My Bass season this year has been one of change. For the last number of years I’ve spent just about every weekend of the season chasing the tides and weather patterns to give myself the best chance of catching from the shoreline. Let’s face it, while there is ok fishing to be had, it isn’t the best or easiest in the world. So many frustrating times are spent watching the birds just a few 100 yards off shore and being confined to the shore means mobility is a challenge. For a species and population as fickle as our little bass it can be very challenging. Over the last few years, most of my fishing buddies have gone afloat, kayaks and small ribs and larger boats, they have simply produced much better results than the shore. These results were fast becoming a stabbing sword of envy. I suppose then it was no surprise when I purchased a kayak myself and paddled past the 50 meters of water I had slashed with the fly line and clouser for the last few years. I have to admit that its hard work paddling a yak after the fish and against the tide and pretty much starting from scratch finding results. Cast, strip, paddle, cast, strip, paddle, catch fish, release fish and realise you now have to paddle back hundreds of meters as the rip has carried you on its way. I loved being out on the yak and could easily see the massive increase in potential however there had to be an easier way right ? J
One night last September my best friend Tommo and I were following our usual Thursday night routine, drinking far too much red wine while slowly roasting some chickens in the Webber. Or Tommo Thursdays as my Missus Emma had started calling them. At some point I came up with a ridiculous idea and blurted out “Hey Bro, let’s build a boat!” JT was right in there “hell yeah why not!”.... A week later and a big brown envelope arrived in the post. I had no idea what it was and was initially surprised to open it and find a bunch of technical drawings for a 17ft Fast flats skiff. It all came flooding back and I called up Tommo and informed him our plans had arrived “What plans? Ahh, bloody hell.. What now?!” “Well we better built a boat then!”
Now I just want to set the expectation here. Neither of us have any boat building skills and other than a few enthusiastic Lego projects and revel models in my youth, we were no Wright brothers! The first hurdle was we both lived in rental accommodation with no garages and barely any parking. Emma’s friend Paula had a garage she didn’t use and a quick call later and we were in business. Except when we arrived at the garage it was only 5x2m had no electricity or lighting. It doesn’t take a mathematician to crack this one. Now I don’t know how much more one needs to decide this was a bad idea but we managed to ignore it all and instead of returning the hull plans for a refund... we ordered some for a smaller boat. A 14ft Fast skiff. I went fishing in Africa in early January and Tommo began to think he had got away with it. On my return from the tropics to dismal weather I was going nuts and got back onto the case, reading and finding everything I could on amateur boat building. Playing with designs and sourcing materials and discussing options and processes with some other friends that had restored or built boats themselves. It wasn’t till March when finally the gorgeous sheets of marine ply arrived and as we both stood there staring at it, the realisation was inevitable ... we were indeed going to be building a boat from scratch. So much for having a boat ready for the season but hell, it wasn’t too late and we finally made the first cuts...
While I did manage to get out a few times I sacrificed most of my shore fishing and my beloved scad sessions for her but in the end we just managed to get out on her before the end and the rewards have been fantastic. We’ve had a number of problems with the engine but these will hopefully all be dealt with by the Mariner dealer. The worst of all was a gearbox failure forcing the engine into gear at full revs from stationary and shattering the transom.
I’ve pulled out some of the highlights below for a bit of a photo story. If any of you ever think about the idea – dive in head first, it’s awesome fun.... at times.
For those with the time or inclination you may wish to go to the link below and follow the journey that we have taken in full. It's rather epic if I do say so myself. I hope you enjoy the read and pictures as much as we have
Bateau2 - Builder Forums • View topic - SPLASHED - FS 14 - First Timer
Well we started with this:
Much like a jigsaw puzzle we built the frame to work around
Stitched and glued the cut out panels with cable ties and epoxy
Which also gives a good idea of all that space we had
Sanded the hull and fiberglassed the bottom. – Fiberglass is evil
We created the rub rail and skeg and sanded and faired the hell out of it for days, i do mean days.
but finally ended up with a primered hull ready for the big day of flipping it over and working on our interior designs
Lifting the moulds out we began fberglassing and laminating
And building the internal decks and laminating hatches
We decided to put a livewell/tank in the back – it works as a fully functional baitwell or cooler
needed to make sure it all worked
And then started laminating in casting decks, the deck and seats etc – but not without filling the under sole with closed cell foam. Incase we turn her over.
The ever present space issue – but we pressed on and hit the gunwhales
And the fly rod holders down the sides
Then we pieced to gether our console design – a seat and an area to contain battery and petrol tank along with a dry cubbyhole
we positioned and measured to find the balance point on our primed boat
Some of us took a break
But then we hit the real hard work – the incredible time consuming final sanding and fairing and first coat
We flipped her again and finished the hull – we were happy with the quality of our first roll and tip
The Nautilus Is Born
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