Newbie with a possible project

Hi everyone, been lurking around a while looking at some of the projects and some of you guys are masters lol. My dad has a 12 ft john boat we are fishing out of now, but I am really wanting something a little bigger to fish out of, really I'm wanting about a 18 ft cc to fish inshore/near shore with and throw a cast net out of. However, its gonna take a year or so before that can happen and so I'm thinking of getting dad's old tri-hull or semi-tri-hull or whatever its called going, but looking at it not sure how I want to go about it. It has been sitting under a shed at my grandmothers house for probably 15 years or so after the motor on it quit.

Last year dad brought it home and started working on it then quit with it because he was going to find another boat, which hasn't happened so far so I'm thinking of getting it going until we get something better. The motor he was putting on it was a suzuki 50 horse that belongs to my uncle, good motor just not big enough for his boat. I'm going to post some pics of the boat (hopefully) and see what everyone's advice is. It is set up as a fish and ski type thing now, I'm thinking of redoing a lot of it to make it a lot more fishable (bait well, rear casting deck, etc) and really not sure if it would be worth the effort. I have decent mechanical skills and have done some fiberglass work but nothing on this scale.

The transom seems pretty solid, the floor not so much. I was thinking of maybe cutting it out then going back with some plywood covered in fiberglass, and redoing around the stern to make a casting deck, inboard gas tank, and bait well. I'm not scared of work but nervous about jumping in with no experience. Any advice is welcome, including to scrap this idea and wait to buy something else, although my kids are on me pretty hard about getting a bigger boat going.

Re: Newbie with a possible project

The best thing you can do is educate yourself and start reading all of the fiberglass restoration project past and present, after a while you'll know exactly what to do with only a minimum of questions and a good amount of confidence.

Don't go by "seems" or "feel" of the transom, drill into it one the inside and check the shavings for a dark color and moisture. If the shaving are light colored and dry the transom is good.

When you lift the decking you'll see your stringers and floatation foam, the foam is more than likely wet and the stringers are probably rotten. Check the stringers by drilling the same as the transom. Core sample your foam by using a piece of PVC pipe with notches cut in one end to make teeth, push and twist the pvc pipe through the foam all the way to the hull to take out a plug... check the plug for moisture, especially near the bottom. Take several samples of foam from different sections of the boat.

The thing about older used fiberglass boats is they're mostly neglected and are suffering rot, and if you scrap this one to buy another there's a good chance you'll still have the same work to do... plus you had to pay money for it!

The best way to get a nice fiberglass boat is to buy or have one you know is rotten and fix it up yourself, this way you get a like new boat for a very small fraction of the cost of a new one.

I personally would go ahead and fix that one up since it's free, then you could see how long the kids stay interested in a boat before forking out big bucks for another one.

Re: Newbie with a possible project

I agree with jigngrub... Patch jobs on fiberglass tubs typically isnt a great idea. If there is rot in one area there is more than likely rot throughout. I also agree with his opinion of finding another fiberglass boat, again typically the older fiberglass rigs have rot and are in need for an overhaul so if you set on fiberglass just stick with the one you have, but that is ur choice. I am a tin owner and have no fiberglass experience but from the reading that i have done on iboats here fiberglass work can be labor intensive and isnt cheap. When ever starting a project make sure you give urself a cushion of funds (realistically around $1000).

If you arent set on fiberglass then sell that rig and find ya a tinny... less itch in the rebuild There are always project boats out there! Whatever you choose just remember not to cut corners on ur rebuild. Doing it right and properly the first time will give the boat many many more years of service! Good luck with your adventure!

Re: Newbie with a possible project

Ok after thinking about it and talking with dad I am going to keep the layout more or less the same but go ahead and tear into it to do the floor and possibly the transom, about to go start working on it a little. It will be a few days until we can get the motor pulled off of it again so just trying to get some kind of start on it.

Re: Newbie with a possible project

There are some restore threads with good ideas for things like casting decks, livewells, center consoles, etc. Do some research and modify it to suit your needs. There are a lot of guys on here that have the knowledge to guide you as to what is safe, whats not, whats possible, what's not, etc. in regards to making modifications. Good Luck!

Re: Newbie with a possible project

Hi and welcome to the dry dock, jhamilton 86...

Everything everyone has said so far is 100% spot on...

This restoration can easily turn into a very long term, labor intensive, cash driven project...

However, if this is the boat you want to dedicate all of the above into, then you can be sure you are in the right place to get all of the information and guidance you will need to see it through to completion.

The best part of it that you will learn a great deal, you will know your boat from bow to stern, and you will gain an indescribable sense of pride in knowing that you did it...

Like has been mentioned, start out by reading through some of threads of those of us that are currently going through this or have actually completed this task...also give your self a reality check by reading the ones that never made it to the water...

Most of the folks who post on here have a signature at the end of their post that leads their own particular story...

One of the most important and expensive parts of this whole deal is to make sure that your powerplant is ready to go...boat engines and their related rigging can be quite expensive...

If the engine that is there is salvageable, then by all means get it working by using the knowledge available in the Engine Forum of this website...there are some amazing guys there who really know their stuff...

Be sure to keep posting lots of pics...they help us see what you see...
Photobucket is great resource and its free...here is how...http://forums.iboats.com/boat-resto...tress-cracks-diy-step-step-w-pics-320724.html...
There is also a ton of great info there as well...

Best of luck and have fun!
GT1M