I’m posting this to chronicle my experience buying and refitting a vintage Hell’s Bay skiff. To start I’ll say I’m not a professional and way more of a learn as you go type of guy. Yes I make tons of mistakes and I learn from them and that’s the important part. I’ve wanted a Hell’s Bay skiff since the first one hit the market. This is my first Hell’s Bay but not my first boat or skiff. I found her right here in Corpus Christi, she had been sitting in a back yard for 14 plus years. The previous owner had taken a vintage tiller steer skiff and added a small false floor and center console. We settled on a deal and I drug her out of the weeds and brought her home.
She was in rough shape to say the least. But had very solid bones and a vintage Hell’s Bay tiller! 
So I gutted her, pulled everything off or out, down to a bare hull, then over she went.
I knew this was not going to be easy as my budget didn’t allow for me to farm out any of the work and I’m working out of my home garage which limits my abilities tremendously. But onward I went…..
She got stripped, sanded, faired, primed, painted (charcoal gray), and flipped back over to start the inside.
Oh before flipping I did finish out the interior of the forward compartment. Its was much easier getting in there with her upside down. The compartments are all painted seafoam green, I just like that color and its brightens them up.
I decided I wanted to take her back to her original self. Removing under gunwale carpet and sanding glue is so much fun I hope I never have to do that again. Repaired all the unnecessary holes. Sanded, primed, painted (Kingston gray), rolled on nonskid (Seattle gray), reused rub rail and hardware, but added hatch latches. Installed Tohatsu 30hp tiller, atlas micro jack (that is getting HMP’s upgrades and will be getting replaced by HMP’s jackplate as soon as Tyler has it ready), Lenco trim tabs, Odyssey battery, new fuel tank, all new rigging fuse panel, etc.
I’m sure I left out tons of details, it’s definitely been quite the learning experience. I’ve about 95% complete and look forward to getting her wet. New trailer will also be coming soon. Sea trials soon to come….
