Ready to get working on my first boat

[Brine]

Question: How important is it to have a bilge pump?

It's not important until you need it. #-o

 

[ChitownBasser]

I got ya. It guess it beats using a cup to bail yourself out.

 

[skysail]

Hey nice boat. I live near Chicago, and I'm starting to work on my first boat too, you recommend any good lakes with launches?

 

[ChitownBasser]

Skysail, there are so many that I plan on hitting that I once was limited to just shorefishing. When my boat is ready, I will be launching as as many weekends as I could. Where you do live by?

I live in the city, outside the UIC area. It's funny you asked that because I took a drive today to a city boat launch on the Chicago River that would eventually lead to the lakefront. $25 dollars to launch. Crazy right? Some lakes I will be launching at will be Wolf Lake, Busse Lake, Calumet Lake, Tampier Lake, Skokie Lagoons, just to name a few that I have shore fished. So many more. Plus when I upgrade my motor, I will be hitting the cooling lakes. I would love to hit Lake Michigan for some smallies around the Shedd. Not sure were I could launch for free or a reasonable price.

 

[KevinWI]

Bilges are nice on those mornings you go out to your boat beached on shore or at the dock after a long night of rain. Just walk in and flip the switch....Also if you're prone to staying out in the pouring rain while fishing. Other than that if you have your boat on a trailer and pull it out every fishing trip, the boats self drain, so you're not using the bilge.

 

[skysail]

I live in the southwest suburbs, hickory hills, its not too far from the city. I fish tampier lake, maple lake, bullfrog lake, saganaskee, the des plaines river, they are all really close to me. I also fish montrose and burnam harbor sometimes. I was just wondering about lakes that allow engines because tampier and saganaskee are electic only i think. I would love to take my boat on lake michigan like you said, but im afraid of waves and big boats. I bought a lowe 1436 and I have a yamaha 8hp for it. I guess I would be alright if it was really calm.

 

[ChitownBasser]

Sky, it's definitely worth a shot to go out on the big lake for BIG smallies, when it's calm. You live around a lot of forest preserve lakes. Also I am not sure where you could launch on the Desplaines River but there is some fishing to be had there (pike, bass). Also jump on 55 and go out to the cooling lakes.

Today I have started my back decking after getting some supplies at Home Depot. Strong ties are not as expensive as I thought. It will be completely removable btw. Layout seem to be going okay.

I bought an aluminum angle bar to split in half and attach to the transom. My back of my deck frame would rest on the angle bar attached with two screws to hold my deck down. It's still a work in progress. I am working on some cross bars for further support.

My question is how should I rest the frame on the rib of the boat (look at picture below)? Should I notch out the wood to curve to the rib of the boat? Should I use some sort of bracket to hold my wood footing? Keep in mind that I don't want to attach my wood frame to the boat. BTW in the picture, nothing is screwed yet. My leg piece might end up being under the actual long cross bar as opposed to the side like in the picture.

 

[ChitownBasser]

After a weekend of progress, everything is coming together.

The back decking is complete. I was having trouble with my leg supports but my brother in law used a circle creating drill bit on the bottom of the leg to contour the rib. Having the cardboard template helped size up the 1/2" plywood. Cutting wasn't too bad. Ended the day early with some Thompson's seal on the back deck and the floor.

Now onto the front deck and figuring out my storage layout. The plywood for that should be done by the weekend and then I could move on to the carpeting. Due to the cold weather, I am saving the paint for the end.

 

[ChitownBasser]

I finished the next phase of my boat today. All woodwork and carpet work are completed. I am glad too. That carpet glue was all over the place. I am not a carpenter but I do okay. Very pleased with the way it turned out. Not perfect, by no means. But decent. Installed my Perko hatch pulls(love 'em). My switch panel is mounted but not hooked up yet. I also add a $10 cargo net from Walmart to give some extra storage. Here are some pics.

Next up is body work, body prep/prime, and paint. I bought 5 cans of self-etching primer. Is that enough for inside and out? Once it's primed, do I just paint it with some rustoleum paint? What about adding thinner to paint? What effect does it have? I read that some people do this.

