# Finally got my Gheenoe



## ZachMatthews

Hey boys -

After several years of cooling my heels, and one assist on a buddy's rebuild, I finally got my own Gheenoe.  Here she is:











Here's what we did with the last one we rebuilt (my buddy is going to assist me on this one like I did with his):





































As you can see, we decked out the front and rear while leaving the center seat, which we reinforced with pass-over buttresses.

I want to do something similar but with a few refinements for mine and I was really hoping you guys could help out. Here's my drawing:










For starters, I plan to totally clean the boat out and start from the hull instead of incorporating the seats like we did before.  I want the center to be completely clear so I can use my Yeti as a mid-boat seat and for storage.  I know it will still need some buttressing there so I'll make similar struts and glass them in.

For my front deck, I'd like there to be some under-deck storage.  My plan is to glass "shelf rails" in along the sides and use those to support the deck itself, which I think I will make out of 1/2" marine plywood (we used 3/4" before and I think that's overkill).  I'll have to glass the underside of the the front deck for waterproofing but I should be able to do that outside of the boat then drop it in.  I'll do rod storage just like we did before.

For the rear, I am thinking of just doing what I did up front in reverse; not sure yet if I want to just leave the under-seat area open or close it off so it is only accessible from the rear (for battery and gas tank).  I think that'll keep the boat clean.

My questions:

(1) Can I make strong sheets of glass for like the buttresses along the sides and for the "curtains" for the front and rear decks by just glassing both sides of a piece of cardboard, or is that a dumb idea?

(2) Is 1/2" marine plywood going to be strong enough to support the weight of a full grown man assuming it is glassed on both sides?

(3) Anyone else try mounting "shelf rails" along the inside edges to support the front and rear decks?

(4) The rub rails on my boat were highly drilled out by the last owner; I have removed all that hardware.  How can I fill the holes? Bondo/fiberglass then paint?

(5) Has anyone figured out how to mount a poling platform to a Classic Highsider with its thinner transom?  I only weigh 165 lbs.  If this is a custom job scenario I'd like to build the decks burly enough to accept the platform mounts when the time comes.

(6) What are people doing for flat floors mid-boat?  Is that another glass-in-cardboard scenario?  How do you support the false floor from underneath?

Thanks for the help all!

Zach


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## tom_in_orl

Hey Zac, Good to see you here again. Looks like a fun project.

I am no glass expert but I will try to help. As always someone smarter and more experienced than me please chime in where I am wrong.

_(1) Can I make strong sheets of glass for like the buttresses along the sides and for the "curtains" for the front and rear decks by just glassing both sides of a piece of cardboard, or is that a dumb idea?_

I would stay away from cardboard. Use foam for creating the shapes you wish to achieve. Make sure what every you use is compatable with epoxy based resins which are the better choice.

_(2) Is 1/2" marine plywood going to be strong enough to support the weight of a full grown man assuming it is glassed on both sides?_

That actually might be overkill. You may be able to go with thinner. 

_(3) Anyone else try mounting "shelf rails" along the inside edges to support the front and rear decks?_

I don't know anyone who has tried it but I think it would work fine. 

_(4) The rub rails on my boat were highly drilled out by the last owner; I have removed all that hardware. How can I fill the holes? Bondo/fiberglass then paint?_

I don't think the rails are that expensive. you could look at replacing them with new ones. If you still want to repair them I would look at West Marine G-Flex.

_(5) Has anyone figured out how to mount a poling platform to a Classic Highsider with its thinner transom? I only weigh 165 lbs. If this is a custom job scenario I'd like to build the decks burly enough to accept the platform mounts when the time comes._

Look at the platforms from Strong Arm. http://www.strongarmproducts.com/Product.html

_(6) What are people doing for flat floors mid-boat? Is that another glass-in-cardboard scenario? How do you support the false floor from underneath?_

Stringers if it needs additional support but on a Highsider I think you could just create a fiberglass board and glass it in. 



