CHRONOLOGIE - Golfe du déversement de pétrole du Mexique (Reuters) - Les efforts visant à combler le Golfe BP de fuite d'huile au Mexique pour le bien ont été gênés que la tempête tropicale Bonnie approche. Fishing at Venice Pier - Memorial Day 2009 (Venice, Florida)
This is a beautiful stretched-canvas art print wrapped on 2.5" thick stretcher bars. The print is professionally printed, assembled, and shipped within 2 - 3 business days from our production facility in North Carolina and arrives ready-to-hang on your wall. Fine Art America is home to more than 35,000 artists from all over the world who entrust us to fulfill their print orders online. We offer a ...
Venice, Florida - Fishing Scene on the Jetties is a limited edition fine art giclee print, which uses a specialized printer to deliver a fine stream of ink onto archival paper. It results in museum-quality art of incredibly vivid color, depth and resolution that captures the essence of the artist's intent. You're sure to find that perfect piece to matches your style and buget from this collection ...
My wife and I are celebrating our 1 year anniversary in August and we would like to go to Alaska. Our budget is $3,000. We are currently in Montana. Everyone keeps telling us that it is doable for that price but we can't seem to find the deals. Inland Alaska is very similar to Montana so we would like to see whales etc. Some of the events we'd like to do:
- whale / seal watching
- short hikes / nature watching
- ocean fishing
- glacier viewing
We are currently looking at flying into Anchorage, renting a car and just making our own trip plans and stops along the way because it seems cheaper than all the package price stuff. We have slated 7 full days in Alaska and 2 travel days. We aren't opposed to camping at established camps.
Any information, ideas, or deals would be greatly appreciated if you've traveled here before or live in the area. We aren't set on Anchorage. We just want to cover as many of the events outlined above as we can. Thanks!
You might want to consider the Alaska State Ferry system as either part of or your entire itinerary. A ferry leaves from Bellingham, WA every Friday night. You can either get a cabin or pitch a tent on the deck depending on your budget and how rustic you want to make the trip. You can get off at a port, stay several days and catch another ferry to your next destination. You can take the ferry both ways or one way and fly back home.
Building your own handcrafted wooden leisure of fishing boat is not nearly as difficult as you might think. I have built many from scratch, but the first is the most educational. And that's what this article is all about. You don't need special expensive tools or any carpentry experience. Just follow simple instructions and you can build an incredible wooden boat of your very own and save thousands of dollars for that new rod and reel.
So what would you like? A saltwater fishing boat ready for the bay? A freshwater cruiser primed for the lake? If you can imagine it, you can built it. And for less than $250 using top-grade marine plywood and certified materials!
Let's start with the basics. My first boat-building project was an eight foot outboard ready motorboat. The plans were for a simple "Portuguese style rowing dinghy" designed by a boat builder in Finland named Hannu Vartiala. All I had to do was add a motor-board (all of ten minutes work) and all of the sudden I had a handcrafted motorboat ready for an outboard. Let's look at a similar simple project.
First, get some plans and, if possible, building instructions. You can buy them at a number of online boat building shops by searching for "plywood boat plans" on Google, but Hannu's are incredibly easy to follow and free. Here's the link to the first project I did. It's an eight foot car-top model that goes anywhere:
1.) 2 sheets of 1/4" marine plywood. You can use other types but I always stick with marine. You can get it in most places for about $39 to $45 per sheet.
2.) Marine epoxy with hardener (1 gallon kit is plenty) and about 40 feet of 4" fiberglass tape.
3.) A couple 3/8" x 1.5" pieces of trim board for the rails
4.) A piece of pine for the bench and reinforcements
5.) A set of cheap oarlocks (optional.)
You can find everything by searching Google and the wood at a local home supply store or lumber yard.
The boat construction method we will be using is called "stitch and glue." Note: Hannu has a modified stitch and glue method that saves time, and in my experience, builds a better boat faster.
Moneysaving Tip: Everyone who even knows someone who has built a boat will talk about West Marine for all of your supply needs. And they certainly do have it all, but I found I could find deals averaging 40% less by shopping around. There are plenty of real bargains out there. If you can find the online store of a shop in a popular boat building area like coastal Maine, Cape Cod MA, Nags Head NC, Santa Barbara CA, or just about anywhere in Florida - you can usually get better deals on supplies and expert advice from anyone working in the shop. Raka, Inc down in Ft. Pierce Florida is a good example (http://www.Raka.com) but certainly not the only one.
As for tools, all I use are an 18V battery operated handheld power drill, 18V battery operated circular saw with a plywood blade, 24" metal straight edge and square combination and a whole lot of "C" clamps.
If you start with an easy boat like the one I did, you can build beautiful wooden boats like a pro without ever doing anything more complex than a straight cut with a circular saw. That's how I got started and now I build custom wooden saltwater fishing boats you might see in fishing tournaments.
You can do this. Best of luck!
About the Author
Michael Small is a wooden boat builder specializing in custom crafted saltwater fishing boats
in use from Cape Cod, Massachusetts to the Chesapeake Bay, 500 miles south, in Virginia. He can be contacted anytime through his website at http://www.saltwater-fishing-boats.com
and is always happy to answer questions.
