Very happy with it so far. I upgraded from a Towee so I can’t compare it to other full-size skiffs except as a passenger. Matterhorn white, inside and out. Matching Tohatsu MFS30D. Teak DuraDeck flooring. New Moon seat cushion. I got the front casting platform and Marquesa Marine Pro PP. RamLin trailer.
The Simple Skiffs business model is to provide a limited menu of standard options on top of a minimalist skiff. Hull is @Chris_Morejohn Conchfish 2.0 design. Mike at SS was easy to work with and has been helpful answering several questions since I picked it up.
So far it’s providing the performance I was looking for. It poles easier and much quieter than the Towee. I’m enjoying its stability running in some chop or around a lot of boat wake. It’s fast: I’ve seen 32 mph at full throttle. Still feeling out and breaking in the motor. The trailer is super nice. Solo with the TM, it lists starboard. Probably nothing to do about that. I push the gas tank to port. When on plane it’s easily fixed by a little trim tab. I haven’t poled solo yet, so I’ll have to update with that.
A few notes on things I’ve added:
While I was waiting for the build to come together, I kept busy by making a bracket that bolts onto the side console for mounting my 9” Humminbird Xplore and holding a cup.
I “guide” mounted a 12V Minn kota riptide power drive with spot lock to the starboard side of the deck. I ended up using the Minn Kota plug because I didn’t think the powerpux would fit. I also took about 12” off the TM shaft and mounted the LiTime LiFePO4 battery in the bow just forward of the forward bulkhead. You can probably see what I did in the pictures better than I can explain it. Basically, I screwed tie downs to small blocks of PVC board and glued them to the hull with 5200. Battery is laid down in between and held down with a strap. I was totally improvising here, but it has held through chop and about 800 miles of trailering. Long-term remains to be seen. Ran the + wire through a 60A circuit breaker that I mounted to the bulkhead. The Li battery lasted a full week of daily fishing on the lake with lots of spot lock and TM use. This is a major performance upgrade.
I bought a Carver Sunbrella Cover from Boat Covers Direct (PN 71316ENA). It fits ok. Lumpy looking but does the job. I have a support pole in the center and a cooler on the deck.
Last thing I added was a padeye at the bow. I put on my Towee after reading or hearing Flip Pallot mention preferring that over a cleat. Loved it on the Towee.
@Zika thanks for the compliment on the side console shelf.
I built it during my skiff gap after selling the Towee.
I’m proud of how it turned out. Built mostly using woodworking tools and lots of guesswork. That one is the second try. I learned a few things on the first attempt.
I always thought Towee was remarkably stable. But it was my first boat and my first poling skiff and I guess I have good balance. I loved poling it (until the wind started hammering those vertical sides). The CF is at least a foot wider at the waterline and it makes a big difference. The thing I’ve noticed most is that when fishing with my hefty friend, the Towee would tip suddenly when they moved around. That doesn’t happen as dramatically in the new skiff. You can walk around the big front deck comfortably. So yeah, I think it’s a big improvement in stability.
In chop, it’s the same story. What would feel scary in the Towee is pretty comfortable in the skiff. I was running in a big, busy river the other day and had to be conscious of wakes but just made minor throttle adjustments and the CF cut through them pretty well. Not much of the bow steer that is common in the Towee and it seems easier to get the bow up in the CF if I need to. That said, I went out in a back bay recently on a Saturday and the combination of boat traffic, wind and current had it churned up to a point that it still felt too much in the CF.
Bueatiful skiff! Nice job on the review and the console addition. I’ve been looking to add the addition of a wintertime shallow water skiff. Simply Skiff seems like a really nice skiff. I keep getting hung up on the portablle fuel tank. At the end of each day I picture having to reach under and remove the tank (with fuel in it), set it on the cockpit floor, top it off and then lift the 50 lbs of fuel over the hatch lip and secure it? Or can you get the fuel nozzle into the hatch and fill it in place without overfilling it?
The gas tank is 6 gallons, so only about 36 lbs. I don’t think you’d be able to comfortably fill it without pulling it out. You could probably pull it out half way. I don’t have the gas tank tied down. It just sits in there with the pfds.
