[Mr.jake]

Hi everyone. Name is Jake. I will be building a modified version of Jeff Spiras Endurance fly fishing/ flats boat. My design will have a grab bar and cooler in the center with the traditional skiff interior lay out similar to the boat pictured. The goal is to have a boat around 100-150 (probably going to be more like 200lb unfortunately)pounds that will be transported on my ladder rack. This will give me and my wife the ability to take it on vacations without the issue of space to park a trailer.

 

[Mr.jake]

I just bought some expensive furniture grade pine that is absolutely beautiful. Next to zero knots, dense straight and dry. $10.09 per 8 foot board 0_0! I have used this wood to build furniture in the past and it is worth the money. This will be used to form the 7 2x3 frames called for as step 1 in the plans. This should be enough to do all the frames (minus transoms) for both boats.

Cost to date for both boats:$150.99

 

[Silent Drifter]

A lot of boats share similarities, that green bandit reminds me of the slayer skiffs ,"skinny boats" which has nice lines but wish it was bigger 👍 ill be watching your build 👍what size motor yall gonna run ? Suzuki 20 would be sweet i bet or tahatsu 30 👍

 

[Mr.jake]

The plans call for a 6hp max. This factored into my boat plan choice. I was able to get a new in box hangkai 6hp mercury clone for $425 cash. I just finished the break in. The little 6hp will plane my 120lb 1436 jon boat with two people. Jeff quoted me 15-18 mph with that motor and the endurance. If me and my wife can get on plane and cruise 10 to 12 mph I will be more than happy.

 

[Silent Drifter]

Id find it really had not to stretch it to 5'-5" or so ,so it could handle that suzuki 20 a manual short shaft is only 97 lbs

But i understand you already plan for the 6 and have it on hand 👍😎

 

[The Fin]

Hi everyone. Name is Jake. My good friend and I will be building two small boats side by side over the next few months. We will be building modified versions of Jeff Spiras Endurance fly fishing/ flats boat. My design will have a grab bar and cooler in the center with the traditional skiff interior lay out similar to the boat pictured. The goal is to have a boat around 100-150 pounds that will be transported on my ladder rack. This will give me and my wife the ability to take it on beach vacation without the issue of space to park a trailer. We plan to take it to Panama city FL for our 1 year wedding anniversary in April 2022.

Looks like a great project! Keep us posted!

 

[Mr.jake]

I already have a nissan/ tohatsu 25 hp two stroke long shart for the future bateau fs18 that I will put on a trailer. This is the light weight leisure/ explorer better than a canoe boat

 

[Gogittum]

I don't like to be negative, but a couple of thoughts come to mind: In 2004, I rented a little 12 ft jon boat with 6 hp motor at Okefenokee and spent a day fooling around in the swamp. I was surprised at how well it did and it did plane cleanly, but there was only myself at 180#, a soft sided 6 packer with a couple of blue ice chunks and a couple of Pepsis and my camera & light tripod. Total load in the boat was under 200#.

You put more gear and another person in that thing and I'm very afraid you'll be disappointed. If it's only rated for a very marginal 6 hp, I'd seriously look into upgrading construction to allow at least a 9.9, which you can still carry away in one hand. That extra 1/3 hp increase would make a huge difference.

Also, I did a lot of boat work some years ago in the Pacific NW and built a couple of small ones. I don't remember sources et al now, but the big whoop-de-doo was for "CVG" Douglas Fir. (Clear Vertical Grain) Hokay, I jumped on the band wagon and for a project, I special ordered a 16 ft CVG Fir 2x4 at a lumber yard. Don't remember the price, but it was horrendous.

When it came in, it was a really beautiful piece of wood....then I tried to pick it up. I swear that board was made of cement, prob'ly with rebar in it. Migawd, it was heavy.....and I never did use it because of that.

My point is to personally check each piece as you buy it - even same species can have widely varying weights, depending on tightness of grain, moisture level, etc. Choose the lightest of each.....it can really add up. If you have a source, maybe even look into Sitka Spruce. Good Luck.

 

[Mr.jake]

Thanks for the advice on weight. I'm actually going much lighter than the plans call for with .23" & .18-.20 ply for the decking with fillets at all the frame and keelson joints. If the boat will beat a slight current and me and my little lady don't have to paddle for miles I will be happy. The boat is to be named "Where is the rush?" So a 6 horse ought to do it.

 

[Mr.jake]

 

[Mr.jake]

Frames 1 -7 are cut and ready to be glued and screwed. We still have to cut the transom and stem pieces. We were able to get the 7 frames cut for two boats as well as make heavy duty card stock paper templates for the frames. We put them on pictured spool to use when we glue up our frames. Not bad for 2 men 8.5 hours on our first day!

 

[Gatorgrizz27]

Nice start. I built Spira’s Ka-Joe, heavily modified. I have a 25 2-stroke on it and it runs 28 ish with just me.

I agree with the other guys that you’re going to want more motor, I’d step up to a 15 2-stroke personally, it won‘t be too much for that boat as long as the transom is braced properly.

However, the good thing about that design is it won‘t have a hard planing transition like a jon boat does, so you’ll get decent speeds even if it doesn’t really get it on step.

Edit: Scratch that. Looked at the design from the side and it’s not a planing hull anyways. You should move along ok with your 6 hp.

 

[Mr.jake]

I have a 1436 jon with a 25 tohatsu. This is a lighter easy to transport option for vacations and exploring.

 

[Silent Drifter]

^^^^^thats got to be a blast 😁 my father inlaw had a similar hull with 15 Johnson we was lucky as teenagers not to kill ourselves 😆👍was a really fun boat specially for running up small creeks to camp out 😉 i remember us collecting clams from the creek to make a pot of clam stew when we camped out was awesome, those was the good days !

 

[Mr.jake]

Sounds like fun for sure! Qe plan to camp the French broad with our jon boat this spring. I miss my previous boat a lot. It was a 14ft alumacraft v hull with a 73 johnson 25 it was very quick and could turn on a dime. I rented a big boat center console in Florida and for me 14-16 foot is my favorite. I love small easy to handle tiller boats

 

[Silent Drifter]

I agree had my best time in smaller tiller boats 👍😁 and never had a shortage of fish ...

 

[Mr.jake]

A little more progress. Drew out the transom patter snd purchased remaining wood needed for both boats. Plan to build transom and hopefully glue up frames with week.

 

[SS06]

Cool project

 

[Chass]

Really like that upswept bow with the casting deck behind it....I understand true flats boats don't want to catch the wind but I have buried the bow enough times to appreciate this design!

 

[Mr.jake]

We worked about 12 man hours today. We glued up the frames and transoms. Having the templates ready to tape to the board and all the lap joints sanded made for quick work of the frames.

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