Building first boat 13 ft flats boat foam or no foam

madman960

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Building a 13 ft flats boat. Should I use foam or no? It has 1 ft side panels and 3 ft wide. I will post pictures in the next few days. The boat is 90% complete. Need to attach front and rear panels and paint. Very simple design. Made from 2 sheets of plywood. Coating the bottom with flex seal before painting. Not sure where I can put foam.

Thanks.

Bill
 

kfa4303

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Re: Building first boat 13 ft flats boat foam or no foam

Hi madman. I would definitely try to add as much foam as possible. Getting swamped is no fun and pretty dangerous. Floatation foam has actually required in all new vessels for quite awhile. Thankfully, a little 13 ft. flats boat should be pretty light, so you won't need much flotation. Most folks use pink/blue closed-cell insulation foam board from Lowes/HD. I see you're at Parris Island, so I take it you're a Marine? My sis lived there for a while when her hubby was stationed there. Any pics of the boat? What kind of set up are you using (tiller vs. console)? What size motor? You may want to check out a site called microskiff.com which is dedicated to flats skiffs.
 

Teamster

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Re: Building first boat 13 ft flats boat foam or no foam

Floatation foam is a good thing,.........

Dying doesn't sound fun,............
 

imported_rick

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Re: Building first boat 13 ft flats boat foam or no foam

What teamster said!
Love to see the boat, need you to upload some pictures. :)

(My son and daughter are both graduates from the island)
semper fidelis
 

madman960

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Re: Building first boat 13 ft flats boat foam or no foam

kfa4303

I am a Marine. I will be using a 3 hp electric trolling motor. I will have pictures tomorrow. The boat weighs less than 200 pounds.

Teamster

Dying does not sound fun. Not sure where I can put the foam.

imported_rick

Semper Fi. Pics should be up tomorrow.

Thanks for the replies.

Bill
 

kfa4303

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Re: Building first boat 13 ft flats boat foam or no foam

You can put the foam just about anywhere. Some folks run it up the gunnels(side of the hull), others add it below a false floor or bulkhead. If you post some pics we can try to suggest some good spots. Thankfully, because the set up is so light, it won't take much.
 

madman960

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Re: Building first boat 13 ft flats boat foam or no foam

P7200005.jpg

Pic of completed hull. Still needs second coat before turning over and painting interior. Bottom is covered in flex seal to extend boat life.
 

kfa4303

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Re: Building first boat 13 ft flats boat foam or no foam

Neat little jon boat. It should do everything you need. Without seeing the inside, it's hard to say where to put the foam, but most folks put it under their bench seats, front deck and/or any decking. You can even glue it to the inner walls(gunnels), if need be. That being said, most canoes/jon boats of that size don't have flotation foam. I would try to add some if you can, but it's more important that you have a life jacket in the boat at all times. The boat is replaceable if it gets swamped, you aren't. Of course, you want to stick to calm, inland waters as well. What kind of motor are you going to put on her? A nice little 10hp would push her along nicely.
 

madman960

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Re: Building first boat 13 ft flats boat foam or no foam

Once everything dries out here, I will paint the inside and take pictures to post. I have 2 options for the motor. I have a 3 hp electric and a 7.5 hp Merc 2 stroke.

Bill
 

madman960

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Re: Building first boat 13 ft flats boat foam or no foam

tn_4784f35de78a534537eae80767269.jpg

tn_4784f35de7a0d54537eae89665932.jpg

Pics of interior
 

madman960

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Re: Building first boat 13 ft flats boat foam or no foam

Boat cost $80 to build. Used 3/8 plywood. Still need to install rubrail.

Bill
 

Daniel1947

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Re: Building first boat 13 ft flats boat foam or no foam

I have no idea of where to put the foam, but my old drill instructer would have told you to pack it in your footlocker. What the heck is a Marine doing building a boat? That is the Navy's job...or at least the SeaBee's....Semper Fi brother, Platoon 245, Parris Island, Feb. 1967, "Old Corps." Good luck with the project....I have a major one coming up as soon as season is over.
 

madman960

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Re: Building first boat 13 ft flats boat foam or no foam

Semper Fi. Platoon 3061 July 2005.

What project? I have 2 other boats but no real working knowledge with boats. I figured building one would improve my knowledge and skill. I gained a bit of both. Think I have more to learn.

Bill
 

kfa4303

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Re: Building first boat 13 ft flats boat foam or no foam

Hello again madman. I see what you mean about the interior. About the only place you could add it would be to lay a few slaps of pink/blue insulation foam on the floor, then lay a deck on top of it if you want to. However, for such a small boat I wouldn't worry about it. Just make sure to have a life jacket for you and anyone in the boat and you should be fine.
 

madman960

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Re: Building first boat 13 ft flats boat foam or no foam

Yeah. That is what I figured.

Bill
 

Daniel1947

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Re: Building first boat 13 ft flats boat foam or no foam

Hey Madman,

Major Project as in replacing rotten deck, stringers, etc. on my 89 Astro Quickfire 18FS. Bought it a couple years ago at a pretty good price...duh - Wonder why? Mercury 150 BlackMax lasted one good summer, locked up, burnt #3 piston. Rebuilt engine ($$ ouch! $$) and earlier this summer, I was trying to figure out why the Drivers seat was loose. All I can say is that I have never in my life seen so many helpful and knowledgable people as is on this site. I plan on starting my own thread on this in another month or two and post photos etc., just for kicks. I guess as long as I don't grind through the deck...or I mean the hull...this old jarhead is still working out this Navy linguistics...I will be OK. Heck took me 4 years to stop calling it a floor.
 

madman960

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May 13, 2012
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Re: Building first boat 13 ft flats boat foam or no foam

I will keep an eye out for your thread.
 
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