Mark C. Schreiter
Junior Member
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2020
- Messages
- 69
- Reaction score
- 12
- Location
- Tampa, Fl
I’ve been around boats most of my life but never owned or (don’t tell anyone) driven one. So I decided to do the smart thing and build one myself. It is and all foam and fiberglass 14 – 15 ft low sheer flats fishing boat. My previous job I was a composites tech/engineer performing and engineering off wing repairs on corporate and commercial aircraft so I’m comfortable with most methods of layups. As this is my first build and firsts (for me) are usually better the second time around I am trying to go as cheap and simple as possible, well as cheap as I can with foam and epoxy. I don’t know what I don’t know and I thought I did enough research to get me moving but now I’m getting tripped up with some of the overlooked details. So far the frames and stringers are glassed and I’m close to working on the hull. I am working from plans but they do leave a lot to be desired and because of this and some changes im making, I’d prefer to leave the designer out of it. To their defense, as an engineer my job now is to scrutinize engineering drawings for major modifications to aircraft structures, so it’s very difficult to not find issues with the best of plans. I have contacted the designer with questions and they have been impressively responsible and an experienced builder would probably have zero issues with the plans. My modifications include a slightly higher sheer, slightly wider frames and more structure to support the deck and sole. Ive also opted out of vacuum bagging as this is only a 14 footer and the strength to weight should make too much of a difference. I figure it will be about 50lbs heavier using wet layup. I’m ok with that.
My plans are to fill areas under the sole and decks with pour foam and seal them off as much as possible. At the moment I’m either going to have 2 hatches, 1 on the bow and one on the stern or just leave an open compartment on the frames leading under the bow deck and the stern deck and have clean smooth decks front and back, Id like rod holders under the gunwales, 2 on each side, polling platform on the stern and down the road a small casting platform on the bow, Id like a15-25 hp 2 stroke tiller motor because I like loud noises and burning dinosaurs and a grab rail on the deck to save as much room as possible.
The plans call this boat “self Bailing” but they do not define how it should work. I believe the sole is above the water line and I’ve seen one that has a couple holes cut in the transom that will allow water to escape. This would make a for wet feet and Im ok with that but should I consider draining all water under the floor via a pipe at the chine and a drain plug on the transom. I was hoping to avoid this for simplicity and what happens to the water if the pipe gets full? Is this where a bilge pump is needed? I also didn’t want to have to many if any accessories to avoid a battery but I would need one if I added a bilge pump. If so where would I mount the battery? At the stern? Should it be raised off the floor to avoid water? And for the fuel tank, Is it better to mount one permanently under the sole or just have a removable one either at the bow or stern? Im guessing down the road Im gonna want to add lights and GPS, depth finder and whatever else but for now its all wasted on my abilities. That being said should I run PVC pipe and sort of retrofit the boat for future additions? The problem is I don’t know enough to know what I want. I mainly envision myself hoping around the Tampa Bay area solo, learning how to drive and better fish the thing and hold off on passengers until I get a clue.
So for all you guys with experience building and boating, what are some things you wish you would’ve considered in the beginning? What can I do now to allow myself to grow into the boat down the road? Is there anything major that I need to start considering?
Sorry for the long post, im sort of alone in this process as my wife and daughter are not yet interested and my friends are more clueless than me.
Thanks for any and all advice.
As a side note, its too late, Ive already started building the thing.
-Mark
My plans are to fill areas under the sole and decks with pour foam and seal them off as much as possible. At the moment I’m either going to have 2 hatches, 1 on the bow and one on the stern or just leave an open compartment on the frames leading under the bow deck and the stern deck and have clean smooth decks front and back, Id like rod holders under the gunwales, 2 on each side, polling platform on the stern and down the road a small casting platform on the bow, Id like a15-25 hp 2 stroke tiller motor because I like loud noises and burning dinosaurs and a grab rail on the deck to save as much room as possible.
The plans call this boat “self Bailing” but they do not define how it should work. I believe the sole is above the water line and I’ve seen one that has a couple holes cut in the transom that will allow water to escape. This would make a for wet feet and Im ok with that but should I consider draining all water under the floor via a pipe at the chine and a drain plug on the transom. I was hoping to avoid this for simplicity and what happens to the water if the pipe gets full? Is this where a bilge pump is needed? I also didn’t want to have to many if any accessories to avoid a battery but I would need one if I added a bilge pump. If so where would I mount the battery? At the stern? Should it be raised off the floor to avoid water? And for the fuel tank, Is it better to mount one permanently under the sole or just have a removable one either at the bow or stern? Im guessing down the road Im gonna want to add lights and GPS, depth finder and whatever else but for now its all wasted on my abilities. That being said should I run PVC pipe and sort of retrofit the boat for future additions? The problem is I don’t know enough to know what I want. I mainly envision myself hoping around the Tampa Bay area solo, learning how to drive and better fish the thing and hold off on passengers until I get a clue.
So for all you guys with experience building and boating, what are some things you wish you would’ve considered in the beginning? What can I do now to allow myself to grow into the boat down the road? Is there anything major that I need to start considering?
Sorry for the long post, im sort of alone in this process as my wife and daughter are not yet interested and my friends are more clueless than me.
Thanks for any and all advice.
As a side note, its too late, Ive already started building the thing.
-Mark
