Glen-L.com

With so many designs available I am lost for choice. As an avid fly fisher and experienced RC modeller with a fair amount of time on my hand I was looking to build a small boat. Looking at the prices of new boats here in Ireland it makes sense to build your own to save money, get those extra features that you want and have the satisfaction of spending some of your spare time consturctively

Here's what I need in a boat

• no larger than about 20 feet
• reasonably cheap to construct
• small cabin to escape the rain (you might not catch trout here in Ireland but you will get rain). Ideally with a small stove and table for two, comfortable sleeping also for two, and small toilet.
• when drifting must not swing in the wind. (if boat is broadside to wind it should stay broadside while not under power).
• No rigging or obstructions to flyline while casting. (cabin should be as low as possible)
• capable of reasonable speed.
• towable by typical family car on narrow country roads
• capable of being used occasionally for a weeks cruise of the Shannon river system

Have seen some design that seem to meet my requirement but this is more than an investment in money, it will be a huge investment in a lot of my time and I dont want to be disappointed by choosing the wrong design at the outset and only discovering this once I have completed the project

Designs that interest me and seem to be similar to what I am looking for
Cuddy Sport
Albert E
CHINOOK
Mackinaw

Your advice and recommendations are appreciated. If there are other designs that you would think are more appropriate to my needs please let me know.

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"it's never too late to have a happy childhood"

I would think that any structure above a steering wheel helm would cause some problems with fly casting. You could always build a center console model and add a bimini top that will fold down when going fishing. There are also slides that mount on the side decks which makes the removal of the top easy on those perfect days. Then you could add curtains around the structure for cruising. A lot of people use a canvas dodger on the foward deck and back across the open deck area. This extends the closed up area from the foward bar on the bimini top.

Small cabin should not be a problem if low enough. As I will be using flyrods 9'6" and longer any cabin or structure that is no more than 4 foot above fishing seat should be ok. This will still give plenty clearance for fly line turn over.

Thanks for your comment. This is the sort of feedback that I do need in order to consider things that I might have overlooked.

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"it's never too late to have a happy childhood"

Many bay boats have what is known as working cabins. But they are built all the way foward. This could create a problem if you cast from the bow. I think that a lot of boats will pull up to fish and cast foward. This may not be the case. But with a 20 foot boat you do restrict your room on deck with a center console and a foward cabin. With a low cabin and the cabin foward, this may not give you a lot of room for getting out of the weather with a group of people. Have you looked around your area to see the layouts of other boats? This may help decide on a simular design that can be custom built to meet your needs and desires.

thanks gunner.

I never fish off the bow of any tradition lake boat I currently hire.

Usual technique is to put boat broadside to wind and fish off lee side of boat. This allows boat to slowly drift allowing you to slowly cover large streches of water.This would mean a small low cabin forward should not pose any obstacle. Very occasionally I might want to cast slightly forward or to the rear to a rising fish.

Unfortunately most fishermen use traditional row boats with no cabin so I have not been able to see a design that I like in action.

As I said in my original post as long as the cabin is not more than about 4 feet above the fishing seat everything should be good. If the seat is a foot or so above the bottom of the boat this should give a headroom of just over 5 feet or so which should be adequate to shelter from the rain.

I can only ever envisage a maximum of two people being on board the boat so cabin does not need to be huge, just large enough for two people to shelter from the rain, grab a cup of tea and some sandwiches, and possibly sleep overnight.

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"it's never too late to have a happy childhood"

I just don't know...will have to think about this for a bit. I fly fish exclusivly but only in waders, tube, or from the shore. Never have done it from a boat. I like to sit low to the water and flex my line so the fly hits the water first...higher in a boat would really challenge my stroke. I'll give this some thought first.

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Bill

I told my wife we needed a three-car garage for my projects...she told me to ask her for permission next time before I buy a house.
http://www.unitybuild.net

I would not be fishing from the top of the cabin but a seat towards the rear of the boat.
The seat would be no more than 18" from the bottom of the boat so you are casting from a very low point in relation to the water surface. And yes I totally agree with you casting a lower position improves your fly presentation.

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"it's never too late to have a happy childhood"

It would help to know what part of the world your Shannon River is located. There appears to be several. Do you have any links that may show any boats thats being used now? The bottom design could come into play.

Shannon River is largest river in Ireland
https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=53.166534,-8.140869&spn=1.53127,3.532104&t=m&z=8

Mostly limestone lakes, some very large, with rocky shallows in places.

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"it's never too late to have a happy childhood"

I found a couple of sites. These folks are standing in waders. There are some pretty areas in that area of the world.

http://www.fishinginireland.info/trout/shannon.htm

This link shows a lot of simple open rowing type boats with a small kicker outboard.

http://irishwaterwayshistory.com/about/ ... -replicas/

A bit more research will be needed for me to give you my opinion.

Hi.im building the little hunk dory and im building it for fishing and overnighters. Only im going to have a tent type cover for the front that i can take off or put up quick if i want it.Stable boat ! 18 to 20 Feet long.love ireland

Thanks svenole, you got me thinking

http://www.glen-l.com/designs/workboat/dsn-hdyf.html

Looks like they added cabin plan D without the hard top
http://www.glen-l.com/designs/workboat/dorycabin.html

Cabin is low enough to cast over without the hard top and the flat bottom and raise bow would have definite advantages on choppy loughs and in the shallows.

The big question is would the cabin be big enough for what I want? It looks like it would be an easy job to lengthen that cabin by two or three feet.
Has anyone built cabin option D and how much space is there in that cabin?

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"it's never too late to have a happy childhood"

efanton,

This one has real possibilities I think: http://www.glen-l.com/designs/workboat/dsn-hdyf.html

I hadn't thought of the dory plans but there are some definite advantages. It all really boils down to building it "your" way to support the way you will use it.

Keep us posted with what you decide.

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Bill

I told my wife we needed a three-car garage for my projects...she told me to ask her for permission next time before I buy a house.
http://www.unitybuild.net

I think Bill's onto something with the H-K hull:
http://www.glen-l.com/designs/workboat/hunkydory.html

You can adjust the hull length +/- 3' to suit your needs and build whatever sized cabin you'd like.

Looking at the plans/notes, its a very versatile hull design, allowing for various motor options.

8'-0" beam is impressive, lots of room to put rods, seats, etc.

Lots of cutomer photos of H-K projects here:
http://www.glen-l.com/picboards/picarchv.html#h

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Ian (aka Iggy)
My Malahini Build

Not a dory but just showing you a boat with a tent. i dont want a cabin it takes up room ,little hunk is big ! just think about all that room! and it will take longer to build if you make a cabin ,build and go fish