Conchfish 16

Chris, this is pretty much the same I lay mine up. I have the extra sheet of glass and just figure I’d use it to speed up production without sacrificing the quality!

Boatbrains said:

Chris, this is pretty much the same I lay mine up. I have the extra sheet of glass and just figure I’d use it to speed up production without sacrificing the quality!

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Sounds great, always many ways to skin a cat.

@Hardluk81 has a good point, and I believe you said no false floor/sole on this build, so it makes perfect sense to stop you from the chine cutout

Makes no difference, once the hull is glassed and the two bulkheads are in place the boat will not twist. Make the cap from 3”-18” Wide it does not matter for strength. All it needs is to be glued all together.
I would suggest to measure a Whipray or such or go by my plans. What made these skiffs perform so well is they were all glued and glassed up as one piece. At the time in 1997 all the competition were riveting or screwing there decks onto the hulls. Totally different now since the Whipray came to light.the more you add the stiffer she will be as long as it’s all glued together. A early Waterman is not as rigid as a Whipray because of the missing floor and such. Still no big deal. It’s all about what you need. I like a cut off Clorox bottle as a bailer and no floor. So...

Amen on the clorox bottle bailer brother!

Hardluk81 said:

View attachment 36312 If it was mine I would make the gunnel line up with the flat part of the floor. How wide would the cockpit be if you did this?

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That makes perfect sense. I think it’s around 48” between the two chines.

I will definitely be glueing it together as Chris said.

Man lookin sick!

Thanks

How many sheets of Divinycell do you think you will end up using?

Did you put the strakes on before flipping, and if so, how did you attach them?

Thanks in advance--the build looks great

Gents, for you guys that are thinking about building one of chris’s skiffs or want to join the conchfish fleet, one of The guys building one started this as a q&a for the other CF builders. It was just done so it’s waiting for people to add to it!

http://morejohnbuilders.freeforums.net/

Travis, your question on gunnels: I have an early 16' waterman with a full cap, including "walk around gunnel" cover boards. It has a very finished and classy look. After having fished a number of times in an earlier model with no mid-ship cover boards, I will say it is far easier to get rods in and out and does not affect the fishability at all. Walking down the gunnel on one of these boast is not the same as on a full-sized skiff. I would go so far as to say, it is almost never done. So, if your lay up in the hull is stiff enough already, I think you should consider not having full sized cover boards. My $.02. Great looking boat! Mark

Throw some plywood on it, fish it a few times in a backwater pond and then make the deck how you like. It won’t be pretty, but it will give you a good idea of what you can and can’t do.

Ri

Rick hambric said:

Gents, for you guys that are thinking about building one of chris’s skiffs or want to join the conchfish fleet, one of The guys building one started this as a q&a for the other CF builders. It was just done so it’s waiting for people to add to it!

http://morejohnbuilders.freeforums.net/

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rick,
Thanks for posting this. I have signed up. This looks to me the best way for me to help others along. I can just go to this site and explain my methods there. Just bear with me as I’am not around WiFi all the time.

Chris, you da man dude!

Looks awesome. I'm envious. Good luck on the guiding in the future and THANK YOU for your service in law enforcement.

Thanks man!! Im praying it all works out.

@Chris Morejohn can you please explain to me the process you build a fiberglass tank? What type of resin? I am using MarinEpoxy boatbuildercentral. Thanks man

And what size of tank?