Boat Builder Central - Builder Forums

All,

I've spent the last couple of weeks reading through a lot of the past posts and there is a wealth of information on this site. I couldn't find a post that seemed to directly fit my situation so I figured I would appeal to the knowledge of the other members of the site. I'm am looking to build a boat for use in SE Alaska. I suspect over time I will find that I need multiple boats for different purposes, but to get started I am thinking of a landing craft style boat. I have a buddy who owns both a specmar designed boat and a munson pacman and they have worked really well for him. If I could weld aluminum I'd probably go that route, but since I don't, I'm thinking a fiberglass build. Here's what I think I want in a boat. It will probably change once I start using it a lot but that will be a good excuse to build the next one:
~23 feet long
self bailing decks
fairly easily trailerable
be able to handle going to shore frequently (perhaps some type of sacrificial bottom plate?)
ideally have some type of ramp up front as my Father isn't capable of jumping on/off boat like he once could
be able to haul something like a four wheeler
be able to handle some rough choppy seas
be a tough working type boat (I'm not very good at treating things gently and my vehicles often have more scratches than paint)
have at least some small shelter/pilot house
being relatively fuel efficient would be a great bonus

I'm probably asking too much out of a single boat but appreciate some guidance in narrowing down the design

Jared

The GT23 is the closest boat to what you are looking for. Jacques should see this and as the designer help you make any changes. You can get rid of the full cabin and put on a pilot house, that is not a big deal, in fact there are plans for a large pilot house on here. Once you get the deck down you can make any changes you basically want as long as you keep the frames in place. Working with Jacques you will need to design the front platform door, it will need to be to be hefty.

Finally there are at least two builders in Alaska that can help in getting you supplies and material from here to you, Fuzz and Narfi. I know there is another but I don't recall his name right now.

Tom

Thanks for the input. With so many good designs on the site, I've been struggling trying to figure out which is the easiest to adapt to what I have in mind.

Jared

First welcome to the fun house Building your own boat is both fun and rewarding. Lots of good folks here who do their best to help any way they can. I agree with Tom about the GT23. You could also build a GP21 and upsize it 10%.
A couple of questions. Do you have any beam restrictions? What sort of beaches will you be landing on? Sand or mud is one thing but gravel and rocks is another kettle of fish.
If you do go ahead and build a boat I would call the folks at BBC and get a price for them to ship you every thing you need in one shot. Shipping can really drive the costs up but they do a great job of finding the best price. Narfi and I had an order shipped to Anchorage and the cost savings was well worth it.

Thanks. I built a strip canoe with my boy a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it (except perhaps sanding all the inner curves). I don't have any beam restrictions other than I want it to be fairly easily trailerable. My road system is pretty laid back when it comes to hauling things. I expect that based on what I've seen of the coast it will most often be rocks and gravel landings with an occasional sandy one. That's one of the reasons I was looking seriously at 1/4" aluminum boat. Thinking that I'd definitely make use of sacrificial skids as part of the design and figuring that if I can build one I should be able to repair one when necessary... any insight would definitely be appreciated.

Metal, glass or wood all have good and bad properties when used to build with. Aluminum really shines for the kind of use you are planning. It just takes the scrapping type wear better than glass or wood. If I were building a glass/wood hull for this use I would put a number of solid glass runners on the bottom. They would be thick enough to hold screws so I could bolt aluminum strips to the runners. Glass can be drilled and tapped to hold machine screws.
Just wondering where in southeast you are at? The reason I asked about the beam is you could build the GP21 and add 10% to it also. But that adds complications that you might be better off skipping.

a layer of Xynole , Dynel , or Kevlar if you build with fiberglass wouldn't hurt

I'm in the Ketchikan area. There are a bunch of remote salmon and steelhead streams that I am looking to explore... The fastened aluminum runners is a good idea. I'm sure that I have the skills necessary to catch a big rock right between them, but overall it seems a good compromise. I was planning on a couple extra layers of glass or alternative material in expected high contact areas.

If your landing on rock and gravel most of the time I agree with Fuzz. I would plan for 3 strakes, one on the centerline ending 18-24" in front of the motor to avoid turbulence to the motor, the other 2 split out from the first to the side of the boat. Add a piece of marine SS as it will last longer than aluminum. The ones on the sides can go to the end of the transom If you can't find SS in 304 or 316 grade, aluminum in 5052 or 6061 will work just fine.

Tom

Thanks for the details on the strakes and ideas for sacrificial material. I think it would be a workable solution. Any thoughts on whether to build the performance version or the houseboat version? I would put a small cockpit towards the stern similar to the pictures in my first post. Also leaning toward a engine bracket and trim tabs. Would the deck area need additional reinforcing to handle a load like a 4 wheeler?

