amateurhour's 12 foot Sears Gamefisher

[amateurhour]

So after a year of sanding, wire wheel brushing, and basic restoration, I finally threw in the towel on the 15 foot Richline semi v. I honestly was fearing getting a motor powerful enough to really push that thing and decided (after a year of kayak fishing) that I wanted something smaller. So I traded one of my fishing kayaks for this, a 1980s Sears Gamefisher 12 foot flatbottom.

And yesterday, a nice kid came by with his dad to take the richline and trailer off my hands, and traded me for a newer trailer more suited for the flatbottom and a 30lb minn kota trolling motor.

So as of now, between both boats, I still only have $100 invested in all. (I traded for everything so far)

Here she is on the trailer with the motor set up.

Still not sure of how I want to build her out. I know I want to put carpeted decks over the floors, and I'm thinking of hollowing out some of the center bench for the battery box, and setting up a cooler with a cushion seat in front of the middle bench to adjust the weight better if someone is riding up front.

Either way, I've got a lot planned for her, and it's nice to have a boat that's actually water ready (minus the battery I need to buy...)

Stay tuned for more!

 

[onthewater102]

Personally I wouldn't want to go weighing down a nice go-anywhere boat with plywood unless it was removable. You can support a seat mounted to your bench using U-nuts (sometimes called J-nuts or fender nuts) and you could deck the front. I've got a 1436 (14' long with a 3' wide bottom) and I'm 6'3" & 240lbs and it's plenty stable for any small-water fishing. I kept the deck level with the middle seat (see my build) but I decked using FRP wall board and expanding foam which is ~35% lighter in total than if I'd done it using 1/2" plywood for the deck. You can even set Plano 974 tackle tray organizers into the foam before you pour so you have storage buillt-into your decking.

 

[heff]

Good looking boat. I wish I had a trailer, Actually I NEED a trailer now that I sold my truck.
I have the same boat. Used 1/4 ply with carpet on top. It barely adds to the weight. I also made plywood and carpet covers for the benches and attached swivel chairs. The chairs are attached to the plywood and the plywood is attached to the bench via 4 stainless screws. So far it has been very solid.
I can send pics if you want. (IM me on here)
Good luck with the build!

 

[amateurhour]

Thanks for the replies!

The first thing I'm doing tomorrow is replacing those bent to hell bunks and readjusting them for a flat boat. I found a battery for the trolling motor and I'm getting the taxes paid/registration started on it next week because I'm taking it out on a camping trip at the end of the month.

Anyone know the max, and I mean MAX weight this thing can safely support?

 

[onthewater102]

The absolute max would be based on the displacement of the boat - measure the volume in cu ft and multiply it by 62 lbs, then subtract the weight of the boat. However, you need clearance to the gunwales, so you should probably remove the estimated volume above the waterline from your calculation...every boat is shaped differently. Straighter sides will give it more of a rectangular shape - however if your sides flare you'll have to figure the volume based on the top area and the bottom area and average the two (this is probably your easiest off-the cuff calculation to get fairly close.)

Of course if the boat swamps you've only got the displacement of any foam in the boat to keep it floating. If you're measuring marine foam it's usually a 2lb per cu.ft. density, so measure the volume of foam and multiply by 60 - that will be how much dead-weight (motors, batteries, gear) the boat will support. People are ~+/- 70% water by weight, so only factor in 30% of the combined body-weight of the people in the boat as needing to be supported upon swamping (ie a 200 dude will be 60 lbs worth of weight dragging the foam down.)