Colby has been building a modified 6510WA and its trailer kit, this is his journey into boat building.

It all started when he was 17, dreaming of a boat he could truly call his own. At the time, buying a prebuilt boat or even a decent second-hand one was out of reach. His first attempt was a 16-foot fibreglass boat rebuild, but it didn’t last long, and the dream was put on hold. In the meantime, he bought a 4.5m tinny, but it quickly proved too small for his ambitions. That’s when the idea hit: why not build an aluminium boat from scratch?

With limited aluminium welding experience, Colby decided to give it a go. After receiving a quote from CNC Marine, he sold his tinny, ordered the kit, and hasn’t looked back.

The kit started as a 6510WA but was quickly modified to include a large roof perfect for shade while fishing and protection during overnight trips. The kit arrived in March 2025, and since then, Colby has dedicated nearly every spare moment to building it. After long 10-hour days as a sparky, evenings and weekends were spent welding, grinding, and assembling. He’s now making the cutting board, welding the transom, grinding and sanding, pre-fitting handrails, prepping for paint, and aiming to fit a Yamaha 300 early 2026.

Challenges included wrapping side sheets, managing shed space, and holding parts while tacking but most of the work has been done solo. The milestones, however, have been unforgettable: watching flat aluminium sheets transform into a boat, the first time it rolled out of the shed on its trailer, and now sitting in the nearly finished build, imagining all the adventures to come on the water. To follow along on Colby’s build journey check out his instagram.