catch232

One thing that especially impressed me about the boat was coming down off of waves in a following sea. That flare would throw some crazy water. Kept you pretty dry. I never considered that hull was tied in with the V-20's and 21's though.

silverbullet87

Yea i'm interested in seeing some of your pictures. What did you do in the stern? I looks like you made some major changes. Also - what about drainage for the gunnel rod holders? Do you just cap them since any water that goes in them just gets trapped in the hull? I always wondered if those were there from the factory because it doesn't seem like a great idea.

30 miles offshore in a 18fter? I guess if you can outrun a storm @ 50mph it's not that risky haha. Well done.

Badmako

The sheet was premade 1/4” fiberglass cut to shape to make the rod lockers. Could have come up with a better design for the hinges but it’s what I had so I used it.

I made a mould and created a splash well so water wouldn’t get in while offshore. I got rid of the self draining deck and thru holes. When I stood in the back of the boat with another person, water would begin coming In and hated it.

Access to all wire runs and cables are on the left. Rod holders in the middle made for a nice rocket launcher. Livewell on the right. Also made it for seating. Which it never had. One long drain in the middle for deck water to run to bilge. This was a trial and error and if I had to do it again, it would have been 2 drainage holes on the port and starboard sides instead. Really the only thing I regret the most.

Cap removed and deck all the way to the hull. The rod holders don’t have caps because the water hits the deck and travels to the bilge. No issues at all.

My stringers we rotten to the core. Rebuilt them from scratch marine grade Douglas fir. Completely fiberglassed and foam filled to make an unsinkable boat.

Beginning stages of the rod storage. Before I cut the deck out.

Badmako

BTL

Man you guys are killing me. My boat looks like junkyard scrap in comparison

What's your top speed with that 125?

catch232

Had a Johnson 120 on mine. Almost hit 50, best possible conditions, flat backwater, lightly loaded, fresh VC Offshore bottom paint. I had a much smaller diameter then too.

Gmack

catch232

Yup - https://www.fpmarine.com/Fishing-Rod...-boxe-s/69.htm

Just wanted to quote you in case I need to find them later.

silverbullet87

The boat looks pretty sweet - nice work! You had to rip things apart a bit more than I did, but I really like how you carried the deck under the gunnels instead of just tying it back into the cap. I wish I had done that. The stern section looks good too. I'm a little leary of relying on a bilge pump for drainage since the boat will possibly sit unattended for weeks so I had to keep the scuppers. Lucky, they didn't seem to draw water with 2 guys back there when I had it out.
Yea I think they do, but I'm going to make something myself.

That's much faster than I expected. Mine should move pretty good then with a 150 ocean runner.

catch232

This was back around 95. Kind of pre gps then. I had either a Loran or a fishfinder, w/paddlewheel, but I do remember having a digital display for speed. The VC Offshore bottom paint was just done by the previous owner, (I just bought the boat). That stuff really makes a difference. Later, I bottom painted with regular, salt water BP. Slowed the boat down to under 45. 150 should move that badboy really well. I'd think 50 every day.

Badmako

silverbullet87

It's been a while since I last updated this project.

Starting to build the side panels here - I ended up not using them for rod storage. Nothing too fancy.







Painted them white like the rest of the boat but I don't seem to have any more pics of them. They turned out acceptable.

silverbullet87

Then I rebuilt the carbs. All of the bowls were warped and needed to be replaced.


That was pretty straight forward.

Time to finish up some rigging and add cup holders.




Then I hit a major setback. While trailering to install my t-top... the whole console flipped backwards smashing the steering wheel / breaking the freshly painted dash / and shattering the wind screen.




I did push forward that day and got the t-top installed.




Time to start the repairs... everything comes back out.





These pictures skipped a bunch of steps (fiberglass work) I seem to rarely take pictures during the fiberglass stages because it's a sticky mess.

silverbullet87

The wife made some awesome decals for the motor.


New Todd bench seat installed.



All ready to roll for a test run, and officially named "FLOATER".


First fish - wasn't even expecting to catch anything this trip so i'll take it.

BTL

It's a work of art. Great stuff.

How did the console fall over? I assume the screws just ripped out?

silverbullet87

Thank you. Yea I should have explained that some more. I was an idiot and only had 4 screws holding it down in the corners and they pulled out. It was a short tow - but it was the wind @ highway speeds that flipped it backwards. I was pisssssed.

silverbullet87

All finished - for this season at least.

Bottom paint done.



Full of fuel it sits lower than I anticipated so i'll have to bring up the bottom paint next year. With 1/2 a tank it's acceptable though.

Chilio

Awesome job!

silverbullet87

Thank you.

surv

Looks great. I like the decals for the motor.