A little boat like a floating papasan chair. Perfect to lay in and look at the sky.
Exactly big enough for two people to snuggle.
The supermodels in the boat are Arwen and Saul.
This boat is part umiak, part currach, part coracle, part papasan chair.
Here's how to make a tougher skin for it from truck tarp material.
The book "Umiak" by Skip Snaith will fill in any construction details that aren't clear here.

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Step 1: Stems

The boat ended up being 9'6" long, 43" wide (measuring to the outside edges of the boat, and 18" deep in the middle (measured on the inside of the boat.)

The first step was making the stems.
I sketched them out freehand and cut them from 3/8" marine okoume plywood.

To beef up and widen the outer edge I glued on some more plywood using epoxy thickened with wood dust as seen here.
White flour works just as well, whole wheat flour doesn't. Don't use 5 minute epoxy for anything, it's not waterproof.

If I did it again I'd make the stems taller and not nearly as beefy.
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neil1701 says: Feb 28, 2013. 3:42 AM
I quite liked your home made boat.I made one myself and entered it in i think it was summer watercraft challenge on instructables last year.I made a frame on skin idea but used upvc planks like used for making double glazing window frame,plastic sheeting on the outside for a skin and blocks of foam and plastic bottles stuffed inside it for bouyancy.Was about 5 ft 5 inches length by 4ft in middle-beam at widest point and drew about 5-6 inches.A few pictures attached....
Dinghy-Pump-pond.JPGDIY-Dinghy-3.JPGDIY-Dinghy-12.JPG
Legutki says: Sep 26, 2009. 1:39 PM
where do you find Papasan chairs?
lukev2 says: Dec 2, 2012. 10:02 AM
I just found one in a dumpster!!
yanksguy says: Oct 11, 2010. 2:05 PM
The ARC, Goodwill, alleys, yardsales... Most folks are trying to get rid of them.
J@50n says: Sep 26, 2009. 6:17 PM
pier1, world market, walmart (maybe), tons of places, all over the internet
Legutki says: Sep 26, 2009. 7:54 PM
Thanks
J@50n says: Sep 27, 2009. 3:18 PM
ur welcome :)
lukev2 says: May 30, 2011. 4:43 PM
could i build a skeleton out of bamboo? i have a lot that grows right down the street on property where the people who own the land let me pick it. :)
Wazzupdoc says: Oct 29, 2011. 5:30 PM
Yes. Do it.Do it now! You'll never regret it.
lukev2 says: Nov 2, 2011. 2:48 PM
I TRIED BUT MY TARP RIPPED AND WE SUNK IN THE POOL
Wazzupdoc says: Nov 2, 2011. 3:40 PM
Wrap, bind and duct-tape the joints before you skin it. Bamboo is extremely sharp on split edges and "splinters" (Google "punjie sticks"). Also, check out the Gaelic skin boats, I think the spelling is "camragh". They are brush rings bound about in a doughnut fashion and then laid on a tarp (skin) and then pulled inside and ticked under the brush ring. Paddle away! I pray you can swim, or have rescuers around the pool with a line. Keep trying.
lukev2 says: Nov 10, 2011. 5:22 PM
well it was cold when we sank, we were in jeans and heavy coats...... and thanks for the tips
Lozowsky says: Dec 6, 2009. 12:53 PM
I like your vice.
McGyver2 says: Sep 12, 2009. 9:56 AM
nice.... now if it could only fly....
McGyver2 says: Sep 11, 2009. 6:49 PM
So if there are wheels on the up side of it, does that mean that it can be flipped over and doubled up as a land vehicle too?
TimAnderson (author) says: Sep 11, 2009. 11:30 PM
yes indeed. just flip it upside down and it's a wagon.
Yerboogieman says: Apr 25, 2009. 10:11 PM
Saul looks like Will Ferrell.
PaulE says: Sep 20, 2006. 7:46 AM
A beautiful instructable. BTW, where did you find the roof paint? It looks perfect for another project I am working on.
TimAnderson (author) says: Jun 29, 2007. 6:16 PM
I got it at a home depot in Massachusetts. It's "snow roof systems" brand. The black stuff is a lot more elastic than the white stuff. It's waterbased and very thick. Pretty much anything you can paint on cotton canvas will work well. If the skin is nylon your coating has to encapsulate it perfectly or it'll get loose when it's wet.
becauseican says: Feb 16, 2009. 9:41 AM
i live in masserchuset (trying to type local dialect). alot of the materials here are more for colder conditions. what town was the home depot in.
abadfart says: Jun 5, 2008. 8:18 PM
nice I could have some fun with this
akanigel says: Nov 4, 2006. 4:52 AM
