Building a skiff

[Maple Syrup Actual]

No, but that's really interesting - I had no idea Yanmar had ever had an outboard line. Very cool.

[JDD]

Work continues and the immediate goal of floating to mark the waterline is starting to feel really close.

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Oh, one more thing, which I mentioned a couple of months back:

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Now why would I need that, do you figure, for an outboard-powered boat with a portable gas tank?

I am gonna register my guess that you are installing a space heater for a nice comfortable radiant-heated fishing experience.

Also; this thread remains my absolute favorite one on PF right now.

[MickAK]

Oh, one more thing, which I mentioned a couple of months back:



Now why would I need that, do you figure, for an outboard-powered boat with a portable gas tank?

I'm guessing you have a little diesel powered HPU so you can haul yourself up onto the beach and off again.

[Maple Syrup Actual]

Nobody has guessed it yet but I think it's not because I'm so clever that it's insoluble, but that the actual answer is so dumb that nobody would consider it.



Anyway it's still only half done but regardless I had to make sure I'm on the right track.

[OlongJohnson]

Nobody has guessed it yet but I think it's not because I'm so clever that it's insoluble, but that the actual answer is so dumb that nobody would consider it.

You're going to use it for a premix tank, on the basis that oil in the fuel makes it kinda like diesel?

[Cory]

For transporting but not using diesel? In some sort of internal ballast like tank?

[Caballoflaco]

I’m not just going to come out on an open forum and say that the tanks are going to say diesel on the cover, but actually he filled with pure maple syrup that you’re smuggling across the border to sell on the black market in places like Washington and Cali where such tree-based sugary products will soon be highly regulated in the interest of public health.

[MickAK]

Nobody has guessed it yet but I think it's not because I'm so clever that it's insoluble, but that the actual answer is so dumb that nobody would consider it.

It goes straight in the water while you cackle maniacally and curse our beautiful mother Earth, Gaia.

[Maple Syrup Actual]

Okay, busy as usual but let me try to burn through a quick outline of the last week.
Carb somehow ended up being out of adjustment – throttle plates too closed at idle. This took me a really long time to figure out. I chased all kinds of stuff for about a day before realizing the gas was pooling in the carb at startup, so it would get nothing until some critical mass was hit, then it would dump in and flood. Anyway I got that figured out eventually and now the engine is running. These old motors are crank HP, not shaft, so this thing only puts out around 16-17 hp. I wasn’t sure if it would even plane the skiff on whatever prop it’s got, but anyway I wanted to mark the waterline with a simulated standard complete empty state, so I dragged her out of the shop, put a couple hundred pounds of plates in her, hung the motor, and took her to the ramp.







Hmm…probably have to change that trim pin position! But at least she floats.



And sits on her lines as designed, that’s nice.



So naturally I duct taped a jiffy marker to a piece of scrap plywood, because what else would you do?



I floated the plywood around the boat and marked the waterline. I didn’t get any photos of that but it just looked like a combination of the plywood pic and any of the other above pics so just use your imagination.

Here’s a bigger question though: will a 17 foot skiff plane with 16ish HP? And if so at what speed? And will the prop be at roughly the right height? I cut the transom to 20” but these old Johnsons are a bit random – this one has something like an 18” leg.





Answer: yes indeed! Transom is fully dry at 6 knots. Goofy trim and random prop and 16ish HP got 9 knots – I should be able to increase that a fair bit. Particularly if my friend who’s been promising to send me the god damn intake and carb from a 30 for the last 7 months actually puts that stuff in the mail. Otherwise I’m flying to Ontario and strangling him in front of his dog.
There’s no transition at all on the way to planing. It just increases in speed and then the transom gets dry.



Plenty stable. Traces of wasted, miscreant youth still visible on middle aged gut.



I took the above pic while sitting on the gunwale right at the forward bulkhead. You can see it hardly lists even with my 220 pounds way out on the rail, well forward of the shallow planing surface. A few people warned me it would be really unstable with off-centre weight towards the bow because the entry is so sharp and carries back a fair way. No, it’s fine.



So I relaxed for a while, then came home and took the family to the beach for Father’s Day.



Finally I cleaned out the garage which took hours, and measured the boat on the trailer about five times before attempting this:








And that about does it for Father’s Day weekend.

[Trigger]

Great news! Good to see the boat got wet and did not sink. Keep up the good work.

You make the rest of us look lazy.