Boat Builder Central - Builder Forums

Posted: **Fri Nov 01, 2019 3:50 pm**

Hello,

I just bought plans for the FS14 LS, will be picking up plywood in Boston in a couple weeks. The support on these forums was a big part of my decision. Really great user-base here, hats off to all of you.

This will be my second build, I built a SnG drift boat from plans last winter, still putting some final touches on it but my wife and I fished hard from it all summer. She's a recent convert to fly-fishing after a 15 year obsession with whitewater kayaking, the fly-fishing obsession appears to be just as strong or stronger. We have no experience with flats fishing but am not going to let that small detail slow me down building a dedicated flats boat and getting started. We both work from home, have an RV and plan on spending some time in FL, already have trip booked to Homosassa in March/April to start scouting. Will bring the driftboat with a trolling motor, some SUPS and try our luck.

I think the FS14 LS is probably a bit small for the two of us but it will fit out my basement door, it will go good with a honda 20hp 4cycle I have lined up, it will fit on the trailer I currently use to haul the drift boat and motorcycle together, and it should be no less stable than the SUP's we fish on regularly, in whitewater.

I've been studying the plans and drooling over Seaslugs build. I don't expect mine to be anywhere near that build quality but it's good to have a benchmark. Giving myself about 18 months to get it splashed, goal is to bring it to florida on next years spring trip.

I have a couple questions which will not actually be pertinent for quite a while.

First question: Plans show a motor well. I noticed seaslug did not put one on his boat. The plans do not indicate if the motor well should be closed to the bilge or open. My preference would be to skip it if it looks like the motor can be tilted without it(no plans for jack plate presently, and not sure if that even matters), otherwise sealed from the bilge with scuppers though the transom. How critical is it and what's the recommended configuration?

Second question is about the self-bailing cockpit. I actually built the driftboat as self-bailing but went the super-simple method of adding a pluggable scupper just above the deck: no hoses, no throughhulls etc. I normally plug it while drifting and open it when left on the trailer/dock to drain rain, but I can leave it open in heavy whitewater to drain waves etc, which was the goal. That particular function has not really been tested yet. The The FS plans don't specify where to run the drains, how big, if they should cross(I have a sailboat and the cockpit drains cross to prevent flooding while heeling) and if they should drain below the waterline of in that small gap between the waterline and the sole-top.

Any thoughts more than welcome.

Thanks,

jeff

Posted: **Fri Nov 01, 2019 5:59 pm**

1. Motorwell: it depends. If you install the motor on a bracket, you don't need a motorwell. For a motor bolted to the transom, you need the splashwell in order to tilt the motor and to provide room for the steering IF you have remote steering.
If you have a motorwell, drill a drain hole through the transom in each corner.
2. The plans show a limber hole in the middle bottom of each frame and you need a drain plug in the transom.
This boat is like a big paddle board, she will float even with the small cockpit filled with water. If you want, you can cut drain holes in the rear corners of the cockpit. She will drain at rest, with nobody in the boat. With one person onboard, the cockpit should drain: the displacement at the designed waterline is 610 lbs but there is a 120 lbs safety margin built-in. That means water will reach the level of the top of the sole at 730 lbs total weight. That could be enough for two persons and reasonable engine and gear.
It is a small boat and we are faced with the usual choice: raise to sole and reduce the stability or get a stable safe boat that may not drain when overloaded. If you want to drain, use scuppers that can be plugged.

Posted: **Fri Nov 01, 2019 9:33 pm**

Hi Jeff, thanks for the compliments on my build, and welcome to the group. You've already built a beautiful drift boat, so the FS14 will be a breeze. My personal belief with these smallish flats skiffs is a fairly simple build with no wet bilge and minimum accessories. Tiller motor, running lights, a few switches for whatever, and that's about it. If you have properly built hatches with deep gutters and adequate drains, below deck stays completely dry, so no need for a wet moldy bilge. This design is self bailing at rest, so a drain plug in the cockpit, with a hose or pipe exiting the lowest point you can drill in the transom, and that's all you need. I've only been caught out in a heavy rain once in my FS18 while poling a shallow flat, so a little water was in the cockpit until I was deep enough to run the outboard. Even if the cockpit filled entirely the boat would stay afloat, and you could always use a bailing bucket or hand pump in that situation. As long as your transom is a few inches higher than the aft deck there is no need for a motor well either. The low sheer version finishes out at just under 14 feet, with a 58-60" beam. It should fly with a 20, and I think it could be a fun little skiff with just enough room for 2 anglers, 1 poling, and 1 fishing on the bow. 9 foot fly rods could be a challenge, not sure if there's enough boat length for storing in rod tubes. You might have to break them down, or store them on deck. Have to go for now. Nice group of guys willing to help out with advice here on the forum, so don't be shy, ask as many questions as needed for a successful build. Mike

Posted: **Sun Nov 03, 2019 11:57 am**

Hi Jeff, looking forward to following your build. You’re boat looks great by the way. I don’t know if you have ordered your ply yet but Goosebay Sawmill and Lumber is a marine lumber yard in Concord NH and stocks Meranti and Okoumi. It’s closer to you and you won’t have any Massachusetts sales tax to pay.

Posted: **Sun Nov 03, 2019 2:48 pm**

Alan, great suggestion, will check them out! Boulter in Medford has been great but good to have options and pay less tax, for sure!

Mike, Thanks so much for the info. Glad you like the drifter.
Regarding hatches, I spent quite a while studying photos of your gold-standard hatches as well as some other peoples and at the end of it, I decided that simple, "wet" hatches that are strapped down(no hinges hardware is my current thought) and a wet (and moldy) bilge with a bilge pump would be the simplest way to go. I made some sketches of hatches like yours but my thought was to build the gutters from 3 pieces instead of routing them from a single piece to cut down on the labor. Will not easily allow for the nice curves/shapes you got and I can't decide if they my be problematic carrying the loads they need to. I'll continue considering it but at the moment I think I'm leaning towards the dead-simple wet ones and deal with the mold as I do on my other boats.

Jacques, 10-4 on the motor well/self-bail considerations, thank you.

Unless convinced otherwise, I'm going to upsize the boat 10%, (66" is literally the max I can get through my basement slider, which is perfect)and my thought is to change the stringers from 6mm to 9mm unless it's deemed unneccessary. Plan is to double the transom for the heavy 4-stroke. I read on another thread someone say that the frames did not need to be increased, not sure I understand this. I'm going to scale everything except the thicknesses of the ply and the height of the transom. Occurred to me that scaling the lofting stations from 12" to 13.2" inches would be the simplest way to loft the scaled curves. Also have an autocad resource who can just scale the plans/remeasure for me if required, though I THINK I have a handle on it, time will tell.

Thanks again,

Jeff

Posted: **Mon Nov 04, 2019 8:54 am**

On the subject of dry vs. wet storage, one approach is to assume water will get in, and allow for it to get out via drain holes. You can further simplify things by doing away with hatches entirely, and cut access holes in the bulkhead, maybe use netting to contain the contents. Good ventilation and drainage should minimize mold growth; your build will be faster and simpler, and the weight is (hopefully) kept down. When Jacques is calculating hull weight for a design, he typically does not assume hatches, so most of us go over the weight shown in the study plans.

It does seem that without going to great pains, compartments will leak (sometimes they still do). The builder's goal is to figure out how to deal with that fact.

Posted: **Mon Nov 04, 2019 9:49 am**

Scale everything by the same factor in CAD. It's easy and safe.
No need to increase the hull skin thickness but OK to go up one notch with the stringers.

Posted: **Mon Nov 04, 2019 11:00 am**

Hank, thanks for the thoughts. I am seriously considering your idea as well: no hatches at all, just access through the bulkheads. All three options are on the table at the moment: No hatches, wet hatches, and SeaSlug hatches, which I'm slowly gaining confidence about building as I think it through it more. My router experience/skill/confidence is limited but I'm thinking I can channel the members ahead of time on my table saw with a to-width dado blade, eliminate the drill press/rough routing, leaving me with just a flush-trim operation to get the cut edges of the hatch opening flush with the gutter sides. The inner lip would not penetrate the bottom of the hatch lid as Mikes do, so not quite as water-proof. Also thinking about some lightweight gutters if I can figure out how to make them work and still carry the load of someone standing on the hatch. My guess is that Mikes gutters are designed to support the load on the inside lip, which is why they need to be so beefy.

Jacques, thanks for the confirmation on the upsize, appreciate it! I suspect that when I re-nest, it will be possible to get the stringers out of the extra 9mm sheet.

Jeff

Posted: **Mon Nov 04, 2019 11:42 am**

Fair WX Pilot wrote: ↑Sun Nov 03, 2019 11:57 am Hi Jeff, looking forward to following your build. You’re boat looks great by the way. I don’t know if you have ordered your ply yet but Goosebay Sawmill and Lumber is a marine lumber yard in Concord NH and stocks Meranti and Okoumi. It’s closer to you and you won’t have any Massachusetts sales tax to pay.

This probably doesn't matter in NH or VT but in MA when I register the boat I need to show I paid sales tax on the materials to avoid paying sales tax on the whole boat. The plywood(from Boulter) and the motor purchased locally are the main things I'm going to show for that.

Posted: **Mon Nov 04, 2019 12:18 pm**

joe2700 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 04, 2019 11:42 am This probably doesn't matter in NH or VT but in MA when I register the boat I need to show I paid sales tax on the materials to avoid paying sales tax on the whole boat. The plywood(from Boulter) and the motor purchased locally are the main things I'm going to show for that.

Interesting. When I registered my driftboat in VT, I showed them my receipts and paid tax on the total of the receipts I showed, I did not consider the fact that I had already paid tax on those materials, that's an excellent point! Why should I pay taxes on a boat that I built with materials on which the tax was already paid? I'll pay more attention next time, thanks for the heads up!

