plywood, best strength to weight ratio
don't chop the foam out of seats, affects safety of hull
see the carp-fly boat in one of the posts, he had a nice deck setup
with a nice storage area built in.

found it

http://www.microskiff.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1218751134/0

 

Thanks Brett.

I took my barebones 1544 jonboat with 15hp yamaha 2-stroke and topped out 24.8 mph. There's a huge sandbar where I took my NMZ out there and got barely hitting the bottom around 12 to 14 inches.

With 1544 jonboat runs a lot shallower and not touched the bottom of the sandbar.

My goal with this set-up with jackplate, 25hp, and 4 blade cupped propeller to run very reliable 6" of water.

I may have tunnel hull to go that route.

 

Ever think about hydrofoils... ;D

 

Ever think about hydrofoils... ;D

I know Jonboats works really well with those wings.........lol.

I got electric trim tabs and custom shallow water cativation plate in my mind. That's gives me to run 4"........LOL.

 

pocket tunnel huh, I see a heliarc bill in your future...

another project:

http://www.rofb.net/faq/faq_ODF.htm

and another:

http://www.bassingfools.com/jonboat/boat.htm

 

Years ago I ran a 16' Starcraft riveted hull skiff. We did a full custom interior to set it up as a bonefish skiff using 3/8" ply resined on the interior side and with a very thin glass skin on the wear surface. It was a great usable hull that caught a lot of fish and only had to be put back together a few times.... If I can find some of the old photos I'll post one.

Here's the rub with a riveted hull, eventually they'll begin to leak around the rivets (eventually is directly related to how much pounding the hull takes...). The next thing that happens is that everything flexes except where the ribs and other reinforcing prevents any flex. At those points you'll begin to get cracking from metal fatigue (in my case that took three or four years). It makes for some interesting repairs. One of the fixes we did involved a complete Steel Flex job on the bottom. The stuff works great except for where the hull is flexing, particularly around rivets. At those points the Steelflex will begin to crack out - on my old Starcraft it took about six months from when we did the job. As you can guess, if I ever go the aluminum route again it will be with a welded hull, and I'll be wanting at least .100 metal, .125 would be better.

On the plus side that hull got a tremendous amount of use for a relatively small amount of money. It was powered with an Evinrude 55hp and fished everywhere from Key West up to Palm Beach on fishing club outings.

 

Years ago I ran a 16' Starcraft riveted hull skiff. We did a full custom interior to set it up as a bonefish skiff using 3/8" ply resined on the interior side and with a very thin glass skin on the wear surface. It was a great usable hull that caught a lot of fish and only had to be put back together a few times.... If I can find some of the old photos I'll post one.

Here's the rub with a riveted hull, eventually they'll begin to leak around the rivets (eventually is directly related to how much pounding the hull takes...). The next thing that happens is that everything flexes except where the ribs and other reinforcing prevents any flex. At those points you'll begin to get cracking from metal fatigue (in my case that took three or four years). It makes for some interesting repairs. One of the fixes we did involved a complete Steel Flex job on the bottom. The stuff works great except for where the hull is flexing, particularly around rivets. At those points the Steelflex will begin to crack out - on my old Starcraft it took about six months from when we did the job. As you can guess, if I ever go the aluminum route again it will be with a welded hull, and I'll be wanting at least .100 metal, .125 would be better.

On the plus side that hull got a tremendous amount of use for a relatively small amount of money. It was powered with an Evinrude 55hp and fished everywhere from Key West up to Palm Beach on fishing club outings.

Thanks for a great info!

Just called the dealer and see if I can take the boat back today and wait for little bit more reasearch on jonboats. The dealer said no plm about giving the money back and start looking for what I want.

I have always have plms with rivited jon boats with jet motor in the past and don't want happend to this one but I'm going to welding jon route to be safe side.

But we see......... I'm going to look for flatbottom welded tunnel hull with max rated 25hp.

 

Looks like a brainstorm,
ended up as a drizzle....

   


Capt Bob, was that aluminum skiff an article in
Florida Sportsman mag many moons back?

 

I have a 25hp yamaha 2-stroke long shaft tiller with electric start in the box since 07' and want to look for wide bottom tunnel hull or non-tunnel skiff like jonboats or maybe fiberglass.

Puger LT25 with tunnel hull is perfect but I don't see running with tiller model and the LT25 is not extra-wide enough to run and float very shallow.

The XF20 is perfect sample for me but have to build the boat and require more HP to push it!!!!

I had dream having a XF20 flats skiff but
U have to build it on your own.

I don't have time or skill to build a smaller XF20 flats skiff.

I wish it's already made smaller 15ft boat like XF20 with 25hp yamaha 2-stroke.

