smokercraft big fisherman 16

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captain crabcake

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Hello everyone. New to the forum here. It caught my eye while doing some research on my new boat. My neighbor gave me a smokercraft big fisherman 16 ft boat.I believe it is a mid to late eighties model, with the tan color and dark brown stripe around the top. She also gave me a fully functioning johnson 9.9 hp, along with an electric trolling motor.. Her husband passed away recently, and our houses were significantly effected by hurricane sandy. In exchange for helping her with repairs she gave me these two items, along with a ton of fishing gear and mechanics tools. Both motors were underwater, but i am mechanically inclined so i was able to salvage them. My plan for now is too keep the layout as it is, but replace the deck and clean it up real nice. Somewhere down the line i want to gut the entire boat and give it a complete new layout, possibly a center console conversion. I do alot of salt water fishing, so my materials that i use must be salt water friendly. For the decking i was planning on using standard 1/2" plywood, and coating it in fiberglass and resin. I am good with working with fiberglass, i shape my own surfboards. What are some of your guys opinions on this method of building a deck? I was originally going to use pressure treated marine plywood, but i read that it reacts poorly with aluminum. Any input is appreciated.
 
Sounds like a good deal! And yes, you are correct both marine and pressure treated plywood will being to corrode aluminum. As to how to deck your boat, some pics would help to see your layout. But your options are wood or aluminum framing, id suggest aluminum just so you don't have to worry about it to much. My pictures are always too big too, i just copy them to paint, re size them 50% smaller, then they'll upload.
 
Welcome. Hope yall are getting out good from hurricane Sandy. Looks like you got a pretty nice setup. If you look at my build in the last page of it you will see how I am doing my deck.
 
gregory i got the pictures to upload. Younggun, I like what you did with those storage bins in your front deck. I think im using the term deck wrong. What im talking about is replacing the floor of my boat. I do not intend on building a raised deck, i often fish in rougher bay and inlet waters so i would like to keep my fishing platforms center of gravity as low as possible. The floor appears to be factory. Underneath the floor, the spaces between the stringers are filled with water logged foam. I plan on getting rid of the foam all together.The layout of the boat itself will do just fine for now. It has the one bench seat in the back , then the livewell to the left and an electronics box on the right, then another bench seat. I am going to keep it this way until i know i have the time and resources to gut it and do the CC conversion.
 
I follow now. You were saying you fish rough water. I would definetly put foam back in. Do you have access to a aluminum shop? Because if you wanted to go light and easy putting a big sheet down and pop riveting it in place would be the way to go. Or you can get 3/4 inch plywood and coat it in spar urethane with 3-5 coats and then cover it in carpet. Or if you don't want to go the carpet route on your last coat of spar sprinkle sand in it and it will give you a texture where you won't slip.
 
Marine plywood and pressure treated plywood are not the same. While any CCA treated wood, whether it's solid lumber or plywood is not recommended for use with aluminum, the same can not be said about marine plywood. Marine plywood is a higher quality plywood than normal plywood. It's price usually reflects that fact by being 3-4 times as expensive as your avg plywood. It may consist of more layers than you're use to seeing in regular plywood but it is constructed using water resist glues similar to exterior rated plywood.
 
So marine grade plywood will not corrode aluminum? I dont mind spending the extra bucks if it is going to last much longer.
 
Here is a quote from one source.
Marine plywood

Marine plywood is manufactured from durable face and core veneers, with few defects so it performs longer in humid and wet conditions and resists delaminating and fungal attack. Its construction is such that it can be used in environments where it is exposed to moisture for long periods. Each wood veneer will be from durable tropical hardwoods, have negligible core gap, limiting the chance of trapping water in the plywood and hence providing a solid and stable glue bond. It uses an exterior Water and Boil Proof (WBP) glue similar to most exterior plywoods.

Marine plywood can be graded as being compliant with BS 1088, which is a British Standard for marine plywood. There are few international standards for grading marine plywood and most of the standards are voluntary. Some marine plywood has a Lloyd's of London stamp that certifies it to be BS 1088 compliant. Some plywood is also labeled based on the wood used to manufacture it. Examples of this are Okoume or Meranti

Marine plywood is frequently used in the construction of docks and boats. It is much more expensive than standard plywood: the cost for a typical 4-foot by 8-foot 1/2-inch thick board is roughly $75 to $100 US or around $2.5 per square foot, which is about three times as expensive as standard plywood.
Other plywoods

Other types of plywoods include fire-retardant, moisture-resistant, sign-grade and pressure-treated. However, the plywood may be treated with various chemicals to improve the plywood's fireproofing. Each of these products is designed to fill a need in industry.
Click to expand...

You should be aware that some places will refer to treated plywood as marine plywood because it's intended to be used in wet environments but it's not actually "marine" plywood.
 
I have the same boat. You are going to love it. Keep us posted on the restoration. I just removed the old carpeting and replaced it with new. Granted, I fish in Wisconsin, but the boat is steay as a rock and I love fishing out of it. Enjoy!
 

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My first boat was a used 1989 Big Fisherman but it was a 14 footer. It had a 25 hp Johnson set up with controls. You may find it significantly cheaper putting the controls on the side since they make them that way although you may need to get it done by the dealer. My issue was on the 14 footer you were sitting on the livewell or a storage compartment and you were actually sitting too low. Nothing beats sitting in actual seats that are mounted at the right height. One thing you should take care of before you get too involved is get a clear title for both the boat and the trailer and register them. Strange things and headaches happen at the DMV. Also the 9.9 is kinda of wimpy for that boat especially if you fish rough water. If I recall correctly the 25 hp go me about 22 mph and I could travel a distance of just over 20 miles WOT on a 5 gallon tank of gas. The boat handled Lake Ontario good, but I wasn't doing anything crazy.
 

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