Posted: **Mon Nov 04, 2019 10:26 pm**

VT_Jeff wrote: ↑Mon Nov 04, 2019 12:18 pm
joe2700 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 04, 2019 11:42 am This probably doesn't matter in NH or VT but in MA when I register the boat I need to show I paid sales tax on the materials to avoid paying sales tax on the whole boat. The plywood(from Boulter) and the motor purchased locally are the main things I'm going to show for that.
Interesting. When I registered my driftboat in VT, I showed them my receipts and paid tax on the total of the receipts I showed, I did not consider the fact that I had already paid tax on those materials, that's an excellent point! Why should I pay taxes on a boat that I built with materials on which the tax was already paid? I'll pay more attention next time, thanks for the heads up!

Just goes to show that every state is different. My GV10 cost $25 to register which was the processing fee and they hardly looked at the receipts.

Posted: **Thu Nov 07, 2019 9:38 am**

Alan,

I was about to make a circular saw guide when I came across yours in your build thread, looks like exactly what I want. Any updated thoughts/recommendations?

Thanks,

jeff

Posted: **Fri Nov 08, 2019 1:38 pm**

Hi Jeff, mine could do with being a little wider on the safe side of the fence to make it easier to clamp down. The motor on my Dewalt hangs out a fair way and sometimes interferes with the cut by catching on a clamp . It’s not a big deal, just annoying. I made it from an offcut so not much choice when I put it together. Certainly have used it a lot though.

Posted: **Sun Nov 10, 2019 5:58 pm**

Fair WX Pilot wrote: ↑Fri Nov 08, 2019 1:38 pm Hi Jeff, mine could do with being a little wider on the safe side of the fence to make it easier to clamp down. The motor on my Dewalt hangs out a fair way and sometimes interferes with the cut by catching on a clamp . It’s not a big deal, just annoying. I made it from an offcut so not much choice when I put it together. Certainly have used it a lot though.

Thanks Alan.

I put about 6" on the safe side on mine and it seems to work well, I've been using weights(rubber-coated barbells) on the safe side instead of clamps so far and it works really well. I used some HD fiber board that has a smooth side and a rough side(partly your suggestion and partly what I happened to have lying around). The rough side sticks to the object piece quite well, no slippage, and I'm not running around the table clamping between cuts.

I have a question on the order of operations. Most builds I see at least fair/prime the bottom before starting the inside. I'd prefer to put off all sanding/fairing/priming/painting until early summer when I can move from the basement to the garage. Any reason I can't flip the boat after glassing the bottom and work on the inside/decks/hatches/etc until it's warm here?

Thanks,

Jeff

Posted: **Sun Nov 10, 2019 6:15 pm**

All it means is a couple extra flips. With a smaller boat I do not see it as being any big deal.

Posted: **Sun Nov 10, 2019 8:24 pm**

Thanks for the confirmation Fuzz. A few extra flips doesn't concern me.

Quesiton 5/10,000+:

Is the deck intended to rest on top of the sheer or be flush with the top of the sheer? I read somewhere that the deck should not be cut ahead of time, wait until the hull and frames are done, put the deck panels on top and trace the sheer onto the underside of the deck panels. I think this would imply that the deck sits on top of the sheer. If that's the case, it would either a) be proud of the gunwale height or b) need to extend out to the outer edge of the gunwale, covering it. Maybe this will be clearer to me once I see where the frames line up with the top of the sheer but for the moment, I can't envision how these will all fit together.

Thanks again (and again)

jeff

Posted: **Mon Nov 11, 2019 8:15 am**

Part 2 to that question above about how the deck joins the sheer: the sheer is not vertical, so when I add the rubrail, it will also not be vertical on the sides/horizontal on the top. So if I laid the deck on top of the hull with the rub rail on it. the horizontal deck would not join the top of the rub rail flush, there would be a wedge-gap. Do I plane the top of the rub rail horizontal before laying/tracing the deck and extend it out to the edge of the rub-rail? Or just fill the gap with fillet blend? My last boat did not have a deck at the sheer so the question never came up.

Posted: **Mon Nov 11, 2019 1:20 pm**

Page 5/12 of the building notes explains it;

We show the deck extending over the sides and epoxy welded to a rubrail. That rubrail acts as a spray rail.
Some builders may prefer to install a sheer clamp (= a batten on the inside), it is optional, either method is fine.

The deck is in one plane, flat.
The construction drawing shows the rubrail and an optional sheer clamp which is a batten running along the inside edge of the sheer.
The preferred construction method is to drop the deck on top of the rubrail and sheer clamp. You can skip the sheer clamp and glue only to the rubrail but the 1st method makes a stronger edge.

Posted: **Mon Nov 11, 2019 6:36 pm**

Thanks Jacques.

The horrible drawing attached shows an exaggerated version of what I was referring to, but I'm guessing the "gap" will be too small to be concerned with and will get filled when i weld the deck on.

Posted: **Mon Nov 11, 2019 7:00 pm**

Easy one: Do butt blocks need to be of the same thickness as the pieces being joined?

Posted: **Tue Nov 12, 2019 9:59 am**

If memory serves me right, I dealt with that gap on the LB22 by planing it flat. I used a power plane and it took no time at all. Filling it with goop before glassing over it seems good too..

Dougster

Posted: **Tue Nov 12, 2019 10:45 am**

Dougster wrote: ↑Tue Nov 12, 2019 9:59 am If memory serves me right, I dealt with that gap on the LB22 by planing it flat. I used a power plane and it took no time at all. Filling it with goop before glassing over it seems good too..

Dougster

Appreciate the info, Dougster, I'll plan on that approach.

Posted: **Fri Nov 15, 2019 5:32 pm**

I just came across a post https://forums.bateau2.com/viewtopic.ph ... &start=460 by capt UB that addresses the same question I was asking about the gap between the deck and rubrail/sheer clamp.

His illustration is a lot better than mine, used without permission:

He is using a sheer clamp where I'm going to only use a rubrail, but the geometry is the same. I still think I'm going to add the rubrail proud of the sheer and plane it horizontal to avoid the need to fill the gap with goop. Good to see alternatives in action though.

Posted: **Sun Nov 17, 2019 8:49 pm**

Starting over with this post, learning the ways of photo attachments......

Posted: **Sun Nov 17, 2019 8:54 pm**

I have a lot of work to do figuring out how to efficiently post photos. Embedded photos from google drive dont appear to work, could not find any posts related to it. This leaves manually uploading via the add files button, which is tricky from my phone. Any input appreciated.

Jeff

Posted: **Sun Nov 17, 2019 9:17 pm**

Use the gallery here then just use the BBCode to include in a post.

Posted: **Sun Nov 17, 2019 9:56 pm**

I'll try that approach Jaysen, thanks.

Posted: **Sun Nov 17, 2019 11:28 pm**

Looks great, bet it feels good to be past the planning and into the building.

Posted: **Mon Nov 18, 2019 8:21 am**

Nice!!! Jeff

Posted: **Mon Nov 18, 2019 8:23 am**

Really nice progress is what I had intended to say!!! I will check on your kit (UPS) shortly and give you a call!! Jeff

Posted: **Mon Nov 18, 2019 8:45 am**

Thanks Alan/Jeff, appreciate it! Definitely nice to have some momentum going!

Posted: **Tue Nov 19, 2019 2:32 pm**

Ok, take two on progress report:

I picked up the plywood at Boulter Plywood in Medford. I had to have it trimmed from 98.5 to 96 inches to fir in the Sienna. Chris at Boulter helped me out getting it ready before I got there so I could load and go.

I had the jig pretty much ready to roll before I picked up the plywood. I may need to add wheels and I may need to lower it. I added some storage space underneath that will probably also need to be removed so I can stick my wife under there to help with the stitches.

Thanks to Alan (Fair Wx Pilot) for his saw guide idea. Mine is made from 1/4" fiberboard and some fir I had, 8' long. Next time I'll use thicker MDF, maybe 3/8, and glue sandpaper to the bottom to prevent it from sliding during cuts since I normally use weights instead of clamps. This Rockwell saw makes cutting very easy and accurate, I usually guide it along with my left hand fingers on the saw "table".

Once I got the frames cut and the stringers cut and glued up, I put the rest of the jig together, using a laser level to keep things square. I know JM says it's a self-aligning jig and for the uber-confident, I'm sure it is. For me, it's a very manual aligning jig, but the laser makes it much faster.

After cutting out all the frames, I got the transom laid up. I used 2 pieces of 9mm plus a 9mm clamp. I'm going to be using a Honda 20hp 4-stroke so figured I'd go beefy on the transom. I pre-wet all mating faces with epoxy and glued with epoxy thickened with fillet blend.

I cut grooves for the stringers on the inside piece of the transom instead of cutting the stringers short. I saw others do this, and saw where some others weren't so keen on the idea. It made mounting the transom to the jig really easy, and should make installing the stringers easy, but will require some amount of hassle while glassing the inside to ensure the grooves remain clean.

I used dowels to keep the pieces aligned while gluing.

Once cured, I cleaned up the squeeze-out with a block plane. I should have cleaned this up before it cured, this is a lesson I seem to have trouble learning.

I added a jack to the transom to keep it's weight off the stringers. The stringers were upsized to 9mm from the plan spec of 6mm but they were still pretty wobbly with the hefty transom.

For the bow mold, I used some offset stabilizers to keep it centered, which have already paid off as I bump it about every time I walk around the bow.

When I glued up one of the stringers I didn't get it completely straight so it rises from Frame B to the bow, I'll need to fill the gap with some TE wen i install the stringer, and it made it a little tricky getting the stringer to sit correctly on the jig.

Here's the finished jig:

I didn't follow the correct nesting for the stringers so the butt blocks ended p in the middle of Frame B I had to double-wide the notch in that frame to accomodate them, and the notches in the stringer went through the butt blocks:

I got the hull panels cut out pretty quickly and threw them on the jig for a dryfit, they seem to fit quite well, the truth will be revealed when I actually start pulling the stitches tight at the bow.

Next step is to figure out where I'm going to get the wood for the rub rail, I have SOME leftover 6mm since the stringers moved to the extra of 9mm I had to buy, we'll see if it's enough. I read someone's nightmare tale of trying to piece together scraps so will look to avoid that. Since the sheer is not straight on this design that the rubrail idealy needs to be cut to follow the curve of the sheer, that's going to be my plan, we'll see how it goes.

The Epoxy/glass kit arrives tomorrow night(Wed) after which I can join the hull panels and start stitching. need to remember to trace the sheer for the rubrail before hanging the sides.