 

[fool4fish1226]

Lookin good =D>

 

[Jdholmes]

Looking great! I love the cargo net idea!

I would say you are going to go through around 6 cans....I think I used 3-4 for my interior.

And you don't need to thin the paint, once your self etching primer is on there just paint away. I haven't done my whole boat yet but i did the rear to test and it seems to be adhering great.

 

[Jdholmes]

And I did the interior as well, just sprayed canned on top of the self etching and it is holding really well.

 

[ChitownBasser]

Thanks for the info. I will be working on this in the coming week.

 

[DyerBassman]

Looks great! I also love the cargo net idea ( great way to use every inch possible). I live in Dyer, IN (just over the border) and I am just starting a mod on my. 12' Alumacraft. There are a ton of small lakes out here that you should check out, too. I did decent last year bass fishing in the area.

 

[ChitownBasser]

DyerBassman, howdie. I am somewhat familiar with that section of Indiana (not fishing-wise though). I used to live in Plymouth, IN. So this may be a stupid question but when taking my boat into other states, there is no other registrations I need to use my boat in other waters? I understand that I need a fishing license in which ever state I am in. Do all states require fishing licenses? I would like to vacation down in Kentucky Lake one year. Do you own both IL and IN fishing licenses?
Good luck with your mod. I tried finding a smaller cargo net but this one serves its purpose. I am still looking for 10" by 10" cargo material for the underside of my hatch doors. Now that would be using as much space as I could. I may have to just make my own.

 

[ChitownBasser]

Okay. Sorry to go back to the paint thing but I have a couple of more questions. Any advice or tips would be appreciated. The inside of my boat seems to be in its original aluminum state, do I have to sand it before priming? I have 200 grit just in case.

The outside. It appears that there used to be some kind of blue paint or primer under the red paint. I am using a stripping wire wheel drill bit. This red paint is not coming off easy. With some muscle I could eventually finish it. Just looking for an easier way. Do I have to strip the red off before priming? Can I just sand the outside, wiped with acetone, and prime? The bottom is unpainted btw.

I am almost done but this paint thing seems tricky.

 

[DyerBassman]

DyerBassman, howdie. I am somewhat familiar with that section of Indiana (not fishing-wise though). I used to live in Plymouth, IN. So this may be a stupid question but when taking my boat into other states, there is no other registrations I need to use my boat in other waters? I understand that I need a fishing license in which ever state I am in. Do all states require fishing licenses? I would like to vacation down in Kentucky Lake one year. Do you own both IL and IN fishing licenses?
Good luck with your mod. I tried finding a smaller cargo net but this one serves its purpose. I am still looking for 10" by 10" cargo material for the underside of my hatch doors. Now that would be using as much space as I could. I may have to just make my own.

As long as your boat is registered somewhere, I believe you could fish it anywhere ( not 100% sure, but it makes sense). As long as you have a valid fishing license for that state, you should be fine. I didn't have a IL license last year, but I may get one this year just to give myself more options.

 

[Jdholmes]

Indeed...there is an easier way. . If your paint is holding good there is no reason to remove it. The 200 grit is fine to scuff off the oxidization, clean it with some acetone and you are good to go. Some guys like to take it down to a pressure washer as well.

Anywhere you do have bare aluminum you will have to use self etching primer to get good adhesion.

 

[ChitownBasser]

Thanks for the info JD. Almost have everything figured out.

 

[ChitownBasser]

I was pretty productive the past couple of days. I prepped the inside of the boat for painting by giving it a light sanding. Put some 3M 5200 on the hull seam of the boat and some of the rivets just as a precautionary measure. Primed the the inside with Rustoleum self-etching primer (2.5 cans).

I bought some Rustoleum Sunrise Red paint for Menards. Two cans of the red and black. I put down 3 coats of the red. Not as easy as it sounds. I had to jump in the boat at one boat.

Inside red is done. Hit the trim with the black.

Now I am waiting to hit the black up again before bed. By tomorrow, I should be able to flip the boat over and prep it for painting. Hopefully complete painting by next weekend.

BTW Right now I am keeping the bottom bare. Eventually I will paint it black or spray some Rustoleum bed liner in there.