Build Your Own Wooden Boat Projects

I had dreamed of owning my own boat for many years. I owned a canoe which I used in fresh and salt water almost daily in central Florida way back in the eighties and nineties. But I really wanted a boat I could easily fish in the flats of the Banana River, Mosquito Lagoon, or in Lake Tohopolega, or out in the Atlantic Ocean far off shore in search of Blue Fish, Spanish and King Mackerel, Red Fish, Tuna, and Dolphin or Mahi-Mahi.

Then in the late 90’s I moved to California, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Here I found the ocean conditions rough and tumble most of the year, and water and wind too big and uncomfortable. For years I went fishing with my friend Rick B. and Whitebear on their Seaswirl Stripers. These are fine offshore fishing boats, but for me I desired something a bit more personal and not factory made.

And so I started thinking that I could build my own boat. Crazy idea but I’m trained as an artist, and I have very often set my sight on lofty goals. Did a lot of research and thought I wanted to build an outboard powered dory. But I changed my mind when reading how slow dory’s can be and how tippy. Since I wanted to fish and crab for Dungeness crab, and CoonStripe Shrimp on the ocean, I wanted a boat with good handling characteristics in a following sea as well as an oncoming and quarter sea, and it needed to be very stable at rest. The bow needed to be turned up for large swells and big wind waves and chop, and it needed reserve buoyancy for when I really loaded the boat up with fuel and ice for Tuna fishing.

And then one day I stumbled upon a book called a A Skiff for All Seasons, by Renn Tolman. This book was wooden boat plans in book form! The author assumed you’d never built an epoxy and fiberglass encapsulated, marine grade plywood off shore fishing boat. He very clearly teaches you the basics of using these materials, and step by step goes through the process of building a diy wooden fishing boat.

I decided this was the boat. Fast forward a few years, and you can see my progress on this Tolman Skiff boat project

You can also check many other Wooden Boat Projects in the links below. Most of these projects are of the four different kinds of Tolman Skiffs.

Some keywords to help the search engines and boat building enthusiasts find us.
Renn Tolman
Tolman Skiff
Wooden Boat
Wooden Boat Projects
Wooden Boat Plans
DIY Boat Plans
Build your own Wooden Boat
Stitch and Glue
Tack and Tape
Wooden Boat Plans in book form
Skiff Plans
Offshore fishing boat plans
build your own offshore fishing boat
scarfing
lofting
boating forum
boat building forum
wooden boat building forum

Tolman Skiff Seabright

  1. Renn Tolman – Tolman Seabright
  2. Renn Tolman

Other Boat Projects

  1. Anderson Boatyard

Articles

  1. Bob Lanham’s – Vacuum Packer
  2. Renn Tolman – Becharof Adventure
  3. Bruce Armstrong – Canadian Adventure 2003
  4. Bruce Armstrong – Canadian Adventure 2007
  5. Bruce Armstrong – Alaskan Adventure – Homer Wooden Boat Show
  6. Bruce Armstrong – Alaskan Adventure – Homer Wooden Boat Show Version2
  7. Trailer Boat Magazine: Kevin Bedoe’s Tolman Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  8. Tolman Skiff Builder’s Shops
  9. How to Build Your Own Boat Trailer – trailer.pdf
  10. Tolman Tips – From the Tolman Group
  11. Suzuki DF140 SetUp_Manual_2.pdf (file download)
  12. Groundfish, a Case Study – groundfish.pdf (file download)
  13. Process Sashimi Grade Tuna – Sashimi.pdf (file download)
  14. Asbury Park Press – Nolan’s Ark
  15. Audio Interview of Renn Tolman (halfway through)
  16. Kevin Beddoe Article – Duckworks Magazine
  17. Bruce Armstrong’s Review of A Skiff For All Seasons
  18. Bob Southwick’s 2005 Trip to Homer
  19. How to Catch Shrimp
  20. How to Rig a Shrimp Trap
  21. San Francisco Bay Coffee Roasters
  22. eTrade is Evil
  23. Curtis Hanson – Tolman Skiff Widebody (for sale!) New!
  24. How to Catch Shrimp
  25. DIY Boat Building
  26. Wooden Boat Building
  27. Stitch and Glue Boat Building
  28. Wooden Boat Plans
  29. Wooden Skiff Plans
  30. Curtis Hanson – Tolman Skiff Widebody New Images (for sale!) New!
  31. Wooden Skiffs For Sale
  32. Protoco Crab Trap
  33. Danielson Crab Trap
  34. Shrimp Recipes
  35. Prawn Recipes
  36. Shrimp are tasty little critters
  37. An Early Example of a flat bottomed Tolman Skiff