Posted: **Tue Nov 19, 2019 3:19 pm**

Really nice prohgress Jeff!!!! Jeff

Posted: **Wed Nov 20, 2019 10:35 am**

Thanks Jeff!

Got the rubrails cut out last night.

I up-sized this boat 10%, as I've mentioned, and decided to up-size the thickness of the stringers from 6mm to to 9mm. In order to do that I needed to buy an extra sheet of 9mm. Moving the stringers to the new 9mm sheet left some extra space on the 6mm hull panel sheets, just enough to get these 4 rubrails. If I had not up-sized/moved the stringers, I would have had to buy an extra sheet of 6mm for the rubrails, or else pieced them together from scraps, which I've heard is a bit of a goose chase. So my .02 is that if you're going to build the FS14LS at planned dimensions, buy an extra sheet of 6mm(5 instead of 4). I'd be interested in hearing any other opinions on it.

I took one of the sides and traced the sheer line onto my rubrail material. I made this marker to scribe the other side at 1.5", cut out the piece, then used it as a template to trace the other three. I offset the splice on 1 pair by as much as i could, there is not a lot of extra room as these rubrails are close to 16 feet.

Some wobbly cuts here, it'll buff out.

anti-warpage defense till they're needed

Posted: **Wed Nov 20, 2019 10:40 am**

Good planning and nice work!!! Jeff

Posted: **Wed Nov 20, 2019 1:46 pm**

Looks great, can’t wait to see it stitched together.

Posted: **Wed Nov 20, 2019 2:21 pm**

Early Christmas present.

Thanks again Jeff Morrow for turning that around so quickly!

Posted: **Wed Nov 20, 2019 2:29 pm**

Thank you for your business Jeff!!!! Jeff

Posted: **Wed Nov 20, 2019 2:39 pm**

Quite welcome.

Finally finished the seat/battery box and oar risers for the driftboat, may be a little while before they get installed.

Posted: **Wed Nov 20, 2019 2:44 pm**

Good looking pup!!! Jeff

Posted: **Wed Nov 20, 2019 3:04 pm**

Thanks Jeff, that's Brook. She's getting on in years(14+) but still doing very well. She was a rescue from Puerto Rico, we got her at about 8 weeks old. She's a mutts' mutt, little bit of everything in her.

Posted: **Wed Nov 20, 2019 3:14 pm**

Wow Jeff, We have a rescue from Puerto Rico. He was an abused dog there and a local Florida rescue brought him over at about 1 year old. His name is Thor and he is nearly 14 himself!!! Crazy stuff!! Jeff

Posted: **Wed Nov 20, 2019 6:20 pm**

Well, I hate to comment on how much I like your workmanship on the drift boat with all this talk of aging four legged workshop supervisors. I have a 14+ helper as well so totally get what you’re both talking about.

Posted: **Wed Nov 20, 2019 6:39 pm**

Jeff wrote: ↑Wed Nov 20, 2019 3:14 pm Wow Jeff, We have a rescue from Puerto Rico. He was an abused dog there and a local Florida rescue brought him over at about 1 year old. His name is Thor and he is nearly 14 himself!!! Crazy stuff!! Jeff

That's awesome Jeff. Maybe they will meet when we come down in March/April, they may be long lost relatives!

Posted: **Wed Nov 20, 2019 6:41 pm**

Fair WX Pilot wrote: ↑Wed Nov 20, 2019 6:20 pm Well, I hate to comment on how much I like your workmanship on the drift boat with all this talk of aging four legged workshop supervisors. I have a 14+ helper as well so totally get what you’re both talking about.

I'm jealous, Alan. Brook won't come near the workshop, she was in the photo because I dry stuff near the woodstove in the family room, too cheap to get the basement warm enough!

Posted: **Thu Nov 21, 2019 5:34 am**

Your build looks really nice! Great workmanship!!

Posted: **Thu Nov 21, 2019 8:49 am**

VT_Jeff wrote: ↑Wed Nov 20, 2019 3:04 pm Thanks Jeff, that's Brook. She's getting on in years(14+) but still doing very well. She was a rescue from Puerto Rico, we got her at about 8 weeks old. She's a mutts' mutt, little bit of everything in her.

I can tell by looking at her she's a purebred Curb Setter!

Posted: **Thu Nov 21, 2019 12:54 pm**

pee wee wrote: ↑Thu Nov 21, 2019 8:49 am
VT_Jeff wrote: ↑Wed Nov 20, 2019 3:04 pm Thanks Jeff, that's Brook. She's getting on in years(14+) but still doing very well. She was a rescue from Puerto Rico, we got her at about 8 weeks old. She's a mutts' mutt, little bit of everything in her.
I can tell by looking at her she's a purebred Curb Setter!

Curb Setter.

Posted: **Thu Nov 21, 2019 1:08 pm**

Eric1 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 21, 2019 5:34 am Your build looks really nice! Great workmanship!!

Appreciate it Eric, yours as well, quite impressive!

Not sure if you already have an idea for the sole but I used this trick to create a template for the floor of my driftboat: I rought-cut a piece of fiberboard that was within an inch or two all the way around and then taped posterboard 'cards all the way around to the edge, which gave me a super-easy way to get a very accurate template. occurred to me after that a few decks of cheap playing cards would have been easier than cutting up all the poster board.

I liked your use of the marker-on-the-level to mark the line, btw, I cheated and used a laser-level.

Posted: **Thu Nov 21, 2019 2:23 pm**

VT_Jeff wrote: ↑Thu Nov 21, 2019 1:08 pm
Eric1 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 21, 2019 5:34 am Your build looks really nice! Great workmanship!!
Appreciate it Eric, yours as well, quite impressive!

Not sure if you already have an idea for the sole but I used this trick to create a template for the floor of my driftboat: I rought-cut a piece of fiberboard that was within an inch or two all the way around and then taped posterboard 'cards all the way around to the edge, which gave me a super-easy way to get a very accurate template. occurred to me after that a few decks of cheap playing cards would have been easier than cutting up all the poster board.

I liked your use of the marker-on-the-level to mark the line, btw, I cheated and used a laser-level.

Nah that ain't cheating. I would've used mine but Between it and my big butt I figured it was gonna be a PITA.

Posted: **Tue Nov 26, 2019 9:06 am**

Eric1 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 21, 2019 2:23 pm [Nah that ain't cheating. I would've used mine but Between it and my big butt I figured it was gonna be a PITA.

Nice!

I started gluing up my long panels. Wasn't sure how much of a gap to use, I ended up using a 3/8 washer as a spacer, seems to look about right. This is my first experience with Gel-magic and bi-axial tape so I've been moving slow and trying to get things right. I ordered slow hardener because my goal is to do the whole hull wet-on-wet, this may mean some extended wait times for the glassing table. I'm trying to speed up the cure with some lamps and insulation board. At this point I can probably move these panels on top of the jig to finish curing and start gluing up the other panels. The gel-magic seems to be pretty hard/holding the panels together, the resins is still pretty tacky.

Posted: **Wed Dec 04, 2019 4:51 pm**

Eric1 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 21, 2019 2:23 pm Nah that ain't cheating. I would've used mine but Between it and my big butt I figured it was gonna be a PITA.

Eric, I was just looking through some of your food photos. I am now starving and completely understand your big butt comment, I'd weigh 300 lbs with that delicous stuff lying around! When most people say "I've been doing some baking" they mean cookies or a pie, you go straight to artisanal breads. I guess when most people say they are building a boat they mean a rowboat or a dinghy, you go straight to a serious, beautiful 21' skiff! Super impressed, keep up the great work, on all fronts!

Jeff

Posted: **Wed Dec 04, 2019 6:52 pm**

VT_Jeff wrote: ↑Wed Dec 04, 2019 4:51 pm
Eric1 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 21, 2019 2:23 pm Nah that ain't cheating. I would've used mine but Between it and my big butt I figured it was gonna be a PITA.
Eric, I was just looking through some of your food photos. I am now starving and completely understand your big butt comment, I'd weigh 300 lbs with that delicous stuff lying around! When most people say "I've been doing some baking" they mean cookies or a pie, you go straight to artisanal breads. I guess when most people say they are building a boat they mean a rowboat or a dinghy, you go straight to a serious, beautiful 21' skiff! Super impressed, keep up the great work, on all fronts!

Jeff

Wow! Thanks For those kind words. I'm holding steady at 204 but Doc say I should weigh 165.
What does he know? LOL

Posted: **Mon Dec 16, 2019 10:30 am**

On Sat we glassed the bottom, went pretty well. Here were my complete steps for the hull:

Panel assembly:

1. Stitched panels together. Did my best to "float" them, get them fair and avoid pinching. Used nails to maintain a gap and pvc pipe for alignment.

2. Taped the gaps on the inside with blue painters tape

3. Used an epoxy syringe to fill the gap with Gel-magic. Instead of spot-welding, I got as close to the stitches as I could. On the transom, there was a natural gap on the inside but the outside edges were flush, so I used the syringe to fill the gap on the inside.

4. Allowed welds to cure overnight, removed stitches, completed taping gaps inside with blue tape where the stitches were

5. Filled in the welds where the stitches were, Allowed that to cure for a few days

6. Used a block plane to radius all edges to at least 1/2" radius. This resulted in removing some wood from the edges. I'm not sure I understand how other people can get a good radius just by adding thickened epoxy to the outside of the joint, but I read about people doing it all the time so I assume it works.

7. Sanded the radius all the way around with 80 to ensure that the glass/epoxy would bond(secondarily) to the cured Gel-magic.

Hull Glassing:

1. Measured and cut all tape and fabric a few days ahead of time and put guide-lines on the hull with a sharpie. The sharpie was a mistake as the ink ran when we applied the epoxy, lesson learned.

2. Got the shop warmed up to 65 and turned the crockpot on low to get the epoxy warm.

- ready for glassing, I taped off the rub-rail area so I can glue the rub-railto bare wood as much as possible

3. Pre-wet the transom seams, the keel and the chines

4. Laid the tape on the transom seams, the keel and the chines, did not wait at all once pre-wetting was done

5. Wet out all the tape

6. Pre-wet the rest of the hull and transom

7. Rolled on the fabric (from cardboard tubes) and wet it out

With Elaine and I, it took a solid 4 hours from start to finish, which felt like about 15 minutes, could not believe it when we looked at the clock. We used slow hardener and never felt like we were getting behind, everything stayed greasy as desired.

