[Daffyblaster]

Well, I got ALOT of work done in a short period of time tuesday. What you see in the pictures is only a small part of what was done. lol The garage had to be cleaned out for enough room to do it. I had to clean out the other boat and move it into the yard. A second floor wall had to be painted from a 20' ladder that was being shaken by a toddler most of the time. Thank God my wife was holding the ladder the whole time!ray:

So I've got the barest bones of it together and the next steps must wait until monday when I'm off a gain. Here are some pics of what I've done so far.

The frame


The transom and stern.

 

[Daffyblaster]

Nope. It's a modified Kara Hummer. Just how modified is still making me crazy! I want to totally trick it out, but don't have the money for it now OR the time. I want it water ready by October 1st and doing water trials to see which of my motors I like best on it. I've got a 3.5hp Nissan SS 2stroke and a 65#thrust 24v Minnkota. The water trials will answer many questions I have concerning propulsion, tracking and ride, etc. If I had another 2 months, I would wire it for running lights/ spot lights and internal LEDs and maybe a bilge pump. Instead, I will probably run flexible plastic conduit along the path of future wiring and allow for access later on.

Lonnie, I'll be cutting out those pieces monday and reinforcing the 90 degree angle cuts with L-shaped plywood gussets. A guy on that other boat thread I sent you suggested that to prevent the supports cracking. What do you think? Are the L-shaped pieces necessary? Or will the plywood decking and fiberglassing keep it all solid?

 

[Daffyblaster]

I've done a good bit more work on it. Cockpit is now assemled and attached instead of loose boards piled on the deck like in the pic. Fore deck rib and support is in and fabrication of the aft dry storage compartment is underway. With luck, the dry storage will be in tonight as well as side deck supports and I should be ready for plywood!:dance:

My fiberglass cloth is scheduled to arrive on the 5th and I hope to get to glassing shortly after it arrives. I'll try to put some pics up later tonight or in the am.

 

[Daffyblaster]

I went with the hemlock/fir. I think that's what it was. It wasn't as high priced as the hemlock (nor as bitter!assout::grin but worked out fine. Very clear and strong. The next one I build (yea. I can tell already there will be another one ) will be of all hemlock type wood and plywood. Working around the knots in the cheap pine boards has been anoying and wastes a good bit of wood. Then there's the boards that get all warped before you can even use them. That was a head scratcher there. "Hey! You was straight when I bought you!"

Oh, yeah, I drilled 3/4" holes in the ribs to run wiring later on.

 

[Daffyblaster]

Pic of whole boat so far.

Cockpit detail


Future path of electrical system

 

[Daffyblaster]

Yeah, I think it's just gonna have to be how the mood strikes me when I get to trimming the plywood. Whatever is easiest and leaves the cleanest edge. I've got a jigsaw, router and a zip saw. Just gotta find time to finish the dry storage.

 

[Daffyblaster]

Thanks, guys! Everything I've read about hunting from these boats has made me very excited about building one and hunting from it. Word of caution: Boat building is VERY addictive!

Kara hummer as built from plans has an estimated weight of around 120lbs. I am hoping that mine won't exceed 140 with my modifications.

Keep up the comments, guys! I need all the encouragement I can get if I'm gonna have it doen in time!:cheers:

 

[Daffyblaster]

Dude!! I'm at work.

 

[Daffyblaster]

Pfft... excuses.

Actually, what the heck are you doing on iFish at work... er... uh... never mind.

Geoff

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

 

[Daffyblaster]

I've done alot more on it. All the deck and side deck supports are in as well as the dry storage compartment framing.
Here's a pic of the stern with all the mods framed in.

Detail of dry storage framing. This will have a hatch.

Detail of stern compartment. This will be open


Started putting plywood on yesterday. *nightmare!* :frown:NOT having much luck with the plywood. Doesn't want to bend like it's supposed to. My next boat will be angles instead of curves! Yes, I am trying to bend it in the long axis as per the instructions. *sigh* I ruined the first pice of plywood and got the second one on with much greater care and much longer time than I expected. Just gave up for awhile. Will work it more later.

