thinking of a small boat i can use as a runabout to island hop in protected waters. what about the PC built with steering moved to beside the main hatchway and seating across the beam. any thoughts?
i like the look of it without the mast as seen on the stevenson page. maybe paul has a better plan for this use?
Any of the Stevenson designs can be used as a "putt-putt", which is a displacement speed powerboat. Skip the rig, revise the cabin/cockpit and presdo, a mini power cruiser. Some consideration into the re-allocated spaces need some thought, such as the cabin bulkhead placement and height, stiffer sidedecks, etc., but otherwise, no big deal.
These boats have too steep of buttock angles to sustain a full plane, but you could carry on in the high single digit speeds, with enough power.
I have given some thought to using my weekender as a power boat to do a river trip. I already have comfortable acommodations with head, galley and all, so all I would have to do is leave the rig behind. My 3 1/2 horse Yamaha would push me as fast as I care to go, so no problems there. I could also row if needed. I would probably mount some kind of rack to hang my cockpit tent over in case it rained, but that would be about it. I think the pockect cruiser would be more comfortable for this kind of thing, but not by much.
I read about a guy that did the grand loop and toured Europe in his AF 3 which got me thinking seriously about weekender's potential for this kind of thing. I haven't given up the idea of doing the same. For now though, the upper Mississippi is calling me.Â
Al
Ahh the grand loop! I've watched so many videos and looked at so many boats...
thanks for the detailed ideas paul! i want an easy build but it still needs to function well. has anyone ever built your 17 ft digger? i wonder how it would look will a wider seat for two. seem like a better choice for me
Many Diggers have been built (dozens) and they're in about as many variations too (cabins, runabouts, center consoles, etc.). Digger is a powerboat for shoal areas. It will perform quite poorly as a displacement boat (like a PC).
The Skipjack plans come with supplementary instructions to turn it into a small outboard powerboat with canopy.
so ive come across plans for a power dory, designed by spira international (
www.spirainternational.com). real simple build but supposed to be a great pacific northwest coastal boat. the 17' tillamook. looks great with console steering , seems like a good fit. my main concern it doesn't have any built in floation. otherwise in interested. i see one builder filled the cavity under the floor decking with sprayed in foam...
Spira dory designs tend to be overly heavy. Putting floatation foam under the sole is the worst place to put it and it's generally not a good idea to use spray foam directly against wood, because it'll trap moisture, causing rot eventually.
Paul, how would you add floatation to a dory style powerboat? The 17' one I'm looking at was about 800lbs but sure looks like a solid fishing , crabbing boat