ok so here is an update after a long hiatus......the project board used to make the sides should have been painted......the wood began to de-laminate causing the sides of my boat to become individual planks....found a relatively cheap fix....a little wood putty to fill in the cracks, and a generous varnishing of tite bond ii.....then some paint....she's almost seaworthy again!

memorial day weekend

I brought the duck back to Elmer's Island.....with some improvements. She handled like a dream in the lightest breeze. It was a great day with the family.....i also found this pic on facebook.....a passerby must have taken it.

A bad day turned good.

I took the duck out to Elmer's Island, Sunday........that's when i encountered a hailstorm of troubles.....I soon found out with all the things i over-built.....i under-built a few very important ones......like the rudder...which broke during my capsize drill.....and my boom....which broke a good distance from shore, just before i dropped the paddle overboard....many thanks to my first mate at the time, Darryl, who sailed her in, while i swam for the paddle. I still managed to get a good, enjoyable day sailing her in some great wind. What doesn't kill her, makes me build her stronger. So, it's back to the building.....and tweeking....and learning from my mistakes.

The Build

    Just like a lot of other duckers out there, I had never built a boat..........or anything else. I had never even thought about sailing. Then one faithful night, while looking for free pirogue plans for a friend,  I stumbled into the world of home boat building. As i looked at plans for every boat known to man, i googled " free easy boat plans" i noticed that a lot of the boats that caught my interest were sail boats, so, I googled "free easy sailboat plans". Several sleepless hours later, I stumbled upon www.pdracer.com. It was on from there. Many months of dreaming and planning and research.......then......with my wife's permission...........I got to build one!! Here is an account of that experience.

    Let me preface this build by saying ......this is not the traditional way........or the only way, to build a pdracer.
This is my way, in the spirit of cheap, creative, and having fun on the water. There are many other ways. This is the way that suited me, at the time I built my duck.

Materials:
(2) 1x16x8 laminated project boards. (this was the first time i saw these....i figured they would save a lot of time being i wouldn't have to frame as much.)
(1) 4x8 sheet of 3/8 pine sheeting
(1) 2x4x8
(2) 1x12x8
(1) 1x8x8
(1) 4x8 sheet of foam board
(1) tube of black roofing sealant
(1) bottle of Elmer's Wood glue
(1) box of 1 1/4" deck screws
(1) wing
(1) prayer

  I clamped the 16" project boards together, drew the hull shape from the website using the station marks and a batten. Then stared at it for about 15 minutes before i made the first cut......I had a bad case of first cut fever....and second cut fever....and third....I had to convince myself it was ok if it didn't come out perfect....I was making an "ugly little boat." I repeated this to myself after every cut and screw....until i believed it with all of my heart....and so began Le Vilain Canard. My oldest son was happy to help.....for all of 5.3 seconds, Which is the longest he has ever stayed in one place in his entire life, without being BORED.

Now my boat has sides. I cut the bow and stern transoms from one of my 1x12x8's and rip a bit of the 2x4x8 for the corner supports, or framing, if u will. This is the only "framing" on this hull. As you can see from the following pic, i glued the 2x2's in the corners of the hull. then screwed it all together to make a "boat shape"

 All it needs is a bottom.

Attaching the bottom was a little more unnerving than I thought it was going to be, after reading many stories about people who attached the bottoms of their hulls.....and then.....that infamous cracking sound.....then....off to the big box store for another sheet of plywood. That was not the case here....I used a fair amount of screws....a good bit of glue....started on the stern and slowly worked forward.....then viola....a 3d hull. Towards the bow, it is a big help to have some weight.....or a few kids handy...to hold the plywood in place.

 The crew.....and counterweight. Devin, Allie, and Ashton.

Notice the black line around the bottom of the hull....this is spray on flexible rubber coating.....I do not recommend it...you can epoxy coat the bottom for the same price.













Now that the bottom is on, it's time to seal it. I used roof repair, because it's tar based....and tar has been used to seal boats for ages...and at $3 a tube...why not. so I laid it on thick and my lovely wife used a caulk tool to spread and press it into any cracks that were in the seams.

With the bottom sealed, I glued and screwed the decking in place...1 4' piece of 1x12 on the bow....and a piece of 1x8 on the stern.

 now I cut out the rudder using the remainder of the 1x8....and a piece of 1x2 for the tiller.












I cut the lee board from the remaining piece of 1x12











and the mast support and step from the remaining 2x4.

We test fitted the mast.....a 1 1/2"x10' piece of electrical conduit held by a conduit strap. Then we sealed and stained her...I love the way the project board makes her look like she was plank built.......After the stain cured, my wife glued in the flotation (foam board).

I fitted the rudder mount, then mounted the rudder using stainless door hinges.The lee board was bolted to the side, and uses a wing nut, with ropes to bow and stern to stay down.

 A little land sailing.

The sail is a whatchamacallit rig, made from a polytarp.

Testing her stability.....and checking for leaks.

.......And she sails.

soon to come

It's gonna be a rainy weekend, so i plan on having that build article up by the end of it.

Sailing in Bayou Lafourche

 Today was a great day to sail. We had fair winds and nice weather. I launched my pdracer into Bayou Lafourche this afternoon for my first "real" sail. The only problem I had was that being new to sailing, I don't sail upwind well, Bayou Lafourche runs generally north and south, and the wind was coming from the NNE. So.... I sailed back and forth for about an hour...and got lots of attention from the people crossing the pontoon bridge I was sailing near. I was pleased with the way she handled ,once I got the hang of it. I had a great time, and it was a great learning experience.

FIN.

                                                         her "name plate"......thanks babe.

                                                                            christening

alright people, le vilain canard is finished!!!!! three days of work, spread out over two weekends, i have finished a pdracer. i christened her today, and went on a short maiden voyage. it felt amazing. It's late and i have a long day tomorrow, but as soon as i organize everything, i'll have full build pics and step by step instructions to show how I constructed my pdracer.

Almost time

I have been on pins and needles waiting for the weekend so i can finish my pdracer. Now the weekend is almost here. The closer it gets the more excited i become........here are some pics from last weekend.

obsessed much

Since my pdracer is nearing completion I have been searching and absorbing all the information i can about sail making, sail types, rigging, etc. after about six hours of this last night i realized I have been "over thinking" my sail plan. I use the quotation marks because it's more like obsessing. At 2am this morning i came across this picture and realized it does not have to be complicated to work.

hull number

I got my hull number today. Le vilain canard is hull number 655. I can't wait to finish her. Hopefully I'll be sailing this weekend. As soon as she is done, I'll post full build instructions and plans. I've done things a little differently than most ducks I've seen.  most people will spout sayings like "leave well enough alone" or "if it ain't broke don't fix it", but i need to be different, so i built my duck with slight changes to the normal technique.

intro....pdracer build

Today starts my venture into puddle ducking. I began constructing Le Villain Canard......my pdracer. I have been planning to build one of these 8' sailboats for about 6 months now, but I never had the time.....or so i told myself...the truth is i was scared. I have never taken on a challenge like this before, so the very thought of it scared me to death. Here I am though, one solid day of building.....and more planning than my wife would like........I have a 3D hull.