# The 500 dollar skiff



## Sam K (Apr 24, 2020)

For a few years I’ve wanted a skiff, but have been unable to finance one since I’m still in school. I’ve been through several kayaks, and a disastrous experience with a gheenoe, and they’ve been great platforms but the dream of owning a skiff always hung in the back of my mind. Finally about a month ago I came across stitch and glue boat building, and that made skiff ownership possible. I had no previous fiberglass experience and little woodworking under my belt, but I did have a very cheap circular saw, a bit of spare cash, and a lot of time on my hands stuck at home between semesters. A design that suited my needs did not exist, so I got to work on my 3D modeling software. 100 hours of work later, I’ve got a boat. 

Some of you may have seen my thread asking questions and sharing some of my progress, but now she’s actually done I figured I’d write one here. First of all, the 500 dollar skiff actually cost about 800 dollars to build, because that’s how these things apparently go. She’s made out of marine grade ply and plenty of us composites thin epoxy and fiberglass on the hull. For my first build and the limited time frame I had to work with, I didn’t want to build a strong back or any kind of frame, so she’s just a simple flat bottom hull that tapers nicely to a point.







When I got some free time I drove home and converted my mom’s garage to a shop for 2 weeks (thanks mom). I approached the build in 2 halves, starting with the back because that didn’t involve curving wood. I knew the front shape I wanted to achieve was ambitious with a single sheet, but it ended up being possible, albeit creating a major gap that I had to fill with epoxy and wood flour.
















After a lot of time sweating in the garage, I finally got it all together and put the decks on, tossed her in the water and she was watertight. Slapped a few coats of topside on her, sold my kayaks, bought a great little motor, and now here we are. I bought a poling platform from skimmer skiff, and it’s a bit bigger than I would prefer, but I’ll keep it for the bigger and better skiff I’ll build next. With a couple strakes, the boat poles surprisingly well, tracking straight and spinning pretty easily about the bow. I can walk the gunnels without it feeling like it’s going to flip. Crucially, it’s dead silent. Being up on the platform is terrifying, but I’m not sure how much of that is the platform being too tall (36 inches) and how much is me never having been on a platform before. I’ve yet to catch a fish on it as I’m still testing it under load for structural stability, but I anticipate I’ll do more river cruising with the girlfriend than fishing until the weather cools down. I’ll be using it to fly fish the bars and creeks on the nature coast and fish the lagoons when I’m around there. With stock everything on the motor and no micro jack plate (yet), I briefly touched 24 mph yesterday with just me on flat calm water. No signs of cavitation and no porpoising. 22 wot solo and 18 with a passenger is easily within reach, and is as fast as I want to go for now.















At 15 ft and 54 inch beam, 48 at the bottom, she weighs 165 lbs bare hull. 
With an inexpensive Jon boat trailer from academy and my Yamaha 9.9, my entire rig weighs about 425 lbs, which is crucial because for the time being I’m limited to towing with my trusty old corolla, and I don’t intend on destroying my transmission. I barely notice it’s back there even at highway speeds and get 32 mpg. She is officially registered and titled and is getting her FL numbers today. 
In conclusion, don’t let a lack of money, knowledge, equipment, and experience stop you from building a skiff if you really want to. If I can do it anyone can. This boat won’t be confused for a $20,000 skiff by anyone, but it’s solid, looks decent, and should last at least until I build an improved version, hopefully a lot longer. I’m still going to probably add rub rails, a center box/grab bar, and spray rails (though the ride is surprisingly dry). 
Thanks to everyone who gave me advice over the last month. Should be a fun boat, and I discovered I really like boat building and am excited to get better at it.


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## Zika (Aug 6, 2015)

Turned out nice, Sam. Congrats and enjoy your expanded range.


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## m32825 (Jun 29, 2018)

Nice work, thanks for sharing!

-- Carl


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## Copahee Hound (Dec 21, 2017)

2 weeks?! You’re making us all look bad! Congrats

I can’t really tell by the picture, but it looks like your bow eye is going over the bow roller on the trailer? Adjust the winch stand up over the bow eye for safety


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## boyscout (Aug 17, 2020)

Nicely done sir!!!


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## Sam K (Apr 24, 2020)

Copahee Hound said:


> 2 weeks?! You’re making us all look bad! Congrats
> 
> I can’t really tell by the picture, but it looks like your bow eye is going over the bow roller on the trailer? Adjust the winch stand up over the bow eye for safety


I bet you guys do a much better job than I did! Basically worked all day 6 days a week to get it done and still had to fit some in between my first week of classes. I have a new respect for boat builders! Will adjust the bow eye, thanks! Ignoring the brief time with my gheenoe this is my first boat, so I’m sure I’m making some mistakes.


