I've been messing around with a project.. have been struggling to find a workable and storable dinghy so i ended up making one
The construction is 2 floor panels that have hinges sitting on the keel, with 2 horizontal supports under them that are removable when you pack it up. There are 2 bits of ply for the sides which have the fabric stapled + siliconed onto them and then covered with some trim. That's it.
I've slapped some epoxy over all the wood bits to seal the wood
The trim protects all the corners from harm and there's a piece of trim running along under the keel as well. the PVC fabric is super tough
It was a very easy project, i followed an origami boat plan and just cut the bits out of 7mm plywood with the jigsaw, the keel is made with some cheap pine.
- Keel.jpg (859.22 KiB) Viewed 3391 times
- skeleton.jpg (516.45 KiB) Viewed 3391 times
Took a few hours over 3 days to finish it, the next one will be easier and better, it was seriously cheap to make, the blue stuff is polyester reinforced PVC i think.. got it for 20 bucks from a caravan shop as an offcut from the end of a roll.. it's the stuff they use on the side of trucks.. real strong and waterproof. i think it was 650gsm
- draped.jpg (393.58 KiB) Viewed 3391 times
Hope this helps anyone else who's interested, i haven't taken it to the boat yet but i'm hoping it will store under one of the quarter berths.
- folded.jpg (768.51 KiB) Viewed 3391 times
it also fits nicely in a classic era ford capri
- Capri.jpg (353.77 KiB) Viewed 3391 times
here's us on the yarra river using offcut ply for oars, I haven't made oarlocks yet so it should paddle much better than in the video when these are screwed on
https://vimeo.com/239223249
Cheers!
Shea
