1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

PB on the stinger will work
Need pics of the 1708 to see what's up
this is the foam board you need. blue or pink
FOAMULAR 150 extruded polystyrene (XPS) rigid foam insulation

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Just a quick progress update... without pictures still. Found out Verizon shipped my new phone to my old address so I've got to wait another couple of days. UGH!

I brought a friend over that has done extensive fiberglass work to check out my 1708 problem. According to him, the 1708 is fine. It's not perfect, but he said it wasn't bad enough to mess with. He cut a small circle patch out of it to investigate. The fibers were hard and straight, but just not entirely transparent. The top layer was transparent and the CSM layer still had a white hue to it. He said that it was under-saturation of the resin with the glass. He told me that 1708 took a while to soak resin and that I probably had my resin a touch too hot; to where it kicked off before it could be fully absorbed.

So moving on, I got my new stringers cut, bedded, filleted, tabbed, glassed, and capped. WHEW! I finished glassing them in on Sunday and that proved to be an interesting day. The temperature peaked outside at about 90 degrees and I was having a hard time getting the resin out of the bucket before it started to gel up; even in 16oz batches mixed up at 0.75%! I managed as best I could and only ended up cooking off about 20 ounces prematurely.

After dinner on Sunday evening, I went out and wrapped my 1x2 lateral supports (as I have been calling them; the braces that run port to starboard across the stringers) in 1708 and glassed them in to place.

Yesterday I stopped by Home Depot after work and picked up 4 sheets of 1" FOAMULAR 150. I started cutting it to size yesterday and finished it up tonight (well, about 90%. I still have a few more pieces to cut and place). Due to the nature of my hull, I do have voids between the foam. Is there something I should do to fill them (maybe get some of the expanding foam in a bottle?) or should I leave the voids to allow water to drain back to the limber holes/bilge?

Lastly, I wanted to get a glimpse of the hull with some deck on it, so I cut a section of plywood and dry fit it in the hull. My measurements appear to be spot! I was worried I was way off, but after I put the glass on the deck, it should snug up perfectly.

Oh, and on a side note, anyone know where the best place is to get aluminum thru-hulls and locking latches? Both Academy and Gander Mountain didn't have anything.

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

I was digging through the file cabinet looking for the titles to the boat and I found my old Blackberry! I don't remember it taking pictures too well, but I figured I would give it a shot. Here's a couple of pictures. I'll get some better ones tomorrow. Don't laugh at my fiberglassing job! Actually, it's not THAT bad... and is still 100% better than it was before I started!

Looking at the stern. The foam sticking up above the stringers will compress down when the deck goes on so no worries there.

Looking at the bow. I still have some more foam to cut, but not too much. The "flaps" up front are reference points for me. I'll remove them when I no longer need them. I've also started cutting out the bow eye backer block so that I can redo it.

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Great looking progress fmjnax...

You are getting close...

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Looking good! Also remember, with the constant improvements in digital cameras, means you can probably easily pick up a perfectly acceptable on for the purpose on Craigslist for like $20.

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Thanks fellas! It IS getting close. My wife wants to be back on the lake for Memorial Day but I think I'm a week or two past that. I would guess another 4 weeks and she'll be done!

I have a decent digital camera... but wouldn't you know it, I can't find the cord to it and it takes some weird shaped plug that I haven't been able to find in a store yet. I've been too lazy to order one on the internet; especially with having a phone always available for pictures (up until last week, anyway). My new phone SHOULD be here today, though, so it's all good.

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Tonight I finished cutting the foam I needed and also finished cutting the new deck pieces. I gave them a dry fit and all looks good to go.

Here we are looking towards the bow. The unevenness will be alleviated when the deck get secured down for good and when I start laying the 1708 over the top.

Here is a look towards the stern. As you can see, I need to add some more reinforcement blocks around the livewell cutout. It's a bit saggy.

After all the pieces were cut and I was satisfied with the fit, I started to cut some CSM and start glassing the bottom side (the top side will get CSM and 1708 when installed). I'm down to about 3/4 gallon of resin, so I guess I'll be making another 5 gallon order.

On a side note, when I got my new wire harness, I was given me a Marinco plug for the trolling motor. I can't figure it out, though. What is this thing used for and how to I use/install it? My trolling motor is just a 12v, but I plan on upgrading to a 24v within the next year; if that matters any.

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Found this in the electrical forum...

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Cool, thanks GT1M! I also put an e-mail out to Marinco directly to see if they could help me. Normally, I'm pretty savvy on electrical, but for some reason I can't wrap my head around this thing.

