Meet Kurt (@vineyard_family_life) — a DIY builder who has wanted to build his own plate boat since he was 14. Now based on his family’s vineyard, St Johns Wines, he’s finally bringing that dream to life — while raising a family of seven and juggling the day-to-day at the winery.

Kurt had no aluminium welding experience before starting. But with a brand-new Uni-Mig Envy Multi 230 (now over 4,000m of MIG wire deep) and a simple kit of grinders, clamps, hammers and a borrowed drop saw, he’s taught himself every step. He’s also had two priceless mentoring weekends from his mate Des at MSC Fabrications — who told him:

“I’m not here to weld for you — that’s your job. I’m just here to guide.”

To make the boat work better for how his family of seven spends time on the water, Kurt has redesigned a number of key areas:

Extended side sheets to push the rear wall back
Custom rear wall + battery box for smarter layout
Double pockets + longer side pockets for family gear Shortened casting deck for more standing and fishing space Enclosed centre console + forward bench seat
Wider, longer roof for shade and weather protection  Still technically a 5510CC — the bottom hull sheets remain untouched… for now.

Modifications completed by CNC Marine to the boat before the build started, so that everything can be checked and signed off on from both customer and engineer.

His next stage is welding the console and hard top — then it’s the big milestone: Suzuki 150 bolted on Full Simrad gear,  NSS4 screens, autopilot, heave compensation, and a 1kW Airmar CM265 in a custom keel fairing block.

It’s getting very close to the end of the hot works, and we’re stoked to see this one hit the water.

We caught up with Kurt at the Perth Boat Show this year and have loved following every update — including vineyard sheep stopping by to inspect the aluminium craftsmanship.