Tolmanskiff Tolman Skiff Standard

  1. Neil Andrews – Tolman Skiff Standard, Tolman Skiff Widebody, Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  2. Bruce Armstrong – Tolman Skiff Standard
  3. Kevin Beddoe – Tolman Skiff Standard, Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  4. Kevin Beddoe’s – Personal Tolman Skiff Website
  5. Jon Berger – Tolman Skiff Standard
  6. Bob Casler – Tolman Skiff Standard
  7. Brian Fagan – Tolman Skiff Standard
  8. Jeff Hazelwood – Tolman Skiff Standard
  9. Dave Lambert – Tolman Skiff Standard
  10. Dave Morgan – Tolman Skiff Standard
  11. Joe Nelson – Tolman Skiff Standard
  12. Todd Powell – Tolman Skiff Standard
  13. Steve Reed – Tolman Skiff Standard-For Sale!
  14. Richard Seagraves – Tolman Skiff Standard, Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  15. Jim Shula – Tolman Skiff Standard
  16. Renn Tolman
  17. Phil Walker – Tolman Skiff Standard
  18. Dave Wright – Tolman Skiff Standard

Tolmanskiff Tolman Skiff Widebody

  1. Tom Anderson – Tolman Skiff Widebody
  2. Neil Andrews – Tolman Skiff Standard, Tolman Skiff Widebody, Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  3. Doug Buescher – Tolman Skiff Widebody
  4. Nicola Caria – Tolman Skiff Widebody
  5. Jim Crawford – Tolman Skiff Widebody
  6. David Dobler – Tolman Skiff Widebody
  7. Charlie Gieseker – Tolman Skiff Widebody
  8. Paul Hail – Tolman Skiff Widebody
  9. Curtis Hanson – Tolman Skiff Widebody
  10. Doug Huvar – Tolman Skiff Widebody
  11. Gary Kendall Widebody – For Sale!
  12. Adam Kondrashoff – Tolman Skiff Widebody
  13. Glenn McLain – Tolman Skiff Widebody
  14. David Nolan – Tolman Skiff Widebody
  15. John O’neil’s – Tolman Skiff Widebody
  16. Gary Porter – Tolman Skiff Widebody(s)
  17. Mike Schlechter – Tolman Skiff Widebody
  18. Ben Stuart – Tolman Skiff Widebody – For Sale!
  19. Mike Rudolf – Tolman Skiff Widebody
  20. Russ Taylor – Tolman Skiff Widebody
  21. Renn Tolman
  22. Liam Tovey – Tolman Skiff Widebody
  23. James White – Tolman Skiff Widebody
  24. JIm Wilcox – Tolman Skiff Widebody
  25. Ron Williams – Tolman Skiff Widebody
  26. Friedhelm Wurfel – Tolman Skiff Widebody

Tolmanskiff Tolman Skiff Jumbo

  1. Neil Andrews – Tolman Skiff Standard, Tolman Skiff Widebody, Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  2. Kevin Beddoe – Tolman Skiff Standard, Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  3. Steve Bolton – Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  4. Walter Bovich – Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  5. Ray Brown – Tolman Skiff Jumbo w/diesel
  6. Kenneth Chace – Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  7. Stephen Dampier – Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  8. Brian Dixon – Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  9. Russ Dodd – Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  10. Kenneth Dodson – Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  11. Aaron Enstad – Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  12. Craig Floerchinger – Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  13. Jerry Johnson – Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  14. David Klistoff – Tolman Skiff Jumbo 25′
  15. Bob and Bruce Lanham – Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  16. Stephen Mailloux – Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  17. Charley Martin-Berry – 26’Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  18. Jesse Morgan – Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  19. Paul Nelson – Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  20. David Nolan – Super Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  21. Jim O’Meara – Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  22. Fletcher Poole – Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  23. Neal Schlee – Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  24. Richard Seagraves – Tolman Skiff Standard, Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  25. Bob Southwick (Walk-N-Bob) – Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  26. Bob Southwick (Walk-N-Bob) – Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  27. Robert Strawbridge – Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  28. Robert Strawbridge – Tolman Skiff Jumbo – Personal Site
  29. Renn Tolman
  30. Martin Wagner – Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  31. Mike Wagner – Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  32. JIm Ward – Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  33. plywood stitch and glue
  34. stitch and glue (tack and tape) skiff
  35. stitch and glue boat designs
  36. Marine Grade Plywood Test

