If you are thinking about building your own small boat or repairing or restoring an existing one and are wondering where to start to look for materials and equipment this section may be of interest to you.
Quality and prices can vary greatly and are not always relative to one another. You can ensure you make the best choice on plywood, epoxy, fastenings, deck hardware, paint, rigging, outboard motor and even sails if you are prepared to put in some serious time and effort researching everything.
Here is our list of suppliers and providers we have ended up choosing after much investigating, research and hunting around. The idea is you should be able to use this information to source almost everything you will need to build your boat from the very beginning right through to fully equipping her for safe sailing and motoring on the water.
I have never seen a finish like what was achieved by using Altex paints on our commemorative 50th anniversary trailer sailer. Even more impressive because this brand is by no means the most expensive around. But don't take my word for it, check out the last image on the Painting the Hull section for yourself.
If you want your pride and joy to be protected and glisten like never before then take a good look at what this brand of coatings and paints offers.
Owned and operated by master boat builder Dick Ward, Cairns Boatbuilders is more at home producing custom luxury game boats, the likes of which I suspect would even have the Riviera people drooling over.
Although Dick is not technically an equipment or materials supplier/provider its important to make mention that the commemorative 50th anniversary Hartley TS21 trailer sailer is being professionally built by Cairns Boatbuilders.
We are indeed fortunate to have Dick at the helm of the construction of this special little trailer sailer.
After researching epoxy brand products in detail I want to tell you that epoxy is not all created equal.
In our case it is critically important we select the epoxy product brand that will positively deliver us the very best possible gluing, coating, protection and fibreglassing results. We are not compromising on this because there are simply no second chances.
For those professionals reading this it is perhaps no surprise to learn we've chosen to build with the WEST SYSTEM® brand of epoxy.
West System brand enjoys a second to none world wide reputation for quality and despite them being the epoxy products brand of choice amongst some of the biggest boat construction, restoration and repair companies here in Australia and around the world, their range is also brilliantly suited for the home small boat builder.
Note: West System epoxy is manufactured in Australia by ATL Composites, a company at the forefront of composite product development and manufacturing. You will be amazed at some of the things this company gets up to ...
Website: http://www.atlcomposites.com
WEST SYSTEM® is a registered trademark of WEST SYSTEM, Inc.
The Austral Plywoods Marine Ply product is considered by many within the industry as the 'Rolls Royce' of marine ply. Manufactured right here in Australia.
Obviously a little more expensive than the imported stuff but not by as much as you may think.
We will be going into a fair bit of detail about why building with the right quality marine ply is so important. We have touched on this already, on our Material List & Planning page.
Cairns Hardware for the Silicon Bronze boat nails, brushes, rollers, sand paper and odd bits and pieces.
Cairns Hardware have been servicing the Far North Queensland building industry for decades. They always seem (to me anyway) to have the right products at a little less than mainstream prices.
They also contribute to service organisations to help and assist the community. They are a great North Queensland local company. I've been buying from them for over three decades!
TS21 Build Project Suppliers & Providers
