What have you done for your boat lately?

[Buzzy]

Finally replacing the old, rotty coaming bolsters in my saltwater boat.

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Nice touch!

I've been looking at Craigslist and Marketplace for months now for just the "right boat". There are so many boats that might make the cut except I don't want carpeting. Been there, done that - salmon blood stains. It took a week to remove that glued down stained mess. I like what you've done with your boat.

 

[Evan B]

Nice touch!

I've been looking at Craigslist and Marketplace for months now for just the "right boat". There are so many boats that might make the cut except I don't want carpeting. Been there, done that - salmon blood stains. It took a week to remove that glued down stained mess. I like what you've done with your boat.

Thanks! Both boats of mine have been a lot of work but so worth it. I now have exactly the boats I want/need for the Columbia near me and the Oregon coast.

 

[SilverFly]

I've done exactly nothing for my still half finished boat project. Life kinda got tossed in the blender not long after hull flipping day over 20 years ago.



It's been sitting under a tarp at a buddies place after we sold our last house, bought property, and spent 2 years in permit purgatory. Hoping to be moved in, and get it under shelter before fall weather sets in. Nothing fancy, just a 4BR ranch.



Found the perfect spot for my new shop. If all goes to plan, I'll be finishing it out as a center console sometime next year.

 

[SurfnFish]

Aluminum riser for the OB, replacing the plywood riser I had built to proof a 'less lower unit drag' concept..yes...and shout-out for Chris at The Prop Shop in WA, extremely helpful, sent me a coupla props to find one that worked best and was only charged for the one I kept, a 9.25 x 8 three blade.
Between the prop change (came with a four blade 10 x 11), riser and a Doel-Fin which really does keep the bow down, gained the few extra mph I was seeking.
Good thing working on boats has always been an enjoyable hobby, not a chore.

 

[Paige]

New to me boat, getting wash down installed and wired for downriggers.
Then my work starts next week rigging and getting ready to fishn crab!
@_WW_ want to do some Baker lake Sockeye soon?

 

[Evan B]

I've done exactly nothing for my still half finished boat project. Life kinda got tossed in the blender not long after hull flipping day over 20 years ago.

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It's been sitting under a tarp at a buddies place after we sold our last house, bought property, and spent 2 years in permit purgatory. Hoping to be moved in, and get it under shelter before fall weather sets in. Nothing fancy, just a 4BR ranch.

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Found the perfect spot for my new shop. If all goes to plan, I'll be finishing it out as a center console sometime next year.

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Why center console and not tiller? Real estate is scarce on small boats. Why not keep an open layout and simplify life?

 

[SilverFly]

Why center console and not tiller? Real estate is scarce on small boats. Why not keep an open layout and simplify life?

It's a long story. The short version is my thinking then (in retrospect now clearly skewed) was to design it for twins. I still have a pair of "new" 2005 Merc 25hp 2-strokes still in crates. I could probably sell those and hang a single 50+ 4 stroke with tiller, but it would look weird on the transom. If I drew it up now, I'm sure I'd go that route. So kinda committed to the original concept.

Edit: This is basically an upscaled version of the plywood skiffs my Dad designed in the 50's and 60's. They were awesome boats that saw action from the North Sound, both sides of VI, coastal bays, the Columbia, and even Buoy 10. We caught a lot of fish, and managed to stay out of trouble beyond what the cantankerous Gale and Evinrude outboards threw at us. Which might explain why he had a thing for outboard wells. Something he apparently passed on to me. Anyway, my thoughts with this boat was a compromise "well" with the forward set transom. Not saying it's the greatest idea, but I'd basically have to gut and completely rebuild the entire aft section.

I'm open to suggestions, but here's the basic design:

 

[SurfnFish]

It's a long story. The short version is my thinking then (in retrospect now clearly skewed) was to design it for twins. I still have a pair of "new" 2005 Merc 25hp 2-strokes still in crates. I could probably sell those and hang a single 50+ 4 stroke with tiller, but it would look weird on the transom. If I drew it up now, I'm sure I'd go that route. So kinda committed to the original concept.

Edit: This is basically an upscaled version of the plywood skiffs my Dad designed in the 50's and 60's. They were awesome boats that saw action from the North Sound, both sides of VI, coastal bays, the Columbia, and even Buoy 10. We caught a lot of fish, and managed to stay out of trouble beyond what the cantankerous Gale and Evinrude outboards threw at us. Which might explain why he had a thing for outboard wells. Something he apparently passed on to me. Anyway, my thoughts with this boat was a compromise "well" with the forward set transom. Not saying it's the greatest idea, but I'd basically have to gut and completely rebuild the entire aft section.

