Mouse

Mouse

 The Mouse started life as a one-sheeter, that is, an exercise to develop the smallest, cheapest possible boat. As a result, it's not a boat to which you can safely trust your life in any sort of waves - as anyone who climbs into a Mouse will quickly realise. Nevertheless, a canoeist would probably consider it pretty solid, and I think it is capable of providing hours of summer fun in a strictly supervised environment. Not bad for a boat this cheap.

This boat can quickly be knocked up in 12-24 hours of work using the kitchen table. The main material is intended to be 1/4in hardwood ply; the main hull takes one sheet, while the decks and first and third frames are intended to come out of an extra half sheet. The framing should probably be inch by half inch or so pine, although just about any cheap lumber will probably do. The stitch and glue should be epoxy and glass tape; other glues may be of cheaper varieties such as polyurethane.