Hello from the Up in MI. This will be my first attempt at building a boat. Rode in a Weekender at the Lake Pepin messabout and was hooked. Looking forward to building and sailing. Im already having trouble finding plywood. I will be on the forum for tips.....Jim Stewart
Welcome aboard or as they say to the madness. I ended up ordering plywood out of California, I live in Montana but was unable to get usable plywood locally. I used hydrotek plywood for my build. The stuff I bought locally was American made marine ply and was junk. I had to pay $209 extra for shipping but the plywood was excellent and $8 a sheet cheaper then the local unusable stuff.
Some builders choose to use regular plywood instead of marine. If you go that way then you should be able to find it at any box type store that sells ply. I just figured I wasn't going to build something, sail it for 3-5 years, then burn what was left so I went with marine grade ply so it would last. I have hundreds of hours in the build so the extra money seems well spent but it really is to each their own when building.
Terry Thanks for the info. i to want a quality boat. It may take awhile but Ill find some. Great forum..Jim
I used hydroteck marine (merante) for plywood needs and a mix or white oak, Honduras mahogany,cedar, spruce and even a bit of hemlock in on high and dry none stress spot. I chose those woods because I had some quality boards of each left over from past projects or just picked up when found at a yard. There are several posts on the forums concerning wood recommendations and how to find quality wood. Another member, Paul Riccelli, gave some very usefull ideas for finding good fir boards even from local box type stores. He has thousands of posts, most of which I found emmensely helpful but this forum is full of great advice and ideas from members so try a few topic searches.
I don't know if you have decided on a build method yet but no matter which you choose I would suggest using epoxy and fillers for almost all joinings, fillings and attachments. Well enough unsolisited advice for one night. Good luck and enjoy.
Hi, Jim. Welcome aboard! You found the mother load of Weekender help. Can't wait to see your first build pictures.
Bill
Welcome, Jim. You'll find this site invaluable in your build. Ask questions at any time. I was at Lake Pepin with my Weekender last month, also! Great fun! BTW, I'm no longer considered a cultural ignoramus because I now have an I Phone and am learning how to use it! I uploaded a couple of videos to You Tube to ask some questions this morning. If you have questions, I may be able to actual take videos of my boat and post them on this board to make the answers a bit clearer. Ah, technology!
Dave