Boat Builder Central - Builder Forums

Well Here We Go!!

My name is John, and I wanted to introduce my self to the forum. First I want to thank the guys at Boat builder Central Reid, Jeff, and Jamie have been a fantastic group of people to deal with from emailing me info on how to build hatches to walking me through the shop and spending time walking me through the steps of a build. Really don't think they would let you fail at a build. I'm a first time boat builder, I picked up my CNC kit for the new LM 18 today. I haven't seen any info with anyone building an LM 18 so I hope I'm not going to be the genie pig, so if there are any others building the LM 18 please chime in I will take any advise give. Here are some pictures of the beginning . I will post pictures of my progress. Wish me luck.

Welcome aboard!! I have built a couple FS18, LM18 little brother, and I am getting ready to do the LM18. Its a blast, you will become addicted. This forum has a great bunch of guys willing to help. Several of will be going to Jensen Beach for a boat builders meet in October and you will see a lot of the boats there. I live in Jacksonville and frequent Mosquito Lagoon, Sebastian a lot. If you have any questions or anything please post. If you need a hand with anything I am only a 1.5 hour away and will be glad to come down and help out. Travis

John, OK, now that I see the horse trailer, I fully understand why you drive such a huge truck!! Thank you for the kind words, very much appreciated!! You are the first to build the Laguna Madre 18 (LM18) from a CNC kit. There are a couple others building the LM18, or so we are told, but no photo's as of yet!! We will follow you closely and both the Forum Members and our team will help you with anything you need!! Looks like you are off to a great start!! Jeff

Hey John - good luck with the build, keep the photos coming and let everyone know how it's going. I'm strongly considering a LM18 build so I'm looking forward to seeing yours come together.

Mike

Thanks guys.

Travis, I'm hoping not to have to take you up on that offer but keep it open I may need it.

Mike, I don't know if this is going to be a good thing to follow or not, but I can promise I'm going to take my time and try hard to build this thing right and as nice is my capabilities will let me.

On another note. I sent a picture to my buddy this morning of the plywood laying on the strong back, and said the boat arrived today, and he replies with are you building a raft.... https://forums.bateau2.com/posting.php? ... =2&t=62619#

Good luck with your build, I'll be following along with interest!

One thing I question is whether you'll be comfortable building at that height. Once you get a boat hull sitting atop that frame, you may find it more ergonomic to have things sitting a bit lower, don't know how tall you are, though. That's a very sturdy looking frame, and the wheels are going to come in handy.

good to see someone started on this one... I have the plans but am still working on another boat for my father.
will be following for sure

Colemanfire - I know you didn't hope for the guinnea pig role, but you will be for me. I hope to purchase plans and start building next year. Being a first time builder I was waiting on someone else to start so I would have a general idea of everything and follow along the way. Best of luck! I had some friends that lived in Melbourne for 3 years while attending FIT for Grad school. Pretty area and I enjoyed visiting.

I'll bet this build thread is going to get a lot of traffic. There are a lot of people interested in the LM 18 including myself. Please post lots of pics.

Welcome to the forum, and the madness that is boat building. You'll know if you're a serious addict or not on the first day of the build. You've gotten off to a good start with your strong back, but unless you're very tall, say 6' 5" you should consider lowering it a little. I'm 5'10" and I've found 23" off the floor to be comfortable for me. I've built the FS18, FS14 LS, and the SK14, and I really, really, want to build the LM18, but cannot do it at this time, but look forward to following your build and helping out if I can. Remember, there are no dumb questions, so ask away, and you'll have plenty of opinions and advice as you proceed. I've now fished from my FS18 for a year and a half, probably 100 trips, and can honestly say that these plywood and epoxy boats are just better than most if not all the fiberglass boats on the market. I think the LM18 with the added 10" of beam will be better than any boat of a similar size, both in weight, ride, and ease of poling. You should try to make it to Jensen for the builders meeting Oct 13th. Now get to work! Mike