the new plywood core

You should make your new plywood core at least as thick as your old one was. I made mine thicker. Originally it was 38mm thick  and I made two new identical pieces that were 22mm each and were made out of waterproof marine graded plywood. I also took some measurements of my engine to see if it will fit thicker transom. Everything seemd to be OK so I started laminating the first piece of plywood in.

I positioned the first piece into the beat and started laminating. I used 330gr/sqm mate and 600gr/sqm roving (cloth) to do the job. When you place your first piece in the boat be sure to laminate it with one layer of glass mate and use a lot of epoxy on it. Install the piece while still resin is still wet so it will bond to the old skin. Clamp everything together and leave to cure.  Do not apply too much pressure when clamping! Epoxy is gap filling and extremely strong, you want the epoxy to remain between the plywood layers. Once the epoxy begins to squeeze out the sides evenly it is time to stop the clamping pressure. Do the same with the other piece of plywood.

First piece in place and two layers of fiberglass laminated over it.

Laminate new inside transom fiberglass skin

After you laminated your new transom you will laminate your  new inside transom fiberglass skin. The lamination schedule for each boat will vary, but in general, you will be looking to build up to the original thickness. I did a little extra on my boat, but this is optional.  The new inside skin will be much stronger, and better bonded to the core because of the superior materials (epoxy and biaxial fiberglass). Work slowly and precisely and be sure to remove any trapped air from your lamination layers, becouse they can start holding water in next couple of years and you will then have to do all over again.

Both pieces in place and the new inner fiberglass skin laminated.

Your new transom is now complete and the only thing you need to do now is to tie it to your boat’s stringers and at the end coat everything with gelcoat to make it really waterproof. Use heavy biaxial cloth to tie the stringers to the transom and repeat the lamination several times. This could be a big weak point of your boat if not done right.

Put it all back together

Now it is time to look at those pictures I told you to take in the beginning. They sould give you some directions where things that you removed belong. Laminate the motor well back in place, mount all parts back where they were, mount your engine and you are ready to go. Below are some pictures of how my boat turned out, although this is not the only repair I had done.

Technorati Tags: boat, fiberglass, plywood, repair, replacement, transom

Every one of you who are visiting this site, probabbly has an idea of what his dream boat looks like. Some of you will be or already are fortunate enough to buy or make the boat of your dreams. Well if you belong to the other side, that is to the people than can’t afford to buy a new boat, you should concern building one yourself.

Boat building used to be a difficult job that required a lot of skills and special tools, so it was pretty much out of your reach. So what has changed? I will tell you…

More and more people would like to enyoj a hot summer day on board a nice wooden day cruiser, or perhaps a small wooden power boat, or a canoe or just some sort of boat that sails. So when a lot of people want something, there has to be a way to make it cheap so everyone can enyoj it.

In this case, some boat building companies and boat designers started to design top quality boat plans, that are planned so anyone can follow them, no matter how many experience do they have. They are designed in a way to precisley illustrate the entire boat building process by simply following a plan and connecting the right “dots” together. It basically comes down to cutting different shapes out of sheets of plywood and than bonding them together in whatever way boat building plans tell you to.

But as everything in this world, there are some really good and some really messy boat building plans. I did a lot of research on this topic, and found a lot of cheap or even free plans thas seem OK when you first look at them. But when you start going deeper into design, you see that it is not so perfect. I read a lot of books on the topic (I suggest you buy and read this one – Boatbuilding Manual, Fifth Edition by Robert Steward - it helped me a lot and it is really well written), and only then I started to understand what makes a good design.

I then saw that if I wanted to build a good solid boat that will serve me for many years to come, I need to find top quality boat building plans. Whit all the things in mind, that I learned in R. Steward’s book, I started looking for the ultimate set of boat building plans.

I must admit that I found quite a few, but only one really stood out. I found this great set that includes everything an amateur boat builder needs to start building boats of any shape and size. I found the perfect set of boat building plans.