Dampier’s Wooden Tolman Skiff Jumbo Boat Build and Adventure Installments

  1. Build the Tolman Skiff Transom and Saw Horses
  2. Scarfing Bottom Panels and Boat Canopy
  3. Lofting and Heating Up Crystallized Epoxy
  4. Fairing the Shelves (Gunnels)
  5. Stiching and Gluing the Bottom Panels
  6. Scraping Fiberglass and Chine Shelves
  7. Routing Slots for Chine Shelves and Gluing up the Botom
  8. Glassing the Bottom of the Tolman Skiff Jumbo
  9. Finishing Bottom, and Begin the Framing
  10. Installing the Bowstem, and Fitting the Stringers
  11. Fitting the Bottom to the Stringers
  12. Glue Stringers to Transom
  13. Glue Bottom to Stringers
  14. Scarfing Side Panels
  15. Port Side Panel Installed
  16. Starboard Side Panel Installed
  17. Taping Bottom and Sides and Transom
  18. Fiberglass the sides
  19. Catch a 34lb Salmon!!
  20. Sanding and Glassing Bottom
  21. Graphite Epoxy on the Bottom
  22. New Used Escort Trailer
  23. UHMW Strakes on the bottom
  24. Fitting the Trailer
  25. Spray Rail Construction
  26. Spray Rail Installation
  27. Spray Rail Graphite Epoxy
  28. Tolman Jumbo Turning!
  29. Filleting and Fiberglass Taping the Chine
  30. Birth of My First Child!
  31. 30 Gallon Aluminum Fuel Tank
  32. Side Decks or Gunnels
  33. Bowpipe Drilling and Installation
  34. Glassing and Taping the Stringers and Transom
  35. Raise the Stringers, Boat Leveling on the Trailer, Tuna Fishing
  36. Collision Bulkhead
  37. Collision Bulkhead, Forward Cuddy Bulkhead, Bow Deck
  38. Rear Cuddy Bulkhead
  39. Rear Cuddy Bulkhead
  40. Cuddy Cabin Bunks
  41. Finish Bunks and Cuddy Side Panels
  42. Finish Bunks and Cuddy Side Panels – Dupe
  43. Life is complicated. Cuddy Sides and Roof Glassed
  44. Deck at Transom
  45. Fish Hold, and Deck
  46. Stringers, and Remote Air to Protect My Health
  47. Rough Day, Web Stringers, etc.
  48. Fuel Tank
  49. More Fuel Tank, Primed, and Epoxied, Fuel Filler, Rear Deck and Electrical Runs
  50. Splashwell, Steering Station
  51. Splashwell, Battery Boxes, Cuddy Cabin Arc
  52. Battery Boxes, Cuddy Cabin Arc Continued
  53. Battery Boxes, Transom
  54. Fairing Battery Boxes, Wheelhouse Framing
  55. Drag the Boat Out for a Look See, Sanding, and Looking at the Wheelhouse Profile
  56. Wheelhouse Framing, Window Cut Outs
  57. Glass Up the Window Frames, and Adjust Trailer Winch
  58. Boat Building Project 55
  59. Boat Building Project56
  60. Boat Building Project 57
  61. Boat Building Project 58
  62. Boat Building Project 59
  63. Boat Building Project 60
  64. Boat Building Project 61
  65. Boat Building Project 62
  66. Boat Building Project 63
  67. Boat Building Project 64
  68. Boat Building Project 65
  69. Boat Building Project 66
  70. Boat Building Project 67
  71. Boat Building Project 68
  72. Boat Building Project 69
  73. Boat Building Project 70
  74. Boat Building Project 71
  75. Boat Building Project 72
  76. Boat Building Project 73
  77. Boat Building Project 74
  78. Boat Building Project 75
  79. Boat Building Project 76
  80. Boat Building Project 77
  81. Boat Building Project 78
  82. Boat Building Project 79
  83. Boat Building Project 80
  84. Boat Building Project 81

Links

  1. Weather Links
  2. Boat Links
  3. Tackle Store Links
  4. Fishing Site Links
  5. Fishing Regulations Links
  6. Miscellaneous Links
  7. Diesel Links

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