Getting back on the water with a new boat project

Will Douglass

Will Douglass

New member
Hey Guys,

I joined this site several years ago while I was still in college and rebuilding/hunting a 20ft Sea Ox.

Well post college life got in the way and I've been kinda out of hunting for the past couple of years. I had some issues with the motor on my Sea Ox and ended up selling off the boat, motor, and trailer. This left me boatless for a bit but my mind was already churning with ideas.

I needed a boat that could double for hunting/fishing and ferrying the wife and dogs out during the summer. I also wanted something big enough to tender layout boats with and fit a scissor rig float blind on while carrying 2-4 hunters.

After scouring craigslist, etc. for hours I found what I was looking for. A 1990 21ft International Skimmer (later to be known as Southern Skimmer) that needed a new transom and just a good general going over. She is a barge of a boat though and will have no problems fitting whatever gear we need to load up.

So far I have removed the old rotten transom core and replaced it with a new composite core. I have also pulled out the console and fuel tank enclosure and will be rebuilding these to my liking. Everything is being redone with epoxy, various types of glass, Divinycell and Coosa foam. There will be no wood within the hull of this boat when I am finished. The deck and stringers are already composite foam and glass.

Below are some pictures of the progress so far, I will keep these updated if you guys want to follow along.

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Got some work done on the skiff this past week. Got the stringers put back together and tabbed to the transom, got the garboard drain drilled and jacketed with PVC, rigging tube put in, and got the deck patch fitted and glassed down.

Gonna build corner boxes for storage and seating in the aft corners of the boat. Once this is done it will be time to flip her over and get to work on making the hull nice and fair.

I am uploading all of my rebuild pictures to photobucket and will link that to the thread once its up and running.
 
Awesome build, was looking into another boat for the same use you are using this one for. What kind of water do you plan on gunning with this?
 
Awesome build, was looking into another boat for the same use you are using this one for. What kind of water do you plan on gunning with this?
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We do a little bit of everything so this boat will be perfect. Close to home we hunt some rivers and medium sized bodies of water but we've also got the Pamlico sound and connecting rivers within 2-3 hours so we trek up there whenever we can. Were mostly diver/seaduck hunting but will occasionally hunt some puddle ducks around the sound shore and river swamps.

Ill be building a traditional Currituck scissor rig for the boat which will be the primary type of hunting we will be doing. I am also going to build a removable cradle for my layout boat so we can use it to tender for layout/seaduck hunts.
 
Here is the link to my photobucket album with all of the current rebuild pictures. I will keep updating the photobucket page as I get work done.


http://s428.photobucket.com/user/willdouglass/library/Skimmer%20Rebuild?sort=3&page=1
 
Awesome thanks, that's my plan also to build a layout cradle. I have a Sneakbox so small spots are covered for me but I have some local big water and the ocean I want to be able to gun.
 
Awesome thanks, that's my plan also to build a layout cradle. I have a Sneakbox so small spots are covered for me but I have some local big water and the ocean I want to be able to gun.
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The only trade off with this boat is she's a flat bottom, so any chop and its gonna rattle you a bit. Might limit the ocean and really big water due to weather, just need to be selective on the days you go.

I had a 20 ft sea ox prior to this boat which was a v-hull very similar to a Parker or Jones Brothers. That boat was a tank and would handle anything I could throw at it. However due to engine problems and wanting a boat more suited for shallow water and inshore fishing in the summer time I went with a larger skiff. This skiff is actually two feet longer than my sea ox was and has more room, she just has the potential to beat us up a little more with the flat bottom but there is a compromise in everything. It will be a killer boat with a scissor rig on it as it sits relatively low to the water and will be easier to conceal.
 
Slowly but surely getting some work done on the skiff. I'm having to pick my days now that it is cooling off a bit, the epoxy doesnt like to work to well when it gets cold in the shop.

Knocked out my last big chunk of grinding glass where I had to cleanup about 3 layers of paint, gelcoat, and old poly resin where the console and fuel tank enclosure had been added some years back. I will be building this back similar to how it was but with new materials.

Hopefully it wont be to long till I can get some paint on this old girl and get her rigged out.












