Smackdaddy's "Pole Dancer" 1652 Polar Kraft flush deck jet b

[bigwave]

Wow, look at the bracing. Way better than factory and built like a brick $&*@house. I know this is a bit early but what color are you thinking of? Solid,camo,two-tone?

 

[smackdaddy53]

I have never been accused of "under engineering" anything. I always use more fasteners, more material and try to keep everything as square and symmetrical as possible on all my projects. It may have started out as a plain old hull but it is going to be solid but yet lightweight when I am done. I am already thinking about repowering with a 90 or maybe even a 115 after I see what sort of hole shot it has and how she drafts when poling. I am definitely looking at different options for deadening the resonating effects aluminum boats are known for.
I have a master list of things I still need to do and buy and it is longer than I expected!
The bottom and six inches up the sides will be dark grey GatorGlide G4, light grey Duralux on the sides and rub rail and light grey Tuffcoat on the deck, pods and console.

 

[PSG-1]

Wow! You've done an outstanding job on this so far! I REALLY like the flat-top deck. Totally eliminates trip hazards, such as ribs, seats, etc, as well as eliminating the need for a bilge pump to remove water from being swamped, as the deck will be truly self-bailing.

Can't wait to see what it looks like when you get 'er done.

 

[smackdaddy53]

Well there is a 78x41" recessed floor but it is 4" off the bottom and I plan on making it self bailing if my draft is low. I still bought twin 600gph automatic bilges just for grins.
She's going to be pole dancing soon!

 

[PSG-1]

Yeah, 4" of elevation should give you a self-bailing deck. In hindsight, I wish I had done this with my jetboat, then it would be **** near unsinkable.

 

[Gators5220]

Lookin sick as always.

 

[smackdaddy53]

Thanks guys! I have high hopes for this build. She may not be the best looking but she will be a head turner. People should be wondering what the hell it is and how it runs where it runs and why it doesn't look or sound like their cookie cutter bay boats that cost an arm and a leg.
The real reason I am building this rig is simple. I want a functional platform that does what I want it to do and gets me where I want to go and has what I need to catch fish without a huge price tag and the less personal feel of a boat we just plopped down a wad of cash and got a nice boat someone else engineered.
To keep it simple, all I really need is a way to get to my favorite wading spots and get to some of the less accessible areas here on the Texas coast. Poling the flats is the secondary function I will have for her. I have spent a fair amount of time poling the flats with my buddy on his Maverick HPX-T skiff and have learned a lot about what a poling skiff needs to work well. Most people do not think of aluminum hulls as ideal platforms for a poling skiff but I believe many redfish and trout will see this boat before it is over. It needs to draft around 4", run shallow on plane at lower speeds and navigate back lakes well and I think it will do this efficiently. I am looking at ways to deaden sound that resonates through the hull while poling so fish will not be as spooky on approach and hopefully I will be successful. The removeable trolling motor will be used when it needs to be and stowed away if I have trips where it may not be used very often if at all. The removeable led light bar will hopefully shed light on many flounders backs.
Functionality is the utmost important factor in this build and I believe recessing the floor is the best move I made so far even though it added a little cost. There will be under gunnel rod storage like most poling skiffs and will have two stake out poles and a bracket for each on the bow and stern as well as mounting clips under one gunnel for them.
I have been very successful in the last few years fishing for trophy trout and reds out of my kayak so this will be a nice option on trips where I want more range, comfort and storage. I may even mothership a couple of yaks now and then to successfully cover more area than I can just wading.
The most satisfying part of this boat will be knowing I built it the way I wanted and did so from a mediocre aluminum hull that would have sat on a rusty trailer and corroded away until it was just another piece of scrap metal. Seeing this boat come to fruition will be priceless and I have already gained lots of pride in building it to this point.
I have researched several hundredsof hours and consumed countless cold beers to get where I am with her today. Some nights I spend more time just looking and planning in my head what will work best and taking mental notes as I go. If you take your time and think things out they will fall in place perfectly. I have to thank all of you on here for your ideas, pats on the back and for sharing your methods and things to look for while building and/or modifying simple boats and making them great. Some of the guys on here that I didn't even respond to had bearing on my build. This is one of the best tools for making these boats better than anyone can produce at a cookie cutter level because they are made with our own hands and many lessons learned along the way to make unique vessels that will be enjoyed for years to come.
Cheers to us for taking the time to build a dream and see it blossom in front of our eyes into the vessel we hope it will be. If it doesn't, we will deconstruct and modify to our liking. Thank you all for everything even if you have no clue you added anything!
To be continued...

 

[PSG-1]

smackdaddy53 » Today, 02:13[/url]"]Thanks guys! I have high hopes for this build. She may not be the best looking but she will be a head turner. People should be wondering what the hell it is and how it runs where it runs and why it doesn't look or sound like their cookie cutter bay boats that cost an arm and a leg.
The real reason I am building this rig is simple. I want a functional platform that does what I want it to do and gets me where I want to go and has what I need to catch fish without a huge price tag and the less personal feel of a boat we just plopped down a wad of cash and got a nice boat someone else engineered........

The most satisfying part of this boat will be knowing I built it the way I wanted and did so from a mediocre aluminum hull that would have sat on a rusty trailer and corroded away until it was just another piece of scrap metal. Seeing this boat come to fruition will be priceless and I have already gained lots of pride in building it to this point.......

That's pretty much the same mindset I have. Owning a boat like no other out here is pretty cool. But owning a boat like that, and knowing you built it yourself, is a sense of pride like no other. When I first did my build way back in 2005, there was no tinboats. Just iboats and a few PWC forums. No other jet johns to use for reference. In fact, my 14 ft Sea Doo Speedster was my 'blueprint' to work from!

