How long does it take to build your own boat?
Building a McKenzie River Drift Boat should take you about sixty to eighty hours. That is hours of labor not hours of leisure time in the shop or time waiting for the paint to dry. You will need to plan for overnight drying time for glue, epoxy, oil, or varnish. So, if you are dedicated, have planned well and can stick to an eight hour a day schedule you could plan a two week vacation and expect to have an heirloom quality custom boat complete before you return to work.
I'd rather spend my vacation fishing. It is more common for builders to work four hours each weekend taking their time and enjoying the process. At that rate the sixty to eighty hours it takes to complete a boat can be accomplished in three to four months.
I recommend that you pre-finish all of the plywood parts before assembly. It is much easier to work on a flat surface without masking or sanding into tight corners; however, there are times that the quick assembly of the boat is important and finish work can come later.
Two instances come to mind. One is when working with young people where it's important to see accomplished results quickly. The visual reward of seeing all this wood become a boat is very motivational and a lot more fun than sanding and painting.
The other instance is during a boat building workshop where a group of people are working hard for a week to get their boat assembled and on a trailer. Then the finish work can be done at home.
