Design
1932 Twelve Dollar Boat
Designed by Vintage Projects
The original article called this the Anyone's Boat and meant it literally: beg about 12 dollars, borrow a hammer, chisel, plane, saw and drift, find around 16 hours and you have a boat. The page dates it to 1932, which explains the price. It can be rowed, but it was meant mainly for outboards anywhere from 1.5 to 22 hp.
The trick is that there is no framework at all. A single mold stick between stem and stern spreads the sides, which bend fair around it naturally, and the whole thing is nailed together with about four pounds of galvanized eight-penny nails. It is a crude, period way to build, and a modern builder would likely swap in better materials and glue, but the free plans show how little a usable boat really requires.
What building a 1932 Twelve Dollar Boat actually takes
Medians from the build logs kept on this site, not the designer’s estimate. Nobody has logged this boat here yet, so they are empty until the first builder does.
Those medians firm up as more people log this boat.
Builds of this boat
Nobody has logged a 1932 Twelve Dollar Boat here yet.
If you are building one, yours becomes the reference: the page the next person building this boat finds when they search for it. One photo and one line is a valid first entry.
Start the first log of this boatBoats like this one
Same type, closest in length.
| Design | Plans from | LOA | Logs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northeaster Dory | Chesapeake Light Craft | 17′ 0″ (5.18 m) | 3 |
| 15' Rangeley Lake Boat | Newfound Woodworks | 15′ 0″ (4.57 m) | 1 |
| Passagemaker Take-Apart | Chesapeake Light Craft | 11′ 7″ (3.53 m) | 1 |
| Polliwog 8 | Devlin | 7′ 6″ (2.29 m) | 1 |
| The Guider | Chesapeake Light Craft | 18′ 7″ (5.66 m) | 1 |
| Ultralight Dinghy | Chesapeake Light Craft | 6′ 0″ (1.83 m) | 1 |