12' SKIFF
…so a friend was up in NY fishing for salmon and I think I wanna do it too. It'd be tough from the bank and can't stand up in waders so a drift boat is what I need! The
lines of this skiff really look nice (the price is right) and I think I'll have a whack at building one, I've had 1/4" exterior grade ply laying here for just such a project. I had some help laying out and cutting the ply and now it's time to make some panels up. Just polyester resin (bondo) that was ancient and didn't harden too well. Found out it's the hardener and with fresh MEKP it kicks off nicely.
No scarfs here, just butt joints with 2" wide fiberglass tape on each side. One of the few benefits of living alone; the ability to build boats in your living room!
On Sunday my brother came up and we attached the sides to the frames…
And also clamped and glassed the bow. Note on the bow the homemade clamps. Years ago I made a pile of them and occasionally break some out to use. On the left is a cam clamp, and on the right is a screw type clamp head. The black and orange plastic clamps are el-cheapo's from harbor freight.
Got the transom glassed in, at least on the inside. I think I'll wait to do the outside until I have help to flip it.
I had some help to turn it over and we layed the remainder of the ply over the bottom and traced the sides to that. It was a little wide and the middle and rear form could be 1" narrower, the front form perhaps 1/2"
After the bottom was cut to size, zip tie it to the sides then flip her back over.
Started glassing the bottom to sides, 2" wide cloth.
Duct taped the electric planer to the vacuum cleaner, helps to keep the dust down. That little planer is awesome for plywood, I used it where the bottom stuck out beyond the sides.
The belt sander got fixed to the vac as well. I used bondo where the joints weren't too close and smoothed it off with the sander before taping and glassing the chine.