The guidelines we drew on the hull, outside of the fact that the sharpie ran and will surely cause the boat to sink the moment it gets wet, worked great, made it really easy to get the tape and the fabric in the right place on the first try, or at least close. Working on greasy epoxy instead of tacky epoxy also made it possible to make small adjustments, if I had gone with my original plan of letting it get tacky, we probably would have gotten in trouble.

It all went pretty smoothly so not a ton of other lessons learned. We used bondo spatulas and glue brushes. When I do the inside I'll get some epoxy rollers to make it a little easier to get the air bubbles out. Fallguys recommendation to wet out the layers individually was spot on; if we had gone with my plan of laying all the glass down and the wetting out the layers together, we would have ended up, I suspect, with a lot more air and a lot more work. As it was, the areas with 3 or more layers of glass ended up a little milky but not too bad in my completely amateur estimation. Efforts to get them any clearer usually resulted in upsetting the glass layers so we figured best to leave them.

Last night I put another coat of raw epoxy on just the bottom and hit the sides with quick fair to start filling in the weave. System 3 gives a theoretical 72 hour re-coat window, my goal is to keep it under 48 hours and get the weave completely filled in the next day or 2. I used quick fair on the sides because it doesn't sag and I figured it would be easier than dealing with dripping epoxy, which was true, but it's a lot more work to mix and apply. What I thought was going to be a quick 1 hour job last night turned into a 4 hour job by the time I got it done.

I'll add some photos, there are some in my gallery now of the hull assembly etc, need to upload the rest.

Thanks again Jacques and Fallguy for the input!

Jeff

Posted: **Mon Dec 16, 2019 10:57 am**

Nice progress Jeff!!! What are your temps up there? Jeff

Posted: **Mon Dec 16, 2019 11:53 am**

Jeff wrote: ↑Mon Dec 16, 2019 10:57 am Nice progress Jeff!!! What are your temps up there? Jeff

Thanks jeff.

Sat was 32-34 outdoors, today it's back down to.....20s?

My basement has electric baseboard heat, I expect the bill will be a decent line item in my final build cost.

Posted: **Mon Dec 16, 2019 12:00 pm**

OK, that is cold!!! At least you have a heated work space!!! Jeff

Posted: **Mon Dec 16, 2019 12:54 pm**

Jeff wrote: ↑Mon Dec 16, 2019 12:00 pm OK, that is cold!!! At least you have a heated work space!!! Jeff

You said it! Not sure I'd be able to do this in the winter up here otherwise. Mad respect to those guys working in garages with a kerosene heater in cold weather climates, I have it easy!

Posted: **Sun Dec 29, 2019 7:54 pm**

What temp you reckon your basement sits at when your working with the slow hardener? I can get the shop to about 60 when it’s freezing or below and want to try the slow hardener, the med and fast is kicking fast.

I feel you on the heat bill. I have a separate electric service for where I work and it’s typically less then twenty bucks a month. Bet it’ll be over a hundred while I’m building.

Posted: **Sun Dec 29, 2019 8:44 pm**

RiggsWNC wrote: ↑Sun Dec 29, 2019 7:54 pm What temp you reckon your basement sits at when your working with the slow hardener? I can get the shop to about 60 when it’s freezing or below and want to try the slow hardener, the med and fast is kicking fast.

I feel you on the heat bill. I have a separate electric service for where I work and it’s typically less then twenty bucks a month. Bet it’ll be over a hundred while I’m building.

60-65 is typical, rarely higher. I went with slow so I could glass wet on wet, so far so good, probably more time spent waiting than others may like. The quikfair, I think, is single speed, no issues yet using it in the same temps.

Posted: **Mon Dec 30, 2019 1:11 am**

I work in 60 degree temp all the time. I have used a lot of both fast and slow. When I glass I plan on not being able to do anything with it until the next day. The fast is always good to go. The slow is still just short of sand ready the next day sometimes. I like slow for the no blush and long working time. One problem with slow is you can get some drain out if you are not careful.

Posted: **Mon Dec 30, 2019 8:11 am**

Fuzz, what’s drain out and how is it prevented?

Posted: **Mon Dec 30, 2019 11:13 am**

RiggsWNC wrote: ↑Mon Dec 30, 2019 8:11 am Fuzz, what’s drain out and how is it prevented?

Ditto!

Posted: **Mon Dec 30, 2019 11:19 am**

Fuzz wrote: ↑Mon Dec 30, 2019 1:11 am When I glass I plan on not being able to do anything with it until the next day.

I try to wait a week, which may seem insane, but I learned on my last boat that sanding week-long cured epoxy was a "joy" compared to sanding epoxy that had only cured for a day or two. This was why I was so intent on glassing wet-on-wet, to avoid the need to sand between and wait long periods between steps. This worked well on the hull bottom, we'll see how it goes on the inside where there are a lot more steps involved to get the bilge/seams glassed, get the stringers and the frames all in wet-on-wet. May be undoable.

QuickFair I sand a day later, no issues there.

Posted: **Mon Dec 30, 2019 12:40 pm**

VT_Jeff wrote: ↑Mon Dec 30, 2019 11:13 am
RiggsWNC wrote: ↑Mon Dec 30, 2019 8:11 am Fuzz, what’s drain out and how is it prevented?
Ditto!

Slow can take so long to gel that it can drip/run out of the glass especially on vertical surfaces. You can add a little thickening agent if needed. I only thicken things up after my glass is mostly wet out. This is only a problem if you have a long gel time.

Posted: **Mon Dec 30, 2019 3:36 pm**

Fuzz wrote: ↑Mon Dec 30, 2019 12:40 pm
VT_Jeff wrote: ↑Mon Dec 30, 2019 11:13 am
RiggsWNC wrote: ↑Mon Dec 30, 2019 8:11 am Fuzz, what’s drain out and how is it prevented?
Ditto!
Slow can take so long to gel that it can drip/run out of the glass especially on vertical surfaces. You can add a little thickening agent if needed. I only thicken things up after my glass is mostly wet out. This is only a problem if you have a long gel time.

Interesting. I have tried to hang around long enough to catch drips on the verticals but inevitably miss some, maybe this is why. Great info Fuzz, thanks.

Posted: **Wed Jan 08, 2020 3:51 pm**

Sanding just got a lot easier!

Posted: **Wed Jan 08, 2020 3:53 pm**

I think I'm dealing with more reverse rocker than hook: if I use a shorter straight edge, there is little to no hook towards the stern:

Posted: **Wed Jan 08, 2020 7:41 pm**

I love the sanding rig. Seems legit...

What is reverse rocker? From the pic, this seems like good news.

Posted: **Wed Jan 08, 2020 10:40 pm**

Dan_Smullen wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 7:41 pm What is reverse rocker? From the pic, this seems like good news.

Reverse rocker is just hook spread over a longer distance. The rear panels are pretty flat in that area as shown in the photo. The keel itself has a bit of hook/reverse rocker over the 4 feet. May be that my D frame was low or that I jacked the transom up too much when I used the 2X6 jack to keep it from sagging, may have err'd in other direction. I'm sure the performance-minded would add layers of glass etc to get it flat but I'm not going to bother with it, it's fairly slight and I can't believe I'll notice on anything but pure glass, time will tell. At hundreds of dollars/gallon for epoxy, $50/quart of fairing compound, and already having bought twice the design qty, I need to pick my targets carefully. This ain't one.

Posted: **Thu Jan 09, 2020 8:21 am**

I like the way you think.

Build on!

Posted: **Thu Jan 09, 2020 8:22 am**

Agree!!! Jeff

Posted: **Thu Jan 09, 2020 2:56 pm**

Jeff wrote: ↑Thu Jan 09, 2020 8:22 amAgree!!! Jeff

Thanks Jeff

I saw the Bateau spread in the latest issue of Small Boats, great exposure!

Posted: **Thu Jan 09, 2020 4:44 pm**

Yes, they do a great job!!!! Jeff

Posted: **Sat Jan 11, 2020 4:41 pm**

Warm temps made for a nice day of not-boat-building down the street in western ma, deerfield river.

Posted: **Sun Jan 12, 2020 9:04 pm**

Hi Jeff,
Nice looking fish. It was a nice warm weekend. Good luck with the boat. Looking great!
Dave

Posted: **Mon Jan 13, 2020 9:18 am**

Nice!!! Jeff

Posted: **Mon Jan 13, 2020 4:08 pm**

PapaDave wrote: ↑Sun Jan 12, 2020 9:04 pm Hi Jeff,
Nice looking fish. It was a nice warm weekend. Good luck with the boat. Looking great!
Dave

Jeff wrote: ↑Mon Jan 13, 2020 9:18 amNice!!! Jeff

Thanks. I "cheated" and used an egg pattern under an indicator(aka bobber) which I basically just let drift around an eddy until this fish bit. Not exactly purist-level fly-fishing, but in January in western mass, 20-30 mph winds right in the face, it was about the only bearable way to fish.

Posted: **Tue Jan 14, 2020 7:28 am**

That is some tough fishing Jeff!!! Jeff

Posted: **Thu Mar 05, 2020 7:53 am**

As I threatened in my first post, wife and I are headed to Homosassa in a few weeks to get our feet wet fishing in Fla. The FS14LS is still about a year from completion(I'm in the middle of putting the rubrails on and fixing the mess I made trying to square the edges on the aft chines/transom edge, more on that later). We're bringing the driftboat I built last year and some SUP's. Wife works for a SUP company and she'll be doing some product testing while we're down there.

From the maps I've seen, appears we'll mostly be in mangroves, looks like any flats are a fair distance from town for a driftboat or a SUP. If anyone has any info they'd be willing to share I'm all ears. We're treating this as a scouting mission so no real agenda beyond escaping mud season for a few weeks, trying to hook a few fish on a fly line and gaining some knowledge on flyfishing saltwater and the area. Next year and beyond we'll hopefully be bringing the FS14LS and get more into true flats fishing, start the learning process over again.

