I had photo dumped this build on that other site, but figured I’d go ahead a share it here now. For those of you that have not seen it or are unfamiliar with these hulls or my past builds, I’ll summarize it right quick. This is my #3 personal build and I’ve had hands helping a few others out building out similar skiffs. These boats are 13’8” long and have a chine to chine beam of 45”. For small skiffs they extremely capable, but I wanted a little more room and always wondered how a 16’ version would compare. So after much research and many questions I decided to build one. At the same time I have never had a tunnel boat, so I figured why not. I took to our local FB group and put a ISO post and had a woman respond saying “we’ve got one, come get it” and here’s what I found when I got there.
I loaded her her and got her home, and immediately began the clean out process
Up next was planning for the extension. The “lap lines” taper pretty hard at the stern so I didn’t want to fo the extension directly from there. After lots of measurements, I decided to make a mold slightly forward where the taper was more manageable.
Next..Make the cut.
Test fitting the mold and prepping for layup.
Layup complete. The original construction of this hull was all chop gun with no roving. In some areas it was a 1/4” thick. So building up to that took some material to say the least. I also decided to fill all strakes and keel portrusions with thicker epoxy. Even though it’s not pictured, all were filled as was the reverse chine pockets. That took a lot of material as well.
Next up was prepping for the Nidaplast (honeycomb). All of my previous builds had false floors and stringers, but I always worried about water getting inside, and knowing it, on top of being noisy.
With that outta the way it’s onto layout. Not having a false floor for flotation foam, I decided to add a flotation chamber in the bow, and foam under the rear deck and gunwales.
Time for bit of detour. Rod tubes were constructed out of DWV piping which is a cellous core pvc, which is much lighter than Sched 40 PVC. The ends are desk top cable pass throughs which worked out nicely. A little filing of the edges and the rods slip on and out nicely
Framing for the deck, and the battery and gas tank platforms are visible as well. Both platforms were made from Tile board. I wanted to experiment with it, as it’s readily available and somewhat affordable. I would not use it structurally but it’s done fine in this application. I also used it for my casting platform and rod holders.
With decks installed, it’s time to flip and focus on the hull. I honestly didn’t spen a lot of time fairing but at the end of the day, this boat is a tool that I beat the hell out of. The finish is actually Epoxy/Graphite. I initially wanted to use on just the bottom, but decided to go ahead and do the sides as well. I’m extremely satisfied with the results.
Here you can see it sanded vs polished.
I think I ended up with 5 coats total, sanding between each coat, and a final wet sand and buff.
Flip back over, and glass the topside. Nothing exciting here.
Moving on to topside paint. Nothing fancy here. Just good ole Tractor Supply Majic implement paint. Tough as hell and cheap. I’ve even used it on hulls in the past.
And finally.. Knock off sea dek. Love it or hate it, I don’t foresee myself having a skiff without it.
Another interlude. I didn’t want a permanent tank, and I didn’t want to drag out a portable at every fill up, so I compromised and added a full spout to my 9 gallon portable. It’s still easily removed but has the convenience of filling up without removal.
Next up was the trailer. It’s steel channel and was solid but surface rusty. I stripped it and decided to epoxy coat it as well. I wanted to set it up as a dry launch trailer, so it’s not getting dunked. I used 750lb leaf springs, with drop blocks, and 13” passenger car tires. Its rides super smooth with no bounce or bangs. The epoxy coating has held up well, but does a few pop through rust spots. Nothing major though.
And finally