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## Sam K (Apr 24, 2020)

Definitely rushed this a bit, but now I have a functioning boat, when I start my next build I can afford to take my time and do it little by little over months. Want to make sure the next one is a big step up in performance and build quality.


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

That is a great little, fishy, skiff
yea that PP platform looks a little high. You might get used to it or couldn't you cut the legs then
re-weld the bases on


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

Maybe you could sell your plans to members on here to fund you schooling


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

That is something to be proud of Sam.

So glad to see you stopped overthinking the build.


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## Sam K (Apr 24, 2020)

permitchaser said:


> That is a great little, fishy, skiff
> yea that PP platform looks a little high. You might get used to it or couldn't you cut the legs then
> re-weld the bases on


Yeah I hope it doesn’t come to that but I may have to. Going to give it a chance for a while.


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## Sam K (Apr 24, 2020)

permitchaser said:


> Maybe you could sell your plans to members on here to fund you schooling


Maybe! I just worked off the 3D model (big no no, but it was convenient) but I could produce plans easily enough. I’d buy bateau or conchfish plans and modify them if you wanted something smaller. That’s what I would’ve done but I kind of wanted the challenge, plus an original design is a genuine addition to my job application portfolio for when I’m soon released into the real world.


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## Sam K (Apr 24, 2020)

DuckNut said:


> That is something to be proud of Sam.
> 
> So glad to see you stopped overthinking the build.


Thanks, it’s certainly easy to get caught up in the design phase of anything! Thinking my other much more complex design I did will evolve into the second version.


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## Sam K (Apr 24, 2020)

If anyone has any tips about potential career paths with an engineering degree and a passion for boats, please PM me, I’m all ears!


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## methodm3n (Jan 5, 2019)

Really great job! Way to make a dream come to life!


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## JC Designs (Apr 5, 2020)

Very cool, ya did good!!! Go enjoy her and she will probably catch more fish than any high end skiff ever! Congrats!


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## Sam K (Apr 24, 2020)

JC Designs said:


> Very cool, ya did good!!! Go enjoy her and she will probably catch more fish than any high end skiff ever! Congrats!


Thanks for all your advice!


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

Nicely done.

Nate


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## redchaser (Aug 24, 2015)

Sam, great job, it looks like a cool little boat. Yeah that platform is high for that narrow beam, you'll have a great sense of balance when it's all said and done. You mentioned career path with an engineering degree and interest in boats. You remind me of a good friend of mine that built his first homemade boat either while in or right out of college, a Texas style scooter, got an engineering degree and went to work at a petrochemical plant, got married built a poling skiff, then built a better poling skiff that looked like a factory boat, then he saw a niche that needed filling in the skiff market, retired from the day job and is now a very busy man as owner of Sabine Skiffs. It's out there if you can dream it.


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## JET4 (Jul 14, 2014)

very nice


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## Gadaboutgaddis (Jan 19, 2019)

Sam K said:


> If anyone has any tips about potential career paths with an engineering degree and a passion for boats, please PM me, I’m all ears!


I have hired many many engineers in the past and one thing I always look for is experience like this. It shows forethought and determination and not being afraid to jump into the unknown. The best engineer I ever had work for me was an ex dairy farmer. If something breaks on the farm - it has to be fixed. That gave him lots of experience in many areas.

So this experience will serve you well!

Congrats on creating a beautiful boat!

Gad


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## GoGataGo52__20 (Jun 26, 2016)

Man good job bud, she got you fishin and that’s all that matters


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## Sam K (Apr 24, 2020)

redchaser said:


> Sam, great job, it looks like a cool little boat. Yeah that platform is high for that narrow beam, you'll have a great sense of balance when it's all said and done. You mentioned career path with an engineering degree and interest in boats. You remind me of a good friend of mine that built his first homemade boat either while in or right out of college, a Texas style scooter, got an engineering degree and went to work at a petrochemical plant, got married built a poling skiff, then built a better poling skiff that looked like a factory boat, then he saw a niche that needed filling in the skiff market, retired from the day job and is now a very busy man as owner of Sabine Skiffs. It's out there if you can dream it.


Those Sabines are beautiful boats! I took a bit of inspiration from them actually. They’d be awesome for the marshes on the nature coast. Thanks for the encouragement.


