I’m in the beginning stages of building Chris Morejohn’s Conchfish. I’ll be extending the skiff to 17’8”, and widening the upper chines (spray rails), but only by about 0.5” on each side. I’m also planning on having a straight transom with heavily rounded corners, more along the lines of the Islamarine 10wt than the original Conchfish 16 design.
The plan (for now) is to keep the boat simple – open bulkheads and no floor, and I have a 2002 Yamaha 30 tiller 2 stroke with some serious nostalgia attached to it that I'll be rehabbing and throwing on the transom.
I tried listing the things that were extremely important to me, and the following made up the top five (in no particular order):
Serviceability
Simplicity
Seaworthiness/Safety
Aesthetics (sexiness, if you want to stick with the “S” theme)
Longevity/Durability (I want this skiff to outlast me)
I’ve spent my whole life fixing things, so serviceability is paramount. I strongly feel like every option or feature is just another potential point of failure down the road. Sometimes the benefits of the feature outweigh the failure/service concerns, but usually not. For things right on the line, I’ve found I might be able to tilt the scale by making the service/replacement an easier undertaking.
I’ve also had the unfortunate experience of sinking a 26’ center console over 50 miles from land. Obviously, that will affect some aspects of the design as well.
A few examples of some features/designs that I plan to incorporate into the skiff:
- A goal of zero sheet metal or self-tapping screws in the entire skiff. If for some reason I can’t figure out how to through-bolt something, the screw location will be overdrilled and filled with thickened epoxy.
- Take into account access for all fasteners.
- Zero holes through the hull below the waterline, aside from the drain plug. Absolute minimum of holes above the waterline.
- Positive flotation, in strategic locations.
Fair warning: this will likely be a pretty slow-moving build thread. My wife and I just had a daughter in October, and I feel like the house/car projects are never-ending. I am also really trying to take my time and not rush things. It prevents mistakes and results in a nicer end product, but also has the added benefit of letting me appreciate each step a little more.
For example, I probably spent an average of 45 min or so per station just drawing out the station profile, but I really enjoyed the process. I have lots of confidence in the accuracy, and am very happy with my jigsaw work so far. I also took my time figuring out the additional station, so I’m hoping it won’t require much adjustment, if any.
The plan (for now) is to keep the boat simple – open bulkheads and no floor, and I have a 2002 Yamaha 30 tiller 2 stroke with some serious nostalgia attached to it that I'll be rehabbing and throwing on the transom.
I tried listing the things that were extremely important to me, and the following made up the top five (in no particular order):
Serviceability
Simplicity
Seaworthiness/Safety
Aesthetics (sexiness, if you want to stick with the “S” theme)
Longevity/Durability (I want this skiff to outlast me)
I’ve spent my whole life fixing things, so serviceability is paramount. I strongly feel like every option or feature is just another potential point of failure down the road. Sometimes the benefits of the feature outweigh the failure/service concerns, but usually not. For things right on the line, I’ve found I might be able to tilt the scale by making the service/replacement an easier undertaking.
I’ve also had the unfortunate experience of sinking a 26’ center console over 50 miles from land. Obviously, that will affect some aspects of the design as well.
A few examples of some features/designs that I plan to incorporate into the skiff:
- A goal of zero sheet metal or self-tapping screws in the entire skiff. If for some reason I can’t figure out how to through-bolt something, the screw location will be overdrilled and filled with thickened epoxy.
- Take into account access for all fasteners.
- Zero holes through the hull below the waterline, aside from the drain plug. Absolute minimum of holes above the waterline.
- Positive flotation, in strategic locations.
Fair warning: this will likely be a pretty slow-moving build thread. My wife and I just had a daughter in October, and I feel like the house/car projects are never-ending. I am also really trying to take my time and not rush things. It prevents mistakes and results in a nicer end product, but also has the added benefit of letting me appreciate each step a little more.
For example, I probably spent an average of 45 min or so per station just drawing out the station profile, but I really enjoyed the process. I have lots of confidence in the accuracy, and am very happy with my jigsaw work so far. I also took my time figuring out the additional station, so I’m hoping it won’t require much adjustment, if any.