Build your own boat of almost any shape and size using free plans

If you live anywhere near water (ocean, bay, lake, river) you have probably thought about having a boat. But have you ever thought about building your own boat? I had never really considered it until I came across this site:

Free boat plans

There are three things that amazed me:

  1. When you start poking around on the Web, you can find thousands of different boat plans
  2. The process of building a boat is fairly straightforward and fairly inexpensive
  3. Boats come in an infinite number of shapes and sizes.

While these plans are not free, they often come from free sources and a little Googling can reveal a free version:

Sailboats & Auxiliaries 22′ TO 30′

You can find plans for 20+ foot sailboats that sleep two, built from plywood. At the other end of the spectrum, here is a catamaran made of PVC pipe and scrap wood:

[You can skip the first 2:15 of this video to get straight to the plans]

Here’s real-life experience building a portable folding boat from plans in “The Boy Mechanic”:

If you have ever considered building your own boat – if the thought has ever flitted through your head for even a second – you owe it to yourself to jump into Google and YouTube and look for plans. It is amazing what is out there.

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