Gramps old fishing boat

[apachetorpedo]

hi all im, new to boating forums as i came hear to learn about restoration of fiberglass boats but found more that intrest me here. Ive never been much of a boat man -but been around personal watercraft for some time. now what sparks my motor is fishing??????? so i went out to the ole farm and found great grandpas old fishing vessel that he used in lake michigan trolling for steelhead-they say he had a break away motor and ores. this is no more than a 15' fiberglass boat but hte transom is not good and is now totally removed the skin came off the back in perfect form but im wondering if this is even worth fixing or can even be fixed??? ill post pics soon as i can figure out how to downsize photos.

 

[oops!]

Re: Gramps old fishing boat

hi....welcome to i boats...

any fiberglass boat can be fixed.

wether its worth it depends on how much you like the boat...

if you ment worth it in dollars and cents.....probably not....rarely is...but there is other factors.

cheers
oops

 

[apachetorpedo]

Re: Gramps old fishing boat

pics

 

[oops!]

Re: Gramps old fishing boat

....uhh.....

well......

why did you cut the transom off?

you will have a ton more work to do.
but it can be fixed....

choice point

the boat has very little freeboard.
it is strictly a small lake fishing vessel. they are cheap.
it will cost a minimum of 200 dollars to fix it and about 40 hrs.
you can buy a different rig for around 500.

your call.
if you want to fix it.....we can walk you right thru it.

cheers
oops

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Gramps old fishing boat

I might be mistaken, but that looks like an aluminum boat not a fiberglass boat. And, was the entire transom WOOD!!!! That is unusual!!! If so and If you were able to get it out in one piece and can use it as a template it will be VERY easy to make a New one. You can use Exterior Grade Plywood, Polyester Resin, 10 oz Fiberglass mat or even better 1708 biaxial mat and Epoxy resin. Doing in this manner it will last 50 yrs and be strong enough to run a 40 hp motor on a 16 ft boat. There are plenty of examples here on the forum on how to make a transom, so do some searhing and I'm sure you'll find em.

Good Luck!

I'm just sayin...

 

[HopeSheFloats]

Re: Gramps old fishing boat

I might be mistaken, but that looks like an aluminum boat not a fiberglass boat.

Well if you are mistaken, that'll make two of us.

Apache...Got any pictures before the transom was cut away?

 

[apachetorpedo]

Re: Gramps old fishing boat

its definately a fiberglass boat the transom wood looked to be replaced before and the transom skin on the back of wood came off real easy and in one whole piece. there was no glass on the inside just wood and was screwed into hull with steel screws. ive done fiberglass repairs on my sea doos but never a project like this. i believe ill finish boat cause it was my great gramps boat, and probably hand it down to a younger fisherman in the family.........here are a few more pics --

 

[apachetorpedo]

Re: Gramps old fishing boat

the boat has very little freeboard.

what does this mean??? thanks for the replies

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: Gramps old fishing boat

what does this mean??? thanks for the replies

Freeboard is basically the height of the sides of the boat. Not enough and waves can come over the side. Too much and it's hard to reach the water or climb back in the boat from the water.

Welcome to iboats, oops knows his fiberglass very well, check out his restoration thread for good info.

Nice rig, it's great that you want to fix up your Grandpa's old boat

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Gramps old fishing boat

Why did you cut the entire stern out of the boat? Why did you not leave the outer skin of the transom and just replace the wood transom. That IS the standadr method! You might have compromised the structural integrity of the boat. It will be MUCH HARDER for you to reconstruct the outer skin of the stern than it would have been to leave it. It was a ONE PIECE mold from the factory that has now been destroyed.

I'm just sayin...

 

[HopeSheFloats]

Re: Gramps old fishing boat

I'm sure not one qualified enough to help walk you through it, but as Oops said, it can be fixed. Not only that, probably can be strengthened up more than what it was originally.

Since it seems to have sentimental value to you, I would ask the pro's here where to begin and what step sequence you should follow for best results...Not an easy fix, but if your heart is set on it, I say go for it...best of luck!

 

[apachetorpedo]

Re: Gramps old fishing boat

Why did you cut the entire stern out of the boat? Why did you not leave the outer skin of the transom and just replace the wood transom. That IS the standadr method! You might have compromised the structural integrity of the boat. It will be MUCH HARDER for you to reconstruct the outer skin of the stern than it would have been to leave it. It was a ONE PIECE mold from the factory that has now been destroyed.

I'm just sayin...

the outer skin looked to be tacked on with some glue and fiber glass wrapped the edeges and wrapped around the sides to cover screw holes here are the pics of inside of transom wood and glass and outer cover skin. it basically just came off when trying to get wood out

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Gramps old fishing boat

That is pretty amazing. It appears that the transom was screwed to the hull. I have Never seen anything like that. Not sure how that would work or how to even go about rebuilding that. Maybe some others will chime in with some suggestions. Our friend OOPS might have some thoughts.

I'm just sayin...

 

[apachetorpedo]

Re: Gramps old fishing boat

oh yeah it was screwed in -im really not sure if i should mess with this or not-or just screw some wood and run with it