Let's build a Jericho Bay Lobster Skiff

[jtdums]

I believe you have a 25 hp on your Jericho. How do you find the weight on the transom? They are a lot heavier then a 20 hp. Plus, they are much larger in size as well as weight. I'm just wondering if that extra 5 hp is worth the weight increase.

I actually ended up putting the 30hp etec on there because the 25hp and the 30hp were the same weight. In my opinion this was an error, and I think this is excessive hp for the boat.

I think the 20hp would be just about perfect size and weight.

[jtdums]

Rich, for what it's worth, installing the motor and controls yourself is not rocket science, however having access to a dealer and parts is a tempting advantage to the Mercury.

I will say that from my experience both installing my own and having one done, I much preferred doing it myself. After all the hours building your "baby" it hurts when the installation is mediocre and the same kind of care isn't taken by the dealer. Of course experiences will vary and I'm sure there are dealers far more professional out there. Just buyer beware.

[Oldad]

I will say that from my experience both installing my own and having one done, I much preferred doing it myself. After all the hours building your "baby" it hurts when the installation is mediocre and the same kind of care isn't taken by the dealer. Of course experiences will vary and I'm sure there are dealers far more professional out there. Just buyer beware.

True, the dealer that installed my last Mercury (they would not let me do it myself) was not as neat as if I had taken a bit more time. Funny, I have installed several used motors and controllers without any difficulty. Why should a new motor be any different?

[Rich Jones]

I've now finished the transom.
Here it is with a layer of fiberglass on the inside face.
Also you can see the recess I cut in along the edge to receive the plank ends.
Outside face will be epoxy sealed and varnished.
Now that I have the stem and transom completed, all that's left is to fill in the middle!

Next up will be to assemble the strongback and put up the station molds.
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[Rich Jones]

It might look like some of the cloth is starved of epoxy, but it's just the light.

[Oldad]

Great start, Rich.

[jtdums]

I've now finished the transom.
Here it is with a layer of fiberglass on the inside face.
Also you can see the recess I cut in along the edge to receive the plank ends.
Outside face will be epoxy sealed and varnished.
Now that I have the stem and transom completed, all that's left is to fill in the middle!

Next up will be to assemble the strongback and put up the station molds.
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I like this idea a lot. My only worry is having enough strip end to screw through without cracking even with pre drilling.
I think you can certainly pull it off and it will give a great finished look. Well done!

[Rich Jones]

I like this idea a lot. My only worry is having enough strip end to screw through without cracking even with pre drilling.
I think you can certainly pull it off and it will give a great finished look. Well done!

I never thought of that, but it's been done. The transom is 1 3/4 inch thick. The recess is 7/8" deep. I'll just be careful with my pilot holes.
Tomorrow that strongback goes up in the morning. In the afternoon, we'll be taking the fantail launch out for a spin. We have to get in as much boating as we can in the next month before it starts getting too chilly to enjoy.

[Oldad]

Thunderstorm heading your way, Rich.

[Rich Jones]

Thunderstorm heading your way, Rich.

Yeah, I can see that coming. No boating today. Yesterday I just barely got off the lake in for the 'slight chance of an afternoon shower'. Heavy rain, lighting and thunder. If that was a shower, I'd hate to see a real storm!

No problem, though. I'm happy in my dry shop.

[Rich Jones]

Strongback is finished, squared up and the all-important centerline string in place.
Like all my builds, the strongback is on wheels so I can roll it around when needed.
With plywood shims under two wheels, it's level side to side. The whole thing is out of level lengthwise a bit, but that doesn't matter as long as it's level athwartships (if that's the correct salty term for side to side).
It won't be moving while I plank up but will need to be rolled out of the shop and into the adjoining double garage to be removed from the building jig. With the tumblehome of this design, several molds will need to be removed in order to pop the boat off the form.
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[Rich Jones]

I finished putting together the building jig today.
As with all builds, what the tables of offsets or paper patterns says isn't always reality. Every building form needs 'tuning up'. Things went well with only a few adjustments.
I used the paper patterns and it's very possible when they get run through the printer, things aren't perfect.
The table of offsets is never perfect on every design either.
Station mold #4 was about 3/16" high and was easily planed down. Station #6 was 3/16" low so needed a piece tacked on and shaped. You can see here the sliver of new crown to the mold that I added to bring it up to where it needed to be.
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Up in the bow, I had to put a shim under the stem to bring it up a bit so that it would run out level to be flush with station #2 behind it. Station #1 was OK, but the jig that supports the stem was a bit short.
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The real mind bender was getting the transom support piece perfectly in place. Level, square, perfectly centered. Nothing worse than a lopsided transom! Plus, this piece had to be fastened in place in such a way that the fastenings could be easily reached from underneath since this piece and the last two station molds must be removed before the boat is popped off the form due to the tumblehome. The transom will be clamped to this piece.
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So, there we have it. The jig is ready to go. Next will be to clamp the stem in place and start shaping that.
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[Rich Jones]

