The Dyno Jet was a lot of fun to build all though it took more money and more time than I would have ever imagined. With that said - If you want to build a boat, Glen-L is absolutely the best place to get the plans. For the couple of times I was stuck and couldn't figure out what the instructions wanted me to do, the Glen-L forum was just a click away - Thank you Glen-L
I have received tons of emails asking what I would do different. I have a very short list:
1. Planking - I used a teak/holly plywood, what I thought would be easy turned out to be more work than if I had used traditional planking methods!
2. Originally, I figured the Dyno Jet was a great size to get me started and familiar with the basic concepts of working with boat building materials. I figured I would finish the boat in 6 months, sell it and take the money to build the boat I really wanted. Well the Dyno-Jet took three years to build - granted we moved and I had to store it for 6 months while we sold our house and moved into a new one. I would suggest to anyone contemplating building a boat, to build what you really want from start - I was concerned with cost, but for the most part, after the initial investment, I spent as I went along.
3. Weight distribution - I went ahead and permanently mounted things like the battery and gas tank before I tested it with the final components. Due to the size and nature of this boat, things like fuel weight and passengers can effect how the boat handles in the water.
4. Tachometer - a total pain as the donor jetski didn't have one. I spent hours trying to resolve this, including building custom circuits to extend the pulse duration time..... I don't really care what the rpms of the engine are anyway.... maybe that is just a bit of sour grapes.
That's it, my final update. If there are any questions/comments, please feel free to email me at [email protected]