Shannon's New Ride

[Shannon]

OK Rob enough nagging :blue-razz:

I decided in September to attempt to build my own boat, partially because I just can't afford to lay out the type of money being asked for the type of boat I want in one big lump sum, I'm trying to stay well clear of any financed purchased if possible and I just wanted to see if I could do it :blue-biggrin:

I found a set of plans for a 16ft Florida style flats boat from a company in (you guessed it) Florida. Designed by a well renowned boat designer, the boat after some minor modifications will serve well as a bass boat.

The boat is called a Phantom 16

The basic boat is built out of marine ply wood and then encased in epoxy fibreglass, I know everyone screams Wood rot, wood rot, but once you delve a little deeper you will learn that most of our locally built boats and yachts have marine incorporated into their design.

The advantages of fibreglassed marine ply over full fibreglass construction is that it is much lighter and stronger for the same thickness (and wood floats), the biggest mistakes most boat builders make is that they use marine ply in conjuction with Polyester fibreglass. Polyester fibreglass is what is used in 95% of speed boats that are built, it's advantage is it is cheap and dries quickly.
The problem with polyester resin is that on it's own it is not water proof, only the gelcoat is water proof, the second problem is that it bonds very poorly to Marine ply wood.

My boat is being built with Epoxy fibreglass, epoxy resin is water proof, bonds extremely well to marine ply and is stronger, but it's much more expensive.

The difference in how I am building my boat in comparison to production boats is that production boats hull parts are formed in a mould and then glassed and screwed together. My boat is being built the way most high end yachts are built, the hull panels are cut and stitched together and then fibreglassed over.
This makes what is known as a composite boat.

OK enough info for now, if you want to know more ask questions.

Here come the pics of each stage that I have completed so far.

Marine ply only comes in sheets 2.4m long so you have to glue some pieces together.
Hull panels cut out and joined.



Bulkheads fitted to building jig


Stringers fitted into bulkheads


Another look

[Shannon]

Hull panels fitted and stitched together with cable ties, this method is called stitch and glue.




After stitching, the hull panels are tack welded together with an epoxy resin and filler mix (makes a putty like glue). Once these are dry the cable ties are removed and all the joints are then completely filled in with the epoxy filler and then biaxial fibreglass tape is laid over them.



All open Marine Ply is then coated with epoxy resin to waterproof it.



Woven Glass cloth is then laid over the entire hull surface for strength



Glass cloth wet out with epoxy resin, both sides are now done

[snake-eyes]

looks like a cool project , but with a shallow draft and flat bottem with no channels , looks like its going to have to be a fair weather boat

[crankystanley]

dont worry the pics are still coming...

[Shannon]

Hull is then flipped over.

Test fitting the bulkheads and stringers to make sure everything is still straight, at this point the hull is very flexible and can twist easily.



Bulkheads and stringers removed, interior glassing commences

In this picture you can see the white epoxy putty in the joints, known as filleting material, when it dries it is as hard as nails.


Glassing seems


The hull is now completely glassed on the inside.
Here I am glassing in the stringers


Half way through glassing in the bulkheads, you can see the boxes on the sides are glassed, the ones in the middle still need to be done


Installing Sheer clamps - You can see the white PVC pipe clamps holding the sheer clamps in place. The sheer clamp is there to give the sided extra rigidity and for the deck to have something to hold onto when it is glued down.


Bow eye backing plate installed

[Shannon]

Installing the skeg and strakes


Installing spray rails




Installing reverse chine, have also started laying down the fairing compound (the white stuff)


Close up of reverse chine before shaping


Building up the transom edge. A sharp transom edge is very important in a planning hull to allow the boat to break free from the water. A rounded transom causes a suction and reduces hull performance. The sharper the better, production hulls coming out of a mould have limitations to this area because the fibreglass won't bend into a sharp corner, but building this edge up with an epoxy filler allows a sharper stronger edge



The result




Fairing compound laid down (it is an epoxy based compound similar to body putty but just much stronger)
Let the sanding begin


First coat of epoxy high build primer

[Shannon]

Second coat of primer laid down.





The finished spray rail

[Shannon]

That's pretty much as far as I've got so far.

I started building on the 3rd October 2008. Many, many hours already done and many more to go.

My next step is to sand the primer down again to make sure I have no high or low spots and then spray one more primer coat, sand lightly and then coat just the bottom panels with an epoxy resin/graphite powder mix. This makes the bottom very scratch resistant and it saves having to paint it.

The hull sides will be left as primer only for now. I will flip it again, finish the deck, hatches and cockpit completely and then final spray the entire top section including hull side panels.

I'll update the thread every couple of days as I finish each section.

[Shannon]

looks like a cool project , but with a shallow draft and flat bottem with no channels , looks like its going to have to be a fair weather boat

Snake Eyes - I'm going to give you a lengthy response, not because I am offended by your comments (not in the slightest), but more just to explain to everyone why certain things are done on certain hulls. And to explain a little more about this boat design.

