Building a Work-Boat for Ponds and
Lakes
A boat for only €/$110 (£80)
To do occasional maintenance work on my pond, I solved the problem using some interesting new materials and equipment. Having spent about a year looking for a second-hand boat, I thought that it might be fun to build one instead.
The whole project was quick and easy and definitely very successful. - For what interest it might be to people, I took a series of step-by-step photos of the construction and have written some notes, if you wish to read them.
Key features are an external frame with quick assembly using basically a saw and a cordless drill type screwdriver.
The 'Buy-New' Options.
I found the cheapest boat was very small and cost about £500. The picture of the little cockle shell boat above, bottom left, is typical of the small boats available - although light and easy to handle it is not exactly roomy. If being used as a working platform, say for standing in when sawing off over-hanging branches, it could be more stable too. Heyland Marine do make an excellent range of small boats though. What did catch my eye was their 'Guddle Work Punt', pictured above right and tabled below.
The Design.
A little look at the Guddle's dimension table set my mind thinking very quickly of 8' by 4' sheets of plywood and then the depth made me think about how a 4' sheet would slice into 3 strips @ 16". (The beam measurement, if you don't know, is a boaty way of saying width by the way. These are imperial units also but even at 2440mm x 1220mm these sheets are still made on old imperial machines so they still are this size).
In a couple of minutes of seeing these pictures I had a cutting plan in my head. No doubt that some readers are starting to get ideas what this would look like already. You will find the plan in my 'how-to' section. At this point let me say that I cut everything from two sheets of 9mm (3/8") marine ply.
Other Research.
The boat you see here is
called a Cajun Pirogue. It is very simple to build, so they say. Originally
designed for duck shooting on the Bayou - apparently when you have reached
your destination marshland, you can turn the boat up-side-down and hide
underneath it with just the front propped up on a stick.
However, I found other sites saying the entire boat should be covered
in a fibreglass shell. This got me worried about leakage problems. Again
stability as a work platform looked like a problem too. I finally ruled
out this boat because of the length. At 16' (4.8m) it would be difficult
to store and while good for narrow creeks, would also be difficult to
manouvre in a pond.
Tradition.
This the Cambridge punt.
A visit to this famous English town is not complete without an hour
on the 'backs'.
See www.scudamores.co.uk
Again too long for my needs. Good for canals and quiet rivers. Not good for deep and rounded ponds.