One other thought I have had for similar projects. Find a boat junkyard and cut out the size pieces you need from an old boat. It would be an easy way to get your platforms and a piece for the false floor. If you find the right donor boat they may already have a foam or marine plywood core.


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## zeneb

Nice looking boat there Zac. Can't wait to see how you fix it up. 

Not sure where you plan on fishing it, but if you're around Abbott's keep an eye out for the NGTO crew.

Hooching


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## cmtullis

Sweet lookin' 'Noe there, Zach! I got to lookin' at that other Gheenoe that you had pictured there - would your buddy happen to work for a general contractor known in the area as "B&G" and might his name be Andrew? If so, he's has a really sweet High Sider and he owes you a good deal of help in re-doing yours if I'm correct in thinking you were his right-hand man on his re-design.

I'm guessing that you're probably gonna be castin' flies at carp at Bull Sluice in the not too distant future.


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## ZachMatthews

Yeah, that is Andrew's boat which we rebuilt a couple years ago. He has since done a second one on the same design; I am going to modify it a bit because I want more dry storage.

I'll be after carp a bit but I am more interested in stripers and redfish to be honest. Although I'm going to need to upgrade motors before chasing anything very far away. Boat first, motor later.

I'm grinding away now. It's amazing how much lateral stability these boats lose when you take out the seats. The decks will fix that, although I may need to buttress the sides mid-boat.

Zach


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## ZachMatthews

Thanks for the advice Tom. As always, Microskiff.com is a super friendly place.

Foam board as a material for the floor is a great idea. Are you thinking closed cell foam? Would I need to glass the bottom as well as the top for strength/waterproofing, then just glass tape it in from the sides, you think?

Having a solid flat floor would be a big upgrade from the boat we did before.

Zach


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## tom_in_orl

Definately closed cell foam board. Someone here will know what brands to use. You may even be able to find something from the hardwarestore instead of an expensive marine source. And yes, I would glass both sides and tape it in. But that is more opinion that knowledge on my part. 

http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/08/projects/outrigger2/index.htm

http://duckworksmagazine.com/05/articles/rudder/index.htm

Where is Brett? He is the forum expert?


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## ZachMatthews

His comment about the spray-in foam suddenly run a bell.  I bet I could just lay spray foam down in stripes, then squeegee those mostly flat, then sand them level with a rough sander, then lay a fiberglass floor on that.  That'd also preserve the center drain line while adding buoyancy.  I think that's going to be my floor plan. Main problem is how sticky that crap is. Might not be able to squeegee it. Also I am not sure how many cans that would take.

Meanwhile has anyone ever tried this on a Highsider?










Zach


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## cmtullis

Consider comin' an' joinin' us other Gheenoers (an' a River Hawker as well) up between Abbott's Bridge and McGinnis Ferry this summer for a little trout fishin' after the Delayed Harvest section has been depleted in mid-May. We're also considerin' a run on the lower section of the upper 'Hooch in the very near future, if you're interested in hunting crappie an' walleye for a day.

(Judgin' by your sketch above, I got a feelin' that you're jonesin' pretty hard for a poling platform. I'll keep a lookout up my way for a good deal. Mostly on my section of the river, folks gener'ly use a poling platform as a "lure retrieval system" for getting flies and spinners out of the trees lining the 'Hooch after you have been snagged while "casting at squirrels." ")


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## jerm

congrats, welcome to the Gnoe club


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## paint it black

Rub rails are cheap I paid somewhere around $60 from custom Gheenoe for my classic. Definitely go with Strongarm products for platforms and other accessories. StrOngarmproducts.com


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## ZachMatthews

If I can't figure out a way to push the platform back behind the motor then there's really no advantage to a platform over my Yeti 45 cooler. I've poled off a Yeti before and it works absolutely great even without the tie-down hardware. That gives me cooler/dry storage in the boat, and it lets me sit down on the deck while moving so I don't need things like an extended handle.

The main advantage to to having a platform over the motor is that it's easier to get your pole directly behind the boat and thus track better, but it's not that huge a deal.

Having stripped out the benches completely, I now realize that the Gheenoe really has a double fiberglass hull; I'll need to lay some down to patch those sections back both to make them even and to avoid having a big weak spot right where I might hit a log...