I'm open to suggestions, but here's the basic design:


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really like the entry and curves/chines of that hull, looks like it will be a soft ride through chop and swell. Glass and tin are a dime a dozen, sweet woodies are in a class of their own.
Back in the 70's, there was a mom and pop boat rental operation in our harbor, featuring a handful of wood 16' flat bottom dories built with motor wells for the tiller outboards. When the owners closed the business I bought one of the skiffs and fished the heck out of it in the local waters, found the motor well moving the engine and operator weight forward made for a very well balanced skiff. Liked the boat a whole lot more than the Evinrude motor that came with it.
A friend had twin OB's with the same prop rotation on an 18' Whaler, torque steer was an issue until he installed mechanical trim tabs adjusted to compensate.
Best of luck with the build, it truly will be a labor of love

 

[Evan B]

It's a long story. The short version is my thinking then (in retrospect now clearly skewed) was to design it for twins. I still have a pair of "new" 2005 Merc 25hp 2-strokes still in crates. I could probably sell those and hang a single 50+ 4 stroke with tiller, but it would look weird on the transom. If I drew it up now, I'm sure I'd go that route. So kinda committed to the original concept.

Edit: This is basically an upscaled version of the plywood skiffs my Dad designed in the 50's and 60's. They were awesome boats that saw action from the North Sound, both sides of VI, coastal bays, the Columbia, and even Buoy 10. We caught a lot of fish, and managed to stay out of trouble beyond what the cantankerous Gale and Evinrude outboards threw at us. Which might explain why he had a thing for outboard wells. Something he apparently passed on to me. Anyway, my thoughts with this boat was a compromise "well" with the forward set transom. Not saying it's the greatest idea, but I'd basically have to gut and completely rebuild the entire aft section.

I'm open to suggestions, but here's the basic design:


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Very cool boat! I think a single tiller would be my choice, but sounds like a lot of work to get there. Twins just sounds like double the headache

 

[SilverFly]

Very cool boat! I think a single tiller would be my choice, but sounds like a lot of work to get there. Twins just sounds like double the headache

Thanks, Apparently I like headaches.

 

[Evan B]

Thanks, Apparently I like headaches.

After all my boat projects and running different boats, I've learned to value simplicity.

Doesn't meant I wouldn't admire your dual engine center console and love a ride on it

 

[SilverFly]

After all my boat projects and running different boats, I've learned to value simplicity.

Doesn't meant I wouldn't admire your dual engine center console and love a ride on it

That can be arranged, assuming I ever finish it.

 

[Evan B]

That can be arranged, assuming I ever finish it.

I just had an epiphany!

We have two hands: therefore can run two tillers! Brilliant!

 

[SilverFly]

really like the entry and curves/chines of that hull, looks like it will be a soft ride through chop and swell. Glass and tin are a dime a dozen, sweet woodies are in a class of their own.
Back in the 70's, there was a mom and pop boat rental operation in our harbor, featuring a handful of wood 16' flat bottom dories built with motor wells for the tiller outboards. When the owners closed the business I bought one of the skiffs and fished the heck out of it in the local waters, found the motor well moving the engine and operator weight forward made for a very well balanced skiff. Liked the boat a whole lot more than the Evinrude motor that came with it.
A friend had twin OB's with the same prop rotation on an 18' Whaler, torque steer was an issue until he installed mechanical trim tabs adjusted to compensate.
Best of luck with the build, it truly will be a labor of love

Thanks. The predecessors to this one were smaller at 12-15'. And yes, they handled a nasty chop well, rode dry for open boats of that size.

I almost lost Dad's boat drawings to a water leak in the crawl space of our last house. Here's his first. Heard some great stories of this one fishing around Bellingham, Cherry Point and other North Sound but I was too young to remember getting a ride in it. His later ones were closer to the lines of mine, with more freeboard and Garvey-style front transoms. I never cared for that look but they were easier to cartop and trailer.



Mom testing it in Lake Whatcom a couple year before I was born.

 

[SilverFly]

I just had an epiphany!

We have two hands: therefore can run two tillers! Brilliant!

Except that I can barely chew gum and walk at the same time.

 

[SurfnFish]

Thanks. The predecessors to this one were smaller at 12-15'. And yes, they handled a nasty chop well, rode dry for open boats of that size.

