Hello from Alaska pls post advice on my carbon fiber moose hunting freighter project

Little about me and the boats we use up here.

I'm a student of Alaska Pacific University, did 8 yrs. in the Army (3 in Iraq) and now that I'm a free man.....I'm going to persue the study and construction of my boat design. We traverse very shallow, glacial fed rivers up here. Jet powered inboard/outboards are generally used for this type of river travel. the only problem with a jet motor is the 30% loss of power when compared to a prop driven motor. I use freighter canoes with small outboard motors to achieve the same success as others. These freighter canoes are a displacement hull, and when combined with my home-made outboard lifts.....these small freighters are extremely efficient for traveling long distance (like the Yukon) while using very little fuel. I shot a moose two seasons ago and the trip was 67 miles round trip. I burnt 5 gallons of gas....all while hauling a quartered bull moose up river on the return trip. this kind of efficiency is amazing when compared to a jet driven boat (of equal load carrying capacity) that would generally burn 25-35 gallons of fuel to do the same thing i did. Granted.....getting there was slow.......my point is....it worked....and my freezer was full. Now that I'm a free man.....I want to pursue my custom sport boat with either a carbon fiber/kevlar laminate, or an all carbon fiber hull. I've designed a sport boat that will actually plane (a freighter canoe will not), and actually have some displacement hull designs of a freighter canoe. the bow will be designed to have the ability to ride up over obstacles. From what I understand.....to get the most out of the carbon fiber....you have to vacuum bag the layup over a mold that also has some sort of layer that "sucks" up excess epoxy. Can somebody please desribe this further to me? What kind of mold would be best for vacum bagging? a mold that is inner hull or outer hull? this boat design will make up for the 30% loss of a jet driven motor and will allow the efficient use of the smallest one made. im trying to get ideas on constuction methods, the hull design will change travel on rivers by Alaskan sportsmen by allowing more effiicient travel (way less fuel used). here's the flagship of my design.....an abrasion resistant UHMW (1/4'') skin heat molded and bonded to the outer hull. we alaskans LOVE UHMW, we use it on the bottom of boats, on the bottom of dog sleds, and on the bottom of float plane skis. what kinds of epoxy or glue would be best to adhere this layer of uhmw to carbon fiber??..........Please refer any knowleagable folks to this thread to help me construct this ultralight moose hunting/salmon fishing/ shallow river sport boat. I don't want to waste my money improperly working with carbon fiber and not using techniques to get the most out of it.....thanks. This boat design is also the subject of a majoy college paper that I'm writing. Your river running abilities are your livlihood in this state for both subsitance fishing, and hunting. I pretty much live off the moose I shoot, and the fish I catch, these boats arent really for pleasure, they are used to fill the freezer because it's so expensive up here. (gas, living costs, and food!). can anyone send some links to some good articles relevent to studying about constucting with composites? Again....thanks in advance to all who post advice, links to articles and encouragement.

 

Thanks for fighting for us. So, you've moved close to Alaska and you like it. Very good. I recommend you reconsider the ultra light/ ultra high molecular weight boat. Go talk to these folks in Anchorage http://www.specialty-products.com/p...al-Component-Coatings/k5-ultra-high-strength/ about the K5TM coating. You cannot apply it yourself but with it, you can run aground, crush your hull and still keep water out. Carbon fiber may not be ideal, either. Consider a plywood hull with epoxy/glass composite. Very strong and light and when damage does occur, it can be readily repaired.

 

well hello there fellow alaskan. I come down your way about 2-3 times a year. good memories. we would rent a place at the Aloha Inn and spend a few days relaxing, halibut fishing, and had a great view from being so far up on the hill.....great view of the spit.......then we pack up shop and head back to the kali beach for dipnetting/partying. It's an annual week long trip. sure would like to say hello to yah and thanks for the advice. I'm already decided on the use of carbon fiber, but i will def. give those folks a call. take care.

best regards,
Michael

 

wow! that coating would be much easier to work with than attempting to "heat mold" uhmw. I once tried durabak smooth on an old grumman freighter....that crap peeled off after two trips on the charley river. thanks for providing a local supplier too. ur right there.....los anchorage is "close to alaska". in a couple yrs., i'll be working in togiak nat. wldlf. ref. and be based out of Dillingham.....life will be much better (not too fond of Anchorage). Just bought my first raft for commercial use this winter though and will be guiding all summer for remote fly-out fishing and photography trips. It'll be nice to get out of town for a week (or more) at a time.

 

geeze....there's gotta be a few more knowledgeable folks out there with tidbits of info to pass along................

 

They'll come... A start is the free material from Systems Three epoxy. Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction, Amazon, is a good resource. I don't know any pubs specifically tailored to carbon fiber, but you're going to have to get familiar with epoxy first. It is a process and the skills tranfer.
Pre-empregnated material from Toray (in Tacoma), or another is something to consider and Toray has been good about answering questions. Jimbo knows a lot about this stuff if he gets around to responding. There are online videos of some guy selling his little carbon kits. This might give you a little insight into what is involved. (I am not qualified to give advice on technique)
"Aloha Inn"? Aloha B&B? - That's my buddy Bart Chow! (we have something like 800 B&Bs here, so I don't know 'em all). Well, tell him "aloha" from F/V Northern Lights Mark. Good luck