A picture story and my boat

edin508

edin508

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Well about 4 years ago I was given a boat project from a friend of mine. Didn't think it was so bad at the time until I really got into checking it out completely and found squishy parts in the floor. No problem, I will cut in a patch of wood and away I will go. HAHAHAHAHA
This is how my spring started out fixing the boat. It had enough of sitting in the back yard collecting pine needles and really wanted to see the water again.
Well if I am going to fix the floor right I need to get to the root of the problem, the floor. And there is only one way to get at it all.
pics014.jpg

Well, it took a ton of elbow grease, 2 sheets of ridiculous priced marine grade plywood, 2 gallons of once again over the top priced west systems fiberglass resin, thick fiberglass matting and some flotation foam to get to this point.
pics018.jpg

Time to throw the upper half back on and see how she looks.
pics017.jpg

Hey this looks pretty sweet! I think it is looking like a boat again. And how many rivets and screws do I need to install [crying] Might as well start putting some accessories on too.
boat007.jpg

It took a short trip to Bass Pro for the final piece but I am so excited it is finally done! Sucks that it never saw the water until late fall but she went in and did pretty damn well. Here are the finished pics.
boat017.jpg

boat019.jpg

boat017-1.jpg


The boat itself is a 1984 16' Cajun Bass boat restored completely to a 2008 vintage. Bring on the summer! The Rajun Cajun is ready to catch some fish! [smile]
 
Holy crap Ed, I thought you were kidding about overhaul. That is pristine. How many hours do you figure it took to complete to this point (leaving wiggle room for later)?

I can't imagine getting into something like that and can appreciate the work of a craftsman. May she stay dry on the inside and wet on the out.[grin]
 
Thanks for the complements. I am not too sure if I want to think of the hours that I put into that boat. Lets just say over 100 easy. I spent allot of time grinding and cleaning so things would bond correctly and carpeting,wiring ugg.
Long story short, my friend gave me this boat after it had sat in his garage for years resembling a work bench. I had bugged him for all of these years to sell me the boat as a project and he wouldn't. Finally one day he said he would give it to me if I got her up ad running and he gets to give her a rip. Well three years later I was finally able to stick to my word and he was able to hit the throttle on the ol' Rajun Cajun. Truth be told I could have bought one from the want-ad cheaper than it cost me to rebuild this one but...well, it's just not the same.
 
arlow said:
Looks like you repowered it too?
Click to expand...
Yep. It had an old Mercury 90hp tower of power on it that is currently still running and on my buddys new boat. The new motor is a leftover 2007 90hp Mercury OptiMax with less emissions than a 4-stroke but still not allowed on the Quabbin Res.
More of the story. My friend had the motor off this boat at his shop and was in the process of just finishing the hull restoration and put it back on the trailer. Came into work one morning and the boat was gone! Called the PD and they came down filed a report etc.. A month goes by and nothing so the insurance company issues him a check for the boat minus the motor (still had that). So he took the check and used it for a down payment on his new boat. Had the motor swapped over etc. and was now using the boat. Well don't ya know it, the PD calls up and says they just found the boat. Guessing word got out and it was probably some kids that stole it because they found it ditched in the woods where it wasn't before.
 
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Very nice job. What you did is no easy task. Boat building is what I did for a living until I retired in 95.Owned a company that built racing canoes, racing kayaks, and surfskis in North Carolina for 20 years. Sold out to a larger concern and have been dubbing around for the last 14 years with personal projects like your boat. You mention West Systems. Have you had any skin irritation problems using epoxy-based resins? Polyester never bothered me but West Systems caused me some concerns. I used it on the wooden plugs I made when first making a boat mold meant for production work.

John
 
SA John said:
You mention West Systems. Have you had any skin irritation problems using epoxy-based resins? Polyester never bothered me but West Systems caused me some concerns. I used it on the wooden plugs I made when first making a boat mold meant for production work.

John
Click to expand...
I had no problems with irritation when I was using it. May be because it was 90 out and I was sweating like crazy.
 

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