A while back we did a little paddlewheel boat for kids, "KE-PAU". The boat was built and we found out a very important factor. Most of the "kids" were rather large. No, let's be honest; they were full grown adults, some more than 200 lbs….and they were having FUN, BIG FUN. Thus the idea came up for a similar "Big" kid's paddleboat and PADDLE-WHEELER was born.

This boat is a modified pram type. It has the deck outline of a pram but the bottom forward comes to a point. This feature provides extra room and improves efficiency. The twin paddlewheels make the craft exceptionally maneuverable. Spinning in a circle or stopping on the proverbial dime is easy and quick. The hull moves easily through the water with little effort in turning the paddlewheels. No loud motor noise; just the chunk chunk of the rotating paddles.

The boat is easy to build with Stitch-N-Glue construction. A full size pattern is given for the sides and one in half section for the bottom: no complicated layouts required. Of course many other full patterns are given, even for the paddlewheels. And there isn't any special hardware required for these wheels. A full listing of the parts is given and their sources, even down to the nuts and bolts. However, most parts are readily available in neighborhood locales.

The hull requires only two sheets of standard ¼" x 4' x 8' plywood. And a Plywood Layout illustrates how the parts are laid out on the plywood with virtually no waste.

Comment: We do not mean to infer that this craft is only for adult big kids. This is really for kids of most any size and weight. Even for people who are not kids but would still like to be one!