Building A New Raised Center Console And Leaning Post!! [[ Carolina Skiff Rebuild Part 5 ]]

It is finally time to get started on the part of this skiff rebuild I am most excited about. Building the new center console. There was nothing wrong with the one I removed, but I want bigger and better. Mainly a way to hide the fuel tank. While at the same time creating more storage. The way the skiff was originally. There was only storage in the seat and below the front deck.
If you are like me. When I go fishing I bring everything I may need to catch every fish in the world. I am a strong believer in bringing tackle to catch different species. You never know when a plan is not going to work out. You have to have the gear to change gears. I think I may even put that on a shirt one day. I often would spend a hour loading the boat with gear and tackle. It would be amazing to have enough storage to keep it on the boat all the time, but that's a lot of space. Just safety equipment takes up a large compartment. I always keep four of five life vest in the boat at all times. After the thousandth time turning around on the way to the lake because I forgot them. They now never leave the boat.
Singe 1996 this skiff has had about the same layout. Two different center consoles over the years. Both having about about the same design. Always built around the gas tank centered in the boat. This made the entire center console about useless for storage. Even if it were bigger you cant store batteries with gas tanks. This has always been a issue. For a few years the batteries stayed in plastic batterie boxes in the back. They would always be in the way and put a lot of weight in the back. For the last 12 years they have been moved to under the front deck. This worked much better, but it was just to much weight in the bow. The boat ran great with this extra weight in the bow. It really helped in keeping the bow down. When you were sitting still though. You could tell the bow was lower than the stern. I plan to make provisions to keep the batteries centered in the boat. Hopefully improving the water line and ride.
This will be my first go at building a console. There is going to be a lot of figuring and foo bars. In the end I just hope it turns out as good as i have it pictured in my head. If so this is going to be a game changer for this old Carolina Skiff! Thank you for taking the time to read and watch the video. I hope you enjoy it and please subscribe!

[@smacktalk2753]

It's just glass, the best thing is you can fix any mistake. Keep up the good work bud!!!

[@FishHuntCookTinker]

You are correct and I definitely have. I never did much glass work at all before I started this project. I like working with it now. I haven’t run into any thing a sander and more glass can’t fix. I especially like it more since I got a 21” belt sander. Thank you for watching and I appreciate the encouragement.

[@smacktalk2753]

@@FishHuntCookTinker I've never worked with it much, as soon as baseball season is over for my boys I'm gonna start my rebuild. I'm down to stringers, gonna cut em out, add a layer of biaxial or 1708 to the hull and run stringers lentghwise. I love how the routed edges turned out. Keep up the good work!!!

[@FishHuntCookTinker]

I definitely would put another layer on the hull if I was going to run the strings length wise. Probably two. My hull is thin. Where it sat on the bunks it made a big dent. Idk if you have fiberglass yet, but I found a good deal on 17 oz biaxial. I’m about 1/2 way down the roll and so far it’s been free of defects. I’ll add the link. fiberglasssite.com/biaxial-mat-1700-30/

[@smacktalk2753]

Thanks again. Not sure how far east you are but it sounds and looks like the Carolinas.

[@antfarmmining7824]

Your doing a great job

[@FishHuntCookTinker]

Thank you for all your comments and encouragement! I really appreciate it!

[@thomaskladar4464]

Not sure why you lay up full glass over plywood? I can see glassing the inside corners but with half inch plywood you have plenty of strength. If you dado your joints you can increase your surface area for adhesive and also help with layup.

[@FishHuntCookTinker]

I wanted to be able to jump up and down on the top, fall into it multiple times, and anything else that may cause it damage. The last thing I would ever want is for something to happen and it come apart. I understand it’s probably overkill, but I feel good about it. Dado joints would have been a good addition. Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@antfarmmining7824]

That epoxy is stronger than the wood , butt joints will break the wood and not the epoxy joint

[@KillaCowboy]

Use a light chop strand mat next time to do the skin coat it forms much easier

[@FishHuntCookTinker]

That is a good idea. I thought about it, but just wasn’t sure how it would turn out. I also was trying to save as much weight as I could. In hindsight I probably should have. Thank you for the suggestion and for watching!

[@KillaCowboy]

@@FishHuntCookTinker using a light chop strand would've been similar weight and much easier to deal with because you could tear it in small pieces and make it form to whatever shape you want. But you know what to do for sure next time!

[@DunkADoodlesReviews]

Do you still have that old console?

[@scottsmo7715]

Are you going to gel coat the counsel ??

[@FishHuntCookTinker]

Yes, I am going to gel coat everything for the most part. With the exception of the inside of the console maybe. That may be hard to wash with dawn to get any blush off. Thank you for watching!

[@bipedalhominid6815]

You couldve just painted the inside with epoxy instead of glassing it. The glass on the outside should be good enough for strength.

[@FishHuntCookTinker]

I thought about that, but was a little afraid it wouldn’t be strong enough. I wanted everything to be as strong as possible being raised up.