Any stitch and glue boatbuilders on here?

I looked into that a while back and built one of the s&g pirogue designs as a test project. The little pirogue was great, but before I started on the skiff I found a great deal on a used boat. As long as you have the time and a nice space to work it should be great.

One thing I noticed, I used a little more resin that they called for and the pirogue ended up a heavier than advertised. Go easy on the resin.

I've been thinking about it for a few years. Back during covid lockdowns I built a pirogue and it came out pretty nice. Made it from 1/4" plywood, I don't remember what weight cloth I used. I didn't use marine plywood, just outdoor. From what I've read the glue used on outdoor plywood is pretty much the same as on marine, there's just more knotholes in it. It's 5 years old and holding up well. I couldn't find latex gloves so I went in raw on the fiberglass epoxy. Took at least a week to get all that shite off my hands.

Its a lot of work and some of it is pretty tedious....depending of course on how fine a finish you want. I have built a plywood duck boats and glassed them up. I have done a good bit of glass work on factory boats that I have restored and it is a LOT of work and takes a lot of patience to get it looking like something resembling a finished product. It can be done though, it is not difficult and doesn't require any overly special skills, just a lot of work and some of it is pretty tedious.

You mention using extra glass. I don't know where the designers get off with their estimates of resin but they are experts....hobbyists, especially first time hobbyists, are pretty likely to use a LOT more resin than the experts say is required...and that means the hull is going to be MUCH heavier than advertised...and the extra weight does nothing about increasing HP ratings so its a double edged sword. I have seen some properly finished Garvey hulls done by builders who know their shite and they are light as a feather....but most people would build one that was as heavy or heavie than a similar aluminum hull.

It is highly unlikely you can build a hull cheaper than you can buy one. Marine grade plywood and resin is insanely expensive. All you have is a hull....it still has to be wired and rigged and needs a trailer....all of that is where the money is....they will almost give you a hull if you will buy a new outboard. It is FAR more cost effective to restore a hull with acceptable power and a trailer that can be restored....it is entirely possible to find them and folks will sign them over to you to them out of the yard.


Be EXTREMELY careful about trying to use exterior grade plywood....even modern AC or AB or AA Fir is probably unsuitable for structural components and even for non-structural components it is liable to delaminate on you once it is glassed and it will be a mess. Modern exterior grade plywood, hell ALL plywood manufacturing in North America, is almost useless due to voids and delamination problems. ANY plywood sold at a big box store and most that is sold by building material suppliers is almost useless.

I have a book I bought, was gonna try to build one. There are some really cool designs. But once you really start looking at it, seems like it's cheaper and a hell of a lot easier to just buy you a boat.

I built several of the bateau designs D15, PH18, and currently working on an Abaco 23.

I recommend spending the money to order proper marine grade plywood. I ordered my last shipment of ply from B&B Yacht Designs. The shipping is expensive but the marine plywood is necessary if you want a boat that will last.

Here is my phantom:
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Abaco 23 in progress:

About 10 years ago I built a pacific dory style skiff with Spira International plans. I really enjoyed building it. Frames were 1 x 4 untreated pine sheeted with 1/2 inch plywood. ( regular untreated ) Outside fiberglassed and inside painted with eurathane. There is one 2 x 4 going down the center of the boat stem to stern. Deck screws and gorilla glue (poly eurathane base ) built it after Katrina got my other boat. Wanted to take the kids fishing and crabbing but a decent sized flat was thousands and still had low sides. I have hauled many dripping wet crab traps over the side of the boat and got caught in the rain a few times. Still going strong. I wish I knew how to post pictures.

would your initials happen to be C.O.?

I work with a fella, Nav Arch who is building a boat in his shop.

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would your initials happen to be C.O.?

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No not me

If this build goes well next one will be of my own design just wanted something simple to get my feet wet so to speak. Whole boat is made from 10 sheets of 1/2 “ ply. Been having the plans for years was given them as a gift just never got around to actually building it.
Boat will be used on the MS coast and Lake P

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About 10 years ago I built a pacific dory style skiff with Spira International plans. I really enjoyed building it. Frames were 1 x 4 untreated pine sheeted with 1/2 inch plywood. ( regular untreated ) Outside fiberglassed and inside painted with eurathane. There is one 2 x 4 going down the center of the boat stem to stern. Deck screws and gorilla glue (poly eurathane base ) built it after Katrina got my other boat. Wanted to take the kids fishing and crabbing but a decent sized flat was thousands and still had low sides. I have hauled many dripping wet crab traps over the side of the boat and got caught in the rain a few times. Still going strong. I wish I knew how to post pictures.

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The spira boats aren't true stitch and glue boats....they rely on frames as part of the integrity of the hull where true stitch and glue construction gets its strength from the fiberglass, not the ribs and stringers. The Spira Pacific Dory's could and have been built without any fiberglassing. They are INCREDIBLE hulls by the way....the boats that Spira used to sell plans for were some fantastic designs....some of those bayou hulls are incredible.

With a 10hp on a tango skiff you can put around all day fishing on 3 gallons of gas. I use my D15 for bream fishing and I can make multiple fishing trips on 3 gallons of gas.