Zach


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## ZachMatthews

Here's where I am so far. I'm copying over from my board so in some cases I am explaining stuff you guys actually explained to me - thanks again for all the help here.

I cut and clamped rails on for the front deck.  These will get glassed into place for stability but they're on there with Liquid Nails and they're probably already strong enough to bear my weight.










I am really enjoying using this locking bench/sawhorse which Lauren's dad got me for Christmas.  He has a knack for knowing what I will need before I need it.










The centerline of the boat is about an inch and a half deeper than the edges, so I needed to put in stringer rails.  These ended up being three layers of 1/2" marine plywood thick.  I'll waterproof them with resin before they get glassed over.










Here are the forms for the lateral buttresses since the boat no longer has a central thwart via the bench seat.










Those get foamed in as well.










Front deck "curtain" with cut out for storage.  Although the floor is higher than the inside of that compartment, I'll glass it in so any water which gets up under there will drain back down under the floor.  It won't be "dry storage" but it'll be handy for things like life jackets and anchors and what not.










And finally here are the decks for the floor:










Front view of where I am right now:










The slowest part so far has been waiting on the liquid nails to set up; it necessarily has to be clamped and it's been wet, so it is taking a good day for each application.  I'll have to do both rear rails before I can start making the decks themselves.  Those are going to be the last cuts of wood though. I probably won't even need my third sheet of plywood.  Then it is all glassing and--my favorite part--painting.

Zach


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## swampfox

Nice build. I agree with you about the platform. Skip it and use a Yeti. Thats all you need for reds in the back waters. I fished aoutta noes for decades. They are great boats. I used to haul mine from Kennesaw over to Charlseton all the time. Be careful with the red fishing. You may end uo doing like me and leaving my N GA home town for Titusville,FL to chase reds year round. It is a sickness/madness . PM me and I will tell you where you can drop that noe in on a school of 200 reds in super clear shallow water. Since you are in Muretta I know you wont be all up in my spots all the time. But hurry up and get it done. The schools are gonna be breaking up soon.


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## ZachMatthews

Nothing too exciting going on right now; the Liquid Nails is taking forever to set up and I don't want to glass anything in until it's dry. 

Here's today's shot:










You can see the front rails.

For inspiration here's what the hell I am doing all this for. 



















Rear decks supports are glued up and drying now. I'll cut decks hopefully mid-week then move on to waterproofing and glass. I wish everything set up as soon as I was ready for it to. 

Zach


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## Rooster

Nice re-build! I always admire you guys that can do such skillful work... I'm "Trouty Mouth" on NGTO and am most often found in the summer on Bull Sluice in my Rivermaster 16 (sage green hull) - if you see me give me a wave and I'd like to meet you! I would think of making it simple and using the Yeti - it would make it easier to pole the boat when alone whereas I would think that poling alone with the tower would cause a lot of "squat" to the boat.


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## ZachMatthews

I do love it when you get to this point in the process.  Starting to finally look like a skiff now.










After consulting some more with my buddy Andrew, who builds skyscrapers for a living, he convinced me that it wasn't worth chancing the structural integrity of the deck to glued-in rails, so I built some rib supports to take the load down to the floor.  Great idea; even with the glue still drying this was able to support my weight, with no glass.





































Tonight I'll finish the back deck.  Then it is all sanding, waterproofing, and glassing.

I am planning on sanding the rails and ribs smooth then applying a coat or two of polyester resin which I have leftover from reinforcing the seat cut-outs.  When I run out of that I'll switch to epoxy which finally arrived.  Then everything up under the decks will get painted with Interlux boat paint prior to the deck going down on top.  Surely that ought to be enough to waterproof it for good, right?

The stringer rails under the floor are also going to get waterproofed and I will plan to do two coats there since I know they'll be wet a lot.

I'd love to put in my running lights now but costs are getting a little high for the time being, so I'll have to do that as a mod later.

