# Polishing a Turd



## JM0321 (May 7, 2016)

Hey Guys, new member here... Thought I'd share and do a re-build along of a little skiff I picked up on CL the other day.

I have a brood of future fisherman around the house (ages 2mo,3,5,7,12), so we went on a mission to find a project boat. Was looking for something around the 14' range that was solid but needed some TLC. After some lurking for a few weeks we found our diamond in the rough.

With out further ado here she is:









Should be a interesting next few months... Keep you guys posted on the progress..

-Jerrod


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## Finn Maccumhail (Apr 9, 2010)

I can't quite make out the name on the side, is that a Johnsen?


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

Cool boat have fun restoring it. My question, is this boat for the children to use or are you taking 5 kids and their mother in it


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## JM0321 (May 7, 2016)

Finn, you are correct... its an old Johnsen
Permit, just a little river boat for me and the boys, plan on a bit of fishing and do some duck hunting out of it... family boat is in the future...


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## ADicus (Feb 15, 2013)

Very cool will be fun for your kids especially if they help in getting her water ready!!


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

JM0321 said:


> Finn, you are correct... its an old Johnsen
> Permit, just a little river boat for me and the boys, plan on a bit of fishing and do some duck hunting out of it... family boat is in the future...


Great keep the pictures coming


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## No Bait / Lures Only (Apr 10, 2011)

JM0321 said:


> Hey Guys, new member here... Thought I'd share and do a re-build along of a little skiff I picked up on CL the other day.
> 
> I have a brood of future fisherman around the house (ages 2mo,3,5,7,12), so we went on a mission to find a project boat. Was looking for something around the 14' range that was solid but needed some TLC. After some lurking for a few weeks we found our diamond in the rough.
> 
> ...


Like the title........


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

If you are going to act like a turd...go lay in the backyard.

That is a greats foundation to rehab. Simple and easy to work with.

Keep the forum up to speed as there are many that love to watch the older rebuilds.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Finn Maccumhail said:


> I can't quite make out the name on the side, is that a Johnsen?


Yea, that looks like a Johnsen and I had one in the same color.


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## MariettaMike (Jun 14, 2012)

Welcome to the forum, and congratulations on your skiff.

I did a quick search and found one in permitchaser's back yard...there are so many things you can do with that skiff. Looking forward to your build.

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/boa/5592038250.html


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## jonny (May 1, 2007)

I had a old Johnsen. And I used to cach fish all over the Goon and IRL. Right with any of those high priced flats skiff. Some have filled and shave the spray Chinese to help with noise. But the fish didn't seem to mind much. There a several threads on here of Johnsen rehabs and mods.


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## Finn Maccumhail (Apr 9, 2010)

JM0321 said:


> Finn, you are correct... its an old Johnsen
> Permit, just a little river boat for me and the boys, plan on a bit of fishing and do some duck hunting out of it... family boat is in the future...


Good luck with the rebuild. I'm hunting for a project I can rebuild.


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## JM0321 (May 7, 2016)

Glad to hear I picked up a good foundation build...

Jonny, thanks for the tip on the chines, I was actually thinking of softening them up so they don't trap . I'll check out the forum on other builds to see what the other guys have done...


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## JM0321 (May 7, 2016)

Had a productive weekend with the boat, was able to get a day in and made some good progress… Built a work table on casters for the skiff and did some demo…



Table for the Rebuild:


Boat Loaded Up & Ready for the Knife:




Post demo, Decided on a skimmer skiff type layout. Cut the rotten transom out and cut down the sides, still have to cut the rotten wood out of the strakes and bit more of the bulk head in the front. Here are some pics of the progress:





Up next, plan on wrapping up the balance of the demo, finalize the deck & boat layout to start putting her back together… might add some sponsons off the back but not sure on exact power yet…

Found a lot of good info on older Johnsen rebuilds, will have to do some ciphering…


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## yobata (Jul 14, 2015)

Make sure your hull hasn't flared out since you have removed all cross member connections now. Some people use ratchet straps to "pull it back together"


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## JM0321 (May 7, 2016)

Thanks yobata... I took some measurements before I cut it apart...I plan on building a jig to square and straighten it up before i put the transom & bulk heads in...

Speaking of transomes, looks like it was about 1-1/8 to 1-1/4 thick. The pieces I took out were 1/2" (2ea) with 3 layers of glass (outside/middle/inside). was going to use coosa for the transom... What have you guys seen or used for thickness? Was thinking of 2 3/4" laminated for an overall thickness around 1-1/2"... What do you guys think?


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## taco29403 (Jun 16, 2015)

JM0321 said:


> Thanks yobata... I took some measurements before I cut it apart...I plan on building a jig to square and straighten it up before i put the transom & bulk heads in...
> 
> Speaking of transomes, looks like it was about 1-1/8 to 1-1/4 thick. The pieces I took out were 1/2" (2ea) with 3 layers of glass (outside/middle/inside). was going to use coosa for the transom... What have you guys seen or used for thickness? Was thinking of 2 3/4" laminated for an overall thickness around 1-1/2"... What do you guys think?


Two 3/4" laminated coosa board is how I rebuilt my transom. Had it cut in half before being shipped and brought shipping from $90 to $30.


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## ceejkay (May 7, 2016)

1.5" (2 3/4" pieces sandwiced together) is perfectly fine. keep the progress coming, im curious to see how the cut gunwales work out


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

Check out transom savers on Google. It's a liquid that hardens like steel


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## JappyFish (Mar 1, 2014)

I'm only replying because my dad always says this but in different context.

"You can't polish a turd!" It's hilarious every time.

The re-build looks awesome. Keep us updated.


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