# RiverHawk ...Refit?



## riptide (Dec 31, 2009)

So far i have done alot of grinding and cutting , glassed in a center stringer







                                                   Then i glassed in the deck using  nidacore material







                                                   Today i mocked up the fwd and aft bulkheads using 2'' cardboard strips, a scribe, and some hot glue,cut them out of 2'' foam, then used a 1'' roundover bit on all the radius areas ,







                                                  Also cut the grove in the foam for the decking to land , not shure if its a good pic or not







                                                   Still looking at things before glassing them in , gonna put some rod tubes in the fwd bulkhead ect. Next is to beef the transome up for a 25hp


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## FSUfisher (Jul 16, 2007)

Looks great! Thanks for sharing your work.


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## Capt Dan Medina (Apr 28, 2008)

coming along great... keep the pics coming


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## Tom_C (Dec 10, 2006)

Nice work, looks like you know what your doing.


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## Gator_Bob (Jun 26, 2007)

You'll have that boat looking like a "King Fisher" before long.


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## TomFL (Oct 2, 2007)

Looks awesome, some top $$ ingredients there!

-T


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## riptide (Dec 31, 2009)

Thanks guys havent glassed the bulkheads in yet , need to drill holes for rods , still looking at it and brain storming. ive been using the search for ideas and other mods


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## mark_gardner (Mar 18, 2009)

looking good  keep the pics coming


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## riptide (Dec 31, 2009)

Does anybody have any info on these rubrails i currently have a aluminium one i think this is it http://tacomarine.com/item--1-13-16-x-1-Aluminum-Canoe-Rail--A11-0226.html
But was wondering if any one has this one on their boat and how stiff is it compared to the aluminium 1javascript:openWindow('http://tacom.../images/product_xlarge/V21-9140.pdf',830,830)
i would like to use the vinyl rail but dont want to sacrifice any stiffnes any ideas?


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## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

I think you can get away with the vinyl extrusions.
Those 'glass covered foam floatation areas midship
will stiffen the hull enough when combined with the new decks.


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## Tom_C (Dec 10, 2006)

Gheenoe switch to vinyl extrusion years ago. I think vinyl extrusions add more stiffnes than aluminium ones.


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## riptide (Dec 31, 2009)

sweet tom , that was what i wanted to know thanks


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## riptide (Dec 31, 2009)

Well yesterday i glassed the under side of the decks , and today i tossed them in to see what they looked like , set the hatches in and hung the motor on for a min to see what she lookin like








i think the motor looks to big


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## rkmurphy (Nov 2, 2008)

Wow. You have some serious talent. I can't wait to see how this thing progresses. Great work!!


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## devinmurray99 (Jan 7, 2010)

Nice work Karl.


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## riptide (Dec 31, 2009)

Well now ive got the decks glased in which stiffened the boat up a lot























the rod tubes are glassed in 
















Starting to get excited abought painting this thing ,tan inside and a baby turd green for the hull , i still have to reinforce the transome a little ,more astetic than structial. ive run it with a 15hp before but now have a 25hp ive been working on


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## tom_in_orl (Dec 9, 2006)

Great work. Wish I had your skills.


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## riptide (Dec 31, 2009)

Well i havent worked on the boat for a while but i have been working on getting the trailer up to par, replacing bunks ,and adjusting some things that were not quite right. I have flipped the boat over and found some areas up near the stem that seem like the hull side may have released in the mold and created some wavyness that i will probably have to glass b/c of the size and possoble flex on the hull . i will post some pics soon.......On another note i planed a trip back down to sugarloaf in like 40 days so im excited abought getting away from N.C. for awhile


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## riptide (Dec 31, 2009)

Well finally got the hull and motor in primer , i plan on painting it brownish green , tried to sand the primer today but 39 for the low last night it was still a little soft , im a little nervous abought this older motor (1977) got it for free and replaced the lowerunit with a spare , and a carb kit  it ran great on the muffs......but  :-/ mabey a seatrial will prove me wrong


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## rkmurphy (Nov 2, 2008)

You've got skills. If you're concerned about the motor, finish the boat and stop messing with the motor. The, run it with the ugly motor and see how she does.


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## riptide (Dec 31, 2009)

With My luck it will run untill im somewhere i've never been , its choppy , and getting ready to storm.........then catastrophic failure.


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## Panamakid (Oct 30, 2009)

My last boat was a 13ft skiff with a 1973 evinrude 25. It went faster than my bddys 1995 johnson 25hp. May have been the prop but it ran like a champ. I would give it a shot!