If you look at the picture of the boat you posted you will see the low elevation of the ramp is near the forward point of the boats waterline . That would have to be the case on the 23 , you would be bow down and stern up when loading or unloading a 4 wheeler if not . You would have to push a cabin to the stern to get your load behind the forward water line , not even factoring in balance of the boat . If you have not ran a river with a trailer rig air compressor in a flat bottom 24' Carolina Skiff you might not understand what I'm trying to say , and I might not be explaining it very well . You might be able to do what you want to do with the 27 ' with a longer water line . I think the low point of the ramp would have to be close to the forward water line point , I would also think the weight of your 4 wheeler and balance would dictate how much of a cabin you could have and cabin location . If your not running the boat with your 4 wheeler loaded on you will have to have some way to balance the boat , if designed to carry the 4 wheeler .

Carrying a 4 wheeler would probably be more the exception than the rule, but I would like the ability to do so. I imagine there will have to be some compromises to accommodate the balancing issue both full and empty. Having a motor bracket on the back should allow me to move the cabin farther to the stern.

I wrote a long reply and somehow lost it
I would have at least four stringers in the hull to help keep the deck stiff. Most 4-wheelers are not that heavy #500-#700 lbs. Heck that is no more than two of my fishing buddies 1/2 inch plywood with some glass on both sides should do the job. If you do build the boat the designer could answer a lot of these questions. As for a bracket there are both up and down sides to having one. You are not building a speed boat so the biggest gain would be in deck space. In that case making the hull a little longer would do even more for you. IMHO

Thanks. When I get ready to pull the trigger on the build I will definitely talk things over with the designer just to make sure I'm not asking the boat to do something it isn't designed for.

I say - "just do it"!
I know nothing about boat design - well not much anyway - but I have built one based on a JM hull design which I modified to suit may purposes.
The HB hull would appear to be the one to go with.
Don't skimp on power! Power overcomes many issues if you are prepared to pay for the initial cost and the gas!
I think I could put a 4 wheeler on the front deck of my boat and it wouldn't care. I once ran 20 miles down a river at 25 kts with full gas (120 US gal), 7 blokes and a large generator on the front deck that I am sure weighed more then a 4 wheeler. Can't say I noticed much difference in the boat apart from the need for more rpm with resultant fuel flow.

I think one of the most satisfying things about building your own boat is the ability to do your own thing and produce a 'one off'!

Think x 3 - build x 1!

My advice is worth what you pay for it!

There are two hull versions for the GT23 , one designed for weight forward , one aft , LWL looks to be about 16' + , might be more on the hull designed for weight forward but I doubt there will be much more . GT27 has about 20'+ LWL , 845 ppi . , I think it would be much safer if you get into wind and chop while carrying a load .

I think for a first build, I don't want to go much bigger than 23'. The description of the 27' says it isn't really recommended as a planing hull. I suspect often the load will consist of fishing buddies which are easier to move around than cargo .Everyone's insights are much appreciated.

x2 I thought I had posted this before. There are three pilot house designs on here https://www.boatbuildercentral.com/Stud ... _STUDY.pdf These will give you at least some idea of what you can do, if you do not want to buy one of them.

Tom

x2 I thought I had posted this before. There are three pilot house designs on here https://www.boatbuildercentral.com/Stud ... _STUDY.pdf These will give you at least some idea of what you can do, if you do not want to buy one of them. I think what you are planning is good the standard plans calls for a light weight build of the cabin so taking it off and adding a pilot house should be no problem.

Tom

In terms of grounding it's hard to beat UHMWPE. It's known to be hard to glue, but it can be done. I glued strips to my hull a year ago and they are still there; grab one and give it a pull and the whole boat rocks on its cradle.

There's more details on my C17 build thread, but in a nutshell you need to carefully treat the surface of the plastic. Clean with isopropyl alcohol or similar, sand it and then use a propane torch to flame treat it. Glue with WEST systems gflex. I used temporary screws to hold it while the glue set up tjhen filled the screw holes. If you are the belt and suspenders guy use bigger screws with washers all left in and set in holes completely filled with epoxy silica mix, essential to have no path from water to wood anywhere in the boat. If you want to be able to replace, you could use the glue treatment I suggest, then let cure and then screw and 3m4200 this to the runners.

UHMWPE is the recommended hull runners for beached Tolmans, though Renn recommended screw and 5200.

Some NZ jetboaters use sheets of UHMWPE 13mm thick bolted to the bottom of 5mm-10mm thick Aluminium for running shallow rivers. Unlikely that you will put more abuse on a boat than this.

https://youtu.be/LVr2Ptz4SvE

That looks like a lifetime of hard beachings all accomplished in 10 minutes! I think a GT 23 with a light pilothouse and some good bottom protection will be the ticket. If nothing else, the skills learned in building the GT will come in handy after a couple years on the water where experience will teach me what I really want/need in a boat.

There is only one version of the plans now, the Houseboat version, or a slight compromise if any. The planing version had a bow-down issue that could not be fixed. I believe Jaques had to fix the designs to make one that would work. The houseboat version was the winner. I believe the GT23 could be just the thing for your situation. There is a great build on a GT27 happening right now. He is a member here and has videos on Youtube that are great!

Late to the party, but Devlin has your boat; the Mud Dauber 23. My wife grew up in Ketchikan; beautiful area.