 
Good morning, Will~

Spectacular work!

What is the black material you are using on the sole and inside the transom? Starboard or something similar? How thick?

Looks like you are using self-tappers and fender washers as clamps while your adhesive is curing. And then you remove them before 'glassing over?

Keep it coming!

SJS
 
Good morning, Will~

Spectacular work!

What is the black material you are using on the sole and inside the transom? Starboard or something similar? How thick?

Looks like you are using self-tappers and fender washers as clamps while your adhesive is curing. And then you remove them before 'glassing over?

Keep it coming!

SJS
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Hey Steve,

The black material is carbon core foam which is similar to Coosa board. Its high density foam with milled fiber embedded in it. The deck is 15 lbs density and the transom is doubled up 3/4" sheets of 28 lbs density. The 28 lbs carbon core also has two layers of woven roving embedded in it as well. very solid stuff once you glass it on each side. The yellowish foam you see for the transom boxes is H60 Divinycell which is a lower density foam at around 4.5-5 lbs but once glassed on each side is more than adequate for the boxes, console, etc. Really light and strong stuff when laid up right.

And you are correct on the screws, I use coarse thread decking screws with big fender washers. Slather the mating surfaces of the two materials with a mixture of epoxy/milled fiber/cabosil mixed to peanut butter consistency then screw her down tight. Once it sets up for a day remove screws and glass it in. Strong as can be and no hardware penetrations.
 
Will~

One more question: What is the main tool you use for grinding 'glass? What paper/grit size?

Thanks.

SJS
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Depending on how much material I need to take down Ill switch between a 4.5" grinder with a 36 or 60 grit flap disk and for big stuff like grinding all the glass form the old fuel tank/console I used a 7" grinder with backing plate and 24,36, and 60 grit paper.

I will also use a DA sander with 60/80 grit when prepping recently glassed surface for more tabbing/layers. Its a little more forgiving when you are just taking down the edge of a laminate lap or roughing up before tabbing structure back in.
 
Will nice job on the rebuild. I rebuilt a 16ft Carolina skiff. New ribs, floor, and console. Great boat. I hunt both the pamlico and Albemarle. I drilled out the scupper hole out for 1 1/4 plugs. Made a big difference in how quick the boat would bail water. I'm sure you know how much spray your going to get in the boat hunting the pamlico in a flat bottom. Just a suggestion, although it looks too late. You picked a great all purpose costal NC boat. Who makes the transom material you used. I'm about to rebuild a 21' Kencraft. Wanting to go with no wood too. Thanks and good luck with the project
 
Will nice job on the rebuild. I rebuilt a 16ft Carolina skiff. New ribs, floor, and console. Great boat. I hunt both the pamlico and Albemarle. I drilled out the scupper hole out for 1 1/4 plugs. Made a big difference in how quick the boat would bail water. I'm sure you know how much spray your going to get in the boat hunting the pamlico in a flat bottom. Just a suggestion, although it looks too late. You picked a great all purpose costal NC boat. Who makes the transom material you used. I'm about to rebuild a 21' Kencraft. Wanting to go with no wood too. Thanks and good luck with the project
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Josh,
I'm with you on the scuppers, I will have them on this boat, just have not bored the holes yet. There will be two, one on each side of the splash well between the transom boxes.

The transom is a material called Carbon Core which I got from Paxton Supply. It is another version/copy of Coosa Bluewater or the old Penske Board. Make sure for your transom, if you go composite, use a very high density foam. You need the compressive strength for motor mount support.

The transom layup on my skiff is two pieces 3/4" 28 lbs foam, laminated together with epoxy and two layers of 1700 Biax glass in between then a layer of 1700 on each side prior to install. Once the core was bonded in with epoxy/milled fiber/cabosil I double tabbed everything with 1900 Triax then a whole solid piece of 1700 over the new deck and transom to tie it all together. She aint going anywhere!

I love those old Kencrafts, good all around boats in their own right.

Thanks,

Will
 
Can't wait to see the finished product. Wanting to do a scissor rig on the ken craft, but hunt by myself a lot of the time. Let us know how it goes. Have you sourced juniper yet? Heard it was getting hard to find it in larger sizes.
 
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