My boat!

Earlier this summer I was cruising Pinterest and found instructions on how to build my very own foldable boat.

That's right, a real boat that FOLDS UP.

I kept looking and DIDN'T find instructions on how to make my own foldable kayak, but we'll save that for another day.

According to the internet all I needed for success was a few simple items.

1. Coroplast
2. Plywood
3. PVC piping
4. Nuts and bolts

Oh, and duct tape. You can make anything with enough duct tape.

Click here for the link for the instructions

The Coroplast (it's just like corrugated cardboard but plastic) was a little tough to get a hold of at first but I prevailed!

The lady at Capitol City Press was a bit surprised when we told her what I wanted the two 4 X 8 ft sheets for. She gave me her card so I could send her a photo of the completed boat. Because it's AWESOME.

Anywho. I convinced Randy to stick two 4 X 4 ft sheets of plastic into his tiny toy rental car and drive it back the Josh and Chrissy's. Sadly I did not get a picture of that circus.

At this point I was still trying to make a kayak.

Well, long story short, we couldn't figure out the dimensions off a screen shot of a diagram on a youtube video. Go figure.

So back to the dingy!

I set up a Saturday long run so that I just ran over to Chrissy and Josh's and packed in the duct tape.

I took a bit to get everything measured and marked off and then stared at it some more just to make SURE I had things right.

Measure twice, cut once.

Which was good, because I had mis measured two of the cut lines. But I fixed it, and walla! I had almost a boat.

It took another trip to Home depot to pick up the PVC, support beams, plywood and hardware.

Then I got resin in the t-nut threads rendering them useless...so I trimmed off the ends and started again. This time I pre-tested the bolts to make sure they fit in the t-nuts.

But when I installed them again, the bolts didn't fit...luckily I had bought some screws that DID fit and I was in business!

I had a boat...but no paddles.

So, I had to wait to launch the beauty until my paddles arrived.

$83.00 and I had an 8 X 2 ft boat that folded into a 2 X 4 ft rectangle:)

Josh told me to be prepared for disappointment. He was pretty sure the duct tape wouldn't hold and it would leak.

Chrissy didn't say anything but later it turned out that she fully expected for the boat to capsize.

But it worked PERFECTLY.

I'll admit I was a little hesitant getting in, because we all know how clumsy I am and there was a good chance that I would just fall in. Getting out was a lot easier.

At first I tried to use one paddle just as regular paddle. It wasn't very efficient. I basically maneuvered in inches and hoped that the waves from the other boats would push me where I wanted to go. I was basically just going in circles like the canoes in a movie.

Once we made the boat paddle into a kayak paddle it was a different ball game. Finally I was getting places!