# Imposter Whaler Revisited



## flyfisheraa573 (Jun 26, 2008)

Darkstar...good to hear from you man...nice find...should be a good re-do...good luck!

How's that Gheenoe going?


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## DarkstarCrashes (Nov 29, 2009)

Hey man, the Gheenoe is about done, needs to get painted. I'm going to Steelflex the bottom and start floating for smallies with it. I have been a little distracted with fishing, first it was chain pickerel time, then striper time. Then, I damaged a nerve in my right hand so I haven't been able to really do much as far as boat work goes.

I have a 12 foot v-hull aluminum beater I've been fishing out of. It's performed very well this spring but the lady says no more than two boats in the yard at a time so it has to go, lol. Might as well dump some recent photos.





































The temporary rig (literary thrown together in a couple mornings):


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## flyfisheraa573 (Jun 26, 2008)

sweet...awesome fish pics....

dude, I dig the tin can...you should fix that up. working for an aluminum wholesale house (having unlimited amounts of aluminum sheet's and shapes at my hand) I would love to have a tin can to play around with.

don't sweat it man...my wife says the same thing...and since I am "drift boat" sitting a buddies drift boat...i am pushing my luck with 3 in the yard...but one will hopefully be sold soon


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## DarkstarCrashes (Nov 29, 2009)

The tin can is cool, it doesnt plane as easily with low hp as the gheenoe does and I figured they serve about the same purpose. Plus I need to finish the Gheenoe and I'm going to have all my time and resources in this new boat. I need a bigger outboard now...

I wish I was drift boat sitting, it'd give me the motivation to go after some trout. Or maybe just big river smallies.


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## DarkstarCrashes (Nov 29, 2009)

Didn't have time to do much this morning but since the boat is on the way to work, I slid by and got some pics.

The middle bench had been cracked so it had some wood bolted on either side for structural support. Or something. I started taking that off yesterday and started chipping away at the latex paint.























































I'd like to eventually set it up with remote steering but for now, I'm working on getting a 20hp tiller just so I can fish it a little this summer as I make progress. Surprisingly, the lady really wants this one to be ready to take out. Sounds good to me.

I actually like the rails up front, I will have a front casting deck and when it's choppy it'd be good to have something to grab onto. I would like the taller Whaler-style rails but after pricing some, I don't think that will be happening anytime soon. I can't see myself dropping $400-500 on that.


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## beyondhelp (Nov 6, 2008)

Mine did 25mph with waterlogged foam and all the rotted wood decking and stuff on it. I was running a 25hp mercury tiller with a composite 4 blade prop.


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## flyfisheraa573 (Jun 26, 2008)

DC...not a bad looking situation at all...a little work ahead of you, BUT tons of potential....Should be easy to put in a false floor with some stringers...run your wires and such under that...will look good....


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## DarkstarCrashes (Nov 29, 2009)

I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone. Brought the skiff home today and the lady is PUMPED about it. She gave me a deadline, need to have it ready to take out by June 18th. If you say so honey, haha.

I can't really run the grinder right now while I'm waiting for my right hand to heal. I saw on the Whaler forum that a lot of guys swear by the Citristrip. I tested it on one of the benches I don't plan on keeping and it worked great. So I'm on my second jug, been working since 10 this morning. 




























These guys are pumped too.


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## DarkstarCrashes (Nov 29, 2009)

Been moving along, slowly but surely. A little everyday. I'm trying to decide if my day off tomorrow will be dedicated to boat work or if I'll head a little ways upriver and fish smallies. I don't think I can afford a big outboard til the end of the month so smallies is sounding good...

Got the middle bench out



















Got down to some damage. The previous owner had "repaired" the cracked glass with bondo and "laid" a thin piece of cloth on either side with gobs of polyester resin.



















Here's my other project, rigging it to me my ride when I'm fishing solo.


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## flyfisheraa573 (Jun 26, 2008)

looking good man...keep it up...hell your making better progress than me


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## tbayray (Sep 18, 2008)

Fun Fun Fun


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## JIMMYZ750 (Feb 20, 2007)

Darkstar
Looks like a nice couple of projects and that yard looks like it has room for a couple more at least!!! What is the process with the Citristripe and does it work on enamel too?
J


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## DarkstarCrashes (Nov 29, 2009)

Yeah, got plenty of room for a full on boat yard but that's not going to fly. Gotta have plenty of room for the mutts to romp while I grind away on the fiberglass.

Citristrip works just like any of the hardcore chemical strippers. Brush it on and then use a putty knife or similar scraper to peel away the bubbled up paint 30 minutes later. It's not very hardcore stuff so I don't know how it would be on enamel. I would think it would work decently if you left it long enough.


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## DarkstarCrashes (Nov 29, 2009)

The inside is mostly stripped out. Plan to do stringers by the end of the week.

I knew the bottom needed some glass work so I flipped the hull over yesterday. The was some questionable work under a layer of latex paint so I decided to take it off and re-do it right.

I found several holes filled with bondo with a thin piece of cloth and some resin over them. One is absolutely massive and right on the center of the hull. I have never done any repairs this size. Any pointers on maintaining the hull shape when repairing?


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## rashouri87 (Jul 2, 2009)

That's one of those air-cooled briggs outboards isn't it?? I almost got one of those a long time ago for a gheenoe but opted for a longtail instead! How does it run? Nice work on the skiff(s), keep us updated!


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## DarkstarCrashes (Nov 29, 2009)

*Re: Imposter Whaler Revisited...and Gheenoe 13*

rummy- yeah, it ran pretty good. Started up everytime except once when a storm was rolling in on me out in the bay. Lost faith and sold it. Wanted a little more power as well. Just replaced it with a 1969 Johnson 9.5. Should scoot the Gheenoe pretty good.










Runs beautifully. Needs a paint job and some fresh decals though.

Been staying busy in the boat yard. Always something to do.


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## faw67 (Jan 13, 2008)

where bouts in VA r ya , just east of richmond here


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