I have had a few people send pms asking about my skiff and the rebuild process....so here are some pics before and after....I dont know how to post details between pics so here it goes.
Found this boat on ebay for 275.00 up in Lake Elsinore....at the time I figured I would get something cheap...put a little money into it and be out in no time...HA! What an idiot! People say BOAT stands for BUST OUT ANOTHER THOUSAND...and I figured no way a 17ft skiff would get costly....hang on a second please
...when I got up to Elsinore I find that the people who listed it were straight up crack heads (see blue sweatshirt guy)...think they just wanted the money to get high....but whatever the boat was on the ground so I was worried about the bottom being rotten, so the first thing was to have the crack heads help me roll her over and get a good look at the bottom...everything felt solid so I decided to give it a shot...only problem no trailer. One of the 100lb crackheads mentioned another boat that someone had left back in the trees behind the house...so we went back there and trust me when I tell you it was creepy back there! So there is this hunk of @#@!! sitting on a barely operational trailer. So we hooked some straps from the boat up into the trees and I pulled the trailer away from the boat and just let it fall off the trailer...after a couple new used tires I backed the trailer into the lake and walked the boat on and that was that...275.00 boat and trailer and I'm off.
Started out by pressure washing the trailer and boat then got into some serious sanding. The rails were hollow and not attached to the boat...you could just lift them up and down, so this was what I worked on first. I used stainless rivets to attach the rail back to the boat and then foam filled the undersides of the rails. Eventually the rivets get covered up by a new rub rail. Next was the bow there was a bad crack in the side of the hull and the wood rails in the bow were completely rotten. Fixed up the crack by grinding it back and ruffing up the hole starbord inside of the bow...next came new glass and resin I used the ruff matt 2 layers and then finished with one big section of the finer matt. Next was the rails I had to cut out all the rotten wood and remove. The wood was so bad I couldnt use it for a template so I used cardboard...slid the cardboard up under the rail and then traced the inside lines of the rail then used it for a template...cut two sections of 3/4 inch plywood for each side and scrwed together with stainless screws and coated in resin. Next thing was to get them clamped into place and glass them back in. After alot of sanding and fine tuning and itching they were looking good.
The next big problem was the sides of the boat were very flimsy and did not feel like they could hold up offshore. So here is what was done to remedy that...I cut pieces of 3/4 inch plywood for stringers and pieced together vertical and horizontal stringers that would stiffen the sides once glassed in. Once I had the stringers flush with the contour of the boat and once I had them screwed together it was time to glass them in...I started out tabbing them in the corners and where they met the underside of the rails and deck of the boat....next came two layers of the rough matt...I just cut a bunck of lengths about 10inches wide and just went to town...glassing...sanding...itching...I must have went through 3 or 4 pair of scissors and a ton of gloves.
Next thing was the center console it was just sitting on the deck so I glassed it back to the deck and put in 12" wide SS brackts along the sides for reinforcement. Next all the old drilled holes and imperfections were filled and sanded untill ready for paint.
Now boat was ready to paint...roll and tipped it with 3 coats of Proline two part haze gray and finished it with a coat of haze gray mixed with polyurethane...gave it a bit of a gloss finish that would clean off much easier. Put a good coat on the bottom with some anti-fouling paint...not really necessary but I found some on craigslist cheap and wanted the bottom black.
Next came the bow rail which I found on ebay for a winning bid of 1$ but paid shipping 50$ but it fit perfect so that was a cool upgrade for cheap. Then I decided to build the t-top...not just for looks but for everything that a t-top gives you....winshield...place for rodholders....lights...shade..etc. Since I didnt want to pop for a super pricey custom jobber I figured there had to be a way to build one that would suffice. After some looking around a buddy of mine reccomended IMS (Industrial metal supply) over in Kearney Mesa. There I found a product called speed rail that was the perfect solution...once I saw what I wanted to use I needed to plan things out so I would know how much tubing and which connectors I would need. After drawing it up I knew what I needed and made the purchase. This stuff is 3/4 inch stainless tubing that joins with an assortment of stainless connectors that attach with set screws (these things really lock down tight). Once I had the frame to the t-top built I needed a top....cut a piece of thin plywood and found a guy on craigslist who sprays rhino-linning he sprayed the top in black and even got him to spray the insides of the boat with gray which really stiffened the ride and gave the stringers a clean look.
Next came bait tank(32gal kodiak donated) all plumbing run inside of console with a valve that lets you run full or half tank. Then two handwells that I made out of battery boxes fixed back by the transom area...this is nice when 2 guys fish... guy on bow has the main tank guy at stern has handwells. Swingback seat/pole holders (10 total) two stainless in rail for troll two in side of console for 3rd and fourth trollers then 4 on front of t-top and two in back of t-top. Next came the FIRST motor and where the BOAT prhase comes into play...I know this is getting long so I will summarize this....1991 2 stroke evinrude gives me headache everytime out....sold my truck to buy new outboard and a honda accord now I tow with the wifes yukon
...it was tuff but I wanted to be able to start trusting my boat. Bought a brand new Suzuki 4 strk 50 and had it shipped from florida....boats and motors out there seem much cheaper...supply and demand I guess.
At any rate after a lot of work...money and sacrifice I have a trusty skiff that fishes well....see yall' on the water and good luck this summer I have a feeling things should come together locally soon....at least I hope so!
Thats why I made a note didnt want people to get the wrong impression...hay I bet they would have gotten around to this rebuild soon enough....HA yeah right these bastards were probably railing up there drugs sittin on the boat at 4 in the morning saying "we will get this boat fixed up someday..."!
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