NODDY, THE CHOSEN ONE

We were looking for a boat to use on weekends at our recently acquired river front property not very far from Bangkok. Since we would spend only weekends at the retreat, the boat should be small enough so we could get her in and out of water with ease. Yet, the boat should be versatile enough to serve most, if not all, our preferred activities; cruising, fishing, picnicking, and runabout. After spending some time scouting around for a boat that would fit these requirements, we came to the conclusion that we have to build our own. I've never had any boatbuilding experience before but did remember seeing my old man built one runabout when I was a kid. That was more than 30 years ago! We came across Devlin boats on the internet and immediately liked their designs which, in our opinion, were of the no nonsense type and based on functionality with certain unique characters. As a first timer, I also liked the stitch and glue construction method because of its simplicity. I personally believe the time and money spent on jigs and molds for the conventional planking method, only to be thrown away at the end of the project, is a waste. There were other stitch and glue boats we came across but we chose a Devlin design because of the fact that Devlin actually built their own designs so any flaws, if existed, should have already been ironed out. Originally, we liked the Dipper because of its compact size and the pilot house design but finally opted for the Noddy because the design was more receptive to modifications....perhaps a semi-open pilot house to suit our tropical weathers instead of the more enclosed one for the Pacific Northwest. Noddy also has advantage over Dipper when speed is a concern.

CONSTRUCTION, AN OBEDIENT BUILDER.

After reading through Sam's Boatbuilding book and Noddy's study plan ordered earlier, we obtained the complete Noddy plan back in February 00 and started the construction work immediately. After only two weekends and evenings, I had the Noddy hull in our garage already. Most of our neighbors would slow their cars and peeked with surprise at the boat. I think they should; not only because of how fast the hull took shape but also the fact that amateur boatbuilding is uncommon in Thailand. I followed Sam's building instructions closely and never had any problems. In fact, the more progress I made the more confidence I had with the design; it occurred to me that things always turned out as the instructions described. The only problem I had was to find the specified materials. There was no such thing as marine plywood in Thailand and I had to use exterior instead. I compensated the inferior plywood quality with complete epoxidization and two layers of fiberglass sheathing on the hull surface, instead of one. I had to cut my own tapes from sheets because biaxial tape was unheard of.

CONSTRUCTION, THE DEVIATED.

After working on the project for about 5 months, mainly evenings and weekends (450 working hours to be exact), I have myself a fine boat with all the modifications to suit my personal requirements. I increased the boat length by about 1.5' so the cockpit is spacious enough for fishing activity, the pilot location moved aft to the cockpit and the folding door/seat changed to a pair of removable, hinged ones to have full v-berths in the cabin in case of overnight outings. A full headroom cockpit roof was added to protect me from the tropical sun and rains. For extended trips, I also put a 100-liter fuel tank under the liftable, middle cockpit sole with self-bailing capability using the grooved/rabetted sole supports. At first, I was worried about the appearance of a 17+' boat with the full headroom cockpit top, but my modeling revealed that it was not as bad as I had thought. This cockpit top was nonetheless made removable by unbolting it from the cabin top just in case the actual boat looked ugly once finished. Even if the boat looked OK with this top, I may want to take it out to have an open cockpit for full-fledged fishing trips or for fine weather rides. Also, to lessen the expected "towering" appearance, I added another 3" to the hull depth, which I found out later that it was a wise thing to do since the modified boat was heavier than the original design. I installed the Honda BF90 instead of the 50-60 HP suggested in the plan, again, because of the heavier boat.

THE MOMENT OF JOY!

When the engine break-in was over, the moment of truth finally arrived. When I cranked the engine up to 4,000 rpm, the speed gradually increased and the boat started to plane. The bow came down, the speed picked up and my ugly-running boat transformed. My boat looked 'normal' again and it ran beautifully! It cut through small waves like a knife, and it gave a soft ride in bigger ones. The ride was also dry and handling was excellent.... must have been the full skeg design. In addition to good design, the heavier boat weight could have also contributed to such a soft and solid ride in choppy water, I didn't really know. At maximum engine speed of 5,500 rpm, the speedometer read 50 km/h, more than what I had hoped for. Once my folks knew that the boat was running OK, everybody wanted to have a ride. At one time, we had six adults with a couple of kids on board and the boat still planed but the max speed reduced. I was amazed at the number of people my little boat could accommodate, four in the cabin and two in the cockpit. This time, I can't really describe how relieved and happy I was. I now have a neat boat built to suit my taste/requirements and it looks different from other pleasure boats in the neighborhood. I used to look admirably at the passing by speed boats, now it's vice versa. Heads turn wherever I go and I now dare looking straight in their face. Their look make me wanting to put up a sign saying 'I built this boat myself'.

Not bad at all for my first one!

Not bad at all for Devlin's first one! (in Thailand)
 
E-mail Pornpod Thongmeearkom