comparison of bateau 2 and Devlin boats

K

Kevin Weir

Well-known member
I'm still deebating about what if any boat I want to build this spring or summer. Have been looking at the BBII & III, Scaup vs. the Bateau 2 15 foot duck boat. All seem similar with some differences. Just wondering what may be differences in strenght of material and construction. The Bateau boat seems much less expensive to build and could this be due to less structure or design differences? December on the river would be a poor time to learn about inadequacies.
Anyone noticed any difference?
 
Kevin, In my opinion just pick the design that best suits your needs. The quality of construction will come from you. Pick the materials that you want to use as opposed to following the plans exactly. You can build a Devlin boat without using the wire stitch teqnique if you wish. You simply make a jig that will hold the ribs upright and screw the thing together. Refer to some books on small wooden boat building. Best of luck with the project.
 
One difference between the 2 boats is the number of people who have built them. Has anyone built the DS15 yet? I think someone has posted up on bateau2.com about building that boat if I'm not mistaken. I like Mertens designs myself and tenatively plan to build the Panga 22, but if I do I may be the first, which is a bit of a concern. Even the best computer design must have a couple of bugs in it, which won't be discovered until the boat is actually built. I would guess that the DS15 would be lighter, thinner plywood, more glass. Probably an improvement over Devlin. It would be a comfort to hear from someone who's built one before investing lots of dough and months of spare time into the project, however.

All this worry being written by a guy who designed and built a boat from scratch, an unique one of a kind,

Ed.
 
Ed, That is kind of what had me concerned. Lots of people having built devlin boats, just not hearing much about the Bateau boats. Not that they are bad at all. It just may be Devlin got in on the market first or lucked into better bragging buy us hunters. Maybe someone will speak out on the other brand.
 
Kevin,
I have not built a Devlin or a Bateau plan but I have bought both. I like Jacques plans quite a lot but I do not see how the new duck boat is anything but a knock off of Sam's work. I like the jig assembly method for its ability to keep a hull straight and true without the twist or curve in the aft running sections that can happen in stitch and glue. That said many people here have built good running boats with wire or zip ties. One of the features of a few of the Bateau plans that I like is the built in reverse chine spray rail. I think this adds a lot to the hulls lift and the dry sea keeping ability of a hull. Don't know if its included in the DS15 or not but I would not build a v hull boat without it. Sam talks about it in his book but does not include it in the Scaup or BBII or III. Banks goes as far as running a lip the whole way down the chine to keep the spray down and add lift.
Good luck
 
Bob, Kevin,
Thanks for the input. Hopefully this springs house rehab and other to-do's won't take too much time. Had thought about the 17 foot garvey that bateau offers, but the 200+ hours they say it takes to complete, well, there is other stuff to do that may take less time. Like go out and chase Bigfoot or something.
 
Unless you have built boats before or are extraordinarily gifted, the estimated investment in hours made by the boat designers is always wrong.

You can pretty much double that estimate - planning, purchasing, building, sanding, sanding, sanding, sanding, sanding, painting, adjusting the trailer, sanding, touch up painting, buying donuts, launching.
 
I have built several of the Bateau boats. I still have them all except for the PK 78 and the cheap canoes. I gave my son the canoes and sold the PK 78 to a friend that lives and sails on a large sailboat. The ones I still have are the D 15, and GF 18. The D 15 was built in two days with help from a couple in my neighborhood that were expert at it. Much of that time was waiting for the epoxy to set up. The D 15 had a 15 HP Johnson two stroke for the first 5 years and then I bought an eight HP Tohatsu for it. It does very well with only 8 HP. The GF 18 has a 25 HP engine and does well with that little bit of power

The Barnegat Bay style boat has been around for a long time. Meerten's version takes adventage of composite construction to create this style boat in a very efficient way to build. I have learned to use epoxy to build/repair a lot of other things that I couldn't have done otherwise.

Frankk

P.S. I have built many plank on frame and plywood boats completing my first around 1946. I am from a commercial fishing family and it was our way to build our own skiffs and trap boats.
 
Frank,
From looking at the two boats, D15 and the duck boat 15, hey appear similar in amount of construction needed. That gives more hope to building one in a few days, little experience here, than taking a couple of weeks or more. Would like to build the GF 18 but that'll have to wait a few years until that big shop develops and less time needed with an employer.
 
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