If you look at the pieces of wood tacked to the top of the forms to stabilize them, you will notice that they dip downwards somewhat in the middle and go up again towards the stern. The boat has a bit of a concave designed into the bottom, the idea being that it will help get the boat up on plane easier. Seems to work. Either that or causes no problems that I've heard of.

I've stretched this boat from it's designed length of 15'6" to a full 16'. I simply added two inches in between the three aft stations. This will give me more room plus the added length in this area should further help with planing.

As boat building projects go, this one isn't too exciting. Rather straight forward and simple.
Many of these boats have been built but I've seen no building threads to document the procedure.
So, if this helps someone building one in the future, all is good. They can see all my mistakes and hopefully avoid them!!

[Breakaway]

They call that concavity, "hook," Rich.

Thanks for sharing.

Kevin

[timo4352]

You are really getting right into it.
Not wasting any time.
Good luck with the build.

[Rich Jones]

You are really getting right into it.
Not wasting any time.
Good luck with the build.

Thanks. I suppose I should slow down a bit but once I get going, it just consumes me. In these Covid times, I spend a lot of time at home so why not spend the time in my shop? I still go fishing a couple of days a week.

[Rich Jones]

After shopping for a new outboard motor this morning, I worked on the stem.
Rounded off the inboard end and rounded off the inside edges with a router.

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Next was to cobble together a couple of wood brackets to brace the stem in place.
Next step is to bevel the stem.

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[Rich Jones]

With a couple of hand tools and lots of elbow grease, the stem beveling begins.
Time spent with a sharpening stone pays off here.
Happiness is a sharp blade.

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[Rich Jones]

I fear I might be incurring the wrath of the Forum with this announcement:
I want to lower the sheerline from the bow to about 2/3 of the way down the length of the boat.
The boat is modeled after a typical high-bowed lobster boat. Towards the bow, the sheerline really swoops up there.
My issue is that the lakes I use have no docks at the launching ramps. You board your boat from the beach.
The bow is 3' high. Where I'd board the boat , it's about 30". That is doable for me but would be hard for my 5'0" wife. Plus, we're both quickly headed towards 70 years of age.
I want to lower the sheer 4" at the bow and follow a gentle curve where it would reunite with the original sheer 2/3 of the way down the boat. This would result in a boarding area 27" high instead of 30". It doesn't sound like much but it will be a big deal for my wife.
I've always thought the sheer was too high in the bow of this boat anyway. I've heard that some people can have problems seeing over the bow if they are steering from the seat height specified on the plans.
I drew the new line with a batten on the plans and it still looks sweet.
I'll know for sure once I slap on the first plank. We'll see how it goes.

[Rich Jones]

Here you can see the original sheerline and my proposed lowered one.
Attachment 67029

[Gib Etheridge]

No photo Rich.

Tearing right into it aren'tchya? I love that initial rush on a new build.

[Rich Jones]

Let's try again.
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[jtb]

it's your choice , but I would lower the sheer in the bow. On my jbls I do need to sit on a cushion for the best visibility. Also , wind can occasionally catch that area being on flukey mtn. lakes like you. I think the designed hook really works, the boat seemingly is always on plane, just moves nicely at all speeds. To me the sheer looks just as nice lowered, i would do it if i were to build another!

[Rich Jones]

^ Good to hear that from another builder of this boat.
I wasn't really thinking of the windage of that high bow.

[jtdums]

it's your choice , but I would lower the sheer in the bow. On my jbls I do need to sit on a cushion for the best visibility. Also , wind can occasionally catch that area being on flukey mtn. lakes like you. I think the designed hook really works, the boat seemingly is always on plane, just moves nicely at all speeds. To me the sheer looks just as nice lowered, i would do it if i were to build another!

I would agree here that reduced windage would be nice and I don't see any problem with lowering the sheer as you have drawn. I think the original was drawn this way to bring out the "lobster boat" heritage more than from a practical point of view. I board over the bow when I land on the beach to go hiking and re-entering can be tricky.