I know, that when you will come to this site, you will say to yourself, that this is another internet product and that it can’t be good, but let me tell you that I tought the same when I first visited it. But in time, when almost all my searches on Google ended on this boat building plans website, I figured, what do I have to loose. I ordered the complete package and I must say that I am very satisfied. I alredy built two boats according to these boat building plans and I must say it is really simple. You should just try it out!

The best thing is that you get tons of free stuff in the package, and by far the most usefull thing is (naturally right after the boat building plans themselfs) a very cool 3D Boat design software.

You also get a lot of books on boat building topics, but those are not as good as the site promises. I think they are badly written, at least if I compare them to Boatbuilding Manual, Fifth Edition by Robert Steward.

So if you are looking for a set of boat building plans you now know where you can get them. I am telling you, in my opinion they are worth every cent.

Technorati Tags: boat building plans, boat plans, plans, plans for boats, wooden boat plans

The summer time is starting here in Europe and all boat owners are preparing for the new season. All the boat shows around here have already passed by so I can now put together some great new yacht designs for the year 2011.

Some of the best yachting companies introduced some awesone futuristic yacht design, that are worth looking at. So enough of this small talk and let’s see what they introduced for this year.

2011 Sunseeker Predator – The new design
Specs Builder: Sunseeker Dimensions LOA: 52′ Beam: 15′2″ Displacement: 54,560 Engines Engine Brand: Volvo Penta IPS Engine Model: 900 Tanks Fresh Water Tanks: 165 Fuel Tanks: 565

Watch a short video on YouTube.com - 2011 Sunseeker 52 Predator

2011 Azimut 53 Yacht
Specs Exterior styling & concept: Stefano Righini Interior Designer: Carlo Galeazzi Dimensions LOA: 16.7 m/54′9″ Beam: 4.74 m/15′7″ Displacement: 27 t Draft: 1.35 m/4′5″ Material: GRP Engines Engines: 2 X 715 mHP (526 kW) CAT C12 ACERT Compact Max Speed: 31 knots Cruising Speed: 28 knots Tanks Fuel capacity: 2,340 l/618 gal Water capacity: 590 l/155,8 gal

Watch a short video on YouTube.com - Azimut 53 flybridge

Riviera 3600 Sport Yacht SII
Specs Builder: Riviera Sleeping Capacity: 5 persons Dimensions LOA: 11.73 m/38′ 6 Beam: 3.83 m/12′ 7 Displacement: 8,900 kgs/19,621 lbs Draft: 0.95 m/3′ 1 Engines Engines: 3 x Volvo Penta IPS, 221 KW, 301 HP each Tanks Fuel Capacity: 800 l/212 gal Water Capacity: 390 l/103 gal

Watch a short video on YouTube.com – Riviera 3600 Sport Yacht

Bavaria 28 Sport Yacht
Specs Builder: Bavaria Sleeping Capacity: 6 persons Dimensions LOA: 8.95 m Beam: 2.99 m Displacement: 4000 kg Draft: 0.90m Engines Engines: Mercruiser, 6,2 377 MAG, 320 hp Tanks Fuel Capacity: 520 l Water Capacity: 120 l

Watch a short video on YouTube.com – Bavaria Sport 28

SeaRay 450, 520, 580 Sedan Bridge Series Yacths
Specs Builder: SeaRay Sleeping Capacity: 10 persons Dimensions LOA: 17.88 m Beam: 4.88 m Displacement: 23360 kg Draft: 1.30m Engines Engines: 2x MAN 900 V8 diesel inboard Tanks Fuel Capacity: 2649 l Water Capacity: 568 l Holding Tank: 257 l

Watch a short video on YouTube.com - Searay Sedan Bridge 580

Azimut 45 Fly Bridge Yacht Design
Specs Builder: Azimut Max. Capacity: 12 persons Dimensions LOA: 13,78 m Beam: 4,38 Draft: 0,86 m Displacement: 17000 kg Engines Engines: 2xCummins QSB 5.9 480 Hp Tanks Fresh Water Tanks: 1300 l Fuel Tanks: 500 l

Watch a short video on YouTube.com - Azimut 45 Flybridge

Technorati Tags: 2011 boats, 2011 yacht, 2011 yachts, hot yachts, new boat designs, yacht, yacht design

Building fuel tanks is a delicate matter, especially for boats, where safety must be your very first concern. Usually boat fuel tanks are built out of stainless steel and/or diferent plastic materials. You can find all sorts of fuel tanks on the market, from special fuel resistant PVC to a fiberglass and epoxy build fuel tanks and steel tanks. For a small boat, the best and cheapest thing to go with is a simple plastic fuel tank. They come in variety of sizes and shapes so you can find one that fits your boat best.