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

While I'm waiting for the 'glass on the underside of my deck pieces to dry, I had a thought about maybe fabricating a locker, of sorts, for rods/reels. There is no built-in place to store them so the previous owner had installed rod holders along the side of the inside top cap. While it functionally worked, it was definitely in the way; especially for the passenger.

I had the thought that maybe I could cut a rectangle out and make it recessed inside the gunwale a bit. I would still use the rod holders inside the cutout, but it would at least keep the rods out of the way. It would be just deep enough for rods/reels to fit, as that is about all the room I have to work in the gunnel before I am at the hull. We're talking probably about 4 inches, give or take. Even if they stuck out just a little bit, it would be better than it was.

Here is kind of a mock-up picture. The black is the general area I would be cutting out. I measured my longest rod and it would fit in this space comfortably. I'll 'glass the recess into a box and just paint it (no lid or carpet. Just a little nook, if you will). The blue lines are about where the previous owner had attached the two rod holder bars.

My question is should I be concerned with compromising the structural strength of the top cap by doing this. On the other side, about in the middle of the proposed box, there is what appears to be a balsa cored support line (basically, a bulge is cored with a wood of some sort). You can see it in the second picture. I would be cutting this out entirely with the proposed plan.

Thoughts?

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

The deck is officially in place! (No pictures tonight. I had to beat the rain!)

After coating the undersides in resin and applying some CSM (and letting it dry), I trimmed away the excess and coated the edges with resin.

I put the deck pieces in their place and I pulled apart pieces of CSM to kind of act as a joint glue between each piece. I also cut my 1708 tabbing and rolled out a single length of 1708 and cut it to fit. It just so happens that the beam of my boat at the deck was just right for this to happen.

I decided I wasn't cut to screw the deck into the stringers. My stringers are only 1/2" without "cleats" (just as it was done by Skeeter back in '84) and I didn't want to run the risk of splitting out. I pulled the deck pieces back and and I mixed up a small bit of extra thick PB (ok, 40 oz of it, but still...). I put a good bead of the PB down on top of the stringers/braces and gently put the deck pieces back in. I strategically sat weights on the deck sections to try and keep everything flush. For the most part it worked, but there are still some small elevation differences here and there. Nothing too bad, though.

After I felt it had set up enough, I "glued" the pieces together with the pulled CSM and let it set up just a bit. I put down the tabbing and went to work. When it was done and still slightly tacky, I unfolded my large sheet of 1708 and started mixing up quart batches of resin.

I plopped it down a bucket at a time and started to work it in. 2 or 3 batches in is when the rain caught up to me so it was a mad dash to make space in the garage to push the boat. As a result, I have one area that something didn't quite go right. The cloth soaked up the resin like I expected, but when I went to roll it, instead of being amber colored, it was milky white colored. No matter how much I went over it or put down fresh resin, it never would turn transparent. I really don't want to, but I may have to grind this section down and redo it.

Anyway, a couple of gallons later, I had the entire deck saturated and covered with my 1708. I rolled out all of the air bubbles with the exception of the front left corner. I kind of centralized all my bubbles there but couldn't quite work them all out. I'll have to grind this down and fix it, but no big deal.

And that is how I spent the last 8 hours of the day! WHEW! I went through 3 gallons of resin, about 20 pair of gloves, just about an entire case of Mountain Dew, and who knows what else. I spent more time on the boat than I did at work today. Hehe! I have just a couple other 'glass projects left to do, but for the most part I am done fiberglassing. Now it's time to finish the top cap and start reassembly. YAY!

 

[craigweaver]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Way to go FMJ! I'm looking forward to that day as well. I can't wait to see the pics. About the milky sections of glass, I had a couple of spots that came out similar with my last layer of 1708. I'll be interested in the responses you get. On mine they were not in a place I would worry about so I'm going to leave them but if it happens in an area more visible or important I'd like to know if it's ok.

I kinda like your rod locker idea. What would you be screwing the rod holders down to?

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Thanks Craig. I'm really thinking I will have to redo the milky white sections. I checked it this morning before leaving for work and these areas still had a gooey/sticky feel; almost as if the resin went sour on that batch. I'll check it again when I get home, but I'm already preparing that I will have to cut it out and redo it. I also had some dang bubbles form on me at some point! Nothing I can't grind down and fix, though.

For the rod locker, I would just use the same system the previous user did. They are those wall hanging type holders where there is a top piece and a bottom piece and the rods clip in. The one I had holds 6 rods, which is plenty for me. I'll just screw them in to the rod locker and keep the rods hung in there. I'm still worried about compromising any structural integrity with doing it, though.

