14' Semi-V North West Fishing Machine

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Alex_c

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Location
Vancouver, BC
Have had this boat for about a year. Paid $1300 for tub, trailer and a nice running 1984 35hp pull start Evinrude with remote. This thing leaked like a sieve and had a few hairline cracks around the ribs towards the stern. Previous owner added a tonne of weight to the front and the repair job he did to the middle bench failed causing the lower portion of the hull to flex and stress at various points. After tearing everything apart, there are only a few areas that will need some tig welding.

Plan is to make a starboard side console forward of the middle bench was with a walk-thru on the side. The bow will get a casting/storage platform with an anchor roller and a chain locker for the fast moving rivers we have here. The stern will get a raised platform to house a large fuel tank and a battery. I want to keep this boat fairly light weight to keep it nimble and above the water when I head out into the ocean for crab and salmon. With a 16" transom I am limited to fair weather and keeping the weight down means as much freeboard as possible.

This is my first foray into boat building/modification but I do have quite a bit of experience with steel fabricating and I am finding aluminum very easy to work with compared to the heavy gauge steel I am used to.

Today I pulled about 200 lbs of crap out of the boat. The bow cap must have weighed 50 lbs at least!!

First set of pictures are what the boat looked like when I bought it and the last one is after day 1 of gutting. Got the boat 95% gutted, pulled off all the mild steel hardware that was holding things together, pounded out most of the dents.

I want to reinforce the bow just above the keel as there is not much there at all for bracing...actually the boat doesn't have much for bracing to begin with, but I know that an aluminum boat is only as strong as its skeleton, so I will be trying to make this thing as rigid as possible and eliminate any and all flex in the hull when hitting bigger waves.

Any suggestions on what I could use to put a cap over the existing keel?
 

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Do you plan on running it with the tiller handle or are you going to go with the remote steering again?
 
I am doing a side console on the starboard side forwards of where the middle bench is. The left section of the bench will be cut out for a walk thru. I am going to use a Teleflex Safe-T system. I have 3/16" aluminum plate screwed to 1/8" 1" x 3" angle to form two ribs in place of the bench seat. I am going to tie the gunwale to the rib to hopefully remove all flex from the boat.


Today's activities found a 4" long gash in the hull where the stern seats were. The hull had tonnes of flex in it when I got it and the sheet worked a nice slit into the skin of the hull where it was contacting. PO had tried to repair with sikaflex or some kind of flexible goo. I will be riveting a patch sealed with 5200 around it! As for the other sections that need welding, I have decided to no spend the money and just patch them. Drill the ends of the hairline cracks to stop spreading and 5200 + riveted patch. Some of them will have to be on the outside, but who cares - the fish won't see that!

I also pulled the transom out since I found out it was rotten, even though the PO had replaced it. I originally pulled the bench seat apart to fix the flex in the hull but as these things go I ended up gutting the entire thing!

Still waiting on the rivets to come in from order so I will post some pics tomorrow after I actually start building and repairing and not just pulling out crap and finding surprises from the PO!

My budget for this should come in around $750 for everthing:

$200 for steering wheel and steering system
$100 for rivets and rivet gun
$100 for aluminum
$25 for stainless screws
$30 for two tubes of 5200
$150 for paint/prep supplies (seems high but in my experience painting is expensive)
$70 for transom repair
$50 for swivel seat
$25 for other hardware/consumables.

After that I will concentrate on the floor/battery/accessories etc. The primary goal is to get the boat water tight and rigid as possible, get the transom done, and get the side console/steering/remote done so I can take it out on the water for a test run and check how it performs before I start on paint and finishing touches.

Sorry for all the blabbing and lack of pictures...I tend to forget the camera and keep my head down while I work in the first few stages of a project to figure out exactly how it needs to be approached. Writing everything out helps get my plan in order and keeps me motivated!
 
Ictalurus said:
Alex_c said:
$30 for two tubes of 5200

Get the 5200 at Home Depot instead of BPS, its about $5 a tube compared to $15.

Up here in Canada, the cheapest I can find it is $15 for a 10 oz "caulking tube".

Home Despot nor any of the other big boxes carry it so I have to source it from my local marine supply place. The extra cost is still cheaper than a new used boat with its own set of problems! :)
 
So today resulted in some good forward progress.

