No Title
I got a little behind on the build when I came home to a flooded house thanks to a busted water line. Still finishing that up but in spare time I have worked on the boat.
1. Foam is installed (approximately 1000 lbs of buoyancy foam support), deck is in place and bow platform also installed.
2. I installed two stern eyes on the rear and one up front for strapping down during transport and storage.
3. The main compartment of the bow is approximately 48"x36" and will have an marine access door installed that is 14"x14" to allow plenty of storage space for life jacket, anchor, tackle bag etc.
4. I built a 13"x24" storage/driving seat in front of the transom. The top will be padded and covered with vinyl and connected with a stainless piano hinge. Inside the box will be a place for my cooler bag for water and beer in one compartment and my 2 gallon bait bucket on the other. I placed the box 12 inches in front of the transom for easy access to the engine and also allow me to have a nice "hidden" area to place the 3 gallon gas can for those longer trips. There is nothing worse than fumbling over a gas can.
5. Using 1" PVC pipe, I cut the angles needed to give me 45 degree (rear facing) rod holders. These were mounted with resin (very solid final bond). These rod holders will allow me to keep the rods off of the floor while running across the water and also allow me to do some trolling with live or artificial bait.
6. If you look close, you will see a rectangular hole in the deck towards the bow. This is the recessed battery box location. I wanted the battery to stay as low as possible and in the front of the boat to help with balancing the load (assist in planing).
The skiff is sanded and ready to be sealed up all over with cloth and resin. I will begin glassing the hull first (hopefully sunday morning) and then flip over and glass the deck and bow. Once glass work is done, I'm going to let it cure for about 3 days in the sun and then load it up and water test this thing. My neighbor has a 5 hp Mercury I will test with. I have made the final decision to install a 2017 Suzuki 6hp 4 stroke outboard motor on this boat when completed. It will also be fitted with my Minn Kota 55lb thrust trolling motor on the left rear of the boat.
Once the initial test is complete, I will begin primering, wetsanding, painting, wetsanding, painting etc.
The color scheme is going to be a Rustoleum Oil based enamel color scheme: flat white hull coming up about even with the water line, sides will be gloss sail blue, top of bow and seat box will be lime green. The deck will be painted flat white and topped off with lime green stripes or some other design (margaritas and miller 64 have alot of input) mixed with non slip additive. The colors will all be seperated with 3/8" bright orange pinstriping. I want this boat to stand out on any water I put it in.
This is the first boat I have build from scratch. Every day has given me a new set of challenges but all were manageable. Without a doubt, this build has been one of the funnest projects I have done to date. Also, I have already named the boat, but like before, I can't reveal the name until the boat is complete.
I have spent hours upon hours, designing and laying out the floorplan the way I wanted it to be. I wanted enough storage space for all of my fishing gear but also give me plenty of room to move around the boat without tripping over stuff.
STAY TUNED!!!!!
opcorn:
