# Johnsen Style Skiff Rebuild



## dlowery (Apr 12, 2016)

I picked up a 14 skiff earlier this year I was planning on turning it into a small flats boat. I first rebuilt the transom and raised it to fit a long shaft. I bought a 30hp Etec and ran the boat for a couple months to see how it handled. I was really happy with how stable it was, but it sat kinda squatty in the back and the floor flexed a ton. I decided to beef up the floor and when finished the battery and gas tank will be in the front. I used 1/2" divinycell for the deck and floor and 3/4" coosa board for the transom. Pics Below


































































































































http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/Dlowery13/IMG_0637_zps1hkdw09f.jpg


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## anytide (Jul 30, 2009)

nice work, lot of power/ weight in a 30 etec
bet it scoots pretty fast?


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## Whiskey Angler (Mar 20, 2015)

Nice job, Dude!


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## dlowery (Apr 12, 2016)

anytide said:


> nice work, lot of power/ weight in a 30 etec
> bet it scoots pretty fast?


Thanks, I never actually clocked it, but i think it topped out in the high 20s (not as fast as I thought it would be). It'd start proposing everytime I opened it up. Hopefully moving some weight up front will help, and if not I'm going to build some small stationary trim tabs.


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## anytide (Jul 30, 2009)

sounds good 
could be a prop pitch issue but thats another day.


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## CurtisWright (May 9, 2012)

Never seen anyone bond core to a hull like that. Most people use the scored core with a scrim on the back and tons of putty filler. What did you use to bond it to the hull?

Other than that, This is how you do a quality rebuild. No need for stringers!


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## trekker (Sep 19, 2015)

Looks good Bro!


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## dlowery (Apr 12, 2016)

CurtisWright said:


> Never seen anyone bond core to a hull like that. Most people use the scored core with a scrim on the back and tons of putty filler. What did you use to bond it to the hull?
> 
> Other than that, This is how you do a quality rebuild. No need for stringers!


I used resin thickened with aerosil and some chopped up mat. I didn't think of using scored core, it would have worked a lot better. I used a ton of weights trying to get the foam to form to the boat.


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## dlowery (Apr 12, 2016)

trekker said:


> Looks good Bro!


Thanks!


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## CurtisWright (May 9, 2012)

dlowery said:


> I used resin thickened with aerosil and some chopped up mat. I didn't think of using scored core, it would have worked a lot better. I used a ton of weights trying to get the foam to form to the boat.


ok, keep us posted on any delamination issues. A vacuum bag, and some manual scoreing on the underside is usually required when working with solid core. This is one of the first builds on the forum where I have seen someone do this to an old hull. If you used plenty thickened resin and put it on both the core and the hull before laying it down then you should be good. Most are scared of the process and or don't want to spend the $$ on the core. This thread will be a great resource for other folks on the forum.


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## snookflyer (Mar 21, 2018)

CurtisWright said:


> ok, keep us posted on any delamination issues. A vacuum bag, and some manual scoreing on the underside is usually required when working with solid core. This is one of the first builds on the forum where I have seen someone do this to an old hull. If you used plenty thickened resin and put it on both the core and the hull before laying it down then you should be good. Most are scared of the process and or don't want to spend the $$ on the core. This thread will be a great resource for other folks on the forum.


I am planning out my Johnsen rebuild now and think this is the way I want to do the floor. Looking for some input from someone with your experience. My thought is that I can mark out the panels of foam on the hull, dry fit them with heat with no hull bond yet, put one layer of cloth on top with epoxy, let it harden then refit the with epoxy and aerosil wetted out on both the underside of foam and hull. The shape would already be set and fitted. Thoughts? Also provided this line of thinking is sound what thickness foam and what weight cloth and how many layers? The front deck is going to be set up with a removable casting platform and removable bench on a glassed in ledger (no support to the floor), one rear bench glassed in completely (typical bulkhead), I will have a bow cap but it will only be about 2' back from the tip of the bow so I am concerned if I am losing rigidity due to no forward bulkhead.


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## snookflyer (Mar 21, 2018)

Bow cap would be back about 1' not 2'


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## Guest (May 14, 2018)

Looking good man! Can’t wait to get started on mine!


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## Tonyskiff (Jan 7, 2018)

Nice one! Sent more picks.


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## yobata (Jul 14, 2015)

Very cool! I have only seen one other example of someone adding core to the bottom of a skiff which originally did not come cored.

Also, I have heard of people scraping a quarter along the core to check for any voids (the sound of the scraping helps to identify them). If you find them, remove a small section of the core and fill with thickened resin...


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## Guest (May 15, 2018)

Did you use epoxy or poly/vinyl resin? If epoxy, I don’t foresee any bonding delam problems. If prep was good poly/vinyl resin should get a good bite also. Boat is looking good.


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