Considering building my first boat and could use some advice

[Oki]

Hello, I just recently found this site. I'm 25 recent university graduate and have always loved the being out on the water. My family has a long history of fishing and other boat related jobs on my mother's side (she is from a small community in Newfoundland), and I know many of my uncles have built boats at one time or another.

I recently purchased a small inflatable craft, just for the occasional row, and have enjoyed it, however I would love to be able to build my own, larger boat, and would think it would make a great summer project. That being said, I am completely green in the area of boat building, and have only had brief talks about the subject with my mother and some of her family.

Ideally, I would like to build something that could be rowed fairly easily, but could also mount a small motor perhaps. Upon talking to family, they expressed some concern over the ability of anyone to do this, and admittedly, I have been concerned somewhat myself. I browsed some of the designs here, and very much liked the look of the Whitehall, 17' seems like a good size (I was told the standard boat size my uncles used to build was 18 feet), I was wondering if that could be fitted with a small motor.

Also, what are the advantages / disadvantages of flat bottom boats vs different shaped bottom boats. The people I have talked to seems to believe flat bottom boats are less stable, and more prone to tipping. I personally just don't really like the look of them but am curious as to how hull shape affects performance.

[jprice]

The flat bottom boats are actually more stable at rest.
They're also quicker/easier to get up on plane, and should have a faster top speed (all other things being equal).
The disadvantage is that they'll beat the heck out of you if the water gets choppy.
A deep vee would of course be the opposite. Less stable at rest, and more work to get on plane, but would ride better in choppy waters.

Of course you're talking about rowing and/or a small motor. So it's really a moot point. At those speeds the advantages of deep vee wouldn't matter.
To be honest, the pros/cons of hull designs in the "human powered" arena might be an entirely different beast with regards to performance. I've only researched the details for power boats, so take what I've said with a grain of salt.

BTW, I really like the Whitehall. That's one sweet looking boat!
I think you could probably mount a trolling motor off the back, but I don't think I'd want anything much bigger than that.

[Oki]

In terms of difficulty and timeframe, do you think the Whitehall would be a reasonal starting point and a summer enough time to complete the boat?

[steve crawford]

That boat looks like a big project for a first time build.....On the other hand this type construction is quick and easy....
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=15840

And the Whitehall would look good as a skin-on-frame boat....