I almost lost Dad's boat drawings to a water leak in the crawl space of our last house. Here's his first. Heard some great stories of this one fishing around Bellingham, Cherry Point and other North Sound but I was too young to remember getting a ride in it. His later ones were closer to the lines of mine, with more freeboard and Garvey-style front transoms. I never cared for that look but they were easier to cartop and trailer.

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those look like marine architect quality...where did you Dad learn such fine chops..formally schooled, or apprenticed? I'd seriously consider framing those treasures

 

[SilverFly]

those look like marine architect quality...where did you Dad learn such fine chops..formally schooled, or apprenticed? I'd seriously consider framing those treasures

He was a mechanical engineer. He had a ton of interests. Among other things, I can thank him for getting me started fly fishing. Think I was 3 when I tied my first fly, nothing more than a grizzly hackle sloppily lashed to a hook. Boats were his real passion. His great unrealized dream was to build a live-aboard cruising sailboat. He had stacks of Wooden Boat magazines, studied Chapelle and other notable marine architects. Although he never built his dream sailboat, he designed a few. I still have the hull models. Damn, I miss that guy.

Edit : Dug out one of the sailboat drawings, and a photo of a 12' mini drifter we built. Fished the crap out of that thing in the 90's and early 2000's. It was light, rowed really well for a driftboat.

 

[Evan B]

He was a mechanical engineer. He had a ton of interests. Among other things, I can thank him for getting me started fly fishing. Think I was 3 when I tied my first fly, nothing more than a grizzly hackle sloppily lashed to a hook. Boats were his real passion. His great unrealized dream was to build a live-aboard cruising sailboat. He had stacks of Wooden Boat magazines, studied Chapelle and other notable marine architects. Although he never built his dream sailboat, he designed a few. I still have the hull models. Damn, I miss that guy.

Edit : Dug out one of the sailboat drawings, and a photo of a 12' mini drifter we built. Fished the crap out of that thing in the 90's and early 2000's. It was light, rowed really well for a driftboat.

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"that guy" deserves his own thread it seems.

 

[_WW_]

The boat I started this thread with got some new pontoons today.

 

[ffb]

Warning long post ahead.

Just buttoned up the spring projects on the whaler. As usual, what started as a couple small projects turned into just about a full interior refresh. I also did a poor job of before and during photos.

The first thing I wanted to accomplish was relocating the battery to under the center console like they started doing in the early 90s on the Montauk. This is the best before pic I have, but on the classic whalers the batteries were mounted to the deck of the boat taking up valuable real estate.



The battery relocation turned into a full rewire. New longer 2 gauge battery cables to the new battery in the console, all new wiring/battery switch/breaker/fuse panel in the console, new horn, new usb ports, new bilge pump and wiring, new waterproof junction box in the rear for the navigation lights. Not the prettiest under the console, but everything is at least tucked out of the way and should allow for storage without things getting hung up on wiring. The floor of the console I cut out for the battery box to rest on the deck of the boat on a piece of dri-dek, similar to what they switched to in the early 90s. While I was working on the console I cleared off the top except for the Garmin and cupholder and cut out a section of EVA boat decking to cover all the leftover holes.




The fuel tank mounted under the seat didn't sit quite right between some strips of wood that attached to the deck, and the tank itself was laying right on the deck of the boat. I removed the seat and mounting strips and found this under the tank:



It was some sort of slimy concoction of dirt/grime/water/who knows what else, but it cleaned up well, and I filled the old mounting holes with epoxy and resecured the fuel tank with new mounting straps to sit on dri-dek so that water can flow under the tank. While I had the seat out I also refinished the seat legs that were sun faded, because why not?



The biggest project besides the wiring was the teak. I decided to remove every piece of teak from the boat and sand everything down. After some reading instead of finishing with teak oil I ended up using Semco Teak Sealer. It was super easy to apply and the upkeep should be fairly straight forward hopefully. It doesn't shine like oil or varnish nor does it really affect the color of the teak itself, it just looks like clean teak and now the water beads right off. Console doors got all new stainless hinges and cabinet locks. In front of the console there are what are supposed to be two mahogany cooler chocks attached to the floor. Upon removal to refinish, one was rotted out and was not mahogany. I contemplated making new chocks from scratch, but ended up buying replacement chocks from Boston Whaler that were used on the 90s boats that are made of of starboard.







All in all, it's still a 38 year old boat with some minor bumps and bruises to show for it, but I'm pretty damn happy with how it turned out. Now I'm afraid to get it dirty.