Zach


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## ZachMatthews

This feels good.  Need to do some more buttressing, install rod tubes, and do a toooooon of glasswork but you can see the drawing made real now.

Zach


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## ZachMatthews

Maybe talking to myself a bit here, but anyway here goes:

Got quite a bit done today and may be able to finish the glass tomorrow, but it's going to depend on materials.  I suspect I'll run out before I can get the top of the front deck glassed in.  That'll have to wait until Monday to pick up more epoxy.

First things first, I had to get a pork butt smoking so we could bathe ourselves in the delicious smells of the South while we worked.










Then the decks went down for good.










Next we glassed in the rear deck after painting up under it for the sake of making it easy later.










The rear decks and floors required some very heavy fillets, which we made out of chopped excess plywood.










I am pretty sure you're going to be able to go to space in this boat as solid as we're building it.










Got the back half all glassed in.  The overlapping spots will get grinded off later.

Meanwhile the front box really gave us fits because we didn't have the right size hole saw.  Eventually we sorted it out.










Again we painted up in the to make it easy on us later.  I also constructed a rear dam with a drain to encourage that area to stay as dry as possible.










We'll glass down to the floor when we finish out the front deck/floor.

Getting close now.  In my opinion any boat project looks like absolutely hell until the first coat of paint goes on and ties it all together.  May be able to do that this week.  Then I'll flip it and do the exterior and get ready to splash her.

Zach


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## tom_in_orl

> Maybe talking to myself a bit here, but anyway here goes


Nope, watching your build and enjoying it. I would be curious about the final weight of the boat. Please share if you can.


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## [email protected]

Yup ... Like watching it go together. The more info the better.
Sometimes I get carried away and forget pics, but if someone new wants to do something its nice they can search these forums and learn the different ways thing can be done.
Good Job and enjoy yourself.


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## ZachMatthews

Tom -

Each sheet of plywood weighs 37 lbs. and I've put in about 1.5 sheets.  The epoxy is around 8 lbs. a gallon and I'll use maybe 2 total.  So figure a total addition of 75 lbs or so.

I only weigh 165 myself and the Gheenoe is rated for like 675, so I don't look for it to be overly heavy, but it is something I've thought about.

Zach


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## ZachMatthews

Ran out of epoxy today, so this is as far as I got. You can see the view from the rear deck - I did at least sand the rear half thoroughly. It'll be ready for paint soon. Oh and you can also see more of the "barbecued" chop we used as heavy fillets.










Zach


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## zeneb

Zack, that boat looks down right beautiful. I'd really like to put down some flooring in on mine. You make it look easy even though I know that it is not. A question, pardon my ignorance, but what's the purpose of the PVC pipes in the front? Rod tubes?

Hooching


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## oysterbreath

Thats looking great so far. Great work.


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## ZachMatthews

Hooching -

Yes. I'm going to rig something rearward of the buttresses to hook the rod butts on (fly rods), and I am debating doing like a bungee strap down across each buttress to hold the rods to the sides. They tend to deflect out into the boat and it is annoying, but there's not enough room in a Gheenoe to lay them in straight. So you need some kind of strap.

Thanks guys. Floor wasn't hard, just labor intensive. I did see what was probably a better design on here that didn't reach out as far. It was just a single strip of flat ply glassed in the middle groove of the boat instead of all the way to the walls.

By the way Tom I went out and lifted the boat and I can still easily get it up off the cradle. If the original weight was 110 lbs., I would say it is still under 175 lbs. on my boat. I'll try to figure out a way to weigh it when I'm done.

Zach


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## ZachMatthews

Got finished glassing in the boat last night. Lots of sanding and touch up to do.










Dry storage before the decks went down for good.











You can see where I leveled a couple places on the floor after marking with spray primer so I could see the high spots.  I just laid epoxy back down to smooth those out.










Zach


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## jms

nice job - very nice !


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## ZachMatthews

Popped the rub rails so I can sand and paint properly (if I had done that before all the decks went in, I was worried the boat would change shape on me.  Seeing how much stiffness they contribute, I think I was right about that).

