sail boat conversion

[Jake S]

what do you guys think about converting this to a duck skiff, and the possibity of adding a transom

http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/boa/2528320175.html

 

[Tom Scholberg]

Jake, Looks like a really good candidate for a conversion. Much more noble use for a boat!!!!. Several of these have shown up here, maybe someone with experience doing this conversion will chime in????

 

[Jake S]

I agree, I would love to give this boat a second life. just a little hesitant becouse I have absolutly no experiance

 

[Geo Kaiser]

Hi Jake,
It looks like it would make a fine duckboat, and an easy conversion, pop off the top,then add the decking you'd need for hunting, adding some crown on the deck as you work.
What is the dimensions of the boat?
length and beam..?

 

[Jeff Frechette]

I've converted two of the Sunfish sail boats in past years into duck boats.
One I cut down to 10' the other to 11' and added a new transom, battery and 40lb electric motor. The crafts served me well for many years until I sold them both to young hunters.

 

[Jake S]

so I could cut the top to make the opening as big as I want without having to worry about structural strength. I would like to potentialy put a small outboard on it. could I simply cut out a motor well in the back?

 

[Carl]

Go for it!
Do a search for "sunfish conversion" and some really good posts should come up.

 

[Jake S]

I read through previouse posts. One talked about epoxing wood to the fiberglass to strenthen it and form a transom. do this work and what kind of epoxi would I use?

 

[john a]

that looks like a melges m-scow

 

[Jeff Frechette]

I read through previouse posts. One talked about epoxing wood to the fiberglass to strenthen it and form a transom. do this work and what kind of epoxi would I use?

I built a wood transom that fit snugly into the area left after chopping the boat down to 10'. Applied a thick fiberglass epoxy (putty consistency, sorry can't remember the name of the stuff) to the inside of the boat and the edges of the wood transom. Slid the transom into the boat and let cure, fiberglassed the outside of the transom/boat interface.

 

[John Sater]

Jeff - In the one pictured above, is the smaller open area at the stern the original cockpit and the larger cutout where you removed the foredeck??

 

[Jeff Frechette]

Jeff - In the one pictured above, is the smaller open area at the stern the original cockpit and the larger cutout where you removed the foredeck??

That is correct.