Building a Bass Boat

[Shannon]

Hi Guys

I've been a member here for a while, but have been a bit lazy to post this build thread (get your coffee, this is gonna take a while). I've got this posted on another site so some of you might have seen it already, but if not enjoy.

This forum has a healthy DIY section so I thought this would add to it.

 

I've been a mad bass fisherman for years and have owned deep sea and bass boats before. 2 years ago I had to sell my beloved bass boat, but within a few months I couldn't handle not being on the water, so I embarked on the biggest project of my life. I enjoy making my own tackle and tinkering with the odd tool so I thought why not build my own boat. Well that was 18 months ago, I work every spare minute I have on the boat, but it's nearly done.

Trying not to re-invent the wheel I bought plans from a company in Florida USA for a flats boat design, they had a bass boat but I didn't like the hull shape. The flats boat would work better for my requirements after some redesigning of the deck. So the hull shape is from plans, the rest is my design (or lack thereof).

The boat is constructed out of marine ply wood completely encased in Epoxy fibreglass, basically a composite boat (fibreglass with a ply core). No screws are used anywhere in the construction as they create weak points

Epoxy resin is used in the whole build as polyester resin does not waterproof wood and also doesn't stick to wood properly.

 

I'll give brief descriptions of each picture I post but I'm not going to go into detail on each photo unless someone asks.

 

Bulkheads and Stringers in place on the building jig

stitching the panels in place

Taping the joints

Glassing the hull

 

 

[Shannon]

Glassing stringers and bulkheads

Fairing the hull after installing strakes and reverse chine

Hull primered

Bottom coat done

 

 

 

[Shannon]

Cleats installed ready for sole panels

 

Floatation foam

Sole installed

Hatch construction

 

 

 

[Shannon]

Installing deck cleats (supports)

Test fitting deck panels

 

Seat base mounts and built in cooler box

 

Building the console

 

 

[Shannon]

Interior coating

 

Livewell

 

Thruhull plumbing

 

Plumbing

 

[Shannon]

Fuel tanks

 

Decks and console fitted, installing gunwales

 

Gunwales installed

 

Beam of 2.25m

 

[Shannon]

Fairing gunwales

 

Test fitting jack plate

 

After countless hours of sanding, finally she gets some paint

 

Took some time out to make a trolling motor foot pedal recess (fibreglass moulded)

 

[Shannon]

And here's how she looks today

 

Carbon fibre dash (real carbon fibre not a sticker)

 

Custom Glitter flake finish

 

Paint complete, ready for hatch lids, carpets, wiring and rigging

 

That's it for now. I'll keep updating with new pics as the progress moves along.

 

Cheers

Shannon

 

 

 

[tauruck]

Work of art there bru.

Bravery has no bounds!!!!!

That is just sick.

I can't stress enough what a big project that is.

You aced it.:cong:

 

[JustPlainSHARK]

NV. Thats right, envy. Wish i had the know how to do sumting like that, but most of all, the balls to take on such a project. Well done mate.

 

[JustPlainSHARK]

NV. Thats right, envy. Wish i had the know how to do sumting like that, but most of all, the balls to take on such a project. Well done mate.

 

[JFE]

You have me speechless!! WOW, WOW and again WOW. Why do you still have a day job?
That is true art. You have magic hands.

 

[fannie]

Hello Shannon,

Well done and it looks very good. You deserve some mana. I like the width of it too and I'm sure it's going to be a nice boat. You could maybe give a run down of how much you spent, time and materials.

Nice build !

 

[barryfish]

awesome build. update us when you have a chance. approx cost to get this far?

well done! dig the carbon fiber

 

[benniejordaan]

Dude! That is just fantastic! Brilliant work mate. It is very clear how much effort went into not just the build but the design too. Please keep us up to speed.

 

[Shannon]

Hey guys thanks for the nice comments.

To answer the questions about time and cost I need to first stress that the pictures that I have posted are a very compressed version of the build. I started building the boat on the 3rd Oct 2008. I've never kept a log of building time, but if I average it out at 15 hours a week which is pretty realistic, I'm in for just over 1000 hours.

For costs, the raw material for the boat has cost over R35K, plus another R5K for consumables and the odd extra tool I needed.

I still need to add, steering (R2.5K), Trolling motor (R5K), batteries (R3K), trailer (R16K) and outboard (R?). So no it's definately not cheaper than buying a boat, but it's a lot more satisfying. I used the very best materials I could find and took no shortcuts.

I only work on the boat over weekends now so progress is slow, but I'll update the thread as I move along.

 

Thanks for the interest.

Shannon

 

[DJP]

::respekt:::respekt:::respekt:

Wow thats awesome!!! I thought I worked hard on re-doing my carpets but hell this is really something to be proud of! Hope you land plenty of lunkers from the beuty!

 

[tauruck]

Shannon wrote:

Hey guys thanks for the nice comments.

To answer the questions about time and cost I need to first stress that the pictures that I have posted are a very compressed version of the build. I started building the boat on the 3rd Oct 2008. I've never kept a log of building time, but if I average it out at 15 hours a week which is pretty realistic, I'm in for just over 1000 hours.

For costs, the raw material for the boat has cost over R35K, plus another R5K for consumables and the odd extra tool I needed.

I still need to add, steering (R2.5K), Trolling motor (R5K), batteries (R3K), trailer (R16K) and outboard (R?). So no it's definately not cheaper than buying a boat, but it's a lot more satisfying. I used the very best materials I could find and took no shortcuts.

I only work on the boat over weekends now so progress is slow, but I'll update the thread as I move along.

 

Thanks for the interest.

Shannon

Funny, a member here caught a wobbly when I quoted R22,000 to do the same to the hull he wanted changed.

 

 

[Sidd]

Totally awesome man !!!

 

[Little Green Fish]

I've just lost it........ do they allow visitors in padded cells? IT'S , (I don't have words) but that's what I had in mind for so long now......  You're a real Idol....... Congrats Shannon.