# Wood Technical skiffs



## otseg (Jan 27, 2009)

Designing and building a technical skiff can be well,.....technical.
I tried 3 different times in short order, and learned from each exercise.
Like Edison, I learned a 100 things not to do.


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## Blue Zone (Oct 22, 2011)

Very nice. I like the well-disguised bow flare; what kind of deadrise do you have on the bow? Do you have any more photos?

There are probably quite a few people on here who are unaware of your fantastic street cred not only in building skiffs, but also in design and production of boats of all shapes and sizes. I for one look forward to your input when you can spare a moment.


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## otseg (Jan 27, 2009)

The whole bottom was a 6 degree V carried all the way from the transom to the bow, the idea being to have the chine as low as possible to keep the waves from slapping. The problem was that I built it incredibly light for a 15 1/2' skiff, less than 200 lbs, and it floated too high. A constant dead rise is the fastest bottom though. The guy I originally built it for, told me that he and a friend out ran a Silver King with a 90 down Biscayne Bay. They had a 30 hp Yamaha. He followed them till they went back to the ramp because he couldn't believe it. The disadvantage was evident when you went out in big short seas down wind. It tended to bow steer a wee bit.


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## otseg (Jan 27, 2009)

I found some more photos. The bottom was single skin 1/4" okume plywood, the sides foam core with glass skins. 
The sole and deck was a honey comb sandwich panel.


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## LWalker (Aug 20, 2013)

Blue Zone said:


> There are probably quite a few people on here who are unaware of your fantastic street cred not only in building skiffs, but also in design and production of boats of all shapes and sizes. I for one look forward to your input when you can spare a moment.


Absolutely! Looking forward to your involvement here.


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## otseg (Jan 27, 2009)

Thank you, big boats pay my bills, small boats nurture my heart.
This first draft (pun intended) was the shallowest, most stable and dry solution I could devise.
It was noisy and bow steered in big short waves. Time to move to on to Version 2.


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## otseg (Jan 27, 2009)

We strove to make improvements with the next prototype #2 and I feel we did.


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## lowcountry88 (Sep 21, 2015)

beautiful!


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## iMacattack (Dec 11, 2006)

Frank? Prototype 3 still in Jupiter?


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## devrep (Feb 22, 2009)

That is very cool.


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## yobata (Jul 14, 2015)

^ x2! Keep the pics coming!


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## eagle24 (Jan 4, 2016)

Wow! Awesome boat!


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

That's one pretty skiff.


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## wooden_skiffs (Oct 27, 2009)

otseg said:


> The whole bottom was a 6 degree V carried all the way from the transom to the bow, the idea being to have the chine as low as possible to keep the waves from slapping. The problem was that I built it incredibly light for a 15 1/2' skiff, less than 200 lbs, and it floated too high. A constant dead rise is the fastest bottom though. The guy I originally built it for, told me that he and a friend out ran a Silver King with a 90 down Biscayne Bay. They had a 30 hp Yamaha. He followed them till they went back to the ramp because he couldn't believe it. The disadvantage was evident when you went out in big short seas down wind. It tended to bow steer a wee bit.


I'm in west palm till the middle of Fed 2016, I'm am a wooden boat builder/designer, if you need help just ask. A warped bottom might be what your looking for


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

I don't think he needs much help
http://www.microskiff.com/threads/dont-fish-build-boats.36167/


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## otseg (Jan 27, 2009)

The new forward sections and bow profile took care of the bow steer. The problem is how to be dry, stable and quiet. Dry, stable and quiet are not often used in the same sentence. Because the wood/epoxy construction made the skiffs so light we needed some way to sink the chines to reduce wave slap. We did this by building a shallow tunnel seen at the transom. Making your technical skiff draft more is not the usual objective.


