PG25

[Longislandfish]

Hello, new to the forum. Purchased the pg25 plans and have gone over them. Have some fiberglass experience and fabrication skills, however never worked with epoxy. Have been intrigued with pangas for a little while and have researched many different companies building all glass hulls, mainly overseas Eduardono and imemsa are the two big companies. I sea trialed a 28 panga and it was a beast with a decent beam and ate by chop I could find.

Long story short I’m in love with the design, and although I don’t believe this to be a true panga design with a delta pad as was designed by Yamaha over 70 years ago it looks to have a sharp entry with some nice freeboard, the shear is also nice and the cap sets it apart from any rolled gunnel hull that falls in the panga category.

Now the challenge, living on Long Island I’m subject to weather and glassing in the winter well is basically impossible with the heated garage. This will not fit in my garage but I do have an acre of property and am toying with the idea of setting up the strong back and building a bow shed around it with shrink wrap on inside and out to mitigate moisture. Thinking some small heat source may allow for building through the winter.

The biggest challenge I see is maneuvering this large hull on the jig on the grass. My thought was pneumatic caster wheels. However having to level the jig I was going to use blocking and mount the wheels and when ready to move it and roll I could fasten it to some lever arm and tow it with my truck.

Another consideration is initial pricing and cost of Materials. I was thinking to buy 50 percent of the Epoxy and the meanti for the hull bottom and sides with frames A, B, and transom. As far as I can tell the frames can be osb of throw away cheap ply and they will be cut up and used for frames and gunnel supports.

My experience using ACX ply and poly is, well it was a challenge to get a good chemical bond to the wood so mechanical bond by roughing the surface up was a necessity however after building a wheelhouse for my center console I quickly learned that lesser quality ply Dosent kerf or conform or is truly fair without twists and turns. Either way I learned a lot and am ready to build my first boat.

I think 2 years would be a good estimate. I have many questions but figured I’d get the ball rolling with jumping in with both feet

[Fuzz]

Welcome to the fun! You will find lots of friendly help on this site. We might not always agree on some things but we try very hard to keep things civil.
Having a way to keep your build out of the weather is a huge thing. It does not have to be much but it does need to be dry.
The price of good plywood might seem high at first but in the end it is the one place where going cheap will end up costing a lot more. With good plywood you will use less epoxy and fairing will be easier. Those alone with save far more than any savings from lesser quality wood. I would not use OSB for anything but there is nothing wrong with using CDX for throw away parts.
If you are going to be working in cool temps you might want to have some fast hardner included with your other resin. Give Reid at BBC a call and talk it over with him.
I am sure you will have lots of more questions so do not be afraid to ask. The only bad question is the one not asked.

[Longislandfish]

Thanks for the welcome. Well it looks like the spot I had chosen for the shed would be way undersized. What about a heavy duty tarp to cover the jig and boat while not able to glass? It would be ideal to have the temporary shelter but I don’t think I have the capacity for a 30ft by 20ft shed which happens to be a lot larger than you would think. I took the tape out and was kind of shocked to see what 25ft of hull looks like on the ground. I guess it’s another perspective building from scratch. I guess that why most build smaller versions of things since they fit in a garage bay

[Fuzz]

Not having a place to work out of the weather makes things more challenging but it can be done. You will want to keep all bare wood dry and the epoxy above freezing. Only been in your area once so I have no idea of how long of a building season you have for outside work. For me a warm place to work is a must. I do all building in the winter. Summer I am way too busy having fun to do boat work.

[OneWayTraffic]

I built my C17 in a gardener's tunnel house that I bought for $400 NZD. You could build your own, or an extension to the garage. Pulling over a tarp won't work well, you will eventually get rain on fresh epoxy, and you can't pull a tarp over on wet epoxy either.

[jbo_c]

I am working in a pole barn and it is a challenge even there. The roof is high, so rain still gets on the unfinished boat. Tarps help, but they blow and collect water. I was surprised that UV damage was still an issue even though the sun only hits the boat at very low angles, so I’ve had to figure out ways to deal with that.

It’s very much a challenge, but I am still moving along, so it’s imminently doable. I’m in Georgia, so have a much longer working window seasonally. Heck, some years here you could start outside in March and work through until New Year’s Eve.

It was my only realistic option and I’m glad I’ve done it, but I would love to have had an “inside” option.

