# 19 ft Panga



## Salt of the Water (Feb 26, 2018)

After using the boat for about 9 months with it’s third world rigging, I took the boat to a fiberglass shop and had them divide the large front deck in two to make an anchor locker and storage compartment, and made a sole over top of the stringers. They also lengthened the back bench/deck some, installed a fuel tank, and added two storage compartments. After lots of searching, I found a cheap narrow console that I could use to outfit the boats with instruments for further forays into the gulf.

I had the fiberglass shop use nidacore panels for the redone decks and new sole. Due to the hollow nature of nidacore, I used the following process for through decks and deck mounted items:


Overdrill the holes by ¼” over what the fastener will be.
For vertical holes I drilled all the way through both skins on the panel
For horizontal holes I drilled through the top skin only.

Chuck a small allen wrench into a drill and use it to remove additional coring (honeycomb)
Use a countersink bit to countersink the holes to prevent gel-coat cracks
Tape off one side of the vertical holes, and ¾ of the other side. Tape off around horizontal holes.
Inject epoxy (thickened or unthickened as needed) using a syringe.
Drill fastener sized hole for through bolts, or undersized hole to thread machine screws into with a dab of epoxy.

Bedding every item in epoxy plugs was time consuming and sometimes frustrating but I know it’ll be worth it when I don’t have to re-do deck penetrations and deal with rot in the future.





  








7 Glass Shop 1




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8 Glass Shop 2




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9 Glass Shop 3




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## Salt of the Water (Feb 26, 2018)

Did lots of reading and researching to learn how to wire a boat properly. Due to the small size of the console, I decided to wire everything up on a couple of starboard panels. This allowed me to work in a non cramped environment and then just bolt the panels into the console. Worked out well because I definitely had to crimp and redo some wires as part of the learning process. I was able to work inside my office so I could look up things on the computer as I worked instead of trying to use a phone out in the driveway / garage.


Batteries are small / lightweight odysseys. I have a pair and they are isolated house / start with a blue seas ACR to keep them both charged when the motor is running. I debated going with bigger / heavier batteries but after all the great reviews of the odysseys on here I ended up going that route. Odyssey makes nice aluminum brackets that allowed me to mount the batteries vertically in the console to save floor space. I had two concerns:



Cranking the motor – This turned out to not really be an issue. The motor has been cranking fine on just one battery. Once I get my trolling motor installed, I’ll keep a pair of jumper cables in the boat so I can jump the motor with the TM batteries in a pinch.


Reserve capacity for running bilge pumps – I have two 2000 gph bilge pumps because the boat isn’t self-bailing. With the amperage they draw, I only have about 20 minutes of run time for both pumps. I feel ok with this for bay fishing, but want more for days I’m venturing offshore. What I’ll probably end up doing for longer offshore trips where draft isn’t a concern, is mounting a group 27 deep cycle battery in the stern to run just the lower bilge pump.


All of the penetrations on the console are bedded in butyl tape so they are removable in the future. It took extra time to get everything bedded in tape, but the console stays nice and dry and should be more maintenance friendly in the future.





  








10 Bilge Pumps




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11 Rigged Bilge




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12 Through Hulls




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13 Console Batteries




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14 Console Interior




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15 Console Install




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16 Console




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17 Nav Light




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18 Rigging Flange




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## Salt of the Water (Feb 26, 2018)

I’ve got a few things left before I’m calling it done but it's definitely nice to have a usable boat again after working on it for months.


Clean up the nav light wire that’s hanging free. May just tack it down with some caulk and paint it.
Build a battery shelf in the bow storage for trolling motor batteries.
Install my trolling motor before tarpon start to show up in TX. The large lip on the bow deck will make it interesting. I’m going to use some 2” diameter hdpe rods to act as long bushings for the quick connect puck.
Screw down some bungie cords to keep fly reels against the full length rod tubes.
Install smaller trim tabs to hopefully fix some turbulence issues.
I'm saving up for a lighter motor (hatsu 50 or zuke 60). I'm also keeping my eye out for a clean, reasonably priced, 2 stroke yamaha 40 or 50 (unicorn).




