First project, 12ft. Harbour Inc. V-bottom

[MP 58647]

Hello everyone.

I've been haunting the boards here for a while and finally decided to redo my small boat. Last year my father in law gave my wife and I a small 12' boat he had and didn't use anymore, I'd never owned or even driven a boat before last summer and had a lot to learn. I bought a 2012 Merc. 9.9 four stroke and had the boat out as much as I could on the lake we live on which is rather large but has some of the best Walleye fishing in Canada. The boat is fairly light and was decent on days without much wind or waves but in any kind of rough water it was pretty scary. I did use a GPS to track it once and on a calm day it read at 18 mph with myself my wife and her friend plus fishing gear. The boat did initially have a bit of trouble planing out so I added a Doel-fin and that seemed to help a lot. There was no trailer with the boat so I ended up taking it in and out of the back of the truck all summer which was a pain.

My plan is to add a storage compartment on the port side for rods and longer items. A front deck the same height as the current seats with storage for coats and other items. A pod seat at the back instead of benches, I would like two seat mounting plates and at least one good cushioned seat. Somewhere in there I would also like to incorporate a battery to run the following, bilge pump, A few LED lights a stereo and one or two speakers, a 12v Powerport and USB plug and a fish finder. I also purchased an inboard waterproof charger unit as the 9.9 doesn't have any way of charging the battery I would like it to be as simple as plugging the boat in when I get home to recharge the battery. Along with everything else a new coat of paint should make this old boat look new.

Here are some pics of the boat as is.

 

[onthewater102]

V-Hulls are a bit more tippy than flat bottoms - and a 12 footer isn't the biggest model out there - that being said, before you deck to the topside of the current benches try standing on one and see how stable you feel. I've read a number of posts where people did this and decided to set the deck lower (and usually removed the benches.)

Good luck on your work! This site is fantastic for ideas, but it's also full of anecdotes and opinions presented as fact (like any forum.)

 

[MP 58647]

Well I had a chance this last week to rip the transom boards and seats out. The transom was pretty rotten with a small colony of ants living in it, everything came out fairly quickly. I also began the paint stripping today which is making me wish I had just left everything alone or bought a new boat entirely. I've used Poly. Strippa on the paint which works well but takes a lot of time and clean up afterwards. I've also been using a brass wire brush on an angle grinder which is quick but the brush wears out pretty fast. I did a test patch for the paint I plan on using by taking it as close to metal as I could get it, then vacuuming the dust off and washing it with a solution of 50/50 vinegar and water. Once this was dry I sprayed the area with Rustoleum grey metal primer and let it dry. Looks decent so far but we shall see how it sticks tomorrow. The store here in town has a detail sander with paint stripping pads I may try that next and see how it turns out.

I'm not really planing on making the front section a deck to stand on and cast but more of a storage area for gear. I'll put a seat mount on there but make it high enough to is to and fish. I definitely may put the deck lower than the seats are now though. I also found a sticker on the side covers in years of old paint that said the boat is a Sears Gamefisher model. The father in law did give me an old 9.9 Gamefisher motor with the boat but it is missing leg bolts and needs some love before it will run again. Anyone know if there are still parts available for the Gamefishers?

Question has anyone tried closed end pop rivets for repair or filling of existing hammer rivet holes? I'm looking at ordering some and taking out the seat supports then moving them to where I need them.

Here are some pics of the progress so far.

 

[onthewater102]

I used them earlier this year fixing a few rivets on my grandfather's rowboat - they worked great - but I sanded the area down really well and put a dab of epoxy on before setting the rivet to be doubly sure it wouldn't leak. I've heard of 5200 being used as well, but I've had good luck with epoxy for other water repairs so I stuck with it.