Aluminum dory skiff

[Rusty Bucket]

Hi Everybody, Here are some pictures of the dory skiff I'm pecking away at. She's a plan by Glen L. Whitt called Hunky Dory, aluminum version. She's 25' long by 8' wide out of 3/16 5052, 3/16x2.5x2.5 6061 t-6 angle for frames, 1/4x1.5 angle bottom longitudinals and 1/4x1.5 flat bar side logitudinals. This boat is a piece of cake to build so I would recommend it to anyone. I stretched the boat 3' and changed the framing schedule so that I could use whats commonly available in my neighborhood. The gunnels are clear pressure treated pine 1x1's laminated with polyurethane glue and stainless steel sq. drive screws. The transom is laminated 3/4 p.t. plywood sandwiched between 3/16 inner and outer aluminum sheet. I intend to use it for a nearshore 6-pack business when I retire. I'm power it with a yamaha 115 or a honda 90 depending on who gives me the best deal. regards, rusty

[Bob S.]

Nice looking project. Why the wood details?

[Rusty Bucket]

Thanks for the compliment Bob, I'm putting the wood details on the boat becouse I love the look and feel of wood. I really like the feel of a wood deck under my feet and the way it looks. I just turned 57 last month and I've spent my whole adult life building things out of metal or wood and I really appreciate the various properties of both, to combine the two just seems natural to me. I remember working on this ocean going tug boat back in about1972, I think she was called the "Mary Coppege", and she had the most beautiful walnut captains cabin in the middle of all that steel. Just stuck with me I guess Thanks again, rusty

[Bob S.]

Rusty, I looked at that plan on the Glen-L site and they show a motor well option. Was wondering what you thought of that and why you chose a transom mount o/b.

[dick stave]

Nice looking dory skiff,Rusty,I like the wood details.I currently run a 15'6" dory with a 4 stroke Yamaha jet and opted for a wood deck as well .Its light ,provides good traction,and removeable to get under there a couple of times a year with the pressure washer and clean out the silt and beer caps...

[Rusty Bucket]

I chose the conventional transom mount for the outboard becouse it's quite a bit easier to build, saves room in the cockpit and nets are banned in Fla., although some crabbers are still using the old trembly mullet skiffs. I'll most likely build a cover over the motor to serve as a sort of poling platform, although I doubt I'll be doing a lot of poling. I seriously considered a Hamilton Jet setup but the Rep. from hamilton talked me out of it, said they didnt work well on a flat bottom. I would appreciate any input about the jet setup, this boat has a fairly narrow flat bottom, not like a jon boat. The wood thing with the laminated P.T. comes from my contractor business where I handle a lot of really nice wood and dream of how I could use it in a boat, I'll use it to build a faux teak deck and see how it comes out. Check out the pictures, regards rusty

[timgoz]

Nice looking job Rusty.

TGoz

[Bob S.]

Well an inboard jet works better with a bit of a v bottom but if its jet power you want for working the skinny water then by all means you should consider a jet outboard. Very common up here in the PacNW for running the rivers. The shoe (suction box) runs about even with the boat bottom so whatever you draw you can run in.

[Rusty Bucket]

Hi Timgoz, I see you're a machinist, I used to run a really nice prototype shop that had some basic NC machines and a sweet welding department. I can do the basics but things like cutting gears and broaching and stuff like that are beyond me. Are you an inside or outside machinist? .... Hey Bob, the jet motor is definitely a possibility. Is it true that you need twice the horsepower for the same performance as a prop setup, and how big do they make them? Around here we have these grass flats with this floating wire like grass that tends to clog the foot on the jet motors, some people are willing to put up with it and some arn't so you get a lot of conflicting opinions. I'm happy in three feet of water and this boat is pretty big for the truly skinny stuff. Regards, rusty

[Bob S.]

I believe you de-rate the motor by 30%. For instance a 115 Yam is equiv to 80 hp if you buy it in the jet format. Sizewise I've seen guys put aftermarket jet units on 200 horse tiller motors so sky is the limit I guess. Not sure about the grass, around here they suck river rocks which can cause some premature wear.

[timgoz]

Rusty,

I work at a specialty steel company mainly on petrochemical fittings & centrifically cast tube. Alot of time on VTL's and pull-bar boring machines. Some lathe & conventional mills, radial arm drill machines, ect... Usually we have pretty loose tolerances, which is good as most of our machines are ancient. They do the job though. I have not touched CNC since machinist school- and then barely. That was some time back.

I really like how you did your gunwales. Are you going to fit aluminum over the motor cutout and/or epoxy saturate the exposed ply?

TGoz

[Rusty Bucket]

Hi tgoz, Thanks, I'm not sure yet exactly how I'll build over the engine, I think I'll wait to get the engine in place and consider clearences and such. The new four strokes are pretty quiet and don't look bad so I may leave it open. Have you heard anything about the new evinrude E-tec motors, are they any good ? I have three outboard motors now and I couldn't say much about them except that the little yamaha 25 seems to be bulletproof. The other two are mercs and I've put 2 stators in the 60 bigfoot which means you get towed to the house. I actually prefer straight inboard with wet exaust systems, gas is ok with me. This boat I'm working on now really dosen't lend itself to a straight inboard, too many hard oyster bars inshore. If you've read D. Gerr's " the nature of boats" you'll see what he calls a mullet skiff thats about 36' long that intrigues me, tried to call him to see if he has plans for aluminum, couldn't reach him. This boat I'm building now is sort of a trial run to develope some ideas for a little bigger boat later. Gotta eat, later, rusty

[timgoz]

Rusty,

Last I knew Gerr was running Westlawn Design Institute. You may be able to reach him there. I have his book. IF I can locate it I'll check out the Mullet.

I do not know of the new Evinrudes. My outboard experiences are in the 25hp and down range. A 9.8hp 2-stroke Nissan in Alaska in 2003, gave me good service.

Back in 1991 I was attending Chapman's School of Seamanship in Stuart Florida. We would do boat handling out on the Indian River. This was also where Evinrude ran there test boats- balls to the wall! I can attest to the fact that they worked those motors. Our largest boat at the school was the Chappy. She was a 48' twin inboard diesel which had been donated to the school by Evinrude's widow, "Francis Langford Evinrude. Just a little trivia.

Take care.

TGoz

[Rusty Bucket]

Hi all, Im going to Tennessee for a week so I'm going to be off the grid, got some hay that needs fertilizer, will look forward to reading the posts when I get back. rusty

[fishface]

Rusty,

Is it OK to put PT lumber in an aluminum boat? These threads scare me:

custom jon boat

http://www.stripersonline.com/surfta...d.php?t=520807

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.o...44d7e83821d04c

John "fishface" Thomas