'73 23cc restoration

[riprunner]

Agreed, August is the month I spend the most on fuel to get to where the fish are.

[downeast25]

great piks cant wait to see the finished product.

[natchalkley]

so here is my most recent work:
the transom cap went on. it is 2 layers of 3/8 ply with biaxle inbetween. that has been tabbed in on the bottom to the 4 supports seen in the picture. I cut the top cap straight back on the inside. inbetween these 2 sides there is another layer of 1/4" with biaxle on it. the sides will be screwed down and caukled. I have toyed with the idea of putting Ipe across the top of the cap in the transom. the bulkhead for the front of the cap is all glassed on both sides and ready to be installed.
as you can see the deck is also in. I have not finished glassing in the sides yet. I am going to fill the channels on the sides with koma and glass over those.
I also was able to put some bottom paint on the hull. I went with white Petit Vivid free. 2 coats did a great job covering the black paint from before.

I have also milled, built and installed the 3 inside frames of the windows. the inside are vg fir and the outside are ipe mahogany. I dont have pictures at this time, but will get them and post them soon.

[KenB]

Thats a pretty nice leaning post! This thing has come a long way. Looks great.

[natchalkley]

So the boat finally went in the water a few weeks ago. Its not totally finished (still needs a bit of paint), but its in the water and it is catching fish.

Ill start with the windows. the windows I had cut by a local glass shop here in town. they are 3/8" lexan that are sandwiched between the vertical grain fir on the inside and Ipe mahogany on the outside. the frames are all biscuit jointed with west epoxy.
the inside frames were epoxied to the inside of the doghouse and the outside were countersunk and screwed. everything was sealed with clear silicone.
then I put the bulkhead and coming boards across the transom. no pictures at this point but coming soon.
next came the bracket, standard stainless marine bracket with no platform. my buddies Gray and Eric came over to help me install it. All holes were drilled, epoxied and redrilled.
I put glass down on the deck and started painting. first came the transom and doghouse. I used an interlux hatteras off-white.
I used petit easypoxy offwhite for all the interior in order to match what was there before.

Next came the engine: suzuki 250. the first prop that went on was a 15.5x17. this had way too much torque and it would hit 5800 rpms at only 2/3 throttle. they got me a 16x20 and it is awesome. It planes at 3400 at about 21 kts and tops out at 5800 doin 40 kts .
first tuna trip:

[thehermit]

Nat,

The boat looks great...and Tuna blood on the deck already...at a boy....Did I see this boat coming in the Chatham Inlet 2 weeks ago? Annie P right? I was in my green skiff heading to the rip for the mid day tide. I am pretty sure Annie P was on the way in with a full compliment of Tuna gear aboard...anyways...sweet rig....catch em up!

[natchalkley]

that was me. we went 1 for 4 that day. few short strikes on bait, and that one fish on a bar. we ran her pretty hard that day: pushing 5000 rpms(32kts) in and out and she performed beautifully. ate up the chop in the morning and pulls a nice wake at trolling speed. needs outriggers though.

[Bigshrimpin]

Hey . . . Way to go!!! Just in time for commercial bass PM me