  








19 Rigged From Bow




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20 Rigged From Stern




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21 Almost Done




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22 Battery Shelf Mockup




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## Fritz (Jan 17, 2017)

Nice work! Panga's are wonderful boats.


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## Marsh Pirate (Sep 15, 2016)

Great job! I always liked panga style boats.


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## Edfish (Jan 4, 2013)

Very cool! 
I'm interested in that little console you put in--where'd you find that?
I've got a 18' tiller panga and am considering doing something similar...


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## Salt of the Water (Feb 26, 2018)

Edfish said:


> Very cool!
> I'm interested in that little console you put in--where'd you find that?
> I've got a 18' tiller panga and am considering doing something similar...


I got a blem version for a reasonable price here: http://www.yachtsofstuff.com/yosproduct.asp?ypid=3040&level=329

If you're in Florida you may be able to go direct the the manufacturer and save on shipping. http://cmmarineproducts.com/Product/List?listId=6228cc94-e433-e211-af5c-001c42b4614a


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## GoGataGo52__20 (Jun 26, 2016)

If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay for this panga? Just curious what sort of price point we are lookin at?


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

Longest boat I've seen with a tiller. Do you stand while running and can you see over the bow ? Great boat. I guess I need to ask how it poles


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## Salt of the Water (Feb 26, 2018)

GoGataGo52__20 said:


> If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay for this panga? Just curious what sort of price point we are lookin at?


PM sent.






permitchaser said:


> Longest boat I've seen with a tiller. Do you stand while running and can you see over the bow ? Great boat. I guess I need to ask how it poles


I've seen pictures of a few tiller imemsa 22s and 25s in Texas and Florida. But yeah, not common to see tiller boats this long in the states. Very common to see them in Central America.

I run about half and half standing/sitting. Before tabs I had to put a passenger right behind the front deck to get the bow down enough to see well while seated. After adding tabs I can get it down with my passenger right in front of the console.

I haven't poled a true poling skiff or a large enough variety of boats to be able to give a really helpful comparison. I make it work for me though, and until I pole a purpose built poling skiff I don't know what I'm missing. 

I've poled 13' and 15'4" gheenoes; the panga is harder to get going but stays moving in the wind better due to momentum. The panga takes longer to spin due to sheer volume of water you're moving.

I've also poled a panga marine 18 Evo. My boat is lighter, longer, narrower, and flatter in the stern. I think the panga marine tracks a little better due to some dead rise at the stern but is heavier and more work to get going or stop.


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

Salt of the Water said:


> PM sent.
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Salt of the Water said:


> PM sent.
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Thanks I think your boat poles better than mine


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## Salt of the Water (Feb 26, 2018)

Finally wrapped up the trolling motor install. First I tried installing it on the gunnel up front and using some allthread and hdpe rod to support the edge, but it wasn’t sturdy enough for my liking. Had to go back to the drawing board. What I came up with was to add a cap to the front of the bow. This also made it easier to clean up the nav light wiring and helped give me a better place to mount the recessed cleat.




  








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Here’s the bow cap and vertical bulkhead before they got installed. The bulkhead has a cutout for an access panel, and slots to install an onboard charger plug and battery tender TM plug.




  








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Got the mating surfaces sanded down, everything epoxied and tabbed in, and slapped a quick coat of paint on. I rushed things to get the boat on the water for the holiday weekend. I need to do a little fairing and paint better.




  








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Here’s the battery tray install. Still needs a coat of paint. I mounted two group 27 battery trays with tie-down clamps on a piece of 3/4 ply and then glassed it in. Then I installed the duracell AGMs and got them bolted down tight. AGMs are pricier than lead acid deep cycles but with them being mounted in the bow, I wanted AGMs to handle the bouncing around. Sams club has them cheaper than anywhere else I could find, if anyone is looking for new TM batteries. I also installed a 2 bank onboard charger to keep the batteries topped up.




  








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Used everything over the holiday weekend. Trolling motor ran great. Glad I ended up going with Ipilot, the spot lock feature and auto pilot are pretty awesome.




  








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## Fishshoot (Oct 26, 2017)

Man that is one pimped out panga! Nice!!


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## GoGataGo52__20 (Jun 26, 2016)

Man looks good!


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## Salt of the Water (Feb 26, 2018)

Fishshoot said:


> Man that is one pimped out panga! Nice!!


Thanks! Doing the rigging myself freed up some budget for accessories.


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## Marsh Pirate (Sep 15, 2016)

What a great job! 
I don't know why Panga doesn't do something about their trolling motor mounting situation.


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## elsillo (Aug 6, 2017)

Great job on this Panga! I have always been a fan of them, there is a reason why these are one of the most used boats around the globe.


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## Salt of the Water (Feb 26, 2018)

Marsh Pirate said:


> What a great job!
> I don't know why Panga doesn't do something about their trolling motor mounting situation.


Panga marine and Andros have nice cap designs on theirs with plenty of room on the bow for trolling motor mounts. But they also cost significantly more than cheap hulls from Mexico so it's a trade off. 

If I'd planned ahead better I could have had the glass shop that did my sole and decks build a cap into the bow to save me the trouble. The good thing about doing it myself though was that I could pre-install most of the hardware on a workbench to save me the gymnastics of doing on a pre-built deck.


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## Noboater (Jul 25, 2018)

I do t know if it's even possible, but I've been looking and brainstorming storming at the panga. What would it take to flat deck/flush deck the front? Could the bow be cut down? Or just deck it? Had anyone e done this. It's sort of a fantasy I have.


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## g8rfly (Oct 9, 2011)

Noboater said:


> I do t know if it's even possible, but I've been looking and brainstorming storming at the panga. What would it take to flat deck/flush deck the front? Could the bow be cut down? Or just deck it? Had anyone e done this. It's sort of a fantasy I have.


Just curious why you want the flush deck? The bow is so high on these boats I don't see the draw


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## Salt of the Water (Feb 26, 2018)

Noboater said:


> I do t know if it's even possible, but I've been looking and brainstorming storming at the panga. What would it take to flat deck/flush deck the front? Could the bow be cut down? Or just deck it? Had anyone e done this. It's sort of a fantasy I have.


If you look at how I put my trolling motor on a few posts up, I basically capped the front 18” of my 5’ deck to make it flush. You could go further back if you wanted to. It’s pretty easy as long as the shear line is fairly straight. If you are working with a hull that has curvier shear it would be more difficult.

The raised lip of the front deck sure is nice for keeping a fly line from getting away from you though…



As far as cutting down the bow, there’s a few reasons why I think it’s not a great idea.


To me, all pangas share three essential design elements:

1. High sharp bow
2. Low or no deadrise at the stern (flat)
3. Narrow beam

If you shave the bow down you have in my mind removed it’s panga-ness.

If you study other hulls with sharp bows you tend to see one of two prevalent designs.
1. Lots of flare. Sport fishers are a great example. There’s some poling skiffs out there that have lots of flare on the front deck as well.
2. An upswept shear (higher in the bow than the rest of the boat). Tolman skiffs and downeast boats are good examples.

Sharp bows that cut the waves nicely don’t provide much buoyancy. The two designs above are different ways to prevent you from plowing your sharp bow through the waves. The flare spilling water downward helps give you extra lift to get the bow up and over waves. A higher bow helps you have extra height so if you plow a wave it doesn’t come over the top.

The thicker ring that encircles the gunwale of most pangas is usually a foam flotation ring. It’s part safety feature and part of what helps give the hull rigidity. I don’t recommend removing it.


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## LittleJoeDynamo (May 6, 2021)

Hey I know its been a little while sice this post but I'm looking into buying a panga from Mimsa and I was just curious about the pricing on it, thanks.


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## LittleJoeDynamo (May 6, 2021)

Alright thanks, I really appreciate the info.


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