Thanks,

Jeff

.

Posted: **Thu Mar 05, 2020 9:18 am**

Quick update:

I got it into my head that sharp chines, like the cool kids have, would be awesome. And I wanted to slow the build down a bit for budgetary reasons. I put packing tape on a 4' piece of scrap, clamped it to the side, then poured some slurry into the gap. The slurry was too thick and did not get into the crack well enough, and then I pulled the scrap off the transom too early and basically wrecked that one. So just when I thought I was done fairing I gave myself plenty more to do, which achieved my goal of slowing the build down, so maybe not not all was lost. I will say that I think clamping the form on worked fine, I don't think it's neccessry(IMOVHO) to drill/screw the form on.

I got most of the rubrails put on, I have 2 more strips to go out of 8. I used a pretty simple method. For the inner strips, I clamped it on, adjusted, traced it onto the hull, applied GelMagic, and then clamped it in place, one strip at a time. Then I just glued the outer strips to the inner strips, again one strip at a time. It took some time but was easy, no guide holes/dowels were needed/used, I'm generally happy with the alignment. The strips were not cut perfectly to begin with so the alignment was not going to be perfect regardless.

Once I'm done with the rubrails and fixing my sharp chine F-ups, I'll be coating the bottom with expoy/graphite, then will need to order some primer and prime the sides. We are now in full prep-mode for a month-long road trip so I don't expect too much more progress in the short-term.

Posted: **Thu Mar 05, 2020 9:22 am**

Nice work VT_Jeff!!! She is really looking good!! I hope you guys enjoy your trip. I don't know that area for fishing but I am confident the locals will guide you in the right direction. You guys enjoy the Florida sun and catch some fish!!!! Jeff

Posted: **Wed Jul 08, 2020 12:56 pm**

So, I got the hull painted. Super un-happy with how it turned out, unfortunately.

I used oyster white and largo blue, the oyster white is way too beige for my taste but it was hard to determine that until I could see it altogether. I also used what I thought would be a cool design but once the masking tape came off, it was not very cool. It was not cool at all. So I'm going to re-do the oyster white in pure white and I'm going to wrap the blue all the way around the transom instead of having the the border at the back of the sides and the sides of the transom. Also, there are some areas where the blue shines and looks great and others where it looks flat and not very good, so that will need some re-work as well.

In the transom photo, I lit it from the floor and flipped the photo upside down to try to give an idea what it will look like right-side up.

This is a mock-up with paint.exe showing a vast improvement in the graphic:

This photo was with the lighting overhead so it looks a little weird. I'm not unhappy with the design on the bow and am going to leave it as is(except the color)

The good news is that each time I paint a coat I need to wait 3-4 days for it to dry enough to scuff effectively, so I can probably eat up the rest of the summer fixing this. So at least I have something to do! First-world problems, I'll take em!

Posted: **Wed Jul 08, 2020 2:02 pm**

You might be unhappy but it looks good in the pictures

Remember we are own worst critics.

Posted: **Wed Jul 08, 2020 2:13 pm**

I agree with Fuzz, I think it looks good!!! Jeff

Posted: **Wed Jul 08, 2020 3:05 pm**

I think it looks good!

I've had the same thoughts about oyster white.

Posted: **Wed Jul 08, 2020 3:27 pm**

Fuzz wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 2:02 pm Remember we are own worst critics.

You must not be married!

Thanks Fuzz.

Posted: **Wed Jul 08, 2020 3:29 pm**

BB Sig wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 3:05 pm I think it looks good!

I've had the same thoughts about oyster white.

I think if the whole boat was going to be a solid color with some bright-finished wood, the Oyster white would work ok or maybe it would be great. But in this scenario, yeah, too beige/yellow. Esp when my plan is to do the deck non-skid in light grey, I think only pure white makes sense. Hindsight!

Posted: **Wed Jul 08, 2020 3:30 pm**

Jeff wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 2:13 pm I agree with Fuzz, I think it looks good!!! Jeff

Appreciate it as always Jeff!

Posted: **Fri Jul 17, 2020 10:04 am**

Made the decision to live with the oyster white and move on. After reading a few other painting nightmare stories on here and struggling mightily with it myself, figured it was best not to tempt fate. My nephew helped me flip it so now it's on to glass the inside.

Posted: **Fri Jul 17, 2020 10:09 am**

VT_Jeff, I know you are not completely happy with the paint but I really like the look. Quite custom!! Jeff

Posted: **Fri Jul 17, 2020 10:54 am**

That boat looks great. If you aren't happy with it set it by the curb I'm on the way.

Posted: **Fri Jul 17, 2020 11:19 am**

lelandtampa wrote: ↑Fri Jul 17, 2020 10:54 am That boat looks great. If you aren't happy with it set it by the curb I'm on the way.

It's growing on me but I'll keep the offer in mind!

Posted: **Fri Jul 17, 2020 11:23 am**

Jeff wrote: ↑Fri Jul 17, 2020 10:09 am VT_Jeff, I know you are not completely happy with the paint but I really like the look. Quite custom!! Jeff

Thanks Jeff. As I said, it's growing on me and the wife thinks it looks fine. Wrapping the blue around the transom made a big difference in the look so I'm happy with that and I'm counting my blessings that it's not coming off in sheets or doing anything else that may make me want to scream. I need to stop looking at photos of seaslugs boat!

Posted: **Fri Jul 17, 2020 12:59 pm**

I think its sharp looking! Build on!

Posted: **Mon Jul 20, 2020 12:41 pm**

Looks are so subjective to the individual. You do what makes you happy

It looks good either way IMO, but the rounded ends gave it a cool unique look.

Posted: **Mon Jul 20, 2020 3:37 pm**

narfi wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2020 12:41 pm the rounded ends gave it a cool unique look.

Appreciate it Narfi, we'll see where it ultimately ends up!

Posted: **Mon Jul 20, 2020 5:28 pm**

I think your paint layout looks great. Keep up the good work.
Dave

Posted: **Tue Jul 21, 2020 12:59 pm**

PapaDave wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2020 5:28 pm I think your paint layout looks great. Keep up the good work.
Dave

Appreciate it Dave. I now understand completely why other builders complain about paint jobs that look perfectly fine to me! Proximity effect.

Posted: **Mon Jul 27, 2020 9:46 am**

Picked up my barely used honda 20hp four stroke. A little shocked at the weight, glad I doubled my transom.

Posted: **Mon Jul 27, 2020 10:39 am**

looks brand new

Posted: **Thu Jul 30, 2020 3:14 pm**

Congrats on the flip, Jeff! Paint job looks fast!

Looks like a good place to put it down for a month.

Posted: **Sat Aug 01, 2020 8:00 am**

Dan_Smullen wrote: ↑Thu Jul 30, 2020 3:14 pm Congrats on the flip, Jeff! Paint job looks fast!

Thanks. Very interested to see how fast she'll be with the honda 20. As long as it planes with me and the wife I'll be happy, I suspect it will.

Posted: **Mon Aug 17, 2020 8:17 pm**

Great night on the local pond with my two favorite girls! Brook got to lick 3 nice browns before they got thrown back.

Posted: **Tue Aug 18, 2020 1:10 am**

So what did the dog do

Sorry the devil made me ask

Posted: **Tue Aug 18, 2020 5:50 am**

Fuzz wrote: ↑Tue Aug 18, 2020 1:10 am So what did the dog do

Shoulda seen that coming!

Posted: **Tue Aug 18, 2020 8:09 am**

Beautiful area!! Jeff

Posted: **Mon Oct 12, 2020 10:07 pm**

That sweet pup a few posts back died a day or two after that trip, she was 14 and had a good number of health issues. Crazy how heartbreaking losing a pet is! We decided to rescue another a few weeks ago, this is 'Bow, as in Rainbow Trout(Last one was Brook Trout).

Hes about 15 weeks and a total handful. When hes good hes great and when hes bad hes demonic, typical pup from what I'm hearing. We love him despite his occasional tantrums and finish-nail teeth.

I made an oar to mark Brookies ashes site and our friends young daughters did the artwork for us, they'd known Brook all their lives.

So the new pup has been taking up an astonishing amount of time but I look at it as a dog building project and hope he floats when I'm done sanding him. I did manage to get my stringers glassed in with the help of my nephew who was visiting to fish the local rivers with us over the weekend. Tough weekend for trout but the stringers came out ok.

Frame fitting is next, between sits, stays, heel, don't eat dogshit, stop chasing the cat, try not to bite my face and other pup training sessions.

Posted: **Mon Oct 12, 2020 10:11 pm**

P.s. 2020 officially off my christmas card list for good!

Posted: **Mon Oct 12, 2020 10:45 pm**

Awesome outlook and sentiment, Jeff. Great metaphor for sure.

I also respect how you leveraged labor out of a nephew who wanted to fish.

Posted: **Tue Oct 13, 2020 7:30 am**

Jeff, Very sorry to hear about your loss!! Our pets are part of our families and are dearly missed when they leave us!!! Nice oar!! Jeff

Posted: **Tue Oct 13, 2020 12:20 pm**

Thanks Jeff, she sure was part of the family, with us all day/everyday for 14 years straight!

The oar worked well as a prototype/practice for me to eventually make a new set of oars for my driftboat, it was a lot simpler than I had anticipated.

Posted: **Tue Oct 13, 2020 12:24 pm**

Dan_Smullen wrote: ↑Mon Oct 12, 2020 10:45 pm I also respect how you leveraged labor out of a nephew who wanted to fish.

Absolutely! Luckily he did finally get a "trophy" brookie(14" or so) on a dry on Monday after getting skunked sat and sun. He had more luck without us than with us, go figure!

Posted: **Tue Oct 13, 2020 2:33 pm**

Hi Jeff,
Sorry to hear about your dog. Hope that new pup is able to fill the loss a bit. Your boat is looking great.
Dave

Posted: **Tue Oct 13, 2020 5:16 pm**

PapaDave wrote: ↑Tue Oct 13, 2020 2:33 pm Hi Jeff,
Sorry to hear about your dog. Hope that new pup is able to fill the loss a bit. Your boat is looking great.
Dave

Thanks Dave, appreciate it!

