Building a GF18

Post by **Redbelly** » October 16th, 2006, 9:59 pm

I am back to maybe building a flats boat. After all I does woodworking for a living and have a shop full of tools.

On the bateau.com plan site there is the gf18. What do y'all think of this as an all round flats machine?

Out to 5 miles, and in the creeks?

Post by **Nathan** » October 16th, 2006, 10:25 pm

Don't think you'll want to take that one out 5 miles. The Phantom 18 floats pretty shallow, yet still has some V to the bottom. It might be a better option if you haven't looked at it yet.

Nathan

Post by **Redbelly** » October 17th, 2006, 6:59 am

I like the open deck plan on the GF18, and by adding foam under the sole it would be more boat for the money than a carolina skiff.

I am thinking it would ride the same as a CS.

It would be quicker and less $ to build than a PH. Less HP needed too.

dstockwell · Post by **dstockwell** » October 17th, 2006, 7:50 am

Just by Chalks project, hes not gonna finish it.

Oh wait, you do not want to take that out 5 miles either.

Post by **Chalk** » October 17th, 2006, 8:29 am

Well your first mistake is mentioning $ and saving some in a boat building post

That's kinda like oil and water.

Building a boat is something you have to want to do, not to do to save some money cause you ain't gonna save any...But you will have it your way, it will more or less probably be paid for at the end and you can say you did it.

You have to be commited to the work, a few hours a week and it will turn into a 5 year project

I would be partial to the Phantom myself, your kidneys, teeth and cohonies will thank you

Build it, it's fun, a great learning experience.....

Don - Byte me

Post by **Redbelly** » October 17th, 2006, 5:09 pm

Chalk, can the phantom be built with an open fisherman type hull? I don't want the full deck without sides.

I do like the hull better than the GF18. It's just that the freeboard is less on a PH, right?

I am looking also at the garvey for it's simple to build design, and I feel I would get a better boat for the money, not really saving much $.
If you factor time and my shop overhead it probably is more, but you think you see less $ outlay...

Then again just buying a bote would leave more time to fish....mmm..

Post by **Chalk** » October 17th, 2006, 5:24 pm

You will still have sides, you have to have support along the side via a bulkhead or a deck or both...the GF18 has bulkhead along the side you can see them in this rendering

I did not see where it stated the free board of the GF 18, the floor to the deck on the phantom is a little over 12"...whch is about the same as my fiberglass boat

The deck is part of the structure on the phantom, so opening it up would be difficult, but not impossible

Redbelly wrote:Then again just buying a bote would leave more time to fish....mmm..

Exactly.....

Post by **tin can** » October 17th, 2006, 9:19 pm

Redbelly, for what it's worth, assuming you use the materials they suggest for boat building, you can buy a decent boat for the same, or less, than you can build one. I looked at it closely. I did not include labor in my figures. Just materials. As Chalk stated, the reason for building a boat is the satisfaction of saying you built it.

Post by **Browning Slayer** » October 17th, 2006, 10:03 pm

tin can wrote:Redbelly, for what it's worth, assuming you use the materials they suggest for boat building, you can buy a decent boat for the same, or less, than you can build one. I looked at it closely. I did not include labor in my figures. Just materials. As Chalk stated, the reason for building a boat is the satisfaction of saying you built it.

RB, if you do it, please post pics cause I would love to see it in progress!! I've looked at it myself and like you said, it will eat into fishing time... That would be ok but I already have "Too Many Seasons" and not enough time.

But... There would be no better satisfaction than saying "This Is My Boat" and meaning every word of it.

Post by **Redbelly** » October 17th, 2006, 10:10 pm

Teah....the hours they post for labor doesn't seem too bad for the GF18.

And I would have help (costing me by the hour).

And I build stuff a lot. But it would feel satisfying to fish out of one I built.

I guess if you add it up in real dollar value.......just go buy one.

Maybe this should be a project for my retirement days.

Supa Fly · Post by **Supa Fly** » October 18th, 2006, 2:10 pm

I didn't build a boat from scratch, but I did find an empty hull and glassed in new decks, console, gel coated, etc. I thought I was going to save some serious jack going that route. About $6000 later I realized there is no savings, and if your labor is worth 10 cents an hour, you're in the hole. Like everybody said though, it is kind of fun, and it's a great learning experience. If you build your own boat, you won't be one of those guys that totally freaks out when something breaks, because you'll know how to fix it, which is another bonus. If you decide to do it, post some pics of the build for us along the way.

Post by **T Smith** » October 20th, 2006, 12:42 pm

Redbelly, there really is something neat about fishing in a boat that you built from a stack of wood.

But a moneysaver it is not and as Chalk said if you dont have blocks of time to give to the projects it will drag on for years. Alot of the time isn't even the building its the preperation and clean up. It always took me at least an hour to clean up the mess after working on the boat. It always costs more than you think, takes longer than you think, and when your done your pretty much stuck with it because you could never sell it for what you have invested in it. So make sure the one you build is the one you want. I built the XF 20 but in hindsight wish i'd have built the PH 16.

With all that being said I often think what in the world was I thinking comparing all the other boats I could have purchased for what I have in mine, but then when I see it I still can't believe that I built it and that's pretty cool.

To get an idea you might wanna try something small like a canoe or kayak.

Post by **Charles** » October 21st, 2006, 6:06 am

Something nobody seems to have mentioned is that when you build a boat you know exactly what went into it for materials and construction. In order to get this information with a commercially made boat you'd need a Saws-All.

I think if I were going to build this type of boat, I would look at the TX 18, but I'm sure the GF 18, PH 18 and TX 18 are all perfectly suitable for inshore and light offshore fishing.

That site has a couple of designs I'm interested in, but the one they have that I really want to build some day is the CK 17.