Northwest Fishing Reports

So Here is the boat in question


What I'm thinking are 2 plans for this boat.

#1 Remove the center seat and deck in the entire bottom filling the grooves with expanding foam then fiber glassing the deck to prevent water from getting underneath. Carpet over that. Then building 2 boxes on the rasied seats in the back, one to house the drive for the remote operated transon mount motor I'm gonna build (the controls will be in the arm of the fishing chair I plan to put in) and the other as just a storage area. 2 fishing chairs added and battery boxes with angle braces to support the sides where the center seat is now. Then add a 3 to 5 hp gas motor to the center where the trolling motor is now.

#2 Revove the center seat and brace across with a metal beam then build a lower deck and a upper deck with storage unerneath. The rest is the same as above.

I think I'm gonna go with a cooler livewell system because the only time I would need it is when I'm after trout or if I fish a tourney.

So which would you do or are there anything else I should look at. I fish 99% of the time solo.

I wouldn't glass in foam in the bottom. No matter how careful you are to seal everything it will eventually leak and you will have soggy foam.
It's extremely difficult to get new glass to bond to the old glass after the boat has cured. I may get some argument from others but...... trust me on this one, polyester can only successfully bond to it's self if the glass is laid before the original piece hardens completely and if the wax layer is still intact. This can not be done succsessfully over gelcoat either. If you grind into the glass and all traces of wax or grease are removed (mechanically is prefered) you may get a substantial bond with epoxy. The rules are, polyester will not bond to polyester. Epoxy can bond to polyester, sort of. Polyester can not bond to epoxy. Vinyl acts very much like polyester.
Bottom line is major glass refits to a molded boat generally don't last to long unless they are molded seperately and held in place with mechanical fasteners and glue then patched in.
I would be inclined to patch in some aluminum L stock and cut some pieces of ply to fit. Seal any way you want. Roll with it.
No foam to soak water. I'll bet if you cut into the floatation cells right now there would be water. I've removed foam and replaced with air bladders on a few boats.

Structurally the seat is there to stiffen the hull, It's quite common for manufactures to do this so they can make a lighter boat. If you remove the seat you'll need to replace it with some other stiffener. I'd be inclined to leave the seat and add some extra floor boards at close to the tunnel level. They will raise your CG quite a bit, causing the boat to be tippy when you stand up.
I have a fourteen foot Sorensons, similar type boat and it's very stable standing in one of the pontoons. Still I don't think I'd want the floor much higher even in the larger boat.

I'd really be inclined to say, fish it and be happy while saving for a bigger or purpose built boat.

Some good stuff to chew on there will have to ponder it.

I have built Plywood tanks that are fiberglass lined and gone back several years later and patched them for any # of reasons with no leaks. That was why I was thinking of fiberglassing the entire bottom shut.

I may go back into plan 3 that I didn't mention which is just decking in the to area front and back leaving the seat, but make the decks removable to be able to dry them when needed.

That sounds like the easiest to do. I'd probably still be inclined to just make a couple floor boards to make a flat place to stand. That's a pretty small boat to be standing in period.

I like plan #3. I removed hundreds of soaking pounds from a fiberglass boat once - yuck! Are you concerned you need more flotation? Otherwise, why add foam? I like the floor idea as it will make it easier to stand and cast. That boat should be pretty stable to stand in, I would think.

Don't touch the center seat, but how about creating storage space by building sides to enclose the areas under the seat, and then making a pair of hinged covers on the top of the seat to put stuff in? Can never have enough storage!

Well I ran a test run with some pink foam to see and a 1/2" sheet of plywood and it does make it more stable to stand in. What I was thinking was that I would run some pipe down the bottom on the grooves cover the whole back and front with a plastic sheet then place the board on top. By spraying foam thru some holes placed in the deck I could get it to fill in under the deck giving me a real solid platform and no stress to the fiberglass sides like attached metal L brackets would do. I may have to buy a can of the foam spray and see if it soaks up water. I have used it to make backgrounds and decorations in aquariums but I have never tried to remove it so I don't know if it sucks it up or not. (The stuff I use is supposed to make a watertight seal)

The pipes underneath would be used for running wiring and also as a way to drain the boat if needed by having them run to the outside and placing drain plugs in the ends. I would perforate the ones used for draining of course. Now with the plastic covering the pipes and bottom the foam shouldn't stick to anything but the board and then by just adding a couple of rope handles to the deck I could lift it out and let it dry or clean underneath if needed.

I had thought about building the deck and then making those areas underneath the seats storage by building a fiberglass boxes with a door in it that I could store things I need on the boat but rarely use like rope, body parts I don't want anyone to see me disposing of etc.

My main reason is I want a casting chair in the boat and by the time I get it in where the boat is most stable my feet are right up against the base of the seat so if I laid into a hog and need to do some fancy work to get him in the boat I don't have a lot of room to move in. I use a lawn chair now and it works well but I'm always facing one side or the other, with a swivel seat it would make it much easier to move the boat into position and be able to work some tighter spots.

Now here is a thought what if I removed the seat but built a front deck the same height as the seat is now and angled the deck to meet where the seat is now attached to the sides so giving the sides the same support just angling it away. (if any of that made sense) That would give me a u shaped area in the back and the little extra room I'm trying to achieve. then I could build storage into the front deck underneath it for batteries etc. But make it to where water goes underneath the front deck so it doesn't have to be removed.

Something like this looking down on it.