Glen-L.com

Hi new member in Tennessee thinking about building a stitch and glue boat. Looking at a center console such as the Jimbo or Dragonfly. Any sugestions.

I think people can help you better if you give them more specics on boating location, habits and passenger requirements.

Welcome to the forum!
Hope you will come to the Gathering in September. You'll get lots of ideas there.

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Tom
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Knot-So-Fast (A stretched Bo-Jest design)
Travel Log at www.tomstug.blogspot.com

"It's amazing what one can do when one doesn't know what one can't do." - Garfield

Well I have thought about it and have actually started thinking about the 16' center console. This would be my first build, And I am in no way a wood worker. So the simplicity is real attractive. .......... On the other hand I really like the idea of the extra room the CS20 has for bringing friends along. If the specs are right 650lbs of wood is not alot so is the CS20 that hard to build? I understand these are not do it in a weekend projects, But what are realistic build times for these two? As for use it will be mostly my wife, me and our child. lounging, swimming, and fishing. 90% of the time on the cumberland river. With a chance we may take it to Lake Barkley or KY lake, sometime. Thanks in advance for any info.

I am a devout garvey fan for utility boats, own one myself and have used it for over 18 years in just about all tpes of waters and conditions that I care about going in. I do pick my challenges though. Both the Jimbo and Dragon Fly are blunt bow boats. This does restrict some of the favorable ride in open waters but gives you more space for the running length of most boats, depending on the beams of course which adds stability for additional loads too. The Dragon Fly appears to have more room inside with a lot more possibilities. Women seem to like a cabin skiff but this does reduce open space for more people. Don't try to add ten pounds in a five pound sack though, meaning that there is no one perfect boat for everything. As far as simplicity, people seem to get caught up in this when building tape and glue but has its own set of challenges in labor and materials. But this is nothing that cann't be overcomed either from plank on frame..

I agree one boat does not fit all. The CS20 looks like a great choice for a family boat. Just seems like a pretty big project for a first timer. Thought the 16' center console would be a better starter build. But the low hull weight of the CS20 means the hull should be pretty simple for a boat of that size.

I don't follow you about the weight of the boat making it simple to build. A cabin boat by its own default is normally heavier, by a lot? that depends on many factors. The type of materials and how you create the superstructure and how detailed the interior ends up is a very critical part of your build with the cabin boat. Keep in mind that with cabin boats sometimes its to your advantage to also build some of the foward interior before you actually rough in and do your finish cabin configuation.


Basically all boat building amounts to the same steps, with parts being both a different shape and size from one hull to the other. If you are talking about a 16 to 20 foot, then you are not talking about a lot more work for just the hull. But the hull shape is a bit different and people do have a fear of building a pointed skiff with any sort of vee bottom versus a blunt bow with semi flat panels cut to shape to correspond with a decending deminsion and deadrise foward.

I don't know if I have answered your question. But consider one more thing if you wish the bigger boat. You can always do the cabin skiff and if you decide that the boat is a lot more work with the cabin on it, there should be no reason why you can't create a nice open center console runabout with the basic hull too. The strength of the hull is in the buikheads working in conjunction with the interior parts and the rails and covering boards. Then later on if you still would like a cabin, you have the hull that you can add the cabin.
I take it that you have looked at the link with the CS 20 and the half model thats pretty straight foward too.
http://www.glen-l.com/designs/cruiser/cs20.html

Oyster, My theory on the weight was pretty simple. The site lists the CS20 as approx 650 lbs and the 16' center counsole skiff as 350 lbs, I know alot of the weight is in the deck area so I assumed there is not alot more wood in the hull. I figured more wood means more work and a more complex build.

You read my mind about the deck area, Was thinking lower roof on the birth and no bridge cab for a sleeker look and more open feel. The birth would mostly be used for the little one or storage. So it don't have to be real big.

Well we are talking apples and oranges. The two boats are completely different in design, one flat bottom and one a vee hull with both hulls a different size. Sure the Jimbo does have some vee, but still considered a blunt bow and basically rides almost like a flat bottom in open water. For me I can throw the issue of weights overboard because of the two unlike hulls. Each hull will be engineered differently, even the need for interior components included. But lets also look at things another way. If we had two boats the same length, beam and the same design but one being flat bottom and one a vee bottom and you have the identical layout inside, the flat bottom will most likely be over engineered by comparison to the vee hull and should weigh a bit more if the boat was seaworthy. This will probably include a thicker bottom unless additional framing or internal structure is installed. But the basic process is the same for the hulls, just a few more steps.

The DragonFly that is shown in the plans section was modified by the builder and then I personally improved the boat so that it would run properly too. One thing is for sure, the boat is much heavier than what a stock one would be and also probably what the CS 20 built with the same layout would be unless you get to crazy with adding stuff in the boat's original drawing, including improper materials too.