Got the transom cut and glued with Titebond III and laid down the first coat of spar urethane.

Decide ugly patches on the outside of the boat for the hairline cracks will be just as, if not more effective than welding - at a fraction of the cost. The reason they are on the outside is because they are at the end of the ribs in the hull and could not be fully covered if the patch was laid on the inside. Hopefully the fish don't mind! :)

The PO had used some kind of roofing tar to "seal" the untreated transom he had installed, so I wire wheeled it all off, cleaned with acetone and sanded. There was a bit of corrosion to the aluminum but nothing too savage. After that I sprayed two coats of primer to prepare for the new transom.


3 more coats of urethane to the wood and it will be ready to go in with some stainless hardware.

Due to some bullshit labeling issues, you can't get Gluvit in Canada anymore, so I will have to take a trek south of the border to pick some up.

Last picture is Salmon fishing on the Fraser River this weekend. Caught 2, 15-18 lb chinooks and about 7, 5-8 lb sockeye. Had to let the Sockeye go but the chinooks sure were a good fight!
 

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Well after a 6 month hiatus due to weather, work, other projects and getting my garage set up and organized so I can spend more time getting stuff done and less time trying to find tools and setting up a work table outside...I am back in action. We'll see how long it takes me to get it done but I will keep plugging away at it and I think I have a clearer idea of what I want to do with it now that I have had some time to stew on it.

Weather is getting better, but work is picking up again so I will have to make sure I get enough days off to try to get this thing done before the summer.
 
Got a line on some 2x2x1/8" square toob for $4/foot ($80 for a
20' piece)

Seems expensive but I should only need 40' to build all the supports for my floor and decking, plus some scrap sheet and angle for any other assorted bracketry.

If you factor the cost of wood, spar varnish, ss hardware and angle brackets.. Not to mention the hours to finish all that wood, I think it's a good investment. We get a lot of rain here and I plan on taking it into the salt so I'm not sure how well wood is going to hold up.

The decking and floor boards will be stained and varnished wood however because I like the way it looks. It also feels really nice on bare feet in the hot sun. Finding enough aluminum sheet for a good price had been tough so wood it is. 1/2 exterior ply, coat of walnut stain, 3 coats of spar varnish.

I did up a quick computer drawing of what the layout will be that I will post later.

Excited to get back at it but currently the situation seems to be: motivation, money and time - you can only pick two!
 
Snap, this thing is going to be a sweet little rig! Consider getting some of those little splash flaps that all the walleye boats around here have on them, eh!
 
Splash flaps eh...never head of them! What do they do?

Got a bit more work done today. Reinforced the bow at the keel where it was oilcanning before. Nice and rigid now.

Got the transom fitted in and the rear seats put back in after some reinforcement and modification.

Next step is to get the rest of the bench pieces riveted to the hull, then I can start laying out my aluminum tubing for the floor and the casting decks at the bow and stern. I will try to get some pics tomorrow evening after work.
 
She runs real nice! Always starts first or second pull when cold. Pushes the boat to about 25 mph and is surprisingly light at 135 lbs.

The boat is rated for 30 hp, but in later years the OMC 35 was rated as a 30 when they started measuring from the prop instead of the crank. So technically it should be ok!

With less weight at the front of the boat and the driver's position further back I suspect it will plane better and my top speed might climb a bit.

I bought a carb rebuild kit a while back and I will use it if I can find the dang thing... lol. Doesn't really need it but after spending this much time on the rest of the boat it would be silly not to spend an hour or two on the motor.

It also needs the upper crank shaft seal replaced. It leaks oily residue when running. Hopefully it isn't a worn bearing but we'll see once I get the flywheel off and take a look. My gut tells me it's fine but I can be a bit paranoid about these things.
 
Ok, almost got 'er back to how she came from the factory.

I really should have put my time and money into a better hull but this thing didn't have any real major damage and I like a challenge! Its got a lot of dings and battle scars though I tell you.

I have the last piece for the front bench to put in, and I can start laying down the frame for the decks. After that, the transom will get bolted down with new SS hardware.

After I'm done riveting and drilling more holes in the hull she will get the gluvit treatment and then the interior will be sanded and painted. I'm going with primer grey for the inside due to cost and ease of touch ups. Two coats should do it.

After the interior is painted, the next step will be all the woodwork, and laying out the hatches/storage etc.
 

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