# Father and Son Beryllium build 17.5



## Jstov (Aug 5, 2020)

Ok guys so after a year of my son trolling the internet and begging to build a boat we finally settled in a Beryllium designed by Chris Morejohn. We decided to go with the 17.5 with the round transom. I know the rounded transom will be more work but in the grand scheme of things it will be marginal compared to the rest of the project. Chris was awesome answering questions my son sent him about the boat and Nathan Shawl was great to deal with too. We ordered the CNC from Josh Glidden which was well worth it!
My intent with this page will be to hopefully help people build theirs. I have trolled other builds on this site and pictures are an invaluable asset. I probably won’t add a lot of commentary but will post pictures of how I did it and tips for people. Hopefully by doing this someone will chime in and tell me if I screwed up too!


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## Jstov (Aug 5, 2020)




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## Jstov (Aug 5, 2020)




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## K3anderson (Jan 23, 2013)

My 11y/o built a skiff earlier in the year. Good experience. He’s a pro at the Japanese saw


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## Jstov (Aug 5, 2020)

K3anderson said:


> My 11y/o built a skiff earlier in the year. Good experience. He’s a pro at the Japanese saw


He is 11 too! Learning a lot about plum and square right now!


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## JC Designs (Apr 5, 2020)

Awesome, along for the ride!


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## Sublime (Oct 9, 2015)

Following. And post all you can. I’ve learned in my Conchfish build there are many ways to skin one of these cats.


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## JC Designs (Apr 5, 2020)

Sublime said:


> Following. And post all you can. I’ve learned in my Conchfish build there are many ways to skin one of these cats.


And many more to be discovered yet!🤙🏻🇺🇸


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## Zika (Aug 6, 2015)

This will be a cool project for you and your son. You'll both really enjoy and appreciate fishing out of it later. 

Keep the progress reports coming.


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## JC Designs (Apr 5, 2020)

Where are you located?


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## 99Whip (Oct 13, 2020)

Following your progress.


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## TripSmith (Sep 18, 2019)

That's awesome. Don't forget to take some video of you two working together. It will be great to look back on. Imagine him when he is a grandfather showing it to his grandsons....


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## K3anderson (Jan 23, 2013)

Sublime said:


> Following. And post all you can. I’ve learned in my Conchfish build there are many ways to skin one of these cats.


I don't agree with posting everything you can. I posted a couple pic's when it was done. You get a lot of really poor advice on here. I listened to 3 people while building. People who actually have built skiffs (like you have). It's hard to know who has actually done it.


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## bryson (Jun 22, 2015)

Where are you building? Sounds like a fantastic project -- some of my best memories in life are from projects with my dad.

Looking forward to following along!


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## Jstov (Aug 5, 2020)

JC Designs said:


> Where are you located?


Melbourne Beach Fl


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## Mark H (Nov 22, 2016)

It's not the boat of course. It's the time with your son. Plug it all into the long term memory banks and enjoy the best times of your life.


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

More picture please


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## Jstov (Aug 5, 2020)




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## Jstov (Aug 5, 2020)

Ok here is some images of how I did the rounded transom on the 17.5. I had to trim the forms a bit to make fit and I believe that is due to the difference in the hull length. Alex Howell gave me a few pointers on this as he had to do the same. My son cut the first piece of foam and screwed it on tonight so that was a good thing.


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## TroutNreds12 (Jan 4, 2016)

Wow welcome I’m in melbourne too, definitely following this...Would love to stop by check it out sometime! Enjoy the process it’s fun. I have a matecumbe18/lithium skiff similar to what your building if u ever want to check it out


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## Jstov (Aug 5, 2020)

TroutNreds12 said:


> Wow welcome I’m in melbourne too, definitely following this...Would love to stop by check it out sometime! Enjoy the process it’s fun. I have a matecumbe18/lithium skiff similar to what your building if u ever want to check it out


That would be great!


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## K3anderson (Jan 23, 2013)

Jstov said:


> Ok here is some images of how I did the rounded transom on the 17.5. I had to trim the forms a bit to make fit and I believe that is due to the difference in the hull length. Alex Howell gave me a few pointers on this as he had to do the same. My son cut the first piece of foam and screwed it on tonight so that was a good thing.


I DIDN'T do the rounded on mine and it was a mistake. It's going to add an hour or two extra. Well worth it. If you are fishing super shallow, you will be happy you did this.


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## JJones (Nov 14, 2019)

Congrats, look forward to your progress, fyi might want to try finding rubber gloves now.


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## Jstov (Aug 5, 2020)




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## Jstov (Aug 5, 2020)

Ok folks here is some update shots. I have a sheet of coosa in there for now but I am
not sure if I am going to keep it in there. No doubt it will be stronger but is it necessary and it adds additional weight. I will double up the transom once I flip it and to save weight the inside piece I could use foam. What do you guys think!

The rounded corners were a pain but in the long run I think it will be worth it. It also took me awhile to figure out how to terminate the lower chines back into the hull. I decided to run it all the way to that next station.The plans show it stops a few inches from the station but to have something to attach it to it just seemed easier to run it to the next station. Once faired I still feel it would stop a few inches from that station. Quick tip when needing a straight edge to draw out your radiuses rip a piece of foam about 1” wide and use toothpicks through it to hold it in place on the foam you intend to cut. Draw your radius with the factory straight edge. Works great and you can move it easily.


