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Ongoing 16' Boat Project


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So our boat is a nice 16' aluminum deep v Grumman with a 30hp Yamaha 2-stroke and Shorelander trailer. Boat, engine, and trailer are all '89 when my dad bought it. It's all still in GREAT shape since we've only been able to use it twice in something like the last 9 years (I know sad right) where we used to take it out of Port Sheldon. Well it looks like schedules are finally going to allow it to be used again.

My dad has kept the interior very simple over the years. It still has the original short arm manual walker downriggers he bought and a fish finder that's so old the fish are just a little square pixel on the screen (it still tells ya how deep it is though :thumb:). And that was it, key word "was". Well I can't allow that anymore if I'm goin to start using it again :D. So it's time to make some modifications. Here's what I'm starting with...

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So a buddy of mine just did the interior of his 14' flat bottom Lowe that he uses on the river and for spear fishing so I asked him to help me out with this one. He's honestly the brains behind most of the operation since this is his second go around at this. So let's get to the good stuff. Additions that will be made are as follows: a front deck, floor boards, navigation lights, interior lights, a new fish finder, a marine radio, a permanent mount light up compass new set of used downriggers with longer booms, 4 more rod holder (still deciding on what exactly), cup holders, swivel seats, sand and repaint motor mount board on transom, fabricate a windshield for steering console, and a bilge pump. As you can see I'm going to be adding a lot of safety features for more comfortable use on the big lake. So here's what we got done this past weekend.

We started out by working on the front deck since it's the most complex. 15/19" plywood, 2"x2", and 2"x4" were used. There will be a total of 3 compartments.

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The triangular one in the bow will be for an anchor.

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The 2 square compartments will have plastic bins attached on the underside of the plywood. Also the back two thirds of the entire deck will hingle up so that the rest of the bow becomes storage underneath (a mini cuddy cabin :lol:).

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We then cut out the floor boards which were pretty simple and then added support framing under all of it. Then I coated them with 3 coats of clear coat to seal the wood to prevent rotting.

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While that was drying I decided to sand the transom board and add some no-slip stickers to the trailer above the tires.

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before...

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after...

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Next step is carpeting the deck and floor boards and then adding the hinges and latches to the compartments. Should be more to come after this weekend.

Tight lines,

mrhookup

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So I didn't get as much done this weekend as I'd hoped. My buddy Jake was busy with family stuff at his cottage all weekend so I couldn't get the carpet on this weekend (he has the staple gun :mad:). So I worked on what I could which included putting three coats of a nice dark blue paint on the transom board to reseal it (will add clear coat next weekend) and attaching a cup holder to the side of the console.

the paint job... (tape still has to be removed after clear coat is applied, that's the lighter blue stuff)

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the cup holder is a black plastic one from the trucking accessories section at Meijer that I got for $5.

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I also removed the two short arm manual Walker downriggers we had mounted to the oarlock holes. These things caught a lot of fish at one time but they will be replaced with a set of manual long arm Rivieras I picked up from BenLubbs (thanks again Ben! they're gonna work perfect). They will be mounted to an aluminum flatbar that will extend across the span of the boat on the gunwales and be farther back. This will open up more room with the longer arms set farther back and allow the oar lock holes to be set up with more rod holders for dipseys, cores, coppers, etc.

the now empty oarlock mounting holes...

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I also put in the mount for the stern light (wiring to come later)...

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And lastly the cool part that I worked on this weekend which took up most of my time due to the lack of tools I had to work with. I fabricated this windshield frame from 1/16" thick 1" aluminum angle stock and 1/16" aluminum flatbar. All connections are with 3/4" 6/32 machine screws and nylon insert lock nuts except the connections to the console are with #10 sheet metal screws. I did the whole thing with nothing but a hack saw, hand drill, hand file, and tape measure. I still have to have my neighbor put a weld line to connect the two front support bars together as they are sitting at about a 60deg angle, that should really strengthen it good. Now I just have to cut to shape and add the plexiglass inserts and then I will dismantle it and paint the frame a nice dark blue to match the transom board. It's gonna be sweet! :D

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driver's view...

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  • 2 weeks later...

So this one is gonna be a little picture heavy guys. Last weekend I didn't really get a chance to touch the boat much but this weekend my buddy Jake was finally able to come over and we were able to get A LOT done. The windshield frame is removed for now so that a part of it can be welded before it is finished. A couple of the smaller things we got done were to install the navigation light on the bow, add a clear coat to the transom board, mounting the clips to the transom board to store the stern light when not in use, and mounting the bildge pump the the support brace in the back. Here's what that stuff looks like...

the navi light

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the transom board now clear-coated and tape removed with the storage clips for the stern light

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the bilge pump mounted

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And now the big part and probably the coolest portion of the whole project we were able to finish this weekend. That includes the front deck and floor boards. All the hatches were finished with Gatehouse hinges and bolting latches. The carpet isn't marine carpet but instead a plastic type that's made for outdoor use. I really like the color of it, it cleans off easily with a hose, and won't rot with time. Should be very durable. I think we got as much storage space as we could with no wasted space while keeping it stylish as well :lol:.

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So the front deck was built in two pieces as i think i said before. It has 3 compartments and the back 2/3 of the whole thing hinges up for a large storage area. Here's what she look's like.

3 compartments open

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front compartment close-up

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the other two are made from platic bins

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the handle to lift the deck up

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deck raised up, supported with a aluminum tube with rubber caps

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side view of deck hinged up

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We also did the other two floor boards. The floor in the middle section of the boat with the console has a compartment running lengthwise down the middle.

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hatch open

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The back floor has no compartments as there wasn't as much room under the floor so it's just a simple one.

