The Glen-L "Tubby Tugboat"

This small boat is built with plywood and fiberglass using the stitch-n-glue method.

I don't want to read all this stuff, show me the pictures...

How I got started:

I bought the plans in March 2000 and started right away in my basement. This is my first boat, so I was a bit skepticle about purchasing top-of-the-line marine plywood, and instead went with AC exterior grade plywood purchased from Home Depot. I bought 4 sheets of 4' x 8' x 1/4", and 1 sheet of 4' x 8' x 3/8". Although the Tubby Tug may be considered a "kit", it does not come with any pre-cut pieces, or any pre-fabricated parts. You do get 2 gallons of resin, 2 quarts of hardener, a roll of 3" fiberglass tape ( 50' I believe ), and a massive fiberglass "blanket" which is used to cover the hull exterior. Also included are brass screws and nails, 50' of copper wire for stitching, a couple of paint brushes, 1 lb of micro-balloons, and 1 lb of silica. The silica and micro-balloons are used to create the epoxy "glue". Mixing the two powders with epoxy gives a nice peanut-butter consistency, which is necessary when gluing vertical joints, patching stitch holes and doing general body work. There are 2 choices of epoxy... polyester or the good stuff, I chose the good stuff.

Supplies:

I had to make a few runs to the hardware store to pick up a 3-1/4" Makita grinder, a 3-1/4" Makita circular saw, a few jig-saw blades, a respirator and an extra set of filters, 2 gallons of acetone, paint brushes, sand paper, mixing containers, large tongue depressors (great for mixing and filleting), masking tape, rubber gloves and some other goodies. I found that the small circular saw wasn't really necessary. Most of the cutting can be done with a jig-saw.

Later I realized that I needed a way to transfer the patterns from the paper to the plywood. So, I ran out to the office supply store and picked up a box of carbon paper.

I still need to purchase a trailer and a motor, and hardware for the bow eye. I don't know much about motors yet, but I'm looking closely at a 2-stroke 4 hp engine manufactured by Honda. I had no idea boat motors were so expensive.

Reference material:

I purchased 2 books on boat building for tips, inspiration, and reference. I was very surprised to see how many boats are built using the stitch-n-glue method, including very large boats. Even if you are not into building boats, boat building books are very enjoyable and interesting reading.

The Process...