Spray rails on 1960 Shell Lake

[CalicoKid]

This Summer I decided I needed to try adding some sort of spray rail to my little fiberglass fishing boat in order to stay dryer while motoring in the wind and chop. I wanted to experiment with changing the shape of the stern some also as this boat has a round chine which is not good for planing or cornering while planed. Maybe it will give me some more top end?<br /><br />I hade some 3/4" x 8" recycled Redwood boards (siding) that I wanted to use for this project. When I got the boat a few years back I refinished the Redwood gunwales and built a new deck out of Redwood and Fir, I wanted the rails to match.<br /><br />I had to join two boards at an angle in order to get enough material to go from stern to around 20" from bow. I made a doweled joint glued with epoxy and microfibers. (West System) I did the scribing with a saber saw and a belt sander in the lawn.<br /><br />

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<br /><br />I needed to grind clean the stepped in profile of the hull so I had something to glue the rails to. Used an angle grinder. Once the dirty work was done I set the boat on the trailer upside down and wheeled it into the garage. I then attached the rails using more epoxy and filler. I mixed it as thick as I could get it while still wetting out the filler. Before I added the filler though I brushed some of the unthickened epoxy onto the Redwood and the fiberglass at the joint.<br /><br />

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<br /><br />Once the joints cured I scribed the outer edge of the rails. I made a tool out of a scrap of wood with a hole for a pencil. I cut the outer edge to shape using again the saber saw and belt sander. After getting the shape of the edge just so I coated the boath rails with unthickened epoxy. I squeegeed it in. At this step I mixed more epoxy than the wood would absorb in a short period and it was hot out so I put my mixed epoxy and cup in the freezer while the wood soaked. An hour later I pulled the cup out of the freezer and found the epoxy to be solid, cured I thought, I set it on the workbench. A bit later I picked up the cup to toss in the trash and the epoxy was flowing again! So I spread it out on the rails and proceeded with more coats. I kept this cup alive the rest of the afternoon this way!<br /><br />

<br /> <br />After all epoxy had cured I varnished the rails and sanded and painted the bottom of the boat because it needed it. Not too shabby for an old boat!<br /><br />

<br /><br />Ready for Bluegill fishin'!

 

[djzyla1980]

Re: Spray rails on 1960 Shell Lake

that looks good... pretty interested in how you kept the epoxy from settin.... Just kept puttin it in freezer? and at what stage of the hardening process??

 

[CalicoKid]

Re: Spray rails on 1960 Shell Lake

I had reached the bottom of my resin and hardner containers and the pumps wouldn't pump any longer so I dumped the rest into the cup and mixed it. It was way too much and wasn't soaking into the wood fast enough. I put it into the freezer before it began to warm and cure. I doubt it could be stopped once that process begins.<br /><br />BTW the boat does run dryer. I'm not sure if any change to my blistering 13.5 mph top speed, I havn't checked it yet and I put in that trolling motor and battery before checking. But there was a big difference in turning while planed. I used to be able to roll the boat over till the gunwales got wet in a turn, I probably could flip it if I wanted, now it stays a lot flatter. I can still roll it up if I crank the motor sideways but it takes a lot more to do it now than before.