Posted: **Tue Oct 13, 2020 8:54 pm**

Hi Jeff, very sorry to hear about your dog. I lost my workshop helper (supervisor) almost a month ago and it is very quiet without him. The new pup looks like pure mischief and energy as all puppies should be.

Posted: **Tue Oct 13, 2020 9:46 pm**

Fair WX Pilot wrote: ↑Tue Oct 13, 2020 8:54 pm Hi Jeff, very sorry to hear about your dog. I lost my workshop helper (supervisor) almost a month ago and it is very quiet without him. The new pup looks like pure mischief and energy as all puppies should be.

Thanks Alan and I'm saddened to hear about yours as well, I was jealous that your pup liked to hang around the shop, I would have loved that company in my dank basement! Pure Mischief and energy is spot on, he's perfect by that measure!

Posted: **Sat Oct 17, 2020 6:25 pm**

Spent the day laying out and prepping frame D. Took some time to decide exactly where the flyrods would store best, space gets tight quick. The large holes at the top of the frame are for the butt ends of the rods, the smaller holes are for the fuel line in one side and electrical on the other. The half circles are the scuppers. Long day just to get a single frame prepped but it also involved a lot of decision making so I'm quite happy with the progress.

Posted: **Mon Oct 19, 2020 11:55 am**

Boat looks great, neat idea for the scuppers.

Posted: **Tue Oct 20, 2020 3:11 pm**

Fair WX Pilot wrote: ↑Mon Oct 19, 2020 11:55 am Neat idea for the scuppers.

Thanks Alan! The new pup doesn't like to get his paws wet so I'm doing whatever I can to ensure the cockpit sole will stay as dry as possible.

Posted: **Fri Oct 30, 2020 6:00 pm**

I'll bet that pup is jumping in enjoying the water before long, not worrying a bit about getting his paws wet!

Posted: **Fri Oct 30, 2020 6:17 pm**

gstanfield wrote: ↑Fri Oct 30, 2020 6:00 pm I'll bet that pup is jumping in enjoying the water before long, not worrying a bit about getting his paws wet!

I just got his feet wet, literally, in our local creek yesterday, did not seem to mind at all. He seems like he's gonna be an awesome dog all the way around! Just got his last Lepto booster so we can actually start introducing him to some real water, now that it's 28 degrees!

Posted: **Fri Oct 30, 2020 6:20 pm**

VT_Jeff wrote: ↑Fri Oct 30, 2020 6:17 pm
gstanfield wrote: ↑Fri Oct 30, 2020 6:00 pm I'll bet that pup is jumping in enjoying the water before long, not worrying a bit about getting his paws wet!
I just got his feet wet, literally, in our local creek yesterday, did not seem to mind at all. He seems like he's gonna be an awesome dog all the way around! Just got his last Lepto booster so we can actually start introducing him to some real water, now that it's 28 degrees!

Great to hear! (not the weather, I'm bummed with winter being here and tired of snow and sub zero temps already.)

Posted: **Fri Oct 30, 2020 6:20 pm**

My updated plan for poling platform and console. Dan Smullen recommended Fusion 360 for modeling and I am totally addicted! Free for personal use. Took a bit to get the base concepts but really fun/powerful!

Posted: **Fri Oct 30, 2020 6:23 pm**

Looking good, Jeff.

Question for someone unfamiliar with this type of rig. I know the poling platform is to get you higher, obviously, but is it for the purpose of being able to see better down in the water by having a higher vantage point? When I lived and fished in shallows I was doing it all from an old aluminum John boat so the poling platform thing is something I have zero experience with.

Posted: **Fri Oct 30, 2020 6:32 pm**

gstanfield wrote: ↑Fri Oct 30, 2020 6:20 pm Great to hear! (not the weather, I'm bummed with winter being here and tired of snow and sub zero temps already.)

I hear that! I am very glad that I have a half-built boat( and a new pup) that will occupy a lot of my time and attention as the weather turns. Once the clocks turn, it's critical to have some indoor stuff to look forward to. Wife is turning her attention to baking and maybe learning fly tying now that fishing is turning off and ww kayaking is getting scarce.

Posted: **Fri Oct 30, 2020 6:42 pm**

gstanfield wrote: ↑Fri Oct 30, 2020 6:23 pm Looking good, Jeff.

Question for someone unfamiliar with this type of rig. I know the poling platform is to get you higher, obviously, but is it for the purpose of being able to see better down in the water by having a higher vantage point? When I lived and fished in shallows I was doing it all from an old aluminum John boat so the poling platform thing is something I have zero experience with.

Great question! I suspect that anyone else on the site could tell you more about poling platforms than I can. I believe the idea is improved visibility, and fishing for carp and bowfin on Lake Ontario has proven that height offers a real advantage. But as far as actual poling, never done it and not sure if height above deck provides a lot of benefit or if it's primarily about the visibility. Our thought when I started this build was to spend some time in FLA each spring with the RV and the skiff and learn how to redfish and maybe bonefish. My wife is newly-consumed with fly-fishing and obsessed with learning those species, amoung others. Now, with the world a little off it's axis, hard to tell how much time we'll be spending in Fla in the next few years but we can use the boat locally and in lake ontario, though the poling platform is admittedly a nice-to-have in the immediate. Fun to think about and design though!

Posted: **Fri Oct 30, 2020 7:01 pm**

The poling platform does provide height for aid in looking into the water and a vantage point for looking beyond the boat as well as providing some mechanical leverage for using the pole to push.

Poling is hard work and a light skinny skiff is better to pole than a heavy wide one.

Marsh hen hunting around my area is typically done with one person in the bow shooting and the person in the rear poling and scouting for birds from atop the poling platform.

The added height of the poling platform is also helpful on occasion to see over the spartina grass at low tide for navigation purposes as our daily tides range from 7 to 10 feet.

Posted: **Fri Oct 30, 2020 8:15 pm**

VT_Jeff wrote: ↑Fri Oct 30, 2020 6:20 pm My updated plan for poling platform and console. Dan Smullen recommended Fusion 360 for modeling and I am totally addicted! Free for personal use. Took a bit to get the base concepts but really fun/powerful!

Whoa! Looking good Jeff! Stoked Fusion is working for you!

All you need now is a cnc.

Posted: **Sat Oct 31, 2020 10:50 am**

Just wanted to add my name to the list of those following this thread VERY closely. I plan on building the same boat with much the same mods. You're just more organized and beat me to it. I anxiously await your progress posts and hope to learn from your experience. Looks fantastic so far.

Bob

Posted: **Sat Oct 31, 2020 10:56 am**

Would moving the poling platform support posts outboard of the stringers give you more tiller clearance?

Bob

Posted: **Sat Oct 31, 2020 3:44 pm**

Bob D wrote: ↑Sat Oct 31, 2020 10:56 am Would moving the poling platform support posts outboard of the stringers give you more tiller clearance?

Bob

Yeah, I may ultimately have to go that route. The only downside is some extra work to get them through the deck, where as designed they are in the motor well. I need to mock them up, hang the Honda and see how it looks. Thanks!

Posted: **Sat Oct 31, 2020 3:47 pm**

Bob D wrote: ↑Sat Oct 31, 2020 10:50 am Just wanted to add my name to the list of those following this thread VERY closely. I plan on building the same boat with much the same mods. You're just more organized and beat me to it. I anxiously await your progress posts and hope to learn from your experience. Looks fantastic so far.

Bob

Glad to have you aboard Bob! I'll endeavor to stay current and look forward to seeing your progress as well!

Posted: **Sat Oct 31, 2020 6:59 pm**

Dan_Smullen wrote: ↑Fri Oct 30, 2020 8:15 pm
VT_Jeff wrote: ↑Fri Oct 30, 2020 6:20 pm My updated plan for poling platform and console. Dan Smullen recommended Fusion 360 for modeling and I am totally addicted! Free for personal use. Took a bit to get the base concepts but really fun/powerful!
Whoa! Looking good Jeff! Stoked Fusion is working for you!

All you need now is a cnc.

Would love one! We'll see how red the budget is once I'm splashed.

Posted: **Sun Nov 01, 2020 8:22 am**

VT_Jeff wrote: ↑Sat Oct 31, 2020 3:44 pm
Bob D wrote: ↑Sat Oct 31, 2020 10:56 am Would moving the poling platform support posts outboard of the stringers give you more tiller clearance?

Bob
Yeah, I may ultimately have to go that route. The only downside is some extra work to get them through the deck, where as designed they are in the motor well. I need to mock them up, hang the Honda and see how it looks. Thanks!

Moving it just outside the stringers doesn't change the basic design: the shoes are still tied directly to the stringers, which is what I'd like. If it turns out I need to move them further from the center, I will probably need to add some new, short stringers and attach to those, or just create the shoes out of those short stringers directly. Maybe I should just commit to that now and stop wishing for the simple route.

Posted: **Sun Nov 01, 2020 8:26 am**

VT_Jeff wrote: ↑Sun Nov 01, 2020 8:22 am Maybe I should just commit to that now and stop wishing for the simple route.

I hate to be “that guy”, but that statement is the right one.

Posted: **Sun Nov 01, 2020 11:05 am**

Jaysen wrote: ↑Sun Nov 01, 2020 8:26 am
VT_Jeff wrote: ↑Sun Nov 01, 2020 8:22 am Maybe I should just commit to that now and stop wishing for the simple route.
I hate to be “that guy”, but that statement is the right one.

As long as you keep this site up and running you have unlimited "that guy" rights!

Choice has been made for me!

Pretty stoked to see that the transom didnt immediately buckle/fall off under the weight of this ginormous 20 hp 4stroke! Suddenly this boat looks a lot smaller!

Posted: **Sun Nov 01, 2020 7:27 pm**

Nice milestone today. Got the last 2 frames glassed in. Not the neatest glass work on the forum but serviceable, and DONE!

Posted: **Wed Nov 04, 2020 3:45 pm**

Ok, here's some boneheadedness that maybe someone else can learn from.

