Greg Marchand

My first boat. I got interested when a friend of mine, Steve Allen, built a minimax last year. I just took my Minimost out and it runs great. The most fun on the water. I have the same 1963 Mercury engine and the boat is painted exactly like the one shown in the 1962 Science and Mechanics Magazine. Sure gathers attention. It took me about 3 months to build

The plans are okay but I did make a few changes as I went along. I added two fins under the boat about in the locatiion I sit, I weigh about 180 and it would push through the turns - as mentioned I have a 1963 Merc 110 (9.8hp) the same one on the origional boat and it is just fine. I would not go below a 10 hp engine, I think the 7 ish hp would work but you are going to want to get out and move and trust me the 10hp will do just fine- hold on!

I used marine epoxy and screws everywhere- no glue and nails. I also painted it with epoxy marine paint- several coats just like the origional colors. I added one board up under the dash to keep the steering board steady. I did this during assembly so when you lean on the steering wheel you do not bend it down- the plans are a little weak in this area. I learned to cut to fit and paint to match- it all worked out good at the end. Epoxy fills a lot of small things. That was my first boat. I will be working on a remote throttle in the spring. I will help where I can, it is a lot of fun.

Pictures - opens a new window

Greg estimates his costs to be:

$40 on epoxy
$15 on screws
$75 Wood
$39 three qts of epoxy marine paint
$25 steering with cable
$20 misc hardware
Steering bar was free - made at work
Fins were free - made at work
Motor and tank were purchased separate $225
Trailer - free just $20 for modifications I made

These are USA dollars so double them for us in Canada :-)