Glen-L.com

My dad used 16-foot plywood on his first Zip built in 1956. When we built Zip No. 2 in 2008, long sheets were unobtainable in our area. I also used scarf joints on the two Can-Yaks I built in 2016. It's an easy and lightweight method for joining two lengths of ply. I laid the sheets out on my very f...

Our Zip has a 1956 Mercury Mark 55 on our Zip, and it sits very nicely in the water. I believe the motor weighs around 120 lbs. The boat runs really well, but we do have to deal with the temperamental nature of an older motor. You can see our boat in Customer Photos. Others have installed larger/hea...

Check out our build pics in the Customer Photos page. I'm not sure if anything is useful, but we took over 140 photos. Remember that your chine log bends and twists before landing on the stem. Note that the chine will not land at the extreme end of the stem, to allow material to be removed from the ...

Ah--physics! I haul mine on top of my Toyota Tundra's camper shell. It takes a pretty good heave to get them up there! Hindsight is everything, but as I said, I'd use 4mm for the planking if I were to do it again!

I think I mentioned that mine are around 80 lbs each. When Glen designed these boats, 1/4" Douglas fir plywood was all that was available to many boat builders, and I think you could save a few "el-bees" by planking them in 4mm Okoume ply (I used 6mm). 105 lbs is heavy (so is 80!), but on the water ...

Wow--the length of this thread must be some kind of record! I believe I left one question unanswered. For the steering link I used a length of stainless-steel tubing, 3/8" OD X .063" wall. I tapped it internally for a 5/16" X 24 thread and installed a rod end on it. All of the materials were Swagelo...

You don't realize how small the Zip is, until you see it parked next to any modern boat. As vupilot says, you don't want to take the Zip anywhere you wouldn't take any other 14-foot boat. I had four adults in our Zip, on our local lake, and I was getting nervous about the lack of freeboard at the tr...

Looking forward to seeing photos of your build. Regarding tools, you probably don't need a lathe or jointer, but a 14" band saw with decent blades and guides will make your life easier. A table saw will also come in handy for ripping chine logs and sheer clamps. I would also buy or borrow a decent 1...

It's looking great! It appears that the wood quality is very good as well. Unless it's already included in the kit, I would suggest adding "T" stiffeners to your battens, between the transom and Frame 2. My dad's first Zip exhibited flexing back there and when we built Zip No. 2 in 2008, we added 1'...

The Malahini would be a great first build. I built a Zip and it's a fun boat, but with a family of your size I'd stay in the 15--16-ft. range. Another great choice would be the Geronimo. Kirk Bellamy built a very nice one and you can see it in the Customer Photos page. It seems to have worked well f...

I prime the bare wood with epoxy to gain penetration, and then make the actual joint with cotton flocking added to the epoxy. As Jimmy says, a consistency of applesauce works well. The flocking is a bear to sand, so be sure to wipe away as much excess as possible. The wood flour is a great filler in...

Nice job on the bullet, John. The Ridgid sander will definitely make things easier. I have a 12" JET disc sander and I wouldn't be without it. Another must-have tool in my shop is my 14" band saw. If you don't want to buy new, check your local ads and garage/estate sales. You can find some real barg...

We used the Teleflex "Safety QC" system on our Zip. It does not have the no-feedback feature, but on a lower-powered boat such as the Zip (40 HP) I don't think it's really needed. When we had a 48" skeg under the boat, there was very little feel to the steering, and when I replaced the skeg with a f...

We built our Zip in a one-car carport, with the fixture bonded to the concrete floor, and this didn't really present any problems. When I built two Can-Yaks in my one-car condo garage that also stores my power tools, things got much tighter. At any given time, one boat would occupy my living room wh...

I had a very nice email conversation with Al Neill some years ago, and he's a really nice guy. At the time I was considering an Audeen or Mist Miss (essentially a stretched Audeen), and he was able to offer up a couple of pointers. Al's boat has a Ford 302 for power, and he said that Ford marine par...