Once I flipped my hull and installed the stringers, I more or less lost any reference surfaces I had to measure from. The stringers did not go in completely level stern to bow, nor were they exactly level with each other. At the time I was not too concerned as I felt I could just shim the cleats here or there to get the floor level. Then when I installed my frames, I trimmed the tops down a 1/8 or a few 16ths since they were now high due to the glass/epoxy on the inside floor, but I didn't trim them straight since my sheerline was not matching side to side. Due to a lot of splay and some wavy cut rubrails, the sheerline was not exactly perfect. Add all that together and it creates a reference nightmare. The only semi-solid reference edge I have is the clamp on the transom. At this point that edge is driving the rest of the level measurements on the boat: I get that as level as my 4 foot level will allow me to, then level the frame tops by whatever means necessary, then measure down from the leveled frametops to set the floor cleats on the frames, then use those to set the cleats on the stringers and the sides. Theoretically this will all result in flat deck and a floor that is parallel with it. But I think it all could have been avoided if I had. among other things,

1. cut the stringers correctly originally.
2. Checked for and corrected splay before glassing
3. Ensured the stringers were perfectly level before glassing
4. Been more precise when trimming the frames, though the reality is that the glass/epoxy on the floor was not exactly laid precisely so there was going to be some wobble in the frames regardless.

I'm only dealing with 1/8ths of inches in terms of being off, so it's not dire, but def worth re-working till those differences are gone as much as possible.

P.s. I had to knock some incorrectly glued cleats off a frame. The gel-magic had been curing less than 24 hours in my cold basement. When I knocked them, a layer of plywood came with it off of the frame. I was not expecting that. That is some sticky !@#$

Posted: **Thu Nov 05, 2020 8:46 am**

I've come to believe that the ability to find solutions to (even self-generated) problems without getting panicked is the mark of an experienced builder. It sounds like you've got things under control, even though it wasn't the path you'd choose. Thanks for sharing some reality with us!

Posted: **Fri Nov 06, 2020 9:48 am**

pee wee wrote: ↑Thu Nov 05, 2020 8:46 am Thanks for sharing some reality with us!

Thanks pee wee, glad to contribute in any way I can!

Since a boat is essentially a collection of compromises, I figured I'd better start adding some or I'll never finish. To wit: I have a very strong affinity for a sealed bilge: no plug, no holes though the deck, no screws in the deck, no chase tubes, nothing. Each chamber will theoretically be sealed from any other chamber providing theoretical unsinkability without the dreaded foam. That's the theory. One item making that utopian dream more difficult is the rebar-esque steering cable and the need/desire to get it from the motor to the grab rail without it A) being a tripping hazard and B) ruining my plan of a sealed bilge. My thought is to compromise and use a subfloor "channel". I'll do my best to keep water out of it but a worst case scenario will be less than a cup of water getting trapped in the channel. I keep going back and forsth between leaving it open on top and flooring over it. If I leave it open, it will collect water but that water will also evaporate in the right conditions. If I floor over it, it will be less likely to get water in it but once in there, much slower to come out. I may go out of the gate with it open and if I hate it like that, just 5200 in a strip of sealed plywood to cover it and seal around the cable.

This is the mockup, which has me pretty encouraged it will all work.

Edit: just occurred to me that I can floor over it in the cockpit but leave it open under the rear deck. Any water in the channel should collect at the aft end of the channel, under the (accessible) rear deck, where I can remove it with a sponge/suction bulb, or just let it evap. I'm liking this idea!

Posted: **Fri Nov 06, 2020 10:46 am**

Interesting idea. I agree that water under the deck is a major player in the longevity of these boats. I'm doing the same this as you and trying to avoid any obvious ways for it to get in.

The channel idea sounds interesting as its something that is currently used on aircraft to run IFE looms etc through cabins. Works in the same way as your idea and has been used for years so you know it works in that situation. Water getting in wouldn't be a problem as you say but I would be nervous of crud building up in there and causing a blockage. If you made the track cover removable like seat track capping then you could get in there and clean it out periodically.

I am not sure about your boat but on mine the sole is very structural and carries loads over and above just walking on it. Might be worth running it past Jacques to see how he feels about the split in the panels. I was going to put a deck drain across mine and decided against it because of the stress raiser I would have induced.

Posted: **Fri Nov 06, 2020 11:12 am**

Fair WX Pilot wrote: ↑Fri Nov 06, 2020 10:46 am I am not sure about your boat but on mine the sole is very structural and carries loads over and above just walking on it.

Great point Alan. This is another thing I like about flooring over it in the cockpit and leaving it open below the aft deck, gets me the best of both worlds and I can poke out any blockage from the opening in the aft.

Posted: **Mon Nov 09, 2020 12:13 pm**

These are the shoes for the console legs to slide in. Gluing them together with a crossbeam on the table saw, then will install by "hanging" them from the stringer cleats to ensure they are level/parallell/inline with each other. Not planning on the console being removable so the legs will get coated with expoy, slide in, and forever hold their peace(ideally).

Posted: **Mon Nov 09, 2020 8:42 pm**

Great progress, Jeff! You’ve beaten on my glassing frames. I’m dying...

Enjoy the topside planning and work!

Posted: **Mon Nov 09, 2020 10:46 pm**

Dan_Smullen wrote: ↑Mon Nov 09, 2020 8:42 pm Great progress, Jeff! You’ve beaten on my glassing frames. I’m dying...

Enjoy the topside planning and work!

Only beating you because I picked a much smaller boat and I have no kids!

And dont worry, I'll be in the bilge for the firseeable. Deck work is in the distant, foggy future!

Posted: **Wed Nov 11, 2020 11:30 am**

Christmas came early!

Posted: **Wed Nov 11, 2020 11:43 am**

Nice Jeff, how many gallons? Also, is that a Speedy made tank? Jeff

Posted: **Wed Nov 11, 2020 12:47 pm**

Jeff wrote: ↑Wed Nov 11, 2020 11:43 am Nice Jeff, how many gallons? Also, is that a Speedy made tank? Jeff

5 gallons, from Boyd welding. I saw this same tank in Seaslugs build. I would have liked something a little bigger but they are not doing custom orders right now and the next size up wasn't going to fit right.

Posted: **Wed Nov 11, 2020 12:56 pm**

Thanks Jeff!! Looks good!! Jeff

Posted: **Wed Nov 11, 2020 12:58 pm**

Jeff wrote: ↑Wed Nov 11, 2020 12:56 pm Thanks Jeff!! Looks good!! Jeff

Thanks! I'm wondering if I need to paint it or if it's ok to leave as-is.

Posted: **Wed Nov 11, 2020 1:30 pm**

Jeff, it is really up to you. We have customers here that get theirs powder coated or just leave them as is. If you are going to paint the aluminum tank, do a little research aa there is some prep-work you will be required to do!!! Jeff

Posted: **Wed Nov 11, 2020 2:20 pm**

Jeff wrote: ↑Wed Nov 11, 2020 1:30 pm Jeff, it is really up to you. We have customers here that get theirs powder coated or just leave them as is. If you are going to paint the aluminum tank, do a little research aa there is some prep-work you will be required to do!!! Jeff

Appreciate it, I'm going to leave it unless someone talks me out of it.

Posted: **Wed Nov 11, 2020 7:22 pm**

Oohhh! How nice is it to see something not brown on your build?

I noticed your thread just had a birthday. That’s a milestone. Right?

Posted: **Wed Nov 11, 2020 8:33 pm**

Dan_Smullen wrote: ↑Wed Nov 11, 2020 7:22 pm Oohhh! How nice is it to see something not brown on your build?

I noticed your thread just had a birthday. That’s a milestone. Right?

Holly cow, you're right! 1 year in. I originally planned on 18 months, so 6 to go!

The tank is sweet, cant wait to fill it up!

Posted: **Thu Nov 12, 2020 1:42 pm**

Console sockets taped in and chase channel glued in place. Completing cleats is next, then floor.

Posted: **Thu Nov 12, 2020 1:47 pm**

Console sides are a parallel effort, got them glued up for required width at the top.

Posted: **Thu Nov 12, 2020 8:47 pm**

The vert grain fir stock I'm using for the console sides comes with soft edges, so I needed to joint part of the edge before attaching the "ears" that will add width at the top where the helm will be housed. Otherwise they'll be used as is.

Posted: **Fri Nov 13, 2020 9:17 am**

Got the final cleats attached this morning and gave all the cleats a first coating of epoxy on the undersides and vertical faces. I'll wait until the sole goes in before coating the top faces to avoid the need to sand them.

Posted: **Sat Nov 14, 2020 8:29 am**

Boats got sole!

Posted: **Sat Nov 14, 2020 8:57 pm**

Full size sketch of my helm/console on the workbench for easy patterning.

Posted: **Sat Nov 14, 2020 9:07 pm**

VT_Jeff wrote: ↑Wed Nov 11, 2020 11:30 am Christmas came early!

Hey Jeff, that's probably the tank I was going to get as well. Where are you going to mount it?

Posted: **Sat Nov 14, 2020 10:02 pm**

bamaguy0 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 14, 2020 9:07 pm
VT_Jeff wrote: ↑Wed Nov 11, 2020 11:30 am Christmas came early!
Hey Jeff, that's probably the tank I was going to get as well. Where are you going to mount it?

Just forward of frame B. I will need to open the hatch to fill. Seaslug ran his filler neck through the deck but I couldn't figure that out, I think it would require a custom neck and Boyd's not doing anything custom right now. Maybe there's a simple way to extend the neck, I'm open to suggestions.

Posted: **Sat Nov 14, 2020 10:10 pm**

Hmmm. I was going to look into that. I assumed that the filler neck would take filler hose. Maybe not?

Posted: **Sat Nov 14, 2020 10:23 pm**

That will probably work if I can find hose and a deck fitting that match the diameter of the tank neck. I'll start shopping!

Posted: **Sat Nov 14, 2020 10:32 pm**

They sell this kit.

https://fueltankparts.com/products/boyd ... eq=uniform

It you select yes, you get some adapter for that threaded neck. I can't find what it is, though. The neck threads are 2" NPS (Straight not Taper). A female thread to barb would be ideal, but not sure how available NPS fittings are. Also adds height that may or may not clear the deck.