Bondoed all the old holes and sanded them, sanded the front decks.  I'm pretty close to being able to paint out the interior now.  I plan to Bondo the rail holes as well and re-drill with the rivets shifted an inch or two so the holes will be new, but in the mean time I'll sand and paint the rails while they're off.  I'd like to replace them but it looks like I'd have to take about a 6 hour trip minimum to pick some up (and that's with the help of a lot of nice people getting them halfway to me). It's much easier to get around on the boat with them gone, which should make painting a breeze (nothing to tape).

I'm mostly finishing up the buttresses with Bondo to give them a paintable surface at this point. I'll seal them in epoxy before painting, and also do a finish sand on all the edges, etc. Getting very close to paint now. That'll really tie that room together, dude.

Zach


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## ZachMatthews

Hey guys -

I ran out of interior paint (Interlux Brightside in Bristol Beige) about 2/3rds back from the front deck (keep in mind the underdecks on my boat also got painted, which ate about 15% of the first quart). So I've got more coming. I'll do a second coat, apply grit on the flats, and mask/sprinkle with black just like we did with Andrew's boat from the first page.



















This paint is weird; the first coat looks thin as hell but on Andrew's the second coat went down like butter and made everything look fantastic.

Zach

PS, I also figured out the best thing to clean this epoxy paint with is WD-40. Worked great.


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## cmtullis

Looks like Andrew did you right with that second coat of paint. Tell him that ol' Swampy said he did a good job! Now, when are you coming out on a river run with Rooster, Hooching, Jakal03, and me? We had a good run on the upper 'Hooch yesterday and Rooster found a little backwater spot that was flat out LOADED with "fresh-water-redfish"! (Carp)


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## ZachMatthews

Got my paint and finished the first coat at lunch.





































Needs another coat of paint now and then the sprinkle/swirl.  I am matting off the decks and debating matting off the floor before sprinkling, so they'll remain this color.  I wasn't able to eliminate the ridges on the floor from the glass overlap so I have to decide if that is something I can live with or not.  The sprinkled paint truly hides all sins.  Those buttresses came out rougher than I wanted (but not rougher than I expected), but once they get sprinkled and then covered on the flats in Sea Deck, I expect them to look pretty great.

Zach


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## Dickerson

Brilliant, Zach - both the work and the chronicling. I've sure enjoyed your rebuild.


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## ZachMatthews

Thanks Truchero -

Did the second coat last night and applied Intergrip for traction on the flats. That matted the paint finish some and really helped the boat look nice.










I'll be splattering soon.

Zach


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## ZachMatthews

Interior complete.























































I would have liked for the splatter lines to be a bit lighter so they wouldn't have run as much, but DIYers cannot be choosers.  Overall I am satisfied.

Zach


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## ZachMatthews

Sea Dek as a pad for buttresses:



















I am going to make a strap system to help hold the rods to the side of the boat; they want to deflect out since they are curved up in the rod tubes. I will probably mount a hook on the bottom and mount a bungee ball to the top so I can slide the rod in and then quickly snap it to the pad. Also thinking about some kind of Velcro.

Further back I am going to rivet a loop of climbing rope to the rub rails (when they go back on) to have something to hook the rod butt in to hold the rod up off the floor.

Zach


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## Rooster

NICE job! Are you on NGTO? I am Trouty Mouth there and I believe Swamp Angel also posted you. Come out with us sometime - we had a great run way up the Hooch this last weekend and have similar "adventures" coming up!!!


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## ZachMatthews

Here's my rod securement system.



















And here's some more.  Working on the rub rails:




























Zach


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## ZachMatthews

Primer.

I am pretty sure I'll have to do at least two full coats of red to cover the white but I have the time.  I am using the roll and tip method.  With the primer I thinned by 10% and if the Brightsides is that thin it'll probably take three coats.  I am planning on sanding this with 220 then painting one coat of Brightside at 5% thinning (mineral spirits) and the final coat straight.

Any tips on how to prevent paint sag on the vertical surfaces would be appreciated. I am not overly worried about what is after all the bottom of the boat but I want the sides to look nice.

