2 January 2008
Having grown up on the water, and watching hyrdoplane races from our front yard, it has always been my desire to build one. Research brought me to the Glen L web-site where I found the Tunnel Mite. Being a first time builder, I thought this might be a good choice to start with. Having received the frame kit and plans, (and being retired) I jumped right in... well, after reading the contruction manual 50 times. Using marine plywood and mahogany, bronze fasteners (from Glen-L), I got started. I built a jig for the frames and attached it to a table that I put casters on, so I could move it around and at times roll it outside when sanding was required. This worked fine. The plans were pretty straight forward and easy to understand. I decided to use the Glen L Poxy-Grip for all the joints and this is some strong stuff. I forgot to mention I used all 5 x 10 sheets of plywood to avoid butt joints. A little extra money, but I figured it was worth the price for having not to go thru the labor of butts joints. Things I have learned:
Never lay a belt sander down while it is still running. The bronze fasteners are very soft, don't try to dive them in with one burst of your drill. Three short bursts work better. Pre-drill and contersink ALL fasterners (save you a lot of effort later on). Spacing of your fasteners is important, take a little more time and attention to that. Use a hack-saw blade in your jig-saw when cutting it makes for a better cut and easier to control. Take care in the amount of Poxy-Grip that you mix up... too much and you waste it. I'm having a ball, can't wait to see if it floats.
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Tunnel Mite by Thomas Schnull, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada September 23, 2008 I think we might have purchased the last Glen-L Tunnel Mite framekit. My dad built the boat for my son over the course of the winter, starting in his basement and then shifting construction first to the garage as the weather warmed and finally to our cottage boathouse for installation of motor and steering. This was boat number four for my dad, who also built 20' and 26' sailboats over the years, but our first Glen-L design.
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Tunnel Mite by Randy Graunstadt, Walled Lake, Michigan February 8, 2009 Thanks for the plans! This is my version of the Tunnel Mite,though I cannot take credit for the beautiful paint job. That goes to my friend Barry Cox. I always wanted to build a boat, but never really thought I would do it. It was a fun project, mostly done on the weekends. I did modify a few things. I doubled the plywood for the transom, added a cowl for the speedometer, used pour-in floatation inside, and made a wood bracket to hold tube for the steering cable. I put a 25-hp Mercury on the back, though the carb was all gunked from sitting. We had it to 30 mph, and with a good cleaning I'm sure we'll get a little more. My son Trey can't wait till this summer, since the boat wasn't finished untill the end of 2008 season.
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