Posted: **Sat Nov 14, 2020 10:38 pm**

This might be the ticket.

https://www.mcmaster.com/5185K42

It isn't rated for Gasoline and I think that has to do with the Neoprene gasket. Might need to source a Buna-N/Nitrile replacement and all would be well.

Also, since you have the tank, could you measure the height of the neck from the top of the tank? I've modeled it for my boat in Fusion 360 and I wanted to check clearances.

Posted: **Sun Nov 15, 2020 12:56 pm**

bamaguy0 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 14, 2020 10:38 pm This might be the ticket.

https://www.mcmaster.com/5185K42

It isn't rated for Gasoline and I think that has to do with the Neoprene gasket. Might need to source a Buna-N/Nitrile replacement and all would be well.

Also, since you have the tank, could you measure the height of the neck from the top of the tank? I've modeled it for my boat in Fusion 360 and I wanted to check clearances.

2 1/4 cap on, 1 3/8 cap off

Posted: **Sun Nov 15, 2020 1:20 pm**

bamaguy0 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 14, 2020 10:32 pm They sell this kit.

https://fueltankparts.com/products/boyd ... eq=uniform

It you select yes, you get some adapter for that threaded neck. I can't find what it is, though. The neck threads are 2" NPS (Straight not Taper). A female thread to barb would be ideal, but not sure how available NPS fittings are. Also adds height that may or may not clear the deck.

I did look at that but am a little confused. It seems l like the kit comes with a new neck that you need to cut a hole for and bolt in. But the parts photo shows no neck and the tank photo shows a welded in neck. This is all outside my very narrow area of expertise and involves explosive liquids on a boat so I'm going to need it really dumbed down before I pull any triggers.

Btw, the outside diameter of the neck that comes is around 2 3/8. That neck is welded on.

Posted: **Sun Nov 15, 2020 2:06 pm**

Yeah it mentions an adapter if you already have a tank with a threaded neck but doesn't show it in any photos. They may be willing to sell that adapter separately with a phone call.

My money is its something nearly identical to the McMaster-Carr part I linked.

I wouldn't want that whole kit anyway. I'm going to be looking for a vented fill port. Saves from having to put another hole in the boat to vent the tank.

Posted: **Sun Nov 15, 2020 2:22 pm**

bamaguy0 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 15, 2020 2:06 pm Yeah it mentions an adapter if you already have a tank with a threaded neck but doesn't show it in any photos. They may be willing to sell that adapter separately with a phone call.

My money is its something nearly identical to the McMaster-Carr part I linked.

I wouldn't want that whole kit anyway. I'm going to be looking for a vented fill port. Saves from having to put another hole in the boat to vent the tank.

Yeah, the vent is another can of worms I've been wrestling with. My plan atm is to drill the hole near the deckline and run the vent hose to a vent with a backflow preventer. Still concerned about water in the tank if I bury the bow, which is pretty likely in the LS.

Posted: **Sun Nov 15, 2020 3:51 pm**

Definitely going to want something like this:
https://www.westmarine.com/buy/attwood- ... --10017838

Supposedly these keep water from entering the tank.

Posted: **Sun Nov 15, 2020 4:06 pm**

bamaguy0 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 15, 2020 3:51 pm Definitely going to want something like this:
https://www.westmarine.com/buy/attwood- ... --10017838

Supposedly these keep water from entering the tank.

That's what I'm looking at, but it's the "normal conditions and washdows" disclaimer that has me wondering. Not sure if burying it in a wave is normal.

Posted: **Sun Nov 15, 2020 4:13 pm**

VT_Jeff wrote: ↑Sun Nov 15, 2020 4:06 pm
bamaguy0 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 15, 2020 3:51 pm Definitely going to want something like this:
https://www.westmarine.com/buy/attwood- ... --10017838

Supposedly these keep water from entering the tank.
That's what I'm looking at, but it's the "normal conditions and washdows" disclaimer that has me wondering. Not sure if burying it in a wave is normal.

Probably not, but not sure there's much else you could do.

Posted: **Sun Nov 15, 2020 4:41 pm**

bamaguy0 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 15, 2020 4:13 pm
VT_Jeff wrote: ↑Sun Nov 15, 2020 4:06 pm
bamaguy0 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 15, 2020 3:51 pm Definitely going to want something like this:
https://www.westmarine.com/buy/attwood- ... --10017838

Supposedly these keep water from entering the tank.
That's what I'm looking at, but it's the "normal conditions and washdows" disclaimer that has me wondering. Not sure if burying it in a wave is normal.
Probably not, but not sure there's much else you could do.

I think a vented cap is out unless it's a deck fill, would you agree?

Posted: **Sun Nov 15, 2020 4:47 pm**

My plan involved mounting the fill cap on the deck. That's what seaslug's fs14 had.

Next problem I've found is most boat filler ports take a 1.5" hose.

Posted: **Sun Nov 15, 2020 5:06 pm**

bamaguy0 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 15, 2020 4:47 pm My plan involved mounting the fill cap on the deck. That's what seaslug's fs14 had.

Next problem I've found is most boat filler ports take a 1.5" hose.

Yup, it's a puzzle. Interested to see what you ultimately settle on, I'm going to delay any decisions for a bit.

Posted: **Sun Nov 15, 2020 7:41 pm**

First step of sole glue up

Posted: **Sun Nov 15, 2020 8:16 pm**

Great way to wrap up a Sunday!

Posted: **Sun Nov 15, 2020 8:25 pm**

I updated my Boyd's 5gal tank model with the filler neck height (I was close at 1.5"). I added the McMaster-Carr fitting and it doesn't give much clearance to the deck. This is with the tank just forward of Frame B and set roughly as low as the hull would allow it considering some sort of creation of a flat surface for the flanges to mount to. This is a +5% scaled model also.

I'm beginning to think you're right that it will be best to just have a hatch to access the filler cap. I want to have a hatch that it will fit through anyway because I don't want to rip the deck out if I have to remove it.

Posted: **Sun Nov 15, 2020 9:24 pm**

bamaguy0 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 15, 2020 8:25 pm ...considering some sort of creation of a flat surface for the flanges to mount to.

Right. Add to that height of the blocks that the flanges will actually sit on. The bolt heads will be inside those blocks, raising the tank up another 1/2" or over your flat surface. At least that's the way I figured it........there may be a simple way to get the flanges flush on the surface but I'm going the bolts through blocks method.

Posted: **Sun Nov 15, 2020 9:36 pm**

Dan_Smullen wrote: ↑Sun Nov 15, 2020 8:16 pm Great way to wrap up a Sunday!

Trying to motivate to do some more tonight but the Patriots are actually in this game!

Posted: **Sun Nov 15, 2020 10:57 pm**

Got the tank bed pieces cut out. Used an old jig to taper the bottom of the platform.

A little scorching but servicable.

My front compartments will have a sole but the tank will be in a mini-bilge that will have a pump and worst case hold a few gallons of water.

The final clearance with the tank on a 9mm tapered platform and 3/4" blocks is 5 1/2" from the top of the neck to the underside of the deck . My boat is +10%

Posted: **Mon Nov 16, 2020 9:58 am**

Nice!!! Jeff

Posted: **Mon Nov 16, 2020 6:09 pm**

Jeff wrote: ↑Mon Nov 16, 2020 9:58 amNice!!! Jeff

Thanks jeff!

Step 2 of the sole join: filling the gap...

Posted: **Mon Nov 16, 2020 6:56 pm**

Chiseled out the bolt head spaces on the tank feet. Some cleaner than others. I'm out of practice with the ww tools but looking forward to spending more time with em.

Posted: **Tue Nov 17, 2020 8:46 am**

VT_Jeff wrote: ↑Mon Nov 16, 2020 6:56 pm I'm out of practice with the ww tools but looking forward to spending more time with em.

ww tools? Weed Whacker? Weight Watcher? Wheel Weight? Whole Wheat? World Wide? I give up.

Posted: **Tue Nov 17, 2020 8:55 am**

Try woodworking.

Posted: **Tue Nov 17, 2020 8:56 am**

bamaguy0 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 17, 2020 8:55 am Try woodworking.

Ding!

Posted: **Tue Nov 17, 2020 8:57 am**

pee wee wrote: ↑Tue Nov 17, 2020 8:46 am
VT_Jeff wrote: ↑Mon Nov 16, 2020 6:56 pm I'm out of practice with the ww tools but looking forward to spending more time with em.
ww tools? Weed Whacker? Weight Watcher? Wheel Weight? Whole Wheat? World Wide? I give up.

I appreciate the effort Pee Wee! That's a wide range of guesses there!

Posted: **Tue Nov 17, 2020 9:02 am**

Thanks!

Posted: **Tue Nov 17, 2020 11:16 am**

Epoxy coat 1 of 2 on the underside of the sole and coat 2 on underside of tank platform.

Posted: **Tue Nov 17, 2020 11:34 am**

Those tank feet look good to me. They’re not loose, it’s expansion room for the epoxy

The boat looks great.

Posted: **Tue Nov 17, 2020 12:16 pm**

Fair WX Pilot wrote: ↑Tue Nov 17, 2020 11:34 am They’re not loose, it’s expansion room for the epoxy

That's right! Gaps are good gaps are good!

Posted: **Tue Nov 17, 2020 7:48 pm**

Tank platform glued in, will run some biax tape on it also.

Posted: **Wed Nov 18, 2020 11:02 pm**

Got a second, sloppy coat on the sole bottom and got parts cut for the pole platform shoes. Not convinced I'll actually pull the trigger on the platform but the shoes will go in regardless just in case.

Posted: **Thu Nov 19, 2020 9:22 am**

First half of platform shoes glued up.

Posted: **Thu Nov 19, 2020 6:26 pm**

Put the load right on me!

Posted: **Thu Nov 19, 2020 6:37 pm**

Got the other sides attached to the platform shoes. I'll trim them neat and glass them to the inside faces of the stringers at the transom. The platform legs will slide in/slide out, and the platform load will be on the stringers and not the transom. At least in theory.

Posted: **Sun Nov 22, 2020 10:37 am**

Aft sole cleats taking shape. Scraping the bottom of the clamp barrrel.

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