I had people tell me it couldn't be done, and those that said it could, seemed to think it would take a rocket scientist to do it. Even had one guy tell me he knew someone who built a jetboat, and it only went 9 MPH. People were pi$$ing on my parade before it even got started! But you know what? I'm the wrong person to tell that 'something can't be done' because "can't" "don't" and "won't" aren't options. In fact, when someone says it can't be done, I accept it as a personal challenge, just to prove their a$$ wrong!! Saw my buddy on the water one day (the one who told me about the 9 MPH jetboat) So, I ran along the opposite side of the channel at WOT, then did a 180 at 30 MPH, and idled over to him, and said, "this one goes a little faster than 9 MPH, I think."
LOL :mrgreen:

 

[Country Dave]

Smack you’ve sad a mouth full and were pretty much on the same page,

Some people may not believe an aluminum hull is ideal for polling the flats but I’m not one of them. When I think of stalking fish in skinny water two things come to mind. One, you have to be able to get skinny and secondly, you have to do it in a stealthy manner.

Aluminum hulls typically weigh about a 3rd the weight of their fiberglass counter parts and providing those hulls are the same configuration “Length, width and amount of deadrise” they will draft considerably less and therefore allowing you to get skinnier than the same hull in glass. I know the knock on most aluminum hulls is “Hull Slap” and I’ve experienced that in my 1448.

There are ways around that as well. I wanted a mod-V not just because you have less Hull Slap but because it rides a bit better when it gets a little chopped up. Never the less even with a conventional flat bottom Jon or skiff you can work around it and let’s not forget that fiberglass hulls are not immune from hull slap.

The trend her is Florida for the flats guys is “ Aluminum hulls” just as we’ve both said I can get just a skinny if not skinnier than a 50K Pathfinder XPS for a tenth of the cost. The other thing that I believe most people don’t think about when polling skinny water is the boats “Pressure wave” When you’re moving the boat forward weather you’re on the gas motor, trolling motor or you’re polling the boat is creating a pressure wave, fish feel that they move and become hypersensitive.

Aluminum hulls have a smaller foot print/pressure wave because they weigh less, so they draft less and the PW is minimal compared to their fiberglass counter parts. And like you said when you build it yourself you build it the way you want it and you know what you’ve got.

 

[PSG-1]

Country Dave » 21 minutes ago[/url]"]
The other thing that I believe most people don’t think about when polling skinny water is the boats “Pressure wave” When you’re moving the boat forward weather you’re on the gas motor, trolling motor or you’re polling the boat is creating a pressure wave, fish feel that they move and become hypersensitive.

Aluminum hulls have a smaller foot print/pressure wave because they weigh less, so they draft less and the PW is minimal compared to their fiberglass counter parts.

BINGO!! And this is why a guy in a 14 ft johnboat can consistently gig more fish than a guy in a 16 or 18 ft johnboat. And why kayak fishermen often tend to catch trophies. Fish feel movement and pressure on their lateral line. A smaller boat means less pressure wave, and means you can stealth up on them.

I've seen it for myself with my old 14' Duracraft VS my 1650 Triton. Compared to my gigging results with the 16' boat, that little 14 footer was blessed or something, as I've never had the kind of luck aboard the 16 footer like I did with the 14.

 

[smackdaddy53]

Excuse the long winded post, had a few whoosky and waters last night.
This build is about to really take shape, I will have several days off soon and will be working on this boat double time.

 

[smackdaddy53]

Here are a few decent trips I recently had out of the yak. My buddy and I doubled up on 25" plus trout five times one evening and had a powerboat roll up with binoculars and mark my spot and leave...haha I was flattered and pissed off at the same time.
I kept a few smaller trout and some reds for dinner these trips. Usually let em all swim!

 

[PSG-1]

Wow, those are some NICE trout! Biggest ones I've caught on a rod and reel were about 5 lbs. I've gigged a few that were 8 lbs. Here in SC, the state record is about 11 pounds.

Being this far north, we occasionally get winters cold enough for the water temp to get below 45, and trout start dying off. So, with that occurring, we don't get over-wintering populations of trout to live long enough to become 10+ pounders, as the big ones seem to be the ones that die off first. Smaller ones seem to be less susceptible to extreme water temp fluctuations.

 

[smackdaddy53]

Water temps here get in the low 40's in the bays and the trout and reds move to the deep rivers that feed them.
That big one was 29" 9# on the money. We have some big flounder here too! Heres a 25" 8.5#

 

[Country Dave]

Nice fatty trout, nice flounder............... =D>

 

[smackdaddy53]

That isnt me, it's my fishing buddy that catches all the good fish...I am the caveman lookin dude.

 

[Country Dave]

smackdaddy53 » 2 minutes ago[/url]"]That isnt me, it's my fishing buddy that catches all the good fish...I am the caveman lookin dude.

Yeh bro, I got that.

 

[Gators5220]

Man that's a big old slob of a trout your buddy caught!

 

[smackdaddy53]

Yessir it looked like a tarpon after he hooked her. She tailwalked about ten feet. We were on the way in from fishing all day and he saw one mullet flip and cast at it and she ate! Going on a trophy trout trip in the morning for that 30" plus!

 

[smackdaddy53]

Back to the boat...
I got my 5/16" stainless bow eye and transom hold downs in along with more 1/4" solid aluminum rivets to put more vertical bracing on the walls of the gunnels to keep vibration down and strengthen it up.
I will be getting on cutting out the deck and then fitting my recessed floor, bracing up more and installing the new hardware this weekend. It is 24 degrees here this evening and sleeting.