Never build a boat, story of the Ho-Hum

[Tracy]

This was a project my wife and I decided to take on last year. It was a horrible idea that consumed most of my life for a year.
I had a design in my head and there wasn't anything commercially available that matched it.
We started with a 1959 Marinette sportsman flybridge that sank in Hurricane Sandy. I found it in a marina in New Jersey, after some phone calls, we drove out and picked it up. She was a bit rough around the edges, but it had the hull design I was looking for. As built, it was a 28' twin inboard.

 

[Silt Life]

And......?

 

[Tracy]

Once it was back in Michigan, I ordered a new trailer for it and started the gutting process.
I yanked the engines and transmissions, fuel tanks, all the controls, the bridge, the glass, and everything that wasn't hull. Without engines and fuel tanks, I was able to lower the floor by 14" All new crossmembers were welded in and support in four places across the beam. The new structure is 1x2x.125 C-Channel on 1' centers. The decking is 3/16" aluminum treadplate.
The transom was braced back to the hull crossmembers and also tied back to the original engine cradle mounts. All the the through hulls from the props and rudders were welded closed.

 

[Tracy]

At this point, I started fabricating the flotation pods to hold the engines. The are made from 1/2" 6061 with 1/4" guesseting. I design them using CAD. (cardboard aided design) I had the entire hull blasted to remove all the old paint and filler.

 

[Tracy]

I ordered new fuel tanks and my wife designed and built the new helm.
We went with a digital dash, hydraulic catamaran steering, and twin 100 gallon tanks.
Beings that I am the new who has to work on it, the entire helm is hinged and swings open for access.
Walls are skinned with 12 gauge 6061. Fuel system is all 316 stainless in 3/8"

 

[bakodiver391]

I'm doing the same with a 26 footer. Let me guess, it would have been cheaper to buy a running boat? Keep the pics coming, interesting project.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

CAD (cardboard aided design)

I save larger boxes for this very purpose

 

[Tracy]

I'm doing the same with a 26 footer. Let me guess, it would have been cheaper to buy a running boat? Keep the pics coming, interesting project.

Oh by far, I am well north of six figures in this one and it is still registered as a 1959 boat.
But I couldn't find what I wanted, Hewescraft was willing to build it, but they were closer to half million.
If you figured in labor hours at my normal rate, I would be north of that number as well.
But I knew what I wanted, and knew I could build it. I could have come in closer to my budget if covid hadn't skyrocketed material prices after I started the build. Aluminum prices are nuts these days.

 

[Tracy]

CAD (cardboard aided design)

I save larger boxes for this very purpose

I do a lot of my prototyping in CAD. If you don't have a CNC cut table, my CAD is much easier to transfer. This was all cut by hand and tig welded in place. Not exactly the fastest way to build.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

If you don't have a CNC cut table, my CAD is much easier to transfer. This was all cut by hand and tig welded in place. Not exactly the fastest way to build.

We don't and I 100% agree. Not the fastest, but it gets the job done with the least amount of overhead (and you can be pretty mobile with a piece of cardboard)