Saltwater Jon boat!

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reiko1078

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Oct 12, 2009
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Location
NAPLES FL
hey everyone ive been lurking on this sight for quite a while. ive had a 12 foot gamefisher for a the last year and didnt want to do any thing to it because i knew i wanted to get a 14footer. well today i picked up a 14ft flatbottom jon on craigslist for 100$! so i decided to join the sight and post a few questions. i live in southwest florida so my boat will be pretty much saltwater only. the boat had a janky deck built in the front but i already ripped it out b/c it was poorly constructed. a few questions. does carpeted decks hold up well in salt water? if not what are my other options as far as deck coverings. if anyone else built their boat specifically for salt water id love to see it. i might post some pics of my new boat tomorrow thanks
matt
 
In my opinion carpeted deck tend to hold the salt and water in the carpet where they touch the aluminum and therefore tend to corrode right there. I would not use carpet also in salt/sand as the carpet tends to hold the sand and on windy days or at full throttle it will blow up into your eyes.

I would build a deck using only aluminum angle and then use plywood that has been coated with Skid no more (by evermore). This will leave a non skid surface and will protect the wood too. But it will not trap the salt next to the aluminum, However you will still have a problem with the salt collecting between the aluminum angle and the hull. Just remember to rinse it out very well or apply a coating on the inside of the hull. I think most of the people here prefer duraback (sp?)

Post up some before pics and keep them coming.
 
I am also doing a saltwater jon boat. 12' Polar Kraft. Trying to get my motor up and running and then plan on adding a ttrolling motor. I was told not to use carpet due to the corrosion problem. What part of southwest Fl are you in?
 
NAPLES fl! i actually bought my jon from a guy on pine island rd in the cape.
thats what i was thinking about the carpet. is the would aluminum members from a pool enclosure work well for framing? they are totally boxed and i have like 20 feet of it laying in my back yard. whats the stuff ive seen people apply to the bottom of their hulls for scratch resitance and water sealant? cant wait to get this started. just had to renew the tag on my 12footer so ill have something to fish with till this guy is done. ill get some pics once my GF leaves lol
matt
 
Steelflex is what everyone swears by on here for the bottom of your jon. There are numerous people who have used it and have great details on what and what not to do.
 
Welcome to Tinboats!!

I fish about about 99.9% saltwater also. I just was on a weeks vacation in Homosassa,FL with my rig.

I wouldn't say my boat was built saltwater specific but it was kept in mind while building. I didn't need to add a deck to mine. I put in a floor, hatches for storage, a shelf for GPS and Depthfinder, TM, Floatation pods, jackplate, and just about any other mod I have been able to come up with.

You can check it out on the home page or gallery.
 
I use my boat 99% salt and dont have any type of decking in it. The decking looks cool but for my use I found the lighter the boat was the better.All I did is get some foam sheets from home depot glued it to the floor and covered it with some truck mud flaps so it will dampen sound
 
well after lots of plotting and planning i have a few questions. first off i want to put a deck up front not just for fishing but so the lady can have a place to lay when she goes out with me. please don't make fun of me haha. first questions are about paint. i know there's paint specifically for boats but the stuff is expensive. what options do i have as far as paint goes. ive also heard of people using zinc chromate primer. is this necessary? if i ended up just spray painting the outside would the primer increase the durability of the spray paint? i want the outside black and the inside light yellow. as far as painting my decks. i looked at the durabak stuff and there's no way i can swing the 90$ for a gallon of the stuff. i looked at the skid no more and read a review that said any sort of contact with petroleum and the stuff strips off like a cheap date... any one used it? is there a sealant i could use and add some of the gritty stuff people use for their garage floors? last question about paint. i want to start sanding down the old paint but if i dont paint it right away will the aluminum rust? or will i have to re sand it?

i want to build my subfloor using some aluminum member from our old pool cage. they have the typical gray coating on them. these will be corrosion resistant right?. when i mount them to either the benches or through the sides what type of hardware should i use? bolts? screws? rivets? and should i use stainless? galvanized?

once i actually started thinking how im going to do everything i realized how many questions i have.

one last thing (for now at least) there are some rivets throught the hull from an old janky deck and a few other things i want to drill out and seal up. what is the best way to seal up small holes? im thinking small square patch of aluminum and 5200 sealant.

thanks for taking the time to read and respond

matt
 
Aluminum should never rust - it will get a layer of oxidation (looks grey not shiny) on it but not rust!

I woudl strongly suggest that you do not paint the outside black - it will show up salt lines, mud, dust and everything else like crazy. Go with a grey or neutral color

I would not even bother to re-paint because I would rather be fishing then painting a boat - the fish really do not care what color the boat it anyway
 
cubanredneck said:
I use my boat 99% salt and dont have any type of decking in it. The decking looks cool but for my use I found the lighter the boat was the better.All I did is get some foam sheets from home depot glued it to the floor and covered it with some truck mud flaps so it will dampen sound

Post up some photos of this please. Does the foam absorb water?
 
Captain Ahab said:
cubanredneck said:
I use my boat 99% salt and dont have any type of decking in it. The decking looks cool but for my use I found the lighter the boat was the better.All I did is get some foam sheets from home depot glued it to the floor and covered it with some truck mud flaps so it will dampen sound

Post up some photos of this please. Does the foam absorb water?


It doesnt absorb water it looks like the foam that they use to pack T.V.'s I have to take pics of my boat and post
 
Captain Ahab said:
Aluminum should never rust - it will get a layer of oxidation (looks grey not shiny) on it but not rust!
Oh, but aluminum WILL rust. However, it is only in the presence of Mercury (Hg). It will actually rust quite quickly and violently when in contact with a Mercury paste.

That's why you can't lawfully carry a barometer on a commercial aircraft, without a federal license. It could cause more damage to the aluminum plane than MANY other things.

i want to build my subfloor using some aluminum member from our old pool cage. they have the typical gray coating on them. these will be corrosion resistant right?. when i mount them to either the benches or through the sides what type of hardware should i use? bolts? screws? rivets? and should i use stainless? galvanized?
They should be fine. Use aluminum pop rivets, or stainless bolts/nyloc nuts. Do NOT use Galvanized. When you get to your deck do NOT use pressure treated ply. Both of these are great initiators of rapid dissimilar metal corrosion, which, although rather slow on many freshwater boats, is very rapid in saltwater, and in marina stored boats (high content of electricity in the water - speeds up galvanic corrosion).

im thinking small square patch of aluminum and 5200 sealant.
If the hole is small enough, put a rivet in it. Solid rivets are ideal, but pop rivets make excellent hole sealers, coupled with a little 5200. If it is a larger hole, I would cut a round disk of aluminum (corners on the square would hang up on things, and try to tear off the patch), and rivet it on with a series of 3/16 pop rivets and 5200.

i want to start sanding down the old paint but if i dont paint it right away will the aluminum rust? or will i have to re sand it?
It will start to oxidize immediately. That being said, there won't be a significant enough amount of oxidation to worry about for paint adhesion for 2 - 3 hours. But, you cannot expect to wait any longer than that to paint after prepping.

Believe it or not, there isn't a better sealer of aluminum than it's own oxidation, so unless you want the "look," just leave it bare, and let chemistry run it's course.
 
great feedback people. ill prolly sand down the oputside since it kinda half painted and has some old numbers on it and leave it bare and only paint the inside
 

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