1967 Starcraft 14 Duck Boat Mod

[Big Spoon]

Hi Everybody,

I've been poking around this site since I decided to buy a small boat earlier this spring - this site holds a great wealth of knowledge. Earlier this spring, I bought a 15 hp Yamaha four stroke to use as a kicker on my "big" boat (StarCraft Titan 186), and started searching for a smaller boat to use the kicker on during the fall and winter months for duck hunting and winter fishing. I came across a 1967 StarCraft 14' row boat on Facebook marketplace back in May, and pulled the trigger to have the boat as a Pandemic Project.
Since taking ownership of the boat I stripped the boat down to bare metal using Citrastrip, and a wire brush - that was a lot of work. After the paint was stripped, I filled the bottom of the boat with water, and found a few leaky seams, mostly the transom, and the bow. I sealed the leaks with Gluvit, gave the boat a good wash/wipe down with acetone, and laid down a primer coat. After the boat was primed, I gave it a base coat of OD Green, then a second coat of green, some brown and black. I had been looking at a bunch of different camo ideas, and wanted to stay away from the "reeds" and "oak leaf" look - as I rarely hunt in reeds, and plan to build a blind which will cover most of the boat anyways. I found a Kryptek Camo stencil kit on Amazon and went for it. I've attached the results below. Now that painting is done, its on to the hard part - transom replacement, floor installation and wiring. I've really enjoyed looking at other builds on this forum for inspiration!

Thanks,
Chris

 

[Big Spoon]

Here's a shot of the boat right-side up.

 

[GYPSY400]

That looks like a sweet hull. Boats of that size bring top dollar in my neck of the woods.

 

[Big Spoon]

Over the past week I took on the next step of my restoration, which was a full transom replacement. The original was in really rough shape. I pulled the original to use as a template for my new stern. In my area, the only untreated hardwood plywood I had access to was Red Oak, so I used two pieces of 3/4" glued/screwed together. I used Rustoleum oil-based enamel paint (3 coats) to paint/seal the new wood, and a little custom paint job for the corner caps

 

[Big Spoon]

Over the past few weeks I had been chipping away at building my deck. I didn't have a template to work from, so it proved to be a tricky endeavor. I started by establishing the height that I wanted the floor to be - knowing that I would need at least 2-3" of clearance for my seat pedestal bases. I established the center-line height by tacking a couple pieces of scrap wood to the existing bench seats, and running 2 strings with an 1.5" gap from the aft to the bow of the boat. I used these to ensure that as I cut my stringers, that they would ride at the same height. From there, I ran perpendicular strings for where my stringers would go - the top and bottom strings gave me a good idea as to the bias that I would need to cut my supports. I used a combination of 2x4s and 2x2 to build my stringers. After that, I used cardboard, then a 1/8" piece of plywood to create my template - and eventually cut the deck using 2/3" plywood. After cutting holes for my pedestal base inserts, I painted the entire structure with oil based enamel paint, and assembled it. I covered the deck with Nautolex marine vinyl, and am pleased with the results. I'm guessing the entire structure weighs somewhere between 50-60 lbs.

 

[davedude]

Looks great, Thanks for posting and please continue to post your progress. Your "camo' job is awesome, how did you do that?

 

[Big Spoon]

Looks great, Thanks for posting and please continue to post your progress. Your "camo' job is awesome, how did you do that?

Thanks Dave! I found these stencils on Amazon and let it rip!

https://www.amazon.com/Redleg-Camo-Piece-camo-Stencil/dp/B07BP548K7/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=kryptek+stencil&qid=1599241944&sr=8-6

 

[Big Spoon]

Quick update on the bow platform - I decided to replace the front bench with a full platform for concealed storage, and also add a deck to mount a trolling motor to. Didn't quite account for enough space for the deck material when making the hatch, so that'll have to be tweaked after duck season....

 

[LDUBS]

I like the way you used the bench seat brackets for the platform. Looks great.

 

[Makaw]

Very cool! The stencils turned out great. Very similar to what I'm currently working on with my Starcraft build, though I won’t be hunting out of mine.

 

[Big Spoon]

After 3 months, I am finally ready to sea trial my project boat tomorrow morning. I spent the last couple weeks adding some "finishing touches" to get her water-ready. Most notably, I added a T-H Marine Mini Jacker transom jack, along with the 15 hp Yamaha 4 stroke and Humminbird Helix 8 from my "summer boat." Some other adds were the pedestal seats, a transom mount trolling motor, fuel tank, battery, cleats and other odds and ends. Very excited to see how the 15 horse pushes her along!

More updates to be made after duck season, including finishing the rear casting deck, adding LED lights and switch panels, but for now, I'm gonna slap a blind on her and start banging ducks here in NY!

 

[Big Spoon]

Successful shakedown! After getting the motor trimmed properly, she topped out at 17.5 mph and planed out nicely. Now time to start piling up some ducks!

 

[LDUBS]

M R Ducks! :LOL2: