Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Home Made Flats Skiff

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Home Made Flats Skiff

    Hey Y'all, Last July I had this great idea to build me a flats skiff. We just returned from a trip to the coast where I used a kayak for fishing. Had a great time but with a shoulder injury there were times that I just couldn't paddle hard enough to keep up with the current! I decided to start researching the idea of putting a pedal drive on my kayak but dang those are expensive so I then toyed with the idea of using an electric motor. Then it occurred to me that I was going to spend a lot of money and still have a wet arse sitting in a kayak.
    I thought about buying a boat or remodeling an old boat. I settled on remodeling! I found a small sail boat with just the right size and shape deck for what I had in mind.
    Now I needed to learn how to fiberglass! I turned to Youtube! I watched many videos on stitch and glue boat builds, I found websites that sell plans for any kind of boat you could want and even found a video about re-purposing a small sail boat!
    Then on August 6 2019 I had surgery on my shoulder to repair a torn rotor cuff.
    A week Later I found a second hand 8 HP 4 stroke Evinrude in East Texas. I needed this motor for when my skiff is completed. With my right arm in a sling my wife accompanied me to pick up the motor. We arrived at the right address for the outboard and when the guy answered the door, he was also wearing a sling on his right arm and told me that he had just had surgery to repair a torn rotor cuff! Had to be fate. Y'all should have seen our wives picking up this 100 lb motor and 2 one armed guys trying to help load it in the back of the pickup!
    Back to the boat. Here is a picture of the small sail boat that I was going to turn into my flats skiff.
    Attached Files

    #2
    Alright I'm going to let Y'all in on a secret. Today I finished this boat and put it in the water for sea trials. I still need to get a title and register the boat.
    Anyway, this thread is going to go fairly quickly!

    Comment


      #3
      Here I have removed the sail boat hull. I'm going to build a new hull and modify the existing deck to suit my needs.
      As you can see I have built a temporary shelter for this project. My wonderful wife has been helping but honestly I am doing most of the work with just my left hand.
      Attached Files

      Comment


        #4
        Here I am scarfing together 1/4" marine plywood for the sides of the hull and the next picture they are installed with the transom which is 4 pieces of 1/4" laminated together for a combined thickness of 1 1/4".
        Attached Files

        Comment


          #5
          Here I am scarfing the bottom panels together and installing. You can see some temporary braces in the hull.
          I didn't realize until later that I used way too many zip ties!
          Attached Files

          Comment


            #6
            I'm using an epoxy paste to glue between the zip ties then after removing the ties filling in the rest and filling the holes. Then adding a strip of glass on the seams.
            Attached Files

            Comment


              #7
              After flipping it over and studying the deck I realize that modifying the sail boat deck is going to be more difficult than just building a new deck the way I want it. So I ditch the deck and start fiber glassing the interior.
              Adding stringers, bulk heads and rub rails.

              Comment


                #8
                Oops!
                Attached Files

                Comment


                  #9
                  !
                  Attached Files

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Completing exterior fiberglass, adding strakes and fairing and primer.
                    Attached Files

                    Comment


                      #11
                      You have some good skills. Looking great!!

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Looking good!


                        Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Looks great. I had looked into this as I had seen some of the solo skiffs and others. Looked at the force 5 and a Laser. I just decided I don't have the time to make it happen. Too many other projects.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Painting the hull


                            Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Glassing stringers and bulk heads.
                              Adding support for deck and installing conduit.
                              Adding foam under main deck and around the fuel tank. Main deck.


                              Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X