I chose to go this route because I feel you would be more encapsulated and tied together. Once this is fully glued onto the hull it will help prevent the hull twisting too.
Conchfish 16
Since everyone doesn’t have IG or not a member of Bateau.com, I will doing a build thread here. I started today build a strong back and was also able to cut some mold frames out. Here’s is the progress so far.
![Floor Sport venue Flooring Drawing]()
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All looks good. Here are some sketches to explain my design thinking.
I have always felt that to have Kevlar on the inside of a Skiffs skin adds added resin weight and cost for no reason as it’s only a small % stronger than regular eglass and harder to work with and repair.
Now just look at the top view of a simple skiffs supporting bulkheads, rod racks, sheer and transom area.
All of this is glued inplace. The small square Ft. Areas inbetween will not flex if bonded well so the deck can’t move.
Please remember that when your Skiff is floating you are walking on a hull that is floating on water so your decks are not being compressed at the weight rate as if they were on solid land.
Lots of give with water. Now jump on your deck with your Skiff in your back yard and then maybe it will give a bit and you could feel that. Still the core and glass will go back to its original state.
You don’t need anymore glass on the underside of the deck than shown for skiffs of this size.
The key to durability is making sure the edges of the sheer, cockpit and hatches are glassed like shown. No airpockets here or bubbles please.
I would plan on glassing in the stern well deck to its bulkheads for ultimate strength.
It is also very good to radius in from inside as much of the deck to the bulkheads and sheer. Just flip the boat over when it’s bonded. Put it up on supports and it’s very easy this way. That’s what we started at HB.
Have fun
Some more quick sketches.
The sump that was used on the Hells Bay Skiffs during my time were developed by Flip Pallot. He explained to me what he wanted when I started on building the first interior plug and mold for the Whipray.
This version to me is perfect if understood and used properly.
First off it works with a self bailing floor only.
If you are not going to have a selfbailing floor in a skiff you have to have a bilge pump to get the water out.
If you are aboard a shallow water Skiff the self bailing floor will not be able to be high enough in most all skiffs when you are aboard with others. This means you will have to plug the stern from water getting in and use the bilge pump when operating.
If not having a floor in your Skiff then you will have to use a bilge pump to get excess water out.
I only use a cut off Clorox bottle to bail out water and I never have a drain hole in my personal skiffs. One less thing to deal with. But I’am old school.
So if no floor the only thing you have to think about is how to drain the water to the bilge pump to be bailed out. If having a stern box bulkhead in the way to the stern you will need a sump. I show a few ideas.
The Chittum Skiff version makes for an open aft locker but you still need to have a well above to be able to tilt your engine. Now if you are using a jackplate at the start you could get away with no well at all.
You can then use a version of the Chittum internal box that holds the bilge pump.
The problem with the Chittum box to me is if you need to bail the boat in an emergency, say your battery is dead you will have to reach over the stern to unplug so you can self bail when under way. Not a big deal but not fun when your skiffs stern is going under. If you have a well that goes to the hull bottom then you can just reach down from above and un plug.
The other liability of the Chittum setup is your bilge pump is not seen till you open your aft hatch and unscrew the inspection plate to unclog it through a 7” hole. Not easy even for a small guy like me. Any work that needs to be done to it is a major project. Also if it’s full of water it can leak into the locker if the twist on lid is not screwed down properly so this low box in the Skiff will be completely full of water most of the time. To me it was a cool concept but has too many flaws and is complicated for my old school thoughts.
Now Flips version if used properly is dead simple.
When aboard you reach down and plug the well from inside the well. Now the water will flow aft and be pumped out. Got crap in your bilge pump reach down unhook and lift up and check it out. Very easy if set up right. By this I mean enough room in the well for the pump and hose.
Today HB and and others have corrupted this system with the bilge pump being so far inaccessible as to be dangerous. You need a trained Glades Python to get down where it’s hidden.
If wanting to self bail at the dock overnight you just un plug the stern. This lets water in up to its sea water level. If your Skiff is loaded it will flow up and onto your floor. If your floor is above the load waterline then it will just flow out and stay the same level.
If you forget to put the stern plug back in when getting aboard you will have wet feet till you remember.
Having a self bailing floor is great in big squalls and rainstorms so you don’t have to go check on the bilge pump or bail out with my Clorox bottle in the middle of the night. You must always tie your Skiff off so it won’t catch the dock on the tide and fill with water that way. Not fair to the system.
All my early Waterman skiffs with their stern boxes could self bail by just unplugging the stern. The floor would flood to about 2-1/2 - 3” and stop. The hulls flotation bouancy would take over and that was it. Let her rain all night and she would stay at the seas water level. When boarding this Skiff you would get wet feet while you put the stern plug in and the bilge pump took over and bailed out the sea water.
So lots of ways to do it. Let me know of new ways.
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