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## Sam K (Apr 24, 2020)

Gadaboutgaddis said:


> I have hired many many engineers in the past and one thing I always look for is experience like this. It shows forethought and determination and not being afraid to jump into the unknown. The best engineer I ever had work for me was an ex dairy farmer. If something breaks on the farm - it has to be fixed. That gave him lots of experience in many areas.
> 
> So this experience will serve you well!
> 
> ...


Thanks! There’s certainly nothing like getting your hands dirty to understand how to design something better.


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## JC Designs (Apr 5, 2020)

Gadaboutgaddis said:


> I have hired many many engineers in the past and one thing I always look for is experience like this. It shows forethought and determination and not being afraid to jump into the unknown. The best engineer I ever had work for me was an ex dairy farmer. If something breaks on the farm - it has to be fixed. That gave him lots of experience in many areas.
> 
> So this experience will serve you well!
> 
> ...





Sam K said:


> Thanks! There’s certainly nothing like getting your hands dirty to understand how to design something better.


Sound familiar? 😎 Just don’t get stuck in the box buddy and you’ll be ok! I have lots if ideas and might share some with ya at some point to play with! Excellent work on the skiff and good luck with your career friend!


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## Sam K (Apr 24, 2020)

JC Designs said:


> Sound familiar? 😎 Just don’t get stuck in the box buddy and you’ll be ok! I have lots if ideas and might share some with ya at some point to play with! Excellent work on the skiff and good luck with your career friend!


Any ideas you’re willing to share I’m glad to hear!


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## NealXB2003 (Jun 8, 2020)

Nice job! 

Almost inspired me to try my hand at building something similar. I need a smaller rig to get into some hard to reach areas that my bigger boat can't go.


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## JC Designs (Apr 5, 2020)

Sam K said:


> Any ideas you’re willing to share I’m glad to hear!


Didn’t I read somewhere you were a student at UF? If so, let’s get together sometime!


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## HTXshallowwater (Jul 27, 2020)

Sam K said:


> I bet you guys do a much better job than I did! Basically worked all day 6 days a week to get it done and still had to fit some in between my first week of classes. I have a new respect for boat builders! Will adjust the bow eye, thanks! Ignoring the brief time with my gheenoe this is my first boat, so I’m sure I’m making some mistakes.


What was the Gheenoe disaster. I was planning to rebuild an old 15 ft highsider I got my hands on and would be interested in your experience before I proceed.


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## Mark H (Nov 22, 2016)

Outstanding!


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## Sam K (Apr 24, 2020)

HTXshallowwater said:


> What was the Gheenoe disaster. I was planning to rebuild an old 15 ft highsider I got my hands on and would be interested in your experience before I proceed.


Capsized after a bay boat went full throttle past me at maybe 20 yards away. Ruined a perfectly good merc 9.9. To be fair I probably shouldn’t have been out in the bay but I still put 50% of the blame on him. They’re great little boats just don’t push them too far.


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## Sam K (Apr 24, 2020)

Sam K said:


> Capsized after a bay boat went full throttle past me at maybe 20 yards away. Ruined a perfectly good merc 9.9. To be fair I probably shouldn’t have been out in the bay but I still put 50% of the blame on him. They’re great little boats just don’t push them too far.


It was a 1986 15 footer


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

JC Designs said:


> Didn’t I read somewhere you were a student at UF? If so, let’s get together sometime!


You can buy the kid a pizza at the pizza truck


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## JC Designs (Apr 5, 2020)

DuckNut said:


> You can buy the kid a pizza at the pizza truck


Well hell yeah! You know it! Best pizza in at least 3-4 counties!


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

JC Designs said:


> Well hell yeah! You know it! Best pizza in at least 3-4 counties!


I know - - he used to be parked right down the road from me.

Now its some trailer that sells tacos and crap.


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## JC Designs (Apr 5, 2020)

DuckNut said:


> I know - - he used to be parked right down the road from me.
> 
> Now its some trailer that sells tacos and crap.


Hey, if the tacos are good... not sure I’d try the crap though, probably tastes like chit!😂


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

JC Designs said:


> Hey, if the tacos are good... not sure I’d try the crap though, probably tastes like chit!😂


Haven't visited since the Za Truck left


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## m32825 (Jun 29, 2018)

A few weeks ago I made a run to Ozello and looped through Spring Hill on the way home to get lunch at the pizza truck. Nice to meet Eric, he makes a great product! 👍

-- Carl


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