Simple and sturdy where the priorities set for this design. The hull is based on our flat bottom garveys like GF16 but our smaller garveys were narrow. We kept their bottoms narrow enough to fit on the width of standard sheet of plywood. The beam to length ratio of GF18 is much higher and this produces a very stable boat.

The GF18 can be kept very simple or customized with sole and center console. The plans show all these options with dimensions for all parts.
The basic version has no sole (floor) on the stringers, plain benches and a casting deck. The frames can be made either from plywood or from 1x3 boards. That no frills version should be powered by an outboard with tiller steering of max. 25 HP. She is light, cost little and will plane with 4 persons onboard.
With the sole, the cockpit is self bailing up to a displacement of 1,500 lbs.! The space under the sole can be filled with foam to make the boat unsinkable. The sole and foam also adds strength and stiffness to the hull. Thanks to the remote steering on the console, the max. HP rating per USCG calculations is 75 HP but we recommend 40 HP.
This boats transom is designed for a standard 20" shaft. The transom can easily be modified to accept other shaft lengths.

Comparisons:
The GF18 is a flat bottom garvey. While this is easier to build, provides great stability and requires less HP for the same speed, it will not go through a chop as well as a vee hull. We minimized the pounding by keeping the strong bow curvature of the classic garveys.

Our boats, while stronger, are lighter than production hulls of the same size. Compare for example with the 17' Carolina Skiff.

Building method:
The boat is built in stitch and glue fashion but most of the hull, the bottom especially, is a true composite sandwich. The plywood bottom is sandwiched between layers of directional glass and it is the fiberglass that supplies most of the strength, not the plywood.
As in our other boats, the frames and seat tops are part of the structure.
The basic hull will go together fast and cost very little for a boat of that size.
See this tutorial

Required Skills:
As all our stitch and glue boats, the GF18 is easier to build than other plywood or fiberglass boats.
We worked hard to keep the building as simple as possible: most of the plywood cuts are straight lines, the nice curves are created by well planned bending around the frames.
All the plywood parts have been precisely calculated: you cut them flat on the floor, no need for templates, no need to take measurements from the hull framing as in the plywood on frame method.

This boat can be built fast by a first time builder. He should read our tutorials first but there is nothing difficult in the building method. No beveling, no tricky adjustments, no lofting at all, no calculations of any kind: we show dimensions for all the parts on the plans.

Options:
The builder can build the GF18 as a basic boat the first year, add the sole and a console later or outfit her right away with those options.

Bill Of Materials:
(Excerpts from our BOM)
The BOM list materials based on our standard layout and includes a 15% waste factor for fiberglass. For plywood, we use standard sheets 4' x 8' (122 x 244 cm). Please read the building notes and see the plans for detailed specifications. Good quality exterior plywood is acceptable if it has no voids. Okume or Meranti marine plywood is ideal and cost starts at less than $ 40.00 a sheet (1/4").

Cost:
See our Bill of Materials.

Labor:
The hull can be build in 25 hours but a finished boat will require 60 hours or more depending on the level of detail and the skills of the builder.

More:
Visit our message board, help pages, tutorial pages and read our FAQ: most questions are answered there.

Plans Packing List:

8 detailed drawings with all dimensions required to cut the side panels, bottom panels, bulkheads, seats and all parts from flat plywood sheets: no lofting, no templates required.

Nesting drawings for the best plywood layout, all parts nested.