New to me - Starcraft 18' Mariner-V

[Makaw]

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I've decided to tackle the 16 footer first. Above is the approximate layout that comes to mind.

1. Front Deck - I was thinking 3'x5' should be pretty decent, but I'm considering making it a full 4' deep. A bit unsure. More casting space up front, or more "safe" space down on the floor?

2. Main floor - As drawn above, this boat will have a spacious 8 feet x 54" floor. The center console setup is good looking, but takes up a lot of deck space, so I'm leaning toward a side console layout, especially since I already have one. The one I have is nice and small, 2' wide x 12" deep. Fits the boat great. I need to decide where to put it. In my Princecraft, it's pretty far back, and I actually sit on the back deck when driving. In my picture, I put it about in the middle of the boat. Any thoughts?

3. Rear Deck - The rear deck in my Princecraft is 3' deep, and it conceals battery, fuel tank and great storage space. Again, I'm wondering whether I should make it a full 4' deep?

Again, it's a question of more floor space or more deck space? That is the question. Many of these little boats have huge decks, and some are completely decked, and they suffer badly in rough water. But on calm days, they have lots of room.

Any opinions on this topic?

I second going with a 4’ front deck if you plan on spending a decent amount of time up there fishing. I went 4’ on my 14’ Starcraft and don’t regret it.

I also have a 24V trolling setup. It’s drastic overkill but I fish a lot by myself and the low, centered battery weight is actually very helpful for overall stability.

 

[airshot]

Thanks for the confirmation. I have a bunch of sheet foam, and I'm planning to not only put it under the floor, but I might replicate the floatation panels from the later models on either side of the transom.


Thanks, Airshot, I'm pretty tickled with them both. Yeah, that green was pervasive in the 70's. Not sure why. I hated that color even back then.



In the kitchen and bath world, they called it "Avocado Green." Believe it or not, it's starting to come back in certain spheres.

I took a couple of minutes with spray cans I had on hand and sprayed a few colors. White looks good, so that's probably what I'm going with. The Gray looked kind of dead, and I had a Teal color that just looked kind of 80's. Like someone who still listens to Cindi Lauper. So, boring old White it will be! Thanks.

When I painted mine ( couldnt stand that ugly green) I wanted something different. Considered all different colors but for some reason I wanted an earth tone so I went with a metalic brown. Used auto rattle cans and it came out great. The metalic color sparkled in the sun and was pleasantly different, had lots of comments on the color choice. Some years later I moved up to a 22' Islander that was tan, another ugly color !!! Rather than painting the whole hull, just used a similiar metalic brown and made a two/ tone colored hull....again, many likes on the color choice at the ramps !!!

 

[thill]

I second going with a 4’ front deck if you plan on spending a decent amount of time up there fishing. I went 4’ on my 14’ Starcraft and don’t regret it.

I also have a 24V trolling setup. It’s drastic overkill but I fish a lot by myself and the low, centered battery weight is actually very helpful for overall stability.

I've decided to go ahead with the full width of a sheet of plywood. Why not? There is lots of floor space in that boat.

When I painted mine ( couldnt stand that ugly green) I wanted something different. Considered all different colors but for some reason I wanted an earth tone so I went with a metalic brown. Used auto rattle cans and it came out great. The metalic color sparkled in the sun and was pleasantly different, had lots of comments on the color choice. Some years later I moved up to a 22' Islander that was tan, another ugly color !!! Rather than painting the whole hull, just used a similiar metalic brown and made a two/ tone colored hull....again, many likes on the color choice at the ramps !!!

That actually sounds like a good color scheme, both the metallic bronze and the 2-tone. Too bad I'm not very creative or artistic.

I'm probably going to end up selling the 18 footer, (more size and HP than I need for the lake) so generic is probably the least offensive. Kind of like when you sell a car, you take out personal items and just leave it a clean blank slate. At least, that's my thinking.

I recently picked up another 16 footer that I really like. Really wide, with dual consoles with windshields for wind protection on cold days, and a nice layout. We'll see if I keep it, though. I think I enjoy the projects more than keeping them. It's kind of cool taking a stripped-out hull destined for the scrap metal yard and turning it into a nice, safe, comfortable fishing machine.

 

[airshot]

I hear ya, way back when my kids were young, I enjoyed model railroads, the construction of a miniature real looking train operation was great fun, however the operation once finnished was boring !! I built over many years 3 beautifull small railroad systems only to find myself selling them to start building another....the fun was in the creation !!!

 

[thill]

Yes, the fun is mostly in the planning. Getting the layout right and adding cool and useable features. The second best part is getting it built right and making it look like it was there all along. And finally there is the satisfaction of looking at the sketch and looking at the finished product, and seeing your plan in real life.

That being done, my biggest problem is always deciding which one to keep and which one to sell.

I like the Mariner 18, but it seems somewhat big and heavy. I need to see how it handles with 50-55 HP. If it runs really well, it could nudge out the Princecraft, which is super light, but if it seems too heavy, I don't see keeping it when I already have a nice center console.

The Mariner 16 is a cool boat, and I really like the roomy, flat floor. But it's a bit narrower than my Princecraft, so not sure how stable it will be, but it does look like it will handle rough water better. That boat is a maybe, depending on sea trial and how much I like running and fishing out of it.

Now the Spectrum, I like A LOT. If anything is going to knock the Princecraft out, that boat looks like the leader. But it needs a new transom and I'm working with the state of NC to get the title for it, which will be a lengthy process, so I have no idea whether that will actually happen.

In the meantime, I just got six FREE sheets of 6-ply 1/2" plywood from a friend who was cleaning up a jobsite. Unfortunately, it had been left out in the rain, so I have them standing in my shop so air can get to them, but I only need 3 good sheets for the Mariner 16. It looks like they are drying evenly, and I'm flipping them to keep them flat as they dry. So far, so good. They should be dry enough to use by the end of the week. Since I have the old plywood to use as templates, cutting them out should take less than an hour.

 

[thill]

RIVET QUESTION

What size rivets are needed to put down a 1/2" plywood floor? I've never used them before, always using self-tapping, ceramic-coated deck screws. Online, I found some 5/16" x 3/4" recessed head rivets. Is 3/4" long enough, or should I be looking for 7/8" or 1"?