starting deck progect need advice.

[luisjg]

hello,
beeing that i have been reading and find that there are tons of profetional arround here, took the liberty to ask for some advice.

i purchased a carolina skiff j16 hull , its a flat bottom skiff, its just a shell
no seats no decks no nothing.

my idea is to deck the boat and leave a undecked area in the center,
more like a flats boat modern syle.

i been thinking i will do the deck in 1/2 inch plywood then aply fiberglass or epoxy resin to seal it, i would use 2 aluminum laders that are very cheap priced at lowes or home depot to do the frame, i figuered it will be lighter,
hen i will cut cutouts to install hatches, i was thinking in using that marine white board star board or something tlike that for this.

1> after sealing everything do i apply gelcoat to the deck??if using polyester resin for seal.

2>apply top side paint if using epoxy to seal?

3> will paint stand the trafic and wont chip of?

4> i have a bunch of fiberglass matt very thinh dont know the gage realy.
ican used that on top of the deck also insted of just sealing with resin.

so i gues my general question is,,,,,
gelcoat or paint.

im preety pickey and realy like for my progects to look perfect and profecional.
otherwise i will end up not using the boat,.

thanks for the advice ,,

luis
boatbuilder in dreams.
well, actualy i built an 8 foot boat once ,,looked awsome.
here is a picture but dont laugh.

[SamSam]

Nice work on the little boat! The J16 must seem huge compared to it! If you don't use glass, the ply will probably check and crack eventually and get pretty ratty looking. I made a number of canoes and to save weight, I always used latex porch and floor enamel on the inside with no primer of any kind. I just let the unwaxed laminating resin cure, rough sanded off the nubs in the glass and painted. Cheap, easy, any color you want and easy to fix or redo or change the color. If you use a light color you can spatter on a darker one that will hide any imperfections in the layup, just the same as a lot of 'professional' boat manufacturers do. Starboard can be real slippery stuff when it's wet so keep that in mind if you use it for hatches. You could use the hatch cutouts for the hatches themselves with a little thought and carefull jigsaw work. Layout the square or rectangle and use a small can or something to trace around and round the corners of the layout. Sam

[luisjg]

thanks Sam.
yeah , i like the idea of house exterior paint ,actualy this little boat in the picture it already has years that i buil it and i used sears weatherbeater ext paint. and still looks great and is very scratch resistant.
i will aply the fiber i have on top like you sed .
im going to use epoxy since i only need one gallon. it wont be to $$$

luis