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## otseg (Jan 27, 2009)

This second skiff was fitted with three different engines. The two stroke 25 hp Mercury was stolen and replaced with a 4 stroke 25 hp Yamaha. I would not build a tiller steered skiff ever again to sell to the public. I know a number of experienced water-men that have fallen overboard from the tiller with an extension breaking off or other mishap. Wheel steering is so much safer. The weight starts to add up but we were so light in the construction it did not seem to matter.


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## Blue Zone (Oct 22, 2011)

otseg said:


> This second skiff was fitted with three different engines. The two stroke 25 hp Mercury was stolen and replaced with a 4 stroke 25 hp Yamaha. I would not build a tiller steered skiff ever again to sell to the public. I know a number of experienced water-men that have fallen overboard from the tiller with an extension breaking off or other mishap. Wheel steering is so much safer. The weight starts to add up but we were so light in the construction it did not seem to matter.


I think you oughtta stop whatever you're doing with those big boats and get back to this project. Love it!


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## wooden_skiffs (Oct 27, 2009)

Pretty, "bow steer" comes from the amount of forefoot. But other than that I'll do as ask keep my mouth shut


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## Skiff Junky (Oct 6, 2015)

wooden_skiffs said:


> Pretty, "bow steer" comes from the amount of forefoot. But other than that I'll do as ask keep my mouth shut


Mr Humble (osteg) is taking the time to provide us a history lesson. Ducknut politely referenced this in a previous post

Just look at the pics for the vintage.

Dig the old school poling platform mount. My first skiff had the same, but so did every other Hewes rigged by Bob in the day.

osteg, , Thanks for sharing. Was #1 lost in a warehouse fire? And the one I'm most familiar with I think was #3 and the last? Maybe Robby will chime in.


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## otseg (Jan 27, 2009)

]PHOTOS WERE DELETED ???
Will re post as soon as I can.


Hull #1 was an experiment. I never contemplated that it would be racing down Biscayne Bay in waves.








Designing a superior technical skiff is not easy. The shapes I see most often now remind me of the 67' series of Burger Boat Company's motor yachts in the late 60's. They were a Sparkman and Stephens design with round bilges that transitioned into a chine aft.

Hull #2 was the best "sea" boat of the three. I sold it cheap upon moving from Miami to North Carolina with the expectation of taking it back in trade on a 16' Egret but that never happened. The fellow outfitted it with a larger engine (The third), a 40 Hp Nissan. Is that a key switch for electric start ? OMG.


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## Blue Zone (Oct 22, 2011)

wooden_skiffs said:


> Pretty, "bow steer" comes from the amount of forefoot. But other than that I'll do as ask keep my mouth shut


I for one am very interested in design. Perhaps you would be kind enough to share some of your designs with us. Thanks


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## Wolffie (Nov 4, 2015)

wooden_skiffs said:


> Pretty, "bow steer" comes from the amount of forefoot. But other than that I'll do as ask keep my mouth shut


Yeah. I'm going to second the request. I'm interested in learning boat design as well... Trying to learn all I can. The OPs boats are gorgeous. 

And I'm loving the information! Didn't want anyone to scare you away


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## otseg (Jan 27, 2009)

Hull number 3 was an attempt to sink the hull still further at rest or while poling by inclusion of a larger tunnel and keep the stability by not narrowing the beam . No fiberglass was harmed in the production of hulls #2 and #3. The wood console and poling platform were the work product of the current owner.


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## Skiff Junky (Oct 6, 2015)

otseg said:


> Hull #2 was the best "sea" boat of the three. I sold it cheap upon moving from Miami to North Carolina with the expectation of taking it back in trade on a 16' Egret but that never happened. The fellow outfitted it with a larger engine (The third), a 40 Hp Nissan. Is that a key switch for electric start ? OMG.


This (hull #2) is the boat I remember and swapping the 25 Yami for the 40 Nisshatsu.

Thanks again for the history and adding #3.

Was #2 built circa mid 90's?


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## otseg (Jan 27, 2009)

I think the date was around 2001 thru 2002.


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## otseg (Jan 27, 2009)

More photos.
wood console, sole covering and poling platform subsequently added by Frank Afshari.


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