PH18 in Midcoast Maine - Rusty Clouser

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coldwater_flats
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PH18 in Midcoast Maine - Rusty Clouser

Post by coldwater_flats »

Hello All,

With the temperatures dropping and the wood all stacked from summer, it is time to look towards Autumn and Winter up here in Maine -- and more importantly -- a project to keep myself sane (thankfully my garage has radiant heat). I do a lot of sight fishing for Stripers up here on the coldwater flats of Midcoast, and have been eyeing flats skiffs for some time now; I have resolved to build this one myself to fish and to guide fly fishing outings on. After a couple seasons of on-again-off-again research, I've settled on the PH18 and bought both the plans and the center console variations yesterday from Bateau. The wood for the bulkheads and stringers has been ordered and I pick it up on Monday.

Ideally I'd like to build a strongback/jig, I like the idea of completely finishing the bottom side, ensuring flatness, and minimizing flips. I've read the tutorial on this topic, and seen photos from various builds but I still have questions around this...

For the PH18, what's the ideal size for a jig? I will have it some distance off the ground (not much, I'm not a tall person). It looks like just building a frame attached to some caster wheels. My garage floor is not level, there are draining "swirls" in the concrete leading down to some gutters. Will this present a problem, or do I need to build the jig to allow for adjustment on the corners? I think I saw features like this in flyfishingmonk's thread. Additionally, the "Building the Phantoms" section confused me also. Looks like the tutorial suggests as some members have done and build on the plywood for the deck, but others just go for the two 2x8's as support and mount the bulkheads right to these? Are there advantages to NOT building on the deck?

Looking forward to getting the jig done and to start marking out wood this week. Time is money and the further the build takes me into the next year, the less trips I'll book (the guiding $$$ deductions and income help keep the Mrs. happy enough about my fly fishing obsession), so I'm going to be going for a ten month buildout (I don't have kids... or house projects... or a commute). I know this is still ridiculously aggressive, but hey that's what goals are for. This forum is one of the main reasons I decided to go with JM's design over some other viable options, so don't be shy! I'm here to be schooled in the ways of becoming a boatbuilding guru like many of the members' threads I've hawked over the last months clearly are.

Best,
coldwater_flats
Last edited by coldwater_flats on Sat Sep 15, 2018 5:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

narfi
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Re: PH18 in Midcoast Maine - "Rusty Clouser"

Post by narfi »

I think 10months is manageable without anything else distracting you.
I'm at 9months on my fs17 and that is with a lot of distractions and without a heated garage. I think In ideal conditions I could finish in a hard month, but it's getting cold at night now and I wont be able to finish till spring.

Fuzz
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Re: PH18 in Midcoast Maine - "Rusty Clouser"

Post by Fuzz »

Build a good strongback and brace it to make sure it stays square. When you move it around you can always shim it up if it is not level but out of square is a bigger problem. Speaking of moving you will want to be able to do that so put good castors under it. Think of how big you need and the go bigger. My strongback has 8 inch wheels and they are not too big. Much easier to move with larger wheels.
The radiant heat will make building nice. Is it heat in the floor? If so setting the epoxy on the floor will help to warm it. And the upside down hull will hold heat as it rises, all good things.
Have fun, ask questions, post lots of pictures :wink:

coldwater_flats
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Re: PH18 in Midcoast Maine - Rusty Clouser

Post by coldwater_flats »

According to the tutorial on the Self Aligning Jig System, it should be two 2x8's, parallel to each other the same length as the boat, in this case 18'. How wide should they be spaced apart? If I'm interpreting "beam at the chine" correctly that means 78" wide? This would be wider than the minimum width of Bulkhead A? :help:

coldwater_flats
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Re: PH18 in Midcoast Maine - Rusty Clouser

Post by coldwater_flats »

After looking at plans I decided to build out 16'x4'. Should be able to get the first bulkhead to rest on this dimension without getting too tippy. Not going to get fancy with the adjustable height, will shim under locked wheels when level counts. Will add an extension for the bow like I've seen in a few threads.

narfi
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Re: PH18 in Midcoast Maine - Rusty Clouser

Post by narfi »

You might check your plans again.....
The plans for my fs17 specified the distance between the inside faces of the strongback.

narfi
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Re: PH18 in Midcoast Maine - Rusty Clouser

Post by narfi »

Plans for a different boat obviously, but something like this....
Screenshot_20181017-023321_Drive.jpg

coldwater_flats
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Re: PH18 in Midcoast Maine - Rusty Clouser

Post by coldwater_flats »

Nada, no specific mention of jig dimensions

coldwater_flats
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Re: PH18 in Midcoast Maine - Rusty Clouser

Post by coldwater_flats »

The plans specify building on the decking sheets on a flat floor, which I don't have

coldwater_flats
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Re: PH18 in Midcoast Maine - Rusty Clouser

Post by coldwater_flats »

Is it heat in the floor?
Yes indeedy. Nice to roll a snow covered plow truck into the garage and have it just drain away.

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