 

[Daffyblaster]

That is my plan, actually. Just in case she wants to swim with me, I'm installing pink foam board under the floor and spray foam in the rear sides and in the nose. That should give me plenty of positive floatation even if things get dicey.

 

[Daffyblaster]

Thanks, geoff. I'll go with that. I'm not sure how the spray stuff absorbs water or if at all. I can just cut the hard foam as needed to fit.

 

[Daffyblaster]

Gil, holler if you need a bunch of closed cell poly foam.
We recycle it here at work and I could save it for you. Odd sizes, but you could cut and pack it as needed.
This is the same foam used in PFD's.
Hunt'nFish

:meme:AHHHHHHHHHH!! AAHHHHHHHH!!!!:meme:


Is that loud enough? That would save me a bundle.

 

[Daffyblaster]

Ok. I'm gonna try this again. Lost the prior post in internet never never land.

Latest pics of my progress on the Atomic Nutria as I've come to call her.

Painted the inside with Parker's Duck Boat Paint for water resistance and installed pink closed cell foam in bow and cut pieces to fit under floor. Floor pieces are not permanently placed yet.






Aft compartments and storage epoxied and sealed.


Bow plywood decking installed



Pink foam installed in aft compartments.


Aft plywood decking installed.


Side plywood decking placed, but ran out of screws!!!


Looking more like a boat all the time!

 

[Daffyblaster]

Hmmmmmm...now that's a nice idea! Borrow your stencils! I like it! But...then the boat won't match the motor. :bigshock: I'm kinda going for a low budget mossyoak shadow grass look. The stencils I have will give me that if I do it right. The motor came out really well. To be honest the boat camo doesn't really matter that much since I'll be grassing it up completely to look like a small patch of marsh. No matter how beautiful the camo job it'll just be hidden by grass and brush.

Thanks, buddy, for the offer. I may call on you to witness the test launch soon.:smash:

 

[Daffyblaster]

That's a great idea, but I'll probably be going with a screw down floor. I'll have to roll it on it's side to drain water out, but I'm ok with that. At this point I'd rather have the boat ready to hunt with this year than to be working on it forever. The wife is getting jealous of the Atomic Nutria, as well. She knows she's about to be a duckhunting widow soon and is wanting as much time with me as she can get. :laugh:With the screw down method I can change it later on to something else. The foam won't be glued in so I can change that later too.

 

[Daffyblaster]

Nope. No permanent bilge pump. I'm going for low weight. This boat is also meant to be low budget. I could trick it out totally and add 50pounds more weight and have the ultimate hummer, but I had a short time to build it and wanted to emphasize low weight. I have a hand powered bilge pump that weighs about 10oz and pumps a gallon per 4 strokes. I decided against 12v wiring and am going with D cell lighting and LED push lights for interior lights (powered by AAA's). If I change my mind, this summer I can run 12v wiring and all. She is treated for water resistance. She has a nice warm dry garage to sleep in at night.:smirk:

 

[Daffyblaster]

Well it's looking like about two weeks. I start glassing next week. Power tools at night have been restricted due to baby.:crazy: I woke him up the other night apparently. Thanks for the incouragement. It is incredibly satisfying to build your own boat and take it out on the water. My last was a pirogue. Took it out on the Columbia for it's maiden voyage.

 

[Daffyblaster]

I'm using 7.5 oz cloth on the bottom and 6oz on the top. I always glass wearing a respirator and have the garage door open and back door open with a box fan on full circulating the air. I can't afford to end up like a braindead huffer. I will say that the remaining brain cells are the strong ones to have survived this long.:grin:

 

[Daffyblaster]

Gil, you say your emphasis is on light weight. How much is this boat going to weigh when all said and done? Also, I am sure you have already talked about this but I need to ask again. What are the dimensions of this boat and are you using a specific pattern for it? Sorry if you have to repeat yourself.

Thanks
Harry

No problem, Harry. I'm, trying to keep it close to 130lbs. She's 13.5' ? long (I haven't actually measured the length:redface and roughly 44" wide by 11" deep with a 15" transom. I modified the Kara Hummer patterns to meet my needs.