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## riptide (Dec 31, 2009)

yea i grew up working on these old things out of nessicity only, they are easy to work on , ill run it till i cant fix it anymore


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## Bissell (Feb 27, 2010)

Have faith! thats inspiring


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## fanofjohnwayne (Jan 12, 2010)

Dang, look how wide that River Hawk is. Nice Decks. Don't paint that 25, put that old motor on like it is man, I love seeing an old skint up motor on a slick new flats boat, it's kinda like seeing a hot girl driving a beat up old pick up truck,. it's sexy.


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## FSUfisher (Jul 16, 2007)

What's the scoop on the other boat project you've got going on???


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## riptide (Dec 31, 2009)

I am a yacht joiner by trade and durring the winter i take on a project boat in this case its a 1987 19' boston whaler. i did a 23' mako for the same customer a couple of years ago.The owner realy let me cut loose on the mako . But i enjoy carpentry more than glass and paint work















1988 23' Mako before









And after


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## oysterbreath (Jan 13, 2009)

WOW! You've got an incredible amount of skill!
So let me recap this for my own clairity. You used Nidacore on the stringer and to create a flat surface on the hull floor and foam for your forward and aft raised decks. Is the foam you used Divinymat?


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## riptide (Dec 31, 2009)

Yea thats right divinacell bulkheads b/c it made it really easy to run a router over, to give it a big radius 
, and nidacore for the decks and the false floor ,b/c when glassed its very stiff without any support from underneath . Both products are very light weight and strong


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## riptide (Dec 31, 2009)

Just got back form the shop after painting the boat , next is to flip it back over paint the inside and install the rails , mabey seatrial next weekend. what do ya think , the paint looks yellow b/c of the floresent light


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## JamesT1080 (Mar 2, 2010)

Paint looks great!


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## FSUfisher (Jul 16, 2007)

Looks ghoot! What you did with that Mako is incredible. Makes me want one just like it.


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## riptide (Dec 31, 2009)

Got the inside painted and im not shure , to web the inside with the same color paint as the hull or to leave it as is, any ideas?


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## Salty_South (Feb 25, 2009)

That looks amazing!  I love those colors together; nice, clean, and simple.  So I have to vote no webbing.


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## FSUfisher (Jul 16, 2007)

I think one of the main purposes of webbing is to reduce glare off the deck. So you could leave it as is for now then go back and do the webbing later if the glare is too much to stand during the boat's first voyages.


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## riptide (Dec 31, 2009)

got the boat finished and will probably go for a ride sunday , got a low pro file gas tank gettin welded up to fit under the fwd deck














http://i1016.photobucket.com/albums/af288/riptide122678/144-4474_IMG.jpg[/img]


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## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

Looks great!!!!


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## tedcombs (Mar 12, 2010)

that might be the ugliest awesome boat ever !! Great work on it!


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## flyfisheraa573 (Jun 26, 2008)

phenomenal! boat looks great...dig the color...at first I just liked it...now its really grown on me!


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## Tom_C (Dec 10, 2006)

> that might be the ugliest awesome boat ever !! Great work on it!



I have to agreed, thats a color only a Mom could love.


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## Gator_Bob (Jun 26, 2007)

What type of rub rail did you use? and where did you get it? I am thinking of replacing mine.


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## Un-shore (Sep 27, 2007)

> > that might be the ugliest awesome boat ever !! Great work on it!
> 
> 
> 
> I have to agreed, thats a color only a Mom could love.


That is def a color a new mom would see often! ;D

as well as a new dad 

But I love it! Perfect color for the out of doors. I would have voted for webbing but that looks much cleaner and high end. If the glare is too much maybe a scrub pad could knock down the shine but that might open it up to staining.


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## riptide (Dec 31, 2009)

On page one there are some links to some options for new rails from taco marine . but i stayed with the original rail which is the aluminum 1 ,and painted it


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## riptide (Dec 31, 2009)

well finally got the boat in the water and here's some pics


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## OSWLD (Apr 20, 2008)

Looks awesome man, great job. Better than new! and i like the color.


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## mark_gardner (Mar 18, 2009)

agreed, the boat looks great dude, what color is it anyways? looks kinda mustardy


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## riptide (Dec 31, 2009)

They call it spector master yellow, but i call it calf turd brown


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## gnuraider (Nov 4, 2008)

> They call it spector master yellow, but i call it calf turd brown


Calf turd brown ~ Mus-turd



Great work on the boat - it turned out amazing!


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## Flyline (Mar 3, 2008)

Will you pour some leftover mustard on my hotdog? ;D

it's really nice mushawk boat!


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