I was stumbling around Green Deane’s forum, and ran across a post regarding pirogues, or flat bottom canoes made famous in Cajun country. It brought back memories of one I built during some down time right after a hurricane hit us, and we were sitting around waiting for civilization to get started back up.

Long before I purchased a plastic kayak, and after I had owned a couple powered boats, I felt the need to get back on the water, only under MY terms…and canoes were too pricey for my taste, and plastic kayaks were fairly new on the market, and honestly, didn’t appeal to me at that time. So I did what any HillBilly would do, I made my own. It was before I started blogging, but I did document my efforts a bit, and I recall some of the original sources.

The plans came from bateau.com, a website with a business the is right up the road in Vero Beach. You can also do a search on “cheap canoe“. That was probably my first search attempt, and probably how I came across the free plans.

The requirements to build one are readily available at most hardware stores, and definitely are in every Lowes or Home Depot. For the minimalist (ultra-cheap) version:

• Two sheets of lauan plywood 2@ $9 ($18)
• some 3/4 lumber for rub rails (2@10 feet long) 2@ $4 ($8)
• a tube of PL Premium construction adhesive (AMAZING stuff! click or details) ($4)
• 3/4″ screws, or copper nails (ACE Hardware stores carry these) ($4)
• Paint. I used “Oops” paint from Home Depot, one gallon ($4)
• Fiberglass tape & resin. Cheaping out, I only used resin & tape on the joints. There are two types of resin, polyester (less expensive, but less rugged) and epoxy (the GOOD stuff, but pricey). Again, cheaping out, I used Bondo polyester. Tape & Resin $8 for tape, $12 for resin and hardener ($20)
• Total: $58-ish

The process, abbreviated, is: cut the bottom and sides out, splice them together (plywood sheets are 8 feet long, we are looking for a 15+ ft boat), join the sides at each end, attach the sides to the bottom, install the ribs, attach rub rails for strength, paint. They say it can be done in 6 hours, but if your are doing it for the first time, 12-20 is probably more realistic. It would make a great weekend project for a parent and a child or two.

The seat plans come from here, and is another great little project, and the perfect complimentary seat for this little boat.

Along the way, you will be using the PL Premium, as well as the tape and resin to strengthen the joints. PL Premium is a waterproof, water resistant construction adhesive that works perfectly for building small plywood boats. And its inexpensive compared to more traditional boat building adhesives, like 5200 or epoxy resin.

It weighed about 35 pounds, and I probably had a total of $75 invested in this boat, as well as about 20 hours, as I did few “extra” modifications like the rub rail blocks (they give multiple tie points, you KNOW I like to be prepared), and the extra paint colors (red, white, and blue!). The boat was used regularly for about 2 years, then I got busy, set it in the back yard for Florida’s sun, wind, and rain to do its job…killing my boat. Do yourself a favor, and do NOT store it on the ground. I will say I more than got my money out of it. And not a trip went by that someone didn’t comment about my little boat. I caught LOADS of fish from it, as well as made many paddling trips. Just writing this is making me want to go build another 😛

So here are the pics from my build and use of my “cheap canoe”.

Peace,

db