just got a 12 footer

[pussiwillow]

hello, i just picked up a used 12 foot flat bottom jon. i have not taken it out yet or tested it, the guy i got it from said it leaks about a beer car worth of water in about 4 - 6 hours. i plan to seal her up good before the maiden voyage. i know its a good idea to keep the bottom as smooth as possible to keep water resistance down, but once it planes, most of the boat would be up and out of the water. i want something that can bump into rocks here and there, tho i will avoid beating it up, but my idea was to apply a roll on bedliner on the bottom of the boat and about 3 inches up the side. would this put too much drag on my boat with a 15 hp outboard. i saw the steel flex stuff but the bottom of my boat is pretty rough and wanted the "texture" to help hide it and i know rhino liner stuff is indestructable. whats your thoughts? thank you!

 

[crkdltr]

hello, i just picked up a used 12 foot flat bottom jon. i have not taken it out yet or tested it, the guy i got it from said it leaks about a beer car worth of water in about 4 - 6 hours. i plan to seal her up good before the maiden voyage. i know its a good idea to keep the bottom as smooth as possible to keep water resistance down, but once it planes, most of the boat would be up and out of the water. i want something that can bump into rocks here and there, tho i will avoid beating it up, but my idea was to apply a roll on bedliner on the bottom of the boat and about 3 inches up the side. would this put too much drag on my boat with a 15 hp outboard. i saw the steel flex stuff but the bottom of my boat is pretty rough and wanted the "texture" to help hide it and i know rhino liner stuff is indestructable. whats your thoughts? thank you!

If you figure you're going to bump into rocks, then you might want to go with steel flex. No one is going to see the bottom of your boat so I wouldn't worry about trying to make it look flawless. It's going to be a fishing boat so don't worry about it. If the bumps and dings are so bad that you're worried about how it will perform, then you might want to consider using a hammer & dolly to shape them back straight and using some kind of filler to smooth them out.