Skiff (semi-dory?) restoring

[CB900SS]

I figured I would do an introduction thread.

So, my name is Ben and I'm a surfrat who spends most of his free time fishing from the surf. I specifically target striped bass and do pretty well at it, mainly fishing on the ocean from sand beaches, often fishing from a jetty, and sometimes fish the back bay. Wherever the bass are.

So a good friend of mine gave me this 16' skiff. I was thinking about fixing it up and doing some fluking next year. But with the amount of work it needs I'm not sure if its worth it, hopefully you all can help me decide.









My friends father owned a boat rental company in the 60's that rented skiffs in the bay. Someone took one of the wooden skiffs and used it as a mold and made 10 fiberglass boats, this being one of them. My friend had hopes of restoring it and using it. Unfortunately he needs to clean his house out as he must sell it... He is going through many personal issues. As you see he also gave me some outboards with the boat. But both being 18hp they are probably to big? He said the max they used to use with the wooden boats were 9hp.

So as you see someone cut out the seats (for an unknown reason) and lost all of the structural support the boat had. I'm guessing my friend did this as he was explaining to me that the wooden boats has just two seats in the rear next to the outboard, and one seat near the bow. Leaving the middle open for fishing. I just don't see how this can be achieved with a fiberglass version and still be stiff.

My plans were to use some straps (3 of them) and totally go around the boat, pulling the boat back into shape. It moves back into shape very easily with a little pressure applied from each side. After the boat was shored up with the straps I was going to fiberglass the seats back in place. Then I was going to cut a new transom and fiberglass that in place.

Now what I see as being the breaking point in this boat. The wooden siderails! If that's what you call them? Obviously these are steamed wood put in a form to take the proper shape. As I see it not an easy task to reproduce.... I had thought about just using some c-channel rubber. But I assume this is a structural part of this skiff?

Also, my uncle is a little worried that the numbers on the boat have been sanded off. My friend assures me that the skiff isn't stolen. But why would the numbers be sanded off? I know many times this happens when people abandon boats. I guess there could be many reasons. Should I be worried about this? Obviously before any work is done I will need to acquire a registration.

Well I hope my first thread was long enough for you all.

[CB900SS]

Originally Posted by alan white

The boat looks like a semi-dory (is the bottom flat?).
I suppose you could build gunwales for it but you don't need to steam the wood. Laminate them out of 1/2" thick pieces instead. Three layers makes 1 1/2", which is about right.
Many woods will do. I've done it with cedar, two 1/2" thick x 1 1/2" high layers on the inside, sealed with tape and epoxy, with the cloth wrapped over the top, and then oak on the outside, which covers the tape's edge. Quick and simple.
Those 18 hp oldies may be alright for that boat. The transom needs to be checked out for internal rot (it's probably going to be plywood, molded in).
once the transom is addressed, an 18 hp will get you up to speed--- that boat appears to be designed to plane at 15-20 mph, though others may correct me, I'm no motor-boater.
You'll probably have to re-tab all the seats if one came out easily from flexing. I'd recommend epoxy for all repairs, for a good bond and consistant results. You'll probably be buying a gallon, and have some left over.

Thanks for the reply. Yes the bottom is flat. I was told the original wooden versions were called skidmore skiffs, made by a company called Toy Town Dory.

So, amazingly I understand exactly what your saying for making new gunwales! Although it took a minute or so of thought!

Using the 1/2" thick pieces will bend to my curvature without any steam? I suppose I need to lay each piece on individually, then screw them all together and through the boat? I assume each side needs to be made from three pieces spanning the while length of the gunwales? Or can it be in sections? The gunwales scare me the most on this project. If you could go into your method in a little more depth I would greatly appreciate it!

The transom had two pieces of about 3/4" thick plywood lightly epoxied to eachother, and then epoxied to the rear fiberglass transom of the boat. You can see it out of the boat in the picture with the motors. So that seems simple enough to me. Two 3/4" marine grade plywood sheets cut, using the old transom as a template. Then I was thinking of doing a better job of attaching it to the boat, Then maybe totally covering it with resin?

As far as the seats go. All the seats are currently not attached to the boat, someone cut them out. I just placed them in the correct spots to see how far the boat had spread without them as supports. As I said before, it didn't spread to far, and with a person on each side they can apply a little pressure to push the boat back in place. So epoxying all the seats back in place is my first step.

The motors are pretty basic, and maybe I will end up using one. He said one ran before putting them in the shed. I do however have a friend giving me two newer evinrude 9.9 motors soon.

Thanks again!

[CB900SS]

Originally Posted by alan white

The rails mentioned only need the outer hardwood (outwales) screwed through the fiberglass into the two inner pieces. What ties the inner two (inwales) to the boat first is epoxy/clamps and then two layers of fiberglass tape, which wraps over the inwales and down the outside of the hull before the outwale is screwed on. This hides the edge of the tape under the oak strip. The pieces should be rounded a bit after clamping, and the outside edge of the fiberglass should be rounded off as well. You can drop the oak rail a half inch and reduce its height to an inch, making a step that is attractive. The fiberglass hull's top edge and the taped inwales are then painted to set off the oak rub rail's natural color. With this detail, the oak (or hardwood) rail should be a bit thicker than the two inner rails, maybe 3/4" thick.

This is great Alan, thank you so much! One question though. These 3 pieces (two inner, one outer) preferably should be one length each?

I have re-posted this thread here, I first posted it in the general section to just make a general introduction. But I got a little carried away, this re-post is to put the whole post in the correct section and get more advice/help hopefully! So please excuse me if the thread looks a little funny.

I am very excited about this project, especially after Alan posted his suggestion for making the gunwale.

Tomorrow I plan to use two or three come-along straps around the boat to pull it slightly back into place, to where the seats are touching the sides. Should be 2 inches or so. Then I was planning on cutting 2x4's to length and screwing them across the top edge of the boat where the gunwales would go. Then, as long as the 2x4's can hold the boat in place, I will remove the straps. From that point I can start prepping and fixing the seats and epoxy them back in place. Does that sound like a good idea with the 2x4's? They should be holding little weight as it takes very little pretty on each side of the boat to get it back in place.

As I explained in my earlier post. This boat has the three seats you see, the original boats had a more open floor plan. My friend was saying he wanted to bring this boat back to more original and have the open floor plan... I just don't see how that can be done with this fiberglass version and keep the boat structural. He said while fishing the three seats would be in the way. I agree, and wonder if I could modify this current floor plan to be more open, but still have the supports these three seats give? Would one seat across in between where the two front current seats be enough? Along with two rear seats, on each side of the motor?