Project: building my first aluminum boat. Pic heavy !

H
hawgslayer
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A good friend of mine ( Renegade ) came to me back in January and proposed an idea. He simply wanted to build a boat for himself out of aluminum predominantly for salmon fishing . He felt we had the knowledge and skills to do it, so why not.

Once the decision was made to give it a go he ordered up the plans. He decided to go with Glen L's Hunky Dory for the tub. It's a extremely strong ribbed hull that looks like it'll take tons of abuse. Once the aluminum showed up it was all or nothing from there.

We started in February, and to be honest it's going a lot faster then I had expected. With both of us working full time jobs it's hard to find solid time to put into a project like this. Not to mention we're both in our mid to early 20's and seem to be easily distracted.

So as the boat sits now it's about 23'6 x 8' with a 9' beam at the raised bulwarks. We decided to add a small trunk cabin and house to provide some shelter and dry storage. The foredeck is sealed tight from the back of the cabin forward to the bow stem. We're to the point now where all we need to do is put floors in it, wire and place all the electronics and have the marina of his choice install the motor and controls.

Our fingers are crossed to get it bloody with some Siuslaw fall nooks.

Here are some Pics:
IMG_0248.jpgIMG_0250.jpgIMG_0261.jpgIMG_0278.jpgIMG_0279.jpgIMG_0283.jpgIMG_0288.jpgIMG_0312.jpgIMG_0333.jpgIMG_0425.jpg
 
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Here's the most recent batch of pictures. The last picture is last week when we conducted the final leakage test, in which she passed with flying colors. On to finishing the inside, getting a motor on her, and getting ready to to it to work fishing !

IMG_0432.jpgIMG_0438.jpgIMG_0505.jpgIMG_0512.jpgIMG_0514.jpgIMG_0540.jpgIMG_0542.jpg
 
Pretty damn impressive!!!
 
The progress from pic #1 to the last one is truly amazing! :shock: You guys have some serious skills. Thanks for sharing the porn! :clap:
 
wow, that is awesome. Quite the project. I've done a lot welding and fabrication and even worked with a small amount of aluminum, so I know that had to of taken some man hours to complete. Can't wait to see it finish on the Siuslaw... I'm sure we'll be able to pick it out of the group of other boats.
 
DYJ said:
wow, that is awesome. Quite the project. I've done a lot welding and fabrication and even worked with a small amount of aluminum, so I know that had to of taken some man hours to complete. Can't wait to see it finish on the Siuslaw... I'm sure we'll be able to pick it out of the group of other boats.

Thanks ! LOTS of hours, but it's been fun. I sure hope it'll stand out a little against the crowds of North Rivers and Hewes ;)
 
That is amazing and very imaginative. What type of welding are you using? I used to do tig welding for fun and I know that a tidy weld in aluminum is very difficult.


EJ
 
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18406ej said:
That is amazing and very imaginative. What type of welding are you using? I used to do tig welding for fun and I know that a tidy weld in aluminum is very difficult.


EJ


He's using a spool gun for all the welding. It's speeds the process way up !
 
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I love it! You guy's have some real talent.
 
Mid 20's huh?.... wonder if I know you guys. LOL. What a badass boat! how much did it cost (roughly) for materials? Can't wait to see you guys out there.
 
Very impressive! Can't wait to see the finished product. Wish I had the skills to build something like that!
 
That is so awesome man...To be able to build your own boat and have the space and equipment to do a project like that is pretty dang sweet. Thanks for sharing, hope you enjoy and have plenty of safe and successful trips aboard your new vessel.
 
Serious skills, would love to see the pictures from the maiden voyage.... Quite the concept....!

Chuck
 
Well, we managed to finish her up last week, and fish it on Sunday. We didn't do any good on nooks as we were more worried about shaking out any kinks. All was good and our first hand made vessel prevailed. Now to put some blood in her tomorrow !!!!
 
Awesome....just Awesome...thats all I can really say. Must be a great feeling....thanks for sharing and glad everything worked out.
 
The boat really did finish up nicely. I like the paint job. Looking forward to the first pics of fish in the boat.
 
One word:

Epic.
 
What did he wind up powering it with, and what kind of speed will it push it?
 
We were lucky enough to score his dads bay crabbing boat motor as he's not able to go this year. Its a 2007 Honda 90hp, and surprisingly enough it pushes it at 28 on decent water with a dinged prop.
 
Awesome! Congratulations and enjoy. The pride of ownership in something you made is special.
 

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