Firstly when don't we have fair weather on our little dams :blue-wink: I've skippered deep sea boats in some really nasty stuff, our dams are like swimming pools

All hull designs are a matter of compromises. This hull is designed to fish the Florida flats where hull draft is critical. This boat floats fully loaded in 15cm of water (6 inches). Although as bass fisherman we don't regularly need such shallow draft, the Charity event at Alberts 2 weeks ago proved otherwise to Ian and I and Rob will back me up about not being able to get to those fish busty bait in the shallows last week because of hull draft. I will also be using this boat to fish in the harbour hunting tailing Grunter when all the other boats will have to watch from the sides. :blue-badgrin:

As far as handling goes, you will see in the later pics that I have installed a skeg and strakes to ensure good turning because the hull is such a shallow vee. I was going to install a planning pad but after consultation with an American racing boat builder and Neil Barker from Escape boating I decided to fit the Skeg instead. Because the hull is shallow a planning pad would have given little improvement in speed, but the negatives would have been higher.

The ability for a boat to handle rough water has nothing to do with the skegs and strakes, they are there to give grip when turning and they also assist in giving lift in DeepVee hulls . Although turning in rough water adds it all together.
A boats ability to handle rough water is designed into it's hull by using Vee shape and the Bow Deadrise (the angle of the bow in the front).
A deeper Vee allows a softer re-entry into water after being airbourne, so yes a Deep Vee has a softer ride, the negative side of a Deep Vee is performance. That is why modern Bass Boats have a Planning pad which is completely flat for the last 4 to 6ft to the transom. Chine Walking is also more pronounced on a DeepVee hull.

A shallow Vee hull produces more lift, therefore needs less horsepower to attain the same speed. A shallow vee is also much more stable at rest (where we spend 90% of our time) and it floats in much shallower water. The downfall of a Shallow Vee is that it has a higher tendancy to bang and will slide more in corners than dig like a DeepVee.

Bow Deadrise is another matter completely. The bow deadrise allows the boat to lift up and over a swell or chop instead of going through it.
This is where it gets complicated, big water with heavy wind creates long swells. Small water with heavy wind creates small sharp swells that are very close together.
In small water a sharper deadrise is better because the hull lifts quicker, my deadrise is 23 degrees, the T-Bird has one in the 15 to 17 degree range. You won't notice it that badly because your boat sits nose up in the water because of the large motor hanging off the transom. Put a 115 on the back and you would get very wet decks at low speed.

This boat is designed with a wet deck like a seaworthy boat, if water does come in, it just runs out the scuppers and not into the bottom of the hull for the bilge pumps to fight with. But I will be installing a bilge pump anyway just for added safety.

As stated earlier this boat was designed for the Florida Flats, where 40 to 50 mile (80km) runs are not uncommon, much bigger water than we ever encounter.

Is this boat designed for extreme speed? - No. It's a 16ft boat and any 16ft boat at speeds over 90km/h get's scary. The prototype of this boat was run successfully with a 40 hp and achieved 40km/h. Not bad for a boat that is 16ft long and 7 1/2ft wide (yes it's wider than your T-Bird - A full 2.25m wide).
With a 70hp it achieved 80km/h ( I could get 71km/h on my Bass Seeker 16ft with a 90hp Merc swinging a 22pitch prop).
One with a 115hp Yamaha has produced 96km/h, but as the owner said in this boat that is scary fast.
The speeds attained with the small motors are also due to the fact that the boat is much lighter than a production fibreglass hull.
I'm probably going to put on a 115hp ETEC and ride around at half throttle most of the time, while my big kicker fish enjoy the Jacuzzi I have planned for them :blue-biggrin:

[PDV]

Shannon, I always admire people that can put a project like this together -you obviously have done your homework! I am looking forward to the final product! Good luck!

:blue-smile:

[robfisher]

Thanks Shannon… I think a boat built with a labour of love will be worth much more than a boat you walk into a shop and buy… I applaud anyone who can who can take on a project like this… this is what you call total commitment! She looks beautiful already… what you gonna call her? Mrs Smooth 2009? :blue-biggrin:

[DecimalDan]

Shannon , good luck with this baby. Please dont forget to greet us when you do the low flying thing s :blue-lol:

[Bergie]

Furk Shannon, thats awesome boet!!! :blue-biggrin:

Having built and repaired boats myself in the past, your detailed account so far is fantastic!!! I look forward to the forthcoming....episodes!! :blue-biggrin:

Boet I'm 'gobsmacked' to say the least!!!...Keep it rolling :blue-biggrin: :blue-biggrin:

[August]

Looks good!! Lots of effort and commitment doing a project like that,and doing it so quickly!!
Did you put in any support for your transome? If you did would you also put in a pic.
Are you gonna put in decks like a bassboat or what?

[Vaalboy]

Your boat looks awesome Shannon, well done on getting so much done so quickly. I would be interested to know how much all the materials cost and how many man hours you have put in.

I am sure this is going to be a sweet ride and something to be proud of.