I usually preform some modifications on my boat before summer and this year I decided that I will try to gain some extra space under the back seat of my boat, and decided to modify the double bottom of my boat and install a custom made boat fuel tank inside the double floor. Of course my boat wasn’t designed for this kind of fuel tank so I will naturally have to modify everything. By this I mean, that I will need a little extra strength to be added to the original bottom and make some kind of fuel tank brackets that will hold the tank in place. I will also need a custom made fuel tank.

Fuel tank drawing plan

So I decided to try and make one my self. At first I tought I could make it on my own, but soon I found out that I am not an expert welder and that I will have a lot of trouble getting it all together, so I decided that I will make all the parts and than have them weld to an expert welder. I cut open my double bottom and started taking some measurements for my fuel tank and brackets. I than designed a full 3D model of the fuel tank using my famous 3D modeling software. I also made a dummy fuel tank made out of cardboard papper, just to have the abbillity to check if everything fits well before I actually build my fuel tank.

While I was in search of a knowledge on how to build fuel tanks, I found two very usefull articles about this topic. The first one is Building A Custom Gas Tank, where you can find a lot of pictures of the building process and a simple boat fuel tank plan.  The second article talks about building a fiberglass fuel tank from very light weight foam and fiberglass and vinyl ester resin. You can the article here - Composite Fuel Tank Construction. I suggest reading it becouse it has a lot of usefull information about building a composite (fiberglass) fuel tank.

Technorati Tags: boat, building, fuel, tank, tanks

Are you looking to buy a boat but have no idea how to go about it? First step is to search for what kind of boat that you want. Is it for recreational purposes, fishing, looking cool or getting from one area to another? After realizing why you want a boat, it will be much easier to choose the kind of boat that’s perfect for you.

The internet has a wide resource for looking for boats of different purposes. Many websites also offer sale boats that includes cost, specifications and much more. Do consider whether you want to buy new boats or a used boat. The used boat will be much cheaper than purchasing a freshly made boat, but there are certain disadvantages such as the depreciation, insurance and so on.

Once you have found the boat of your true heart’s desire, you will need to contact the broker by phone, mail or e-mail. It is a better idea to make an appointment with the boat broker because they will know that you are serious about purchasing the boat.

After contacting the broker and arranging an appointment, you will inspect the boat. Questions to ask yourself include whether the boat look the same as the picture that you were shown? Do you like the interior of the boat and does it match your style and personality? If the boat is advertised at a really cheap rate, you should definitely question the price. Then you will need to consider whether the price is warranted, such as making refurbishments to the boat.

If everything is good and you’ve come to the decision of purchasing the boat, you will need to secure the purchase by making a deposit. You will need to negotiate terms with the broker such as whether putting a down payment on the boat will allow you to assess the boat, such as an out of water inspection and trial sail. When negotiating the terms, you will need to also mention that if you are not satisfied with the test run and inspection then you should get a refund of the deposit. However, there will usually be other associated costs such as slipping, costs for the trial sail and administration costs.

You may also get a surveyor to inspect the boat. They charge from $20-$30 for inspection of the boat per foot length and you should expect to pay anywhere from $100-$200 for an engine inspection.

When you are trailing the boat, you will need to:

• Make sure that the motors are in good working order. Such as starting, stopping, going ahead and astern. Also note that the engine should not overheat on the test. This is a bad sign and usually a deal breaker.
• Make sure that all the boat instruments are functioning normally
• Make sure that the steering works properly
• Make sure that a boat with sails, will raise properly
• Make sure that all the boat accessories such as sailing aids, shackles, rigging, sheets etc are on board. Also make sure that these accessories are included in the purchase.

