Generally speaking, is an aluminum boat heavier than a fiberglass boat, of the same surface area? I have my dream boat in my head, and it would have an aluminum hull below the waterline, and fiberglass above (assuming fiberglass is lighter). Is there any way to marry the two materials?
they can be bonded with adhesives. Aluminum is lighter for the same strenth, however it is noisier which is why alot of people, like me prefer fiberglass. Just curious why is this your dream boat? Manufacturers don't usually build boats like this for a reason. dissimilar materials might not act like you want them too.
I want to be able to run over rocks and hidden oyster beds without cringing and fearing a hole in the boat. I want to be able to use the same boat to run across a chopped up bay, quietly pole a flat in south florida and jetboat a [rainbow, brown] trout river up north that has plenty of rocks. Everyone says you need more than one boat. I'm sure they're right, but that's why I called the post "just dreamin". Because in my dream I can build a Hells Bay where the parts that would scrape bottom are aluminum, and the parts that would create hull slap are fiberglass.
I think your dream is a little "wet". Why not build the boat of your dreams out of FG and then do as the airboaters do - bolt on a teflon sheet. They run over top all kinds of boaters in the Everglades with no damage.
Cool! If you're not being facetious, does this add a lot of weight? If you are, forget I said anything; I've never been on an airboat
Aluminum isn't bullet proof, especially in a microskiff/jon boat due to how thin it is, I know several people that had to have thier hulls welded after smacking a oyster bed or submerged rock. thats gonna be hard to achieve in aluminum, one of the major drawbacks is the noise the hull makes. thats why you don't really see any aluminum poling skiffs. not sure I would take a hells bay polling skiff out in a heavy chop. the hull would need to be one material or the other, bonding the 2 mid way can create a weak point prone to leaks. Ducknut is on to something with the airboats, only newer ones don't really use the poly sheets anymore, they use a spray on material called frog spit, or something similar. A buddy of mine just built a new airboat and has a fiberglass hull covered in the frog spit, he can run it across rocks all day long. He did say that if he abuses it the way he does he will have to reapply it once a year or so.
Posted by: BigAlPachecko Posted on: Yesterday at 10:12pm Cool! If you're not being facetious, does this add a lot of weight? If you are, forget I said anything; Not at all. These sheets come in all kninds of sizes and thickness. Try southernairboat.com. You should be able to find a dealer that can get it for you. Most likely you will need to order it in the approximate size you need and trim to fit. Most every fiberglass airboat outthere has these things on the bottom of their boat. They are tough and if you stay thin you shouldn't add much weight.
The reason I went with HB is for the flat bottom running pad and pocket tunnel on the models I've seen.. I figured (in my dreams) that I could slap a jet drive on the lower unit when I went north seasonally for the freshwater river running.. My dream poling skiff is actually the HPX-V. But I didn't think a jet drive would work as well with a hull like that. And while I've never driven any HB, I hear from whipray owners that they do better than you might think in a light chop. Wet? Yes. Butt breaking? Heck yes. But safe. So I figured I needed to compromise somewhere (even in my dreams) BTW, thanks for the great info, guys. You're making me think my dream of having one all around boat isn't so far fetched.
I don't know why I didn't think of this before but why not get an aluminum tunnel hull v jon boat and get it line-X coated? the line-X would held soften the noise as well as protect the bottom. As an added bones the line-X has a lifetime warranty. You could use it on a fiberglass skiff also, but I see your intent on aluminum.
