JEM Watercraft

Got her flipped finally. Since this whole boat is kind of experimental, I decided that I'm not glassing the interior of the dry storage compartments. Heck, it's foam and impervious to water anyway plus, I figure the bow and stern are really "false" hull sections. What I mean is that the pontoon hulls are what is going to run aground first and take the abuse so those are the parts that are beefed up. If a hole gets poked in the floor of a storage compartment, it really won't be that big of a deal. (depending on what I'm trying to keep dry inside I guess)

Got the decks glued on started laying interior glass but I'm out of epoxy until the UPS guy gets here tomorrow. It sure is ugly right now but I think it will only be a little ugly when I'm done.

Looking good tex. It'll fly being so light. You might have to carry lead weights in her just to get stability.

Ok, having been sidetracked by the acquisition of my first Dodge Ram Hemi and another motorcycle project, I really slopped through the final steps on this boat. Wanted something very low maintenance so I sprayed the upper half and interior with rubber truck bed coating. I was fully on the way to a camo paint job (think duck boat) when the Mrs. stepped in and reminded me this is my daughter's boat

Here it is during the bedliner process. I had glued on a strip of PVC lattice in the interior sides prior to glassing. This gives me a solid surface for mounting pad eyes and such.


Here she sits waiting to get zebra striped by my kiddo





In a basically paddle ready state with the truck coating and full exterior white paint coat, she is still under 30lbs. I'll post a final weight when the finish paint is done.

I just did the first float test in my pool and I'm just giddy about it. What a great design!!! Stepped in like I was stepping onto a dock. I doubt I'll ever want to sit down when padding this thing so now I need to look for a longer stand-up paddle. (that is if I can get over the idea of paddling a zebra )

Matt,
This is just a phenomenal design. It was super stable when I got in it. Last night my kid got in it and she was just amazed. I had her put both feet on one side of the tunnel and the boat did not come close to flipping! In fact, she walked all around the cockpit. This was just her alone but it also holds both of us well. I can see I'm going to just be relegated to guide service now, poling or paddling her while she casts from up front. I may even rig her an elevated platform

That looks awesome! I can see you now with a safari suit, pith-hat and elephant gun cruising the mighty Zambezi!

I need to get motivated and these plans published. Almost done with the 12' Sabalo so that's next.

jem wrote: Almost done with the 12' Sabalo so that's next.

WOW a 12' Sabalo I'm interested in this one Matt what do you estimate weight at?

Cheers Paul

I try to keep the paper plans set under 2 pounds for easier international shipping.

jem wrote:I try to keep the paper plans set under 2 pounds for easier international shipping.

Stop teasing Matt. Looking forward to hearing about the 12' Sabalo. You're certainly spoiling us for choice.

Texarican - looks fantastic.

I wonder how it would work using foam for the inner structure and keeping wood on the hull and deck.