If you are happy with the inspection and the trial sale, then you will need to negotiate a sale price. The boat broker will organize a selling contract which will outline the all factors and negotiations of the sale. The contract will usually include the date of arrangement, names of all those involved, an in depth description of the boat and equipment and the final price.

If you want the boat straight away, you will need to pay the full amount owning, however this is not always feasible so you should allow two to three days for your funds to clear.
There you have it; you just bought the boat of your true heart’s desire. Happy sailing!

Technorati Tags: boat, buy a boat, buying a boat, used boats

Teak wood has been used for centuries in boat deck manufacture becouse of its resistance to water penetration and moisture. The teak wood looks very nice even if it’s not shaped to a smooth surface, but it needs to well protected in order to last a long time. If teak is used on a boat deck, it becomes less slippery and teak wood also surves as a important structural elemnt of a boat beck, providing the needed strenght and elasticity on the other side.

To properly protect you wooden deck the teak wood should be covered with natural teak oil at least two times per year (three times is recomended). The natural teak oil makes the wood completly waterproof. If teak looks a little worn off you can also sand it a little bit and then cover it with special teak-cleaner oils to make it look good again.

It is recomended that you clean your teak deck frequently with water (drinking water is the best becouse salt water leaves white marks on the wood) after you return from your boat trip. Also the not so good side of teakwood deck is that it gets very hot very quickly when exposed to the sun, so be sure to wear your sandals.

Types of Teakwood

Teakwood is derived from the teak tree, a type of birch that grows in tropical climates. The tree grows an average of 100 feet tall and sheds its leaves each dry season. The teak tree can live up to 100 years. Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, Mynamar and India are the main producers of teakwood.

• Bojonegoro Teak - it originates from Indonesia. This type of teak is generally considered the highest quality exported from Southeast Asiaand provides a rich golden color. This type of teakwood is typically used in products such as floors and doors and hand rails.
• Banuywangi Teak - Banuywangi teak is a second type of teakwood exported mainly from India and many choose Banuywangi teak over Bojonegoro teak due to the lower price. This type lacks the golden color.
• Dahat Teak - Dahat teak is a rare variety of teakwood. Dahat teak only grows in the forests of Myanmar and is an endangered species. It is mainly used to make furniture.
• Philippine Teak - Philippine teak is another type of endangered teakwood.
• FlexiTeak - This is an imitation of teak wood and it is made out of tiny teak parts and epoxy resin. It is getting more and more popular in the boating industry, becouse it can last a long time with little or almost no maintenance.

Teakwood Grades

Teakwoods are given a letter-grade rating, which helps determine what specific type of teakwood should be used for items such as boat decks. Teakwood with an A rating is dense and heavy. The wood will not have cracks, splits or visible knots. Teakwood with a B or C rating may have some visible imperfections and be less dense than an A-rated piece. This is the same system that is used with plywood. The A graded plywood is the best and the C is not so good.

Installing Teak

There are multiple ways to install teak on any part of your boat deck. The most important thing is what you want to have. If you want a deck made out of real and quality teakwood or you are satisfied with the FlexiTeak version.

The easiest way to install a teak deck is to make templates (you can easily make them using 3D boat design software) of your boat’s deck and form the teak to match these templates (using a  large piece of teak board) or build it on a A graded plywood board. The second option is not so good becouse the plywood rotts quicker.

Teakwood boat deck on a plywood template

FlexiTeak or TeakDeck sample pieces of material

Find teak deck tips and tricks and a lot of other usefull boatbuilding stuff in Plan4Boats boatbuilding plans and manuals.

Resources an useful links:

• http://www.flexiteek.com/ – Website of FlexiTeek manufacturer
• http://www.teakdeckcompany.com/ – Website of TeakDeck manufacturer
• http://www.ehow.com/about_5445294_types-teakwood.html – Types of teakwood
• http://www.boatus.com/boattech/casey/29.htm – Teaking car of teakwood on boats – Manual by Don Casey

Technorati Tags: boat, deck, teak, teakwood, wood