Cap for 14' Wenzel Skiff

I would like to put a "cap" on my 14' Wenzel skiff. It's purpose would be three fold. 1. The skiff is a "little" wet with spray coming up from about 18" from the bow, I'd hope that with a cap extending 2"-4" beyond the flat topped rolled gunnel, it would cut down on the "mist". 2. I could install flush mount rod holders. 3. I could install horizontal rod holders.

I am guessing that a 3/8" plywood covered in West System Epoxy and fiberglass with an inverted toe rail, would do the trick. I am trying to figure out how to transfer my idea onto the plywood for cutting.

I'm also trying to figure out if this is a goofy idea, or if you guys have a way better idea for what I am trying to accomplish.

 

I'm not completely sure what you are trying to describe in terms of a "cap", so maybe a drawing will do.

Powerboats of that size, particularly if driven hard, will toss up spray. Some spray rails or knockers will cut down on this to a degree, but some spray is the nature of the beast when driving hard into chop. It's not the boat's fault as much as you are driving through/under the splashes made by the bow.

Glue a spray rail along your forward chine line (assuming a modest V entry) and see what happens. It'll knock down much of it. If you're a flat bottomed boat, the spray rail should be mounted a few inches above the static LWL in the first 1/4 - 1/3 of the hull. It doesn't have to be very big, a 1"x1" length of wood will do. It would help if the lower edge was beveled a few degrees downward too.

 

If you want to make a template for the sheer, as seen from above, hold the plywood on the boat and trace the line with a pencil. A spray rail, as PAR describes works well.

 

Sorry for coming up with my own terminology, by "cap" I mean wider gunnels all the way around the boat.

So if you were looking down at my boat from above, it would like about a 6" wide "board" all the way around the rolled gunnel of my boat. The "cap" would be parallel to the water surface. It would just be a wider flat gunnel.

Boy, I embarrass myself when I try and describe my ideas.

I was also considering C-Flex and foam as the cap is not really weight bearing.

Thanks very much for the advice.

 

If you want to use resin by the gallon use C-Flex, as it'll suck it up like a submariner on his first leave.

A really wide rail at the deck line isn't going to stop much as the spray is splash outwards and you literally drive through it. At rail height the spray is widely dispersed and you'll have little chance containing it. You have to get it at the source, just after the boat has bashed into it and before it's splayed out and up. At the point of impact, the splash is close to the hull, in fact actually clinging to it and climbing up the bow and hull sides. This is why the splash rail mounted on the chine works. It knocks the water down before it can spread out or climb up.

A small diameter of wood, glued to the hull, say with caulk, until you find the best spot, where it then can be secured more securely, is the most unobtrusive method.