WELCOME TO RIVER DAVES PLACE

Just A Little Fishing Skiff....

Backlash

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Good afternoon!

I've had this project squirreled away for quite some time, and figured I'd finally start a rebuild thread on it.

What we have here is a no name fishing skiff. That's right, I have no idea who originally built this. Its registered as a homemade craft here in California. It's about 11.5' long, 4' wide and it only weighs a few hundred pounds. I can almost pick it up and move it around myself. It is basically a crooked hull bottom, a perimeter of a deck, a transom and two wood slats that were aparently used as seats. I would'nt sit on either one. 😁

So far, including registration fees, I'm in this for less than $100.

We have plenty of boats at my parent's place at the river that we can use to do just about anything. But those belong to my Dad. I want my own stuff that I can mess around with, and build and rig the way I want to do it. And yes, I have a problem. 😁

I thought I had a picture of the hull, but I dont. 🙄 So I'll start with what I did today.

I picked this sucker up and set it on its transom, with its bow in the sky. I strapped it down so it wouldn't go anywhere, and started grinding.
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Backlash

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It needs a new transom and a real set of stringers, not the small 1x3 running down the center of the hull. 🙄

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Backlash

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I had previously torn out the rotted wood transom, and some of the delaminated fiberglass, but I didnt do much more than that when I put this aside. Today, I broke out the grinder and went to work.

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I ground out as much loose glass and sharp edges from the transom that I could easily get to. I used a 40 grit flap disk which made short work of this area. After about an hour of grinding, I made it down to some solid glass.

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Backlash

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There is still a lot left to do in this area, but I'm happy with the progress I made. The previous owner had applied multiple layers of paint to the inside of the hull. It almost looks like some form of waterproof paint, or a thick exterior paint. Whatever it is, it will all be gone. I ground out about 3 gallons of old resin and fiberglass from the transom alone. 😁

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The plan for this hull is to do it right, and only do it once. I'll be using vinylester resin and composites everywhere I can.

The plan is to use this at the river and in the bays here in SoCal. I'll extend the transom up so its full height with no cutout. And yes, a small outboard just to get us around.
 

Backlash

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You and me both!! This is only the beginning, there is a mountain of grinding to do on this thing! 🤣
 

coolchange

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So I assume you’re familiar with ZEC?😁
You already have a motor you’re changing transom height for?
 

Backlash

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What is ZEC? You lost me there! 😁

Yes Sir I currently have a kickass 20hp Mercury 2 stroke. 😁 I'll hang on to that motor, but may look for a new electric start once I get this project all finished up. I'll be closing in the transom and doing a few other things as I start putting this back together.

Now back to this ZEC you're referring to......
 

Headless hula

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What is ZEC? You lost me there! 😁

Yes Sir I currently have a kickass 20hp Mercury 2 stroke. 😁 I'll hang on to that motor, but may look for a new electric start once I get this project all finished up. I'll be closing in the transom and doing a few other things as I start putting this back together.

Now back to this ZEC you're referring to......
The grinding wheels. Silicon carbide in a 8, 24, or 36 grit. 😉 Johnny and I showed you these in our build threads.
 
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Headless hula

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Right on!! No Sir I haven't tried those out! I've just been using the Diablo 40 grit flap wheels from Home Depot. They seem to cut through most things pretty easily. Where do you get these grinding discs you've shown above??




The local boat builders supply here in FL has them in stock, but eBay is cheaper.
 

Headless hula

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Right on!! No Sir I haven't tried those out! I've just been using the Diablo 40 grit flap wheels from Home Depot. They seem to cut through most things pretty easily. Where do you get these grinding discs you've shown above??
They last a long time if you turn them slower. Put it on a buffing grinder that you can slow down the spindle speed. If you put it in a standard 4” grinder it’ll make heat and clog. Slowing it down let’s it cut, doesn’t get hot, and will remove material faster than you can believe.
 

lenmann

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ZEC's kick ass, highly recommend them, game changer over traditional abrasives.

Kinda funny how the same small group of guys end up on the threads that involve being "itchy and scratchy"...Hell, pretty much everything I know about fiberglass work came from the @Backlash and @HydroSkreamin.

I am following along, cant wait for the next chapter!
 

Backlash

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Brother, there is no way I deserve those kinds of accolades! I am simply a backyard, part-time wannabe fiberglass guy! 😁 But the compliments mean a lot coming from you, thank you!!! I should probably finish one project before I start another.... 🤣 Nahhhhhh!!
 

Backlash

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Here are a few more pictures of this monstrosity. 😁 I resorted to handling some other more important things today, so I didn't get a chance to mess around on this.

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In the first picture, you can see the little metal plates on the tops of the gunnels.....they look like oar sockets, or whatever you call them. The rest is, well, a mess. 🤣
 

Backlash

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And one more image looking towards the bow. This thing only has a single stringer down the center, and I'm using the term stringer very loosely here. Its literally a 1x3" slat that's just sitting in the bottom of the hull. On top of that, they had some plywood that acted as a floor. I had already ripped that out as it was waterlogged and delaminated.

And yes, the cap around the tops of the gunnels is screwed down about every 6". Those will also be coming out later on down the road.

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That's it for today! Have a great night!
 

Backlash

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Good morning! Spent a few minutes on this little skiff, and got the inside transom skin ground smooth. Laid down a layer of 1708, let it cure, then smoothed that out.