To see a good idea for sails go to this site
http://www.wbm.org.uk/page2.html. This is similar to a traditional fishing boat called a "Somerset Flatner". Somerset is a county in England and is / was used on inshore waters for fishing. When I was messing about with such boats a few years ago I came up with the idea of making a 'skin' out of a builder's / farmer's tarpaulin and getting silicone sealant ( the stuff used to seal around work-tops in kitchens and bathrooms) and smearing it with a spatular all over the skin to make it one piece and water tight. However the tarps are polythene and the silicon sealant didn't bond very well but I'm sure someone can come up with a better sheet material even if it's cotton. The cotton won't rot because it won't get wet. So perhaps next summer I will have another go at this. Nice job.
greatscotmagic says: May 16, 2008. 1:20 PM
The link doesn't work because of the period at the end. if you clcick on the link just remove the period from the address in your browser. It is a great site.
_soapy_ says: Jun 25, 2007. 1:05 PM
Buy a decorators plastic backed coversheet. Put the plastic side out.
ledzep567 says: Jan 2, 2008. 6:56 PM
how much does this weigh? do you think it would be sturdy enough to stand(carefully) in it? great instructable by the way
ArtisticBabe says: Oct 10, 2007. 12:14 AM
Oh my god, I love you Tim! SEE YOU IN FRANCE! haha, laughing my a$$ off!
MNboats says: Mar 25, 2007. 7:37 PM
This is great! I'm wondering about the dimensions. How long is this boat? Happy floating!
TimAnderson (author) says: Jun 29, 2007. 6:14 PM
The boat ended up being 9'6" long, 43" wide (measuring to the outside edges of the boat, and 18" deep in the middle (measured on the inside of the boat.)
Clayton H. says: Jun 27, 2007. 12:36 PM
On the second image in the intro, whats that grey triangle shape near the bottom righthand cornner?
rocknrollskwurl says: Jun 22, 2007. 8:53 PM
dude i gots ta gets me one of these! (first a girl for the "cudling" part is nesesaery
random person says: Jun 9, 2007. 4:23 PM
I think the wheels on the back are a very clever idea, i think i may have a go. Thanks
LSRPhoto says: Jun 4, 2007. 12:54 PM
I am VERY VERY Impressed. We bout a 2nd hand canoe and we love it. I always wanted to make one by had. a Friend of mine mad a boat out or wood buy hand. Nothing fancy and painted the bottom white so it looked like a normal boat. He sold it for $25,000!!! The guy wanted more from him. Its amazing what hade made stuff can be worth. It was like a little jon boat.
crasch48 says: May 14, 2007. 6:46 PM
silentdeath says: Feb 27, 2007. 7:53 PM
but.... maby u can have an outboard motor or paddles?and just a bit bigger to have 4 people in it? or size it down for a swett pool toy?
Sgt.Waffles says: Mar 18, 2007. 11:28 PM
An outboard motor would weigh probobly as much as the boat. A trolling motor with a transom mount would be good, but then you couldnt haul it by bike.
silentdeath says: Feb 27, 2007. 7:49 PM
cool boat i may try it in the summer time!
Potroast says: Nov 28, 2006. 3:08 PM
Great article. I learned something on some skin on frame site. I think the tippyness may result from being so round bottomed. The site I looked at the guy made his ribs with a nice arc. He test floated it in the pool with a temporary plastic drop cloth skin. Too tippy, pulled all the ribs out, made them a very boxy, flat bottomed U shape by thinning the ribs at the corners of the U and that worked out well.

I admire the heck out of you guys for trying and succeeding. You might want to check out http://capefalconkayak.com/jwboat.html to see a slightly bigger, but suprisingly similar boat that was featured on the cover of woodenboat magazine in august.
rimar2000 says: Nov 14, 2006. 6:10 AM
Brilliant
Mostly_harmless says: Oct 8, 2006. 2:57 AM
Lucky bastard gets a boat, and a pac-man machine???? How does that seem fair???
jackelfroth says: Sep 13, 2006. 1:24 AM
This really is a great instructable! I've seen several comments on possible additions (ex./ outboard motor). I thought a good suggestion could be a form of canopy, perhaps something that would fold down like a convertible car top. Heck, you could make it from a tarp! Approx. how much time and $ went into this project? Thanks again! By the way... is that Pac-Man I see in your workshop?
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