Jbo

[Longislandfish]

I hear you on all that man. Today I finally just said the hell with it and broke out my STHL and took down a few square feet of brush and dead woods. I took my tape and measured out a 12x28 12x30ish area about. I have a good amount of debris and leaves to clean as it’s middle of fall and I handle my property as well. Once I get the area all ready I’ll have to level a floating foundation of PT 2x6 for the joist of the bow frame. I ordered Stimson bow shed frame as they are easy to build and can custom size any frame you want. The appeal is it’s just 1x3 furring strips bent on a jig with blocking in between to create trusses. And the whole thing is joined at the ridge and covered with greenhouse film. It helps keep the temps warm inside over the cool winter. I’m going to build a joist for a floor and cover it with osb. Also sheath the inside for moisture barrier. It’s a simple structure. I looked at the shelter logic but at 1000 dollars it not worth the cost. I like the idea
Of getting natural warmth from the sun and having an internal temp around 60. Many builders up in Maine use these frames to build sailboats and such and even use furnaces with oil and ducting to heat the inside. It will only be 350 square ft and I guess 3ft on each side of the panga 25 jig I hope it’s enough, that’s all I can fit. It’s in an area of my property that my wife won’t complain about and I can leave it up for 2 years and not have to hear her complain about it, and the bonus she wants the frame for her greenhouse on the other side of my property where she has a huge garden.


While this is not officially the start of my build, it’s the prequel to the build in that I need to build the damn structure to build the damn boat. Idk what compels people like us to go through such great lengths when I can just buy the boat I want and be done. On that note I still have my fully rigged out Parker 1801 that I love dearly and didn’t want to sell to fund another boat so this allows me to work at my own pace and spend the money I need over time and I know in my head it’s gonna cost a whole lot more than what I’m factoring in now.

If I can finish a panga 25 with a excellent finish using top quality 2 part paint like Alex seal and rig it with either a zuke 140 flyby wire or merc 150 pro xs I’ll be happy if I spent 40k with a trailer. I know the transom is rated for upto 150hp but recommended 125hp. The zuke is a 115 block that is tuned to make more hp only weighing 400lbs.

I’d like to use 1708 on the outside to make it extra heavy duty as well. Never worked with epoxy before only poly and lots of it I hope the principles apply.

I have many questions but first I need to square away the bow frame shed. Then I’ll get my strong back setup. I’m curious about a few tid bits in the plans, I see there is not a plan for the strong back only guidelines about it matching the length and beam of the vessel. And measuring everything from the origin which appears to be cut water line. Is it possible to push the fully sheathed and glassed hull around on the strong back if it had pneumatic caster wheels on it? That’s one challenge I’m trying to tackle on how to do. If I build a tent around the boat I’ll need to drag it out and roll it onto a cradle and put it back inside to finish it.

Sorry for the rant, my minds all over the place bc I’m
Excited to build

[Longislandfish]

Started the framing on the bow shed foundation.

Used PT 2x6 for the sill. The area pitched and hard to work on, I had to level it all off from the high spot. Would have taken me 1 year to remove all the soil at the top and move it around to bring the 14x30 area level. Instead I bought some cinder blocks and cheap footings and got my level line. Leveled the conder blocks fore and aft as well as side to side. Make strapping supports every 2 ft with 2x4 PT lumber and used leftover pavers as footings. The trusses will sit on the sill and be joined at the ridge with a beam. Only issue I have is I’m going to have an unlevel surface for my strong back jig. Contemplating framing in floor joist to have level floor but getting the boat out to flip might be tough and need a really long ramp.

Or rent a skid steer and grade it down as best as I can. As long as the strong back is level it should be fine right??

Any thoughts?

[Fuzz]

One thing I have learned is do not try to save money on the casters. The bigger they are the easier they will roll for you. I think I up sized three times before I got smart enough to get ones that I should have bought from the start.

Epoxy will not wet out 1708 like poly does. I highly recommend you try a small piece on something before you buy a bunch of it. This is not like building over foam where you need bulk, the plywood gives the strength.

[Longislandfish]

Appreciate the feedback. Going to buy pneumatic ones to roll easier on the grass and soil since I don’t have the budget to pour a 10k slab. I’m most likely going to level the string back and use blocks under to keep it from settling. For the most part the shed will be plenty big and would be nice to have a leveled floor to work on, but thinking about the floor joist and plywood again it’s probably not too smart since these boats can get heavy and it would be nice to have the space for other things as well. Just back a trailer in and work on a hull etc. most likely will the the frame done and erect the bow trusses. And if it bothers me too much I’ll rent a skid steer level it best I can and dump rca in the area. Can’t build it anywhere else so I am stuck making this work. The hard part is almost done. Just need to finish bracing the rim and make the trusses.

Hopefully I have my material for the 25 before the new year and can start building it for the winter. Fingers crossed