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Trimmed out a second layer of glass, and am getting ready to lay that down.

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Backlash

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Before I glassed that layer in, I used some low-tech materials to create a quick pattern for the transom material.

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Laid it out on the transom core material, and traced it out.

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Backlash

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Measure several times, and cut twice. Once with a Skil saw, and once with a jig saw. No problem cutting this material whatsoever.

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A quick test fit, and all looks good!

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Backlash

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Pulled the coring back out, and ran around the perimeter with a 45° chamfer bit in a router.

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Another test fit and it looks alright to me!

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Backlash

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Now I'll take this coring material back out once again, and mix up some resin. The plan is to spread some resin, lay the glass down, work out the air bubbles, add a little more resin, spread it out evenly, then drop this coring material back in while the resin is wet. That's the plan anyways. Let's see how it works out. 😁
 

Backlash

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Alrighty, the new transom is in and curing as we speak! 🤓

There was a low spot between the first and second layer of 1708. I didn't want to chance having a void in the transom, so I also mixed up some resin and fiberglass strands, and put that down in the small low spot. It probably wouldn't have ever mattered, but I feel better knowing it's been glassed in. As that was curing, I laid down a thin layer of resin, laid the second layer of 1708 down, and worked the resin into the fibers. I had enough resin left to spread out another layer, and I slid the new transom coring down inside the wet transom. Then I centered it up, and stacked a bunch of concrete blocks inside to hold it in place while it cures.

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Looking underneath the transom, there was some resin squeeze out, but no gaps.....so that's good!


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Backlash

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With the leftover resin I had already mixed up, I added more fiberglass strands and put down a layer of this mix around the perimeter of the coring material. Once this cures, I'll knock down a few of the high spots and run more 1708 around the perimeter of the coring to lock it in place. Then a final layer over the inside of the transom, and we should be finished with this portion of the project. 👍

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As always, thank you for following along! Have a great day and stay safe!
 

lenmann

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Nice! Thats what transoms should be cored with, to hell with that plywood crap.

How is it working with the Coosa? Where did you buy it?
 

Backlash

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Nice! Thats what transoms should be cored with, to hell with that plywood crap.

How is it working with the Coosa? Where did you buy it?

Thank you Sir! The plan is for this boat to be "Used," and I imagine that due to its diminutive size, it's absolutely going to get wet! 😁

The Coosa is easy to work with. I would say it's softer than plywood, so the blades and bits rip right through it. Cutting it does create a little bit of a mess, so you'll have to brush off your tools when you are finished. It leaves behind something similar to a graphite dust, if that makes sense.

I got this 4x8 sheet from RevChem some time ago, and have been sitting on it until the time was right. I would recommend it for ease of use, and these days, pricing slightly more than plywood.
 

Headless hula

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It really didn't. I think it cuts easier than plywood. Just do the cutting outside so you dont have to worry about cleaning up the dust. It's more fine than sawdust.
I use my backpack leaf blower more than a broom. 😉
 

lenmann

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It really didn't. I think it cuts easier than plywood. Just do the cutting outside so you dont have to worry about cleaning up the dust. It's more fine than sawdust.
Is it itchy and scratchy? I know it has glass fibers and such in it.
 

Backlash

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Lenmann, I noticed when I picked the sheet up to move it around, the palms of my hands got a little bit itchy. It almost felt like I had a sliver of metal in my hands. But that only happened once or twice. When I cut it with any of the power tools I've used, I didn't have any itchy feeling like you get when cutting or grinding fiberglass. I only got that feeling from grabbing the panels by their edges, and moving them around. Odd, but that's all I've noticed.
 

Backlash

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Good evening and Happy Thanksgiving! Snuck in a few minutes on this little project. I mixed up another batch of vinylester filler with strands of glass, and worked it into the corner around the perimeter of the transom coring material. I used an old round dowel to get the transition rounded over as best I could.

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Backlash

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Thank you Sir! It should be 12' of fishing fury when it's all finished up! Nothing fancy, just something simple and fun to mess around with. 🤓
 

Backlash

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Good afternoon!

Just a small update on one of my many projects.... I finally got around to cutting out another piece of Coosa board and trimmed it to fit inside the transom of this little skiff. I rounded over the bottom edge but you can't see it in these photographs. Even though this is a tiny little boat, that has a tiny little engine, I still wanted to double up the layers of the center of the transom.

This second layer is only 18" x 18" and 3/4" thick. It will add support to the area where the motor will be mounted. As you know, working with resin is usually fast and furious, so there are no "In progress" pictures here. 😁

I cut out two pieces of 1708 that were both 18" x 18". I mixed up a batch of vinylester resin and rolled it out onto the original layer of Coosa board. I laid down the first layer of 1708 and worked out all the air pockets. Then I did the same with the second layer of 1708. After that, I dropped the new piece of Coosa down on top of the wetted out cloth. Once it was positioned where I had marked everything, I put a stack of concrete blocks on top to squeeze everything together. Now we wait and let the heat do it's thing.

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Next I'll start working on the new stringers that will eventually go down in this hull. This is going to take some work because the bottom of this little skiff is anything but straight. Oh well, what do you expect for a boat that cost me $50. 🤣

Until next time.....

As always, thank you for following along! Stay safe and have a nice day!
 
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