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

My experience so far with milky sections is somewhere, somehow that area got wet with either water or sweat...have had it happen a couple of times, but in small areas...some may have to be ground out and redone, others will live as such...

If the cloth somehow got wet, and was not completely dry, this could happen also...

The other time I have had white milky looking spots, is when I try to bust bubbles too aggresively and actually lift the glass from the surface, if it has started to gel...it wont stick back properly...if it is still wet, I can usually add some more resin and dab it away with the brush...

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Well, it's wasn't that it was wet. Sure, there was some drops of sweat here and there and it had just started to sprinkle outside, but we're talking about a solid 2'x4' section. The wood was dry as could be and the glass was also dry.

I'm about to head home, so I'll post up some pictures here shortly and we'll see what you guys can come up with.

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Ok, something definitely went sour with my resin. It's still wet at the milky white area. I scan still squeegee it around and while it is slightly tacky, it doesn't seem tacky enough that it will ever set up. There's no warmth to it at all so I don't think it's cooking. The cloth is still soft and very pliable. I'm going to go mix a small batch of resin, scrape as much of the white gunk off, and see if it will wet back out and correct itself. If not, I'll cut it out and do it again.

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Well, I might have lucked out! Scraping off the white goo, cleaning it up real well, and laying down new resin started to saturate the cloth and cook it off. I got most of it finally wet out and dried well but there's just a little bit more that I will have to repeat the process with. I'm still prepared to have to fix what fresh resin won't correct, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it won't get to the point.

In addition to starting the fix on my deck, I also fiberglassed in the new bow eye backing block and started prepping the foam "saddle bags" that go in my bilge area. I really wish I didn't have to put those things back in there, but I'm sure they served a purpose and I better play it safe. We've got a weekend full of rain so progress will be limited for a little bit; especially since most of the remaining work is on the top cap... which is sitting in the driveway.

 

[craigweaver]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

hmmm, nope haven't had anything that milky. Just a few spots here and there and GT1M's sweat thought is exactly what I was thinking. I hope that second layer of resin cooks it off for ya.

I'm no expert but you could always add a brace fore and aft of the locker area before you put the cap on to strengthen it a bit.

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Now that I see a picture, I agree with you, something went haywire with either a bad batch of resin or something along those lines, cause that don't look like it got wet with anything...you are sure you didn't add the wrong thing as catalyst???
Just thinking out loud...I know I shouldn't...:facepalm:

If it wets out normal, after another application of fresh resin, in other words turns totally clear like its supposed to, then I think you dodged a bullet...but if it doesn't turn totally clear, I would worry that it didn't adhere properly to the deck...

Also, If you figure out what happened, please let us know, cause that is wierd...as a matter of fact, it might be a good idea to PM oops! or Yacht Dr., and have them take a look and give an opinion...

Best of luck on having good weather...

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Never could figure out WHY my resin problem happened, but I got it pretty much corrected. The white goop I scraped off finally cured on the cardboard I put it on. Aside from being colored white, I can't tell much difference in it and any other resin that is cooked. Weird. Fresh resin on the spots turned the glass fairly transparent, but it still has a slight white tint to it. It's bonded to the deck and it's hard and feels just like the rest so I'm going to go ahead and proceed with it as-is. Don't mind the mess in the hull. I'm working on the foam boxes here.

With the deck is in and completed, I started working on the foam boxes. I've got one cleaned up, filled with pink foam, and tabbed in. I need to do the same with the other one still. You can see the progress in the above picture.

The new casting deck is cut and tabbed in to the cap. The new hatch opening supports are cut and 2 of the 4 are tabbed in. The new hatch lid is fabricated and dry-fit. I was going to clean up and shoot some more color today, but we have some intermittent rain tonight so that is put off until Thursday. I need to mix up some PB and "glue" the fiberglass part of the new lid to the wood core. It's spot-glued right now, thus why the corners are higher than the deck. Again, don't mind the mess. It's still a work in progress.

Unfortunately, even though I've been making great progress, my goal of being back on the lake for Memorial Day is no longer in the picture. My truck crapped out on me a few weeks ago so I had to ditch it. We've been down to 1 vehicle for the last 3 weeks and it just isn't manageable with our daily routine. I had to go and get me a new truck, and that meant that the "boat fund" was used as a down payment. I can't complain; a new ride is more important than finishing the boat. I was so close, though!!!

Here's a picture of where the rest of my "boat fund" went. I really can't complain!