16' Skinnywater Fishing Skiff

[GrassSlipper]

Just finished building a plywood epoxy skiff for use in the backwaters of NE Florida.
Included in the build are flyrod storage racks and a vented pocket tunnel.
Documented the build, including the mistakes I made so others can avoid those problems.
It's my own design based on hulls used for hunting and fishing in the Everglades back in the '50's and 60's.

Link to the albums: http://picasaweb.google.com/bdefalco

[kiwi]

That is great Brett!

Thanks for sharing your boat with us.

Cheers

Tony

[GrassSlipper]

I grew up in South Florida, and these style hulls were built out of whatever lumber was available.
I remember playing in one made out of 1x8 tongue and groove Dade county pine, sealed with roofing tar.
Here's a link to one of these old skiffs being dragged and poled back when...lower 2 pics on the page.

http://www.airboateverglades.com/totch.htm

[GrassSlipper]

After a year of use on the water, a report on the condition of the unprotected epoxy finish of the hull.
Most articles on epoxy finished hulls recommend painting to protect the epoxy from UV degradation.
I painted only the decks with Interdeck non-skid paint. The rest of the hull is a gloss coat clear epoxy finish.
The same epoxy used to apply the fiberglass. The boat is garage kept, so exposure to the sun is only
during trips on the water. After a little more than a year,the only visible signs of wear, are the scratches
and dings caused by use in the oyster lined marshes of northeast Florida. The only change in the epoxy finish
is a darkening from it's original, almost clear, appearance. I noticed the difference when changing the
registration sticker. The color variation is shown in this picture:



The registration sticker protected the epoxy from exposure. I've added a few more items to the hull.
The necessity of which was discovered over the past year of usage. The build albums are still at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/bdefalco