[jpatrick]

Rich, I think you ought to do whatever you want. There's nothing wrong with making the boat conform to your practical needs and since keeping the lines sweet are important, you're on the right track. To my eye, what you've drawn is good but, really, it's impossible to tell from the photo. You're the only one in a position to truly judge. Because to do that one has to view the drawing from different perspectives. It will help you judge if you do a tracing of the new lines without the old and all the distracting station lines. You may find that she'll look even better without sacrificing sea worthiness if you lower the entire shear just a tad. Don't be afraid to try it out on paper. What do you have to lose at this point?

One would think that as we age we'd learn how to better clamber onto and over objects, so it would get easier. And maybe we do. But the clamberer parts of the ol' bod just don't seem to keep up with the newfound knowledge!

Jeff

[cstevens]

My two cents... I like the idea of a lower bow but I wonder if you will have a flat spot between stations 4-5 as drawn? Might be worth lofting it and then redrawing the full-sized sheer with a batten to get it fair? (Which you may already be planning to do, in which case I will be silent and watch).

[Oldad]

I like Chris's idea, redraw the entire sheer, should not be a problem fro a gifted builder like yourself, Rich
That will make the sheer even sweeter IMHO...

[Rich Jones]

Thanks for the encouraging replies to my decision to mess with the sheerline.
I laid in out today the way I proposed and it looks good. Patience is the key.
I rolled it out into the double garage so I could see the boat at various angles. You can see the
little outriggers I screwed in place to support the plank as I went along. Once tacked in place, I'd study it from all angles. Raise it up a bit here, down a bit there. Walk away for a while, come back and look again. Tweak it a bit more then go and have lunch. Come back and look at it some more. No flat spots just a sweet curve all the way to the bow. Subtle at the stern and more pronounced as we go forward.

Planking in earnest will soon begin. I'll be using TitebondIII to glue the planks together except at the ends. For that I'll be using thickened epoxy (plus silicone bronze screws)to glue the plank to the stem and transom. I just bought some Thixo from Total Boat, a thickened epoxy in a caulking tube. It can mix itself in the baffled nozzle or you can skip the nozzle and just squirt a little bit out of the tip and mix it yourself, which I will be doing. I've never used it before, so should be an interesting experiment.

While the boat was out in the garage (can I now call it a boat?), I cleaned up the shop. It's now clean and relatively dust free, all tools put away.

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[Gib Etheridge]

That'll work. Are you going to leave the now extra bit of stem sticking up? Sometimes that looks cool, and if you put a bronze rod thru it it will give you something to tie a line to.

[Rich Jones]

That'll work. Are you going to leave the now extra bit of stem sticking up? Sometimes that looks cool, and if you put a bronze rod thru it it will give you something to tie a line to.

I'll give it some thought, but probably not.

[gypsie]

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I'm pretty sure thats not how you are meant to store life jackets.
You should chuck them in a corner thats damp and dusty where you won't see them, and will only realise you don't have them handy when you're at the ramp.

I could be wrong, i'll check the regs and get back to you.


Clean shed envy.....

[Christopher Morgan]

I fear I might be incurring the wrath of the Forum with this announcement:
My issue is that the lakes I use have no docks at the launching ramps. You board your boat from the beach.
The bow is 3' high. Where I'd board the boat , it's about 30".

When we board our similarly-sized skiff from the beach, it is always from the stern, and then just pole/paddle far enough from shore to lower the engine.

Of course that doesn't bear on the windage point, nor on the aesthetics of a less dramatic sheer.

[Rich Jones]

I'm pretty sure thats not how you are meant to store life jackets.
You should chuck them in a corner thats damp and dusty where you won't see them, and will only realise you don't have them handy when you're at the ramp.

I could be wrong, i'll check the regs and get back to you.


Clean shed envy.....

I was scratching my head for a minute trying to figure out your post but then realized you were mistaking my snowshoes on the wall for life jackets.
Life jackets are always kept on board my other boats in lockers.
Snowshoes will be needed in a few short months!
I do try to keep that garage clean. It's my shop that is usually a disaster zone.

[Rich Jones]

The planking is underway. I do seven strips per side, going back and forth. The theory being that I don't put too much twisting stress on the building jig by planking too much on one side.
Planks are held by drywall screws with fender washers so screw heads don't crush the wood. Staples are used to help hold the planks while the TitebondIII cures. The staples serve two purposes. One, they hold the planks together and, two, they help hold the planks flush to each other. The ends of the planks have a little dab of thickened epoxy and a silicone bronze screw to hold to the stem and transom.
Staples are removed with a staple puller available at any stationary store. This type just slips under the staple and prys off without damaging the wood.
A lot of this info is kind of boring but might be of some use to others who haven't been introduced to it.

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