Boat Plans – Can you really build a boat from boat plans purchased on the internet?
I’m checking out My Boat Plans, to find out
Boat Plans Pre-Internet
Boat plans were a problem before the advent of the internet. If you wanted to build your own boat, you’d head for your favorite yacht chandler and buy a pack of boat plans. They usually came on about five or six large sheets, packed in a large brown envelope. Boat plans always seemed to come in brown envelopes. The scale of the drawings would usually depend on the size of the craft because blueprint drawing paper only comes in standard sizes. You’d keep them in your garage or workshop and they’d begin to fall apart as you folded and re-folded them. Then you’d get glue on your boat plans and sawdust would stick to the glue. Then you’d tread on a sheet and rip it. You get the idea…handling boat plans wasn’t easy back then. Boat plans were also expensive, you could easily blow a large chunk of your budget on just one set of boat plans.
Boat Plans 2011
Now let’s move into the 21st Century, if you want boat plans, there’s no better place to head for than My Boat Plans. Here, you can pick up 518 (yes, that’s five hundred eighteen) boat plans in electronic format for less than the price of one or two boat plans just a few years ago. And, because they are on your pc, once you’ve downloaded them, you can print out as many boat plans, parts of plans and details as you want. That means you can take them into the workshop, tread on them, even lose them altogether and you’ll be fine. Another copy is just a click away. You might not think this is important but, believe me, you will once you get started.
My Boat Plans Review
So, what exactly am I talking about here? I’m talking about the latest package to be released by master boat builder Martin Reid. It’s simply called My Boat Plans, but, as you’ll find out if you read on, the package actually contains a lot more than just plans. As it happens, you’ve landed on this page at the right time, because, until recently, he was offering a similar boat plans package that contained a paltry (!) 254 boat plans. Since then he’s doubled the number of boat plans (quite where he gets all these boat plans from, I don’t know) and also included some superb bonuses that will be of real, practical value to all boat builders, especially beginners.
Let’s have a look at this boat plans package in detail:
Firstly, of course you get the 518 boat plans. These are categorised into different types of craft, as follows:
12 Cabin Cruisers, 46 Canoes-Rowboats-Kayaks, Dinghies, Dorys, Duck boats, 5 Houseboats, 19 Hydros, Jon boats,
Small Boats, Runabouts Inboard, Paddle Boats, 12 Paddle wheel, Fishing boats, 7 Runabouts Outboard, 34 Sail boats, Ski boats, Skiffs, Sloops, Submarines (yes, there’s even a submarine – not what you’d expect in a collection of boat plans, eh?), Surf boards, Utility boats, Yachts, Wooden boats.
As you can see there’s a huge variety of boat plans here and definitely something for everybody.
My Boat Plans Bonuses
I mentioned bonuses. I have to say, Martin’s really pushed the boat out on the bonuses, take a look at these!
- Over FORTY videos (that’s over ten hours) of high quality videos that give you clear, visual, step-by-step instruction on many aspects of boat building, from a complete start-to-finish walkthrough to choosing materials and even boat repair (when the time comes!). There’s a very informative video on calculations, a must if you’re planning to use the Boat Design Software (see below).
- A fully licensed copy of 3D Boat Design Software. I know for a fact that this normally sells at $49.95 (I know because I bought a copy!). This is a great piece of software for anyone planning to go just that bit further than following pre-drawn boat plans and who really wants to design their own boat hull.
- The Complete Boatbuilder’s Guide. Over 600 pages of illustrations, tips, guidance and instructions on just about every aspect of the practical side of boatbuilding. Essential reading for beginners.
- Boat Building Secrets. More of the same sort of information, culled from different sources with a wide range of material covered. Well worth a thorough read before you decide on which boat plans you’re going to use and then embark on your project.
- Boat Safety Regulations Guide. Again, essential reading whatever type of boat you’re planning to build. Covering all the essentials from electrical systems to ventilation and fuel systems to loading requirements.
- And…Full lifetime membership of the My Boat Plans Forum, a busy boat builders forum where you can interact with like-minded individuals discussing just about every aspect of boat plans and boat construction. You can learn a lot here so be sure to get involved!
Well, as you can see, the bonuses are worth their weight in gold and, for my money, makes My Boat Plans a complete no-brainer.
Get My Boat Plans Here
I’m very enthusiastic about the whole My Boat Plans package, but there were one or two things that I wasn’t so sure about:
It takes a while to download
Due to the very large amount of content contained in the package, there is about 900 megabytes of boat plans, (and other material in addition to the boat plans) to download. This may take a while if you have a slow connection. However you can opt for the DVD edition in the members area so that solves the issue if you’re on a slow network
I’d like to have seen more catamarans
Well, I guess you can’t have everything but I’d like to have seen a few more boat plans for catamarans and other multi hulls, as I’m particulalrly interested in this type of craft.
On the whole though, I was very impressed with the My Boat Plans package and would definitely recommended it for anyone considering building their own boat.
So the answer to my question, “Can you really build a boat from boat plans purchased on the internet?” is an unqualified yes. If you take the project one step at a time, don’t rush into things and do plenty of preparatory reading and study, then there’s no reason why you too can’t be afloat on the water in a boat of your own construction in no time!
And this is where you can get access to the My Boat Plans package, right now…
And here’s an interesting design without using Boat Plans