Alan Hicks
Cadet
- Joined
- May 28, 2008
- Messages
- 9
Howdy, I'm new here to iBoats but I've been lurking for awhile and reading up on what I could. Apologies for the long post. I've searched this forum for a good FAQ for things like this, but just could not find much. Perhaps a "Resto 101 for Newbies" sticky would help people in my position? If you know of anything along those lines that would help, please link me to it. Thanks, and onto the post!
Some years back I purchased an old 1972 Fishmaster 14' tri-hull fiberglass fishing boat and a Gator tilt trailer along with it. The boat had an old 15 or 20 pound thrust troller motor that's long gone, but the Mercury 402 still turns over when I pull on the cord, so I shouldn't have too much trouble getting that taken care of. Finally having come into some money, I'm able to get to work on it. I've already fully restored the trailer, and now I've got the task of fixing up the boat.
She's got a short beam, maybe 5 foot and draws little water. The outer hull seems fine but has had some patch work in the past. I dropped her in the water for a few weeks while working on the trailer and she floated that whole time, so I'm assuming there are no leaks. The flooring in the boat is fiberglass and has one spot in it that "bubbles" up when there's no weight on it. I don't know if that's the proper terminology or what; I'm still learning these things.
Until reading this forum, I had no idea that fiberglass boats would have stringers under the deck (or even that stringers existed) so I'm unsure where to go with this. The transom seems strong, but I'm unsure how to check it as well. I will try to get some pictures if you feel they are needed, but since I don't have a camera that could be difficult. There are a couple pieces of thick steel sheets with a board sandwiched between them at the top of the transom. This board looks like it was covered in fiberglass or resin at one point, but a piece of that coating has torn away over the years and the board underneath seems rotten.
I don't intend to make the boat look like new, I just need it to function as a good fishing boat for small lakes and rivers for myself and my Daddy or Granddaddy. It's a two seater stick-steer model, which would be perfect for my Granddaddy who has arthitis real bad. This way, I can control both the outboard and the troller motor and all he has to concentrate on is fishing.
Here are my current plans. If you could, please suggest improvements or other things you think I should do.
- transom. Beyond replacing the wooden board (which is I believe a 2x6), I have no particular plans. What do I need to look at here?
- flooring. I intend to lay down 1/2 pressure treated plywood on top of the fiberglass deck and then carpet that. This should give me a stable platform to mount my seats, right?
- hull. On either side of the hull just below the water line and about eight inches from the transom are two circular holes that appear to be intentional. I don't for the life of me know what these are for. Anyone have a clue?
- seats. Some time ago I purchased two nice soft folding seats, two swivels, and stands to mount them all on. I've begun to rethink this though. See my next line.
- storage. The boat has literally no storage space at all. There's a live well in the middle of the boat, but nothing else. No rod holders, no nothing. I've thought about framing up a sort of box up under the seats instead of using the stands and having a lid atop it that would fold open with the chair attached. Does anyone make something of quality like this? I've also thought about getting tackle box inserts and framing this area up such that I could slide those inserts in and out.
Some years back I purchased an old 1972 Fishmaster 14' tri-hull fiberglass fishing boat and a Gator tilt trailer along with it. The boat had an old 15 or 20 pound thrust troller motor that's long gone, but the Mercury 402 still turns over when I pull on the cord, so I shouldn't have too much trouble getting that taken care of. Finally having come into some money, I'm able to get to work on it. I've already fully restored the trailer, and now I've got the task of fixing up the boat.
She's got a short beam, maybe 5 foot and draws little water. The outer hull seems fine but has had some patch work in the past. I dropped her in the water for a few weeks while working on the trailer and she floated that whole time, so I'm assuming there are no leaks. The flooring in the boat is fiberglass and has one spot in it that "bubbles" up when there's no weight on it. I don't know if that's the proper terminology or what; I'm still learning these things.
Until reading this forum, I had no idea that fiberglass boats would have stringers under the deck (or even that stringers existed) so I'm unsure where to go with this. The transom seems strong, but I'm unsure how to check it as well. I will try to get some pictures if you feel they are needed, but since I don't have a camera that could be difficult. There are a couple pieces of thick steel sheets with a board sandwiched between them at the top of the transom. This board looks like it was covered in fiberglass or resin at one point, but a piece of that coating has torn away over the years and the board underneath seems rotten.
I don't intend to make the boat look like new, I just need it to function as a good fishing boat for small lakes and rivers for myself and my Daddy or Granddaddy. It's a two seater stick-steer model, which would be perfect for my Granddaddy who has arthitis real bad. This way, I can control both the outboard and the troller motor and all he has to concentrate on is fishing.
Here are my current plans. If you could, please suggest improvements or other things you think I should do.
- transom. Beyond replacing the wooden board (which is I believe a 2x6), I have no particular plans. What do I need to look at here?
- flooring. I intend to lay down 1/2 pressure treated plywood on top of the fiberglass deck and then carpet that. This should give me a stable platform to mount my seats, right?
- hull. On either side of the hull just below the water line and about eight inches from the transom are two circular holes that appear to be intentional. I don't for the life of me know what these are for. Anyone have a clue?
- seats. Some time ago I purchased two nice soft folding seats, two swivels, and stands to mount them all on. I've begun to rethink this though. See my next line.
- storage. The boat has literally no storage space at all. There's a live well in the middle of the boat, but nothing else. No rod holders, no nothing. I've thought about framing up a sort of box up under the seats instead of using the stands and having a lid atop it that would fold open with the chair attached. Does anyone make something of quality like this? I've also thought about getting tackle box inserts and framing this area up such that I could slide those inserts in and out.
