Spring boat project

[J.Brower]

Well the wife and I tore into the boat this weekend. It’s the start to a long ongoing project. Got the wood floors out and found what I didn’t want to see.... lots of foam. Not a good sign for a 30 year old salt boat. Started digging away at it (literally with a shovel) and found lots of corrosion on the stringers, but thankfully not much of any on the hull.



After we got it all cleaned out it was time for some additional welded in supports for the new aluminum floors.




After the supports were in place I figured it would be a good time to see if I guessed right on their spacing and location for the air ride seat I’m cramming in it (a little overkill, but what’s wrong with some luxury) I will end up replacing the seat and keep the base if I don’t like the seat after a few trips. Not sure if I’m a fan of the super high back yet.



Next is to have a cushion made for the box that was in it with a folding lounge style seat on top. Going to use a 4 legged pedestal seat for the passenger side for now until I find another good deal on another suspension seat. Floors will be done this week and then will start sanding the outside to get the ugly root beer brown paint off. We are going to build a hard top with open sides for it in the coming months. Will then have soft sides made for it for some comfort in the winter.


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[lokidog]

Here's a front angle shot of the plywood/glass top I built for my Alumaweld. I can round up more photos if interested.

[HntnFsh]

Nice! Also the best hood ornament Ive ever seen!

[Skyvalhunter]

Someone put a sheep in your boat while you were out. Good thing that wasn't on Lake Chelan

[lokidog]

Someone put a sheep in your boat while you were out. Good thing that wasn't on Lake Chelan

Um, it was on Lake Chelan.....   

[D-Rock425]

You need to hurry up and finish so we can go fishing.

[J.Brower]

Here's a front angle shot of the plywood/glass top I built for my Alumaweld. I can round up more photos if interested.

I am going to fab it out of aluminum, but some more photos would be sweet if you don’t mind!


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[lokidog]

Here's a front angle shot of the plywood/glass top I built for my Alumaweld. I can round up more photos if interested.

I am going to fab it out of aluminum, but some more photos would be sweet if you don’t mind!


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Nice, I'll see what I can find, I no longer have that boat, but a friend does. The roof hatch was the challenge to waterproof the front door but still allow access.

[Dan-o]

You need to hurry up and finish so we can go fishing.

Yeah.
You need to hurry up and finish so we can go fishing.

[Cylvertip]

Well the wife and I tore into the boat this weekend. It’s the start to a long ongoing project. Got the wood floors out and found what I didn’t want to see.... lots of foam. Not a good sign for a 30 year old salt boat. Started digging away at it (literally with a shovel) and found lots of corrosion on the stringers, but thankfully not much of any on the hull.



After we got it all cleaned out it was time for some additional welded in supports for the new aluminum floors.




After the supports were in place I figured it would be a good time to see if I guessed right on their spacing and location for the air ride seat I’m cramming in it (a little overkill, but what’s wrong with some luxury) I will end up replacing the seat and keep the base if I don’t like the seat after a few trips. Not sure if I’m a fan of the super high back yet.



Next is to have a cushion made for the box that was in it with a folding lounge style seat on top. Going to use a 4 legged pedestal seat for the passenger side for now until I find another good deal on another suspension seat. Floors will be done this week and then will start sanding the outside to get the ugly root beer brown paint off. We are going to build a hard top with open sides for it in the coming months. Will then have soft sides made for it for some comfort in the winter.


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The foam was there for multiple reasons.  The main one being Coast Guard certification.  I am assuming the boat is under 20ft.  Anything under 20 is required to float when fully swamped for some thing like 20 hours.  It was a requirement for certification on the manufacturer.  The second part is that it deadened the ride.  There will be less flex in the hull and it will be quieter.  If you foam it back in, make sure and use closed cell foam.  Open cell will be like a sponge and will cause some very negative adverse effects.

[J.Brower]

Got the floors cut with some help from D-Rock, which makes sense why none of them fit right the first time. 🤣 Got them all re trimmed and laid down. Riveting will be finished today, and then time to start sanding them. Stripped all the paint off the outside of the hull, need to run a DA sander over it and that portion will be done. Will end up wrapping the whole boat at some point, maybe next year.



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[J.Brower]

You need to hurry up and finish so we can go fishing.

Yeah.
You need to hurry up and finish so we can go fishing.

Let’s try to put something together this year for sure!


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[J.Brower]

Well got it all together and fished Tuesday for lingcod. Killed one first thing and had numerous other chances but had 2 newbies on the rods so they didn’t stick. My kicker also decided it needed some saltwater added to the crankcase and blew either a the head, or the head gasket. Need to find a replacement so I can keep fishing this year!


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[lokidog]

Bummer. Got a couple interior pics of the top I built. I'll get one of the exterior of the hatch.