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All in all a very productive weekend. It's turning out nicely. I can't wait to use it late summer for some staging kings :D

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  • 1 month later...
How about some Lights and Entertainment

Well gentlemen, I'm not gonna say I've got everything on the boat that I want to yet (i mean who ever really achieves this feat :grin:) but all of the major additions that will change the appearance of the boat are on except for a pair of trees I'm planning on fabricating and adding later. It's been a while since I've updated on my progress and we've gotten A LOT done. I had a little lull there for a couple weeks where not much was accomplished, but the last 3 weekends have been VERY productive. We put in over 40hrs of work.

I'll start with a few of the smaller items. First I mounted a cheap little battery operated tap light in the main compartment up front for some light.

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I then added a couple clears on the deck up front.

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We finished the bilge pump by running the hose up to a hole in the upper back corner of the boat. We tested it and I don't have the picture anymore but it shoots a very impressive stream a couple feet out the side of the boat.

the inside

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the outside

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Next we added a total of 6 switches to the front dash of the side console.

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So far we only have 3 of them wired up to stuff. These include the bilge pump, the navigation lights and a pair of docking lights I mounting up front. The lights I used were truck navigations lights $15 for a pair at Meijer.

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the wiring, covered with plastic tubing

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and they work!

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The remaining 3 switches will be for interior lights, the permanent mount compass, and a pair of rear flood lights for netting fish in the dark. I have the compass and flood lights installed, wiring still to come...

compass

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the rear flood lights on each back corner

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Next was the windshield, which gave me the most problems but I finally have it done. I dismantled it and painted it with a navy blue metallic color. Then I reassembled it in sections while adding the plexiglass which was actually a plastic sheeting I got at Lowe's. It's probably the least fun material I've ever had to work with. It's very hard to cut and drill holes into without cracking it. Then I also added a section of the black plastic tubing (that we're using to cover the wiring with) across the top with some silicon because I thought it looked good. I'm very pleased with how it turned out since I essentially used no power tools to build it.

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Next was the seats. I think I'll eventually add a hole mount up front for a removable seat on a pedestal but this probably wouldn't be used much while trolling anyways so it'll have to wait. I added two fold down high-back seats in a solid navy blue color that ended up matching the color of the transom and downrigger boards perfectly. I got these things brand new on closeout for $20 a piece! They are really comforable being high-backs. I added swivel mounts to the bottom of each seat which I got on sale at Meijer for $7 a piece. I then had to come up with an adapter that would attach to the bench seat that I could attach the bottom of the swivel mounts to. This was needed because there was a large enough gap between the two plates of the swivel mount to use a screw driver. You had to use through bolts and the inside of the bench seat is solid foam so you could get under the swivel mounts to attach them. But with adapter you could. The adapters were just 1/4" ply with a 1"x2" screw onto each edge, covered in finish and carpeted to match the decking and floors. The bottom of the swivel mounts were then attached to this with threw bolts. We then hammered the mounts into position on the bench and put in three 3" sheet metal screws in each edge (total of 6 per mount). It worked great, is a very stable mount, looks classy, and now I have two seat that swivel 360deg.

the seats

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the mounting adapters

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yup they swivel

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Next was to figure out how to get the new downriggers mounted farther back behind the rear bench seat. I went back and forth with a few different ideas and what I decided to do worked great. I through bolted the board right to the gunnels with three 3/8" bolts on each end. We came up with a unique configuration for the board that saved weight without comprising on strength. I needed an 8" wide board so that I could mount the downrigger pedestals the way that I wanted. Well a 2" thick board was heavier than I wanted to we doubled up just the ends of a 1" thick board and then supported the middle with a 2"x3" turned on it's side and cut at an angle. This save some weight and is just as strong if not stronger. I also sandwiched the ends of the board with 1.5" x1/8" thick pieces of aluminum for added support and strength. I then dismantled and painted and clear coated with the same paint as the transom board so it matches. This configuration held my 12lb cannon balls with absolutely no flex in the mounting board at all. The whole unit is real sturdy. Here's what she looks like.

the middle support

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the doubled up ends

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the attachment to the gunnels

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full view

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I also took the downriggers I got from Ben on here cleaned them up befor I mounted them on the board. I grinded all of the steel with a steel bristle brush wheel on a power drill to shine them up. I also removed the booms and painted them the same navy metallic blue color as the windshield frame. They looke real classy and unique now. I didn't replace the wire on them so they're a little short at 125' and 115' but they have brand new cannon terminal connectors for the weights. I mounted them at a slight angle toward the rear as opposed to straight out the side. This will them easier to crank up with the seat just in front of the board.

riggers in storage position

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rigger in fishing position

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closeup

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That's pretty much it for now. I'll be upgrading the fishfinder, adding a permanent mount vhf radio to the dash with an 8' antennae, and custom rod trees in the future, probably this winter. Here's a few more wide view shots showing the whole thing.

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I have to say that when I stand back and look at the boat it's not exactly what I had envisioned...it's better. I'm really happy with it so far. The way the entire color scheme came together was better than I had even planned and the layout has made the boat really comfortable to move around in despite being a smaller boat. We also got the engine runnin good this weekend, but only in the garage :(. I can't wait to get it on the water now. The fish better be on the look out.

tight lines

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Thanks guys. And you know it looks like they are forecasting N, E, and NW winds for the Grand Haven area starting tomorrow all the way through Sunday. My pier fishing instincts from the last few years tell me those fish are gonna be in close this weekend :thumb:. Get ready boys, the kings are gonna be in the mud :D

Oh and the boat's gonna need a name, any ideas?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Nice work, looks like an awesome rig there. Much looking forward to leaning on it and drinking beer (Or drinking a beer and fishing out of it!) when i get up north again.

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