: Thank you Tom, thank you very much.
: What do you think about building one of your multichine, using wood
: for the gunwales (for the keel too as I suppose it also must be
: stiff) and pvc tubes for the 6 stringers?
: The pvc tubes would be not stiff as aluminum or wood, but should be
: stiffer that a flexy inflatable. Plus, pvc tubes can be very
: easily sleeve jointed and are far cheaper than aluminum. I could
: even snap them this way
: http://victoriapatagonica.freeservers.com/91.jpg
: So the assembly process wouldn't be totally a beast: hinges and
: pins will be needed to joint the wooden gunwales, keel, bow and
: stern. The rest of the boat would be easier to assemble.

: What do you think about?

I consider PVC tubing to be junk. In order to gain adequate strength / stiffness PVC must be a very large diameter compared to aluminum.
That creates other problems when connecting everything together due to the diameter. I've seen it done, but the results were much less
than desirable.

If you plan to build with hinges and pins, then use wood, or better yet, just build with aluminum tubing and take it easy on yourself...
at least the first go around.

Building a first folder is about achieving success, and aluminum / HDPE offers you the best chance of doing so. To save some money vs using HDPE,
you can make plywood cross sections with small HDPE "snaps" screwed onto the ply. This works, but is more work and less durable than using
all HDPE. Kitchen cutting boards are often HDPE, so it's readily available in that small size.

The link to Marcel's wood frame folders above, show that it's an inexpensive alternative, and though there's lots of hardware involved, it may be worth
talking to him about his experience. He's always been quite helpful.

My multi-chine designs can be built as folder, but multi-chines are harder to build as folders, and slower to assemble. The standard Sea Tour 15,
would be a better choice, or for that matter, any of the other single-chines in the manual.

Regards, Tom