Made a quick trip on the ICW

Today I took out my dad and son on the Intercoastal. The trailer mods worked great. Also over the past few weeks I rebuilt the bow. I ended up cutting out the original stem and replaced it with a pressure treated 4x4 cut to the angle of the boat. I also picked up a new heavy duty bow eye from West Marine. This all worked great. Oh I forgot to mention that the Virginia Dep't. of Game and Inland Fisheries accepted my boat and it is now registered and legal! Anyways I hope to make a few more trips out before I have to winterize the motor. Next trip the fishing poles are coming.

It floats!!!

Tonight we launched on the Intercoastal Waterway. This boat performed great. My wife and kids joined me and we got a top speed of 28 mph. Not bad for a wooden boat. It handled really smooth even in some slight chop. When we were recovering the trailer had some issues so tomorrow I have some work to do on it. I am attaching a video and some pictures...enjoy!

Console is in

I built a console and rigged it over the weekend. I rigged all of the controls through PVC under the floor. Last night I traced the wire harness and everything worked on the first try. We should be taking it out to the Intercoastal Waterway Thursday or Friday. More pics coming.

On the trailer and ready to float

Today Kaylan and I painted the inside. I rounded up a few friends to lift it on the trailer and install the motor. It wasn't as bad as we all thought. Tomorrow I will start the console. Thanks for the help Kaylan, Brandon, Chuck, Justin and Mike.

Ready to go on the trailer!!!

Over the past few days, I installed the gunwales. I then coated them with epoxy resin and they got a coat of paint. I painted the rub rails and bow as well. Today I picked up a 40 HP Yamaha on Craigslist that came with a helm, control cables and binnacle. Hopefully tomorrow (with the help of some friends) we will put it on the trailer and install the motor.

Floor boards in

So this weekend I installed the flooring. I used standard salt treated decking. I am not sure I will paint or stain and seal it. I also have not decided on filling the 1/8" gaps between the boards with epoxy. More to come soon.

Inside pics

Over the past week i installed the rub rails and front deck. Under the deck will be storage for the anchor and life jackets. I also picked up a trailer on Craigslist for for a bargain. Maybe a test float this weekend!!!

Inside started

I started priming and sealing the inside now and I ran 1 1/2" PVC for the motor controls and 3/4" PVC for the bow lights. All of this will be covered by the flooring to make a clean neat job. Rub rails next......

Ready to start the inside

Over the past few days I coated the hull with 3 coats of epoxy resin, 2 coats of primer and 3 coats of paint. Finally today the paint was dry enough to flip the hull over. It really was not too bad as Jennifer and I did it by ourselves. We then put the furniture dollies from Harbour Freight under it so I can move it out to the driveway to work. Anyway happy 4th of July and now time to start on the inside.

Almost ready for paint...finally

Over the past few days I have used thickened epoxy resin to fill in any voids in the wood. It is a maroon color in the pictures. I then sanded the entire boat with 80 grit and wiped down with acetone. This morning the first full coat of epoxy resin went on the whole boat. This will be followed up with another coat later on today or tomorrow. These layers will waterproof and strengthen the hull. next step is primer.

The bottom is on. It is 3/4" plywood. At the joints a piece of 3/8" plywood is epoxied for support. Also I started fiberglassing the seams and joints. This is very time consuming and messy. Especially when it is 96 degrees outside! I am using the West Systems 206 slow cure hardener now.

Now its time for the side plywood. What a pain in the butt. Iscrewed and epoxied these to the frames. All butt joints are backed with a 6" wide piece of 3/8" plywood epoxied to them.

Next the transom was installed. It will be layered with another piece of 3/4" plywood and reinforced with fiberglass and epoxy resin.

Next it was time to install the chine logs and sheer clamps. These go around the ribs and make nice curves. All of the ribs were notched out for these. Every joint was screwed and epoxied.

The ribs and keelson are now on the strongback. All of the ribs are put together with screws and West System epoxy resin. So far these are really strong.

This is the strongback. It is a frame used to build the boat upside down.

Week 1

Well I ordered some plans about a month ago from Spira International and started building. When done this boat will be 17 feet long. So far this is where I am at.