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## Sublime (Oct 9, 2015)

I’d leave the coosa there. Heck, on my conchfish I used two layers of 20 pound board and your beryllium is rated for more horsepower. I think when I weighed the second board it was like 8 pounds. That’s nothing.


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## bryson (Jun 22, 2015)

I would leave the Coosa as well. I don't think it's absolutely necessary from a load-carrying standpoint, but it will help a lot with local compression when you tighten the motor bolts.

I can't imagine the weight penalty would be enough to make it worth changing. I don't know the exact volume of core you're using, but I'm guessing if you do the math it will add less than 15 lbs when compared to a 5 lb core.

Skiff is looking good! Thank you for the update!


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## JC Designs (Apr 5, 2020)

Looking great! I’d also leave the coosa, glass over it and only double up the center 20-24” and will be very very stout. Confirm my rec with Chris first but this is how I do the majority of my transoms and never even a stress crack. I will also recommended over drilling and potting the engine mount bolt holes.


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## Jstov (Aug 5, 2020)

JC Designs said:


> Looking great! I’d also leave the coosa, glass over it and only double up the center 20-24” and will be very very stout. Confirm my rec with Chris first but this is how I do the majority of my transoms and never even a stress crack. I will also recommended over drilling and potting the engine mount bolt holes.


What would you use between the layers to
bond them together?


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## JC Designs (Apr 5, 2020)

I use a couple layers of cloth and clamp while wet.


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## SkiffaDeeDooDah (Jan 20, 2020)

Subscribed and enjoying this thread! I'm just learning about all this, so forgive my lack of knowledge... But, if you leave the Coosa there (which I think is a good idea), how do you ensure that the Coosa will release from the wood framework as easily as the foam core?


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## Jstov (Aug 5, 2020)

SkiffaDeeDooDah said:


> Subscribed and enjoying this thread! I'm just learning about all this, so forgive my lack of knowledge... But, if you leave the Coosa there (which I think is a good idea), how do you ensure that the Coosa will release from the wood framework as easily as the foam core?


Well that is a good question. It will not be bonded to the wood so it is just laying on top. I have not glued the foam/Coosa joint yet and I do plan on covering the entire transom form with blue tape as well. Hopefully it all works out!!


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## Sublime (Oct 9, 2015)

I see you used blue tape. Never again. I had a lot stuck here and there to the inside of my hull. But the clear packing tape I used on my flange gave me absolutely zero problems.


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## Jstov (Aug 5, 2020)

Sublime said:


> I see you used blue tape. Never again. I had a lot stuck here and there to the inside of my hull. But the clear packing tape I used on my flange gave me absolutely zero problems.


Now you tell me! Ha ha! My biggest worry is it sticking to the mold!


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## Jstov (Aug 5, 2020)

All foamed in!


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## Jstov (Aug 5, 2020)

Well it was a long day! Had some great help today but we got it all glassed in. Just a few spots I will have to go back and fix but overall it went very well!


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## JC Designs (Apr 5, 2020)

Nice, clean work... Looks great!🤘🏻🍻


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## Sublime (Oct 9, 2015)

Looks fantastic


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## GoGataGo52__20 (Jun 26, 2016)

Lookin good brother


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## Jstov (Aug 5, 2020)

Transom finished tonight! Even his little brother got in in the action!


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## jackson man (Aug 13, 2020)

Jstov said:


> Transom finished tonight! Even his little brother got in in the action!
> 
> View attachment 165564
> View attachment 165565
> View attachment 165566


 Jumped onto this post late! Looks like you're well on your way to building a great skiff and some even greater memories!


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## Jstov (Aug 5, 2020)

All frosted! Took a lot longer than I thought it would. I used a notched trowel to get the right thickness by just letting it float over the surface and just barely touch the glass in spots so
I knew it was about 1/8” thick. I then went back with a spreader and flattened the grooves once the depth was right. Dust storm coming!


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## Indoman (Jul 25, 2013)

Looks great! Icing the cake was definitely harder than I thought. Compound didn’t stick to the BC like I expected. Never thought of the notched trowel. Great idea. I figured 3/4 of the way thru, that if I spread a super thin skim coat on ( mashed it into the weave) and let it tack up then I could spread a thicker coat that would stick.


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## JC Designs (Apr 5, 2020)

Looks great, keep at ig and you’ll be done in no time!


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## GoGataGo52__20 (Jun 26, 2016)

Lookin good brother!


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## Jstov (Aug 5, 2020)

Well as usual this step took longer than expected I sanded the big stuff off with a 6” DA then came back and blocked the rest. This is a pic before I longboarded it. I think my prep time might have paid off with the foam because for the most part it is fair. Obviously there will be multiple places to fix but I am pretty happy the way it turned out. Now to go ice my shoulders!


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## SWFL_Gheenoe (Aug 24, 2017)

Jumping on this a little late, but youre really giving me the can-do attitude to build my own! Looks awesome, keep it up!


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## GoGataGo52__20 (Jun 26, 2016)

Lookin good brother!


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## GoGataGo52__20 (Jun 26, 2016)

Man lookin good bud


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## JC Designs (Apr 5, 2020)

Nice work, looking good!🔥🔥🔥


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