 

from bateau:

The XF20 is light and will run fast with a small outboard.
Don't plan on anything larger than 50 HP.
Keep the weight and draft low, the trim reasonable.
She will top at 25 mph with a 25 HP, 30 with a 30 HP.
This boats transom is designed for a standard 20" shaft.
The transom can easily be modified to accept other shaft lengths.

http://www.bateau.com/studyplans/XF20_study.htm?prod=XF20

being not quite right, I'd shorten the boat to fit my garage.
Keep the same specs on the framing, just close the distances
between them, same strength, lose 50 lbs off the hull.
25 hp at 3/4 throttle would push at 18-22 mph no problem.
The boats a box, not a hard build at all.

 

from bateau:

The XF20 is light and will run fast with a small outboard.
Don't plan on anything larger than 50 HP.
Keep the weight and draft low, the trim reasonable.
She will top at 25 mph with a 25 HP, 30 with a 30 HP.
This boats transom is designed for a standard 20" shaft.
The transom can easily be modified to accept other shaft lengths.

http://www.bateau.com/studyplans/XF20_study.htm?prod=XF20

being not quite right, I'd shorten the boat to fit my garage.
Keep the same specs on the framing, just close the distances
between them, same strength, lose 50 lbs off the hull.
25 hp at 3/4 throttle would push at 18-22 mph no problem.
The boats a box, not a hard build at all.

I will love to do it but problem is don't have time to do it. I wish it already been made like this or a boat looks similiar like this.

Bonefish 18 skiff looks great and I need something small than this.

 

I will love to do it but problem is don't have time to do it.    I wish it already been made like this or a boat looks similiar like this.

There are a few guys who build them semi professionally.  If I had the room, I would build you one.  Take a look at Bateau or PM Shine he is part of Bateau and he can point you in the right direction.  Not to mention I thinK Capt Ron still has his precut XF20 kit and plans...

 

This is kinda like a woman shopping for shoes...
so many attractive sizes and shapes, so hard to decide...
well, if a woman can have a closet full of shoes,
then why can't a man have a yard full of boats?
Oh yeah, I forgot WS, that's how you ended up here in the first place...

 :

 

Blake, why don't you just sell all them boats and motors and other things you got and buy this one boat. It is the one you want and you know that it will do all the type fishing you do. Room for the wife and kid also.

Quit playing around and man up!!

http://www.microskiff.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1220573932

 

Blake, why don't you just sell all them boats and motors and other things you got and buy this one boat. It is the one you want and you know that it will do all the type fishing you do. Room for the wife and kid also.

Quit playing around and man up!!

http://www.microskiff.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1220573932

the gladeskiff has been sold ;D

 

Have you looked at all the welded
aluminum tunnel skiffs on line yet?
Some of those babies are nice!

 

I put that Starcraft together in 1976, then added live wells on the stern in re-build #1... It was sold in 1983 if I remember correctly. The only thing I ever saw that was similar in a magazine was one that Bob Stearns put together and did an article about. There were actually quite a few aluminum hulls in the backcountry during that era. I figure most went the route that I did and replaced them when they could.

The best one I've seen in years is the modified jonboat that Capt Jorge Valverde runs every day down at Flamingo. He actually put a tunnel into his version (he's a skilled metalworker and actually can re-weld anything that breaks). His rig is based on a welded 15 or 16' hull and nothing can touch it for utility, skimming right over the top of areas that others have to run miles around. That's without even leaving any smoke... or disturbing one blade of grass. That thing will run in spit....

 

Thanks for the history Captain.

Valverde sure put together a nice beer can:

http://www.lowplacesguideservice.com/id2.html

 

THAT's a good History!!! Thanks

will I will be better off with welded Jon boat than Rivet ones? but it's 100 lbs more means more draft. :-/

 

Welded hulls are tougher, using 0.10" thick aluminum or better.
Same hulls are used with jet outboards to run rocky streams and rivers
by guides after salmon. They need the strength and durability
of the aluminum to deal with slamming against rocks going up and
downstream every day. The weight is comparable to a similar sized
flats skiff, probably a couple hundred pounds less in most cases.
As with most boats, it's the options that make it heavy.
Start adding towers and platforms and livewells and trolling motors
and dual batteries...you get the idea.

 

Thanks for the Info Capt! I have not had a change to fish with Capt Jorge. A very good friend of mine has and said his custom tunnel was the shallowest running boat he had ever been on. Much shallower than my old Pathy 17!

 

Jorge is a good friend and a very skilled building trades craftsman when not on the water... I don't often tout other guides but the only time I fished with him on that tin boat of his he put me on solid sight-fishing shots at snook, reds, trout, small tarpon, bonefish, and permit... All in a few hours out of Flamingo on the same day.... If you can cast, he'll put you on some of the skinniest fish you'll ever see. I missed a lot of shots that day... but not all of them.