Zach


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## jladdsmith

Zach, this may be an overly simple solution to something I know nothing about, but couldn't you just prop the boat up for painting the sides for less sags and runs? Just do one side at a time?


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## ZachMatthews

Jonathan -

I don't think the roll and tip method would really allow that because you'd have an edge where you quit. Also I can't think of a safe way to secure this boat sideways with the rub rails off (they really protect that top edge).

I do not pretend to be a pro painter and this is my first time with the roll-and-tip method, so I am pretty satisfied with this. I'll need to hit it with some wet sandpaper where it ran a bit from the chines before the second coat--took me a while to figure out to go over that section horizontally after doing the verticals. Overall though I think it'll look fine.






































Zach


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## ZachMatthews

Second coat with the roll-and-tip method.  For those who may ever follow in my footsteps, I got two complete coats on the exterior of my Highsider with one quart of Interlux Brightside thinned by 5% in regular mineral spirits.  It looks great (or at least better than I was expecting).  I am just going to do one more coat for complete coverage and it'll be ready to flip and reattach the rails.  Most likely that will be this Sunday.

Zach


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## makin moves

looking good, nice work


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## ZachMatthews

Finished exterior paint.  Four coats plus primer.



















I am a huge fan of the roll-and-tip method now.










Should be able to pop the rub rails back on tomorrow and have myself a complete boat.  I do have a few things I need to handle on the trailer.

Zach


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## zeneb

Looks very nice. Might just have to try to re-paint mine after looking at that. I'll give it a few years first. Only real reason to paint it is the patching I did to cover up some paint nicks. The paint itself is in pretty good shape. Looks like you're ready to join the NGTO navy. What are you going to be using to push her along with again?


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## Rooster

Ditto that - I'd like to see this beauty in our next NGTO fleet outing!


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## ZachMatthews

Just need to rivet them on and put on the stickers.


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## Delmer

Sweet job. Looks great


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## ZachMatthews

*BEFORE:*










*AFTER:*


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## ZachMatthews

This is the complete setup except for my TFO pushpole, which is on its way.  I have also overhauled the trailer; just need to pack the bearings and it's good to go however far I want to pull it.




















Zach


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## makin moves

looks good as new, nice work


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## Dickerson

First class.

What size motor is that Zach?


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## ZachMatthews

It's an 8hp, weighs about 86 lbs. I can get to 19mph on my GPS with just me in the boat, but it porpoises a little at top speed. With two I can get to 17mph and it's smooth.  I actually hit a rock and dunked it on Saturday, and it hydrolocked, but fortunately I was able to get it dried out and (thanks to about four oil changes) it is now purring again.  Be sure to use those chains, especially in murky water.

For those who had questions about weight, here is the whole setup floating in about 4":










With two guys in it it'll pole in roughly 5" with a soft bottom.  I don't think that's much different than an ordinary unmodified Highsider.

Zach


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## zeneb

> It's an 8hp, weighs about 86 lbs. I can get to 19mph on my GPS with just me in the boat, but it porpoises a little at top speed.  With two I can get to 17mph and it's smooth.  I actually hit a rock and dunked it on Saturday, and it hydrolocked, but fortunately I was able to get it dried out and (thanks to about four oil changes) it is now purring again.  Be sure to use those chains, especially in murky water.
> 
> For those who had questions about weight, here is the whole setup floating in about 4":
> 
> Zach


Sorry that you dunked the motor.  A question, did you have the tilt locked?  I always run mine unlocked because I don't want to slam it on a tree or rock.  I can even run it in reverse slowly if needed without it pulling the motor out of the water.

Second, you're getting basically the same speed that I was with my 2 stroke 8 HP.  I was getting 19 on the GPS, but the GPS was a tick slow compared to my truck speedometer.  I'd like for us to do a side by side to see which runs faster.  Might do that if you join us on the next NGTO Navy outing.

Also, how much of your weight is forward? I have my battery and gas forward. Battery is all the way under the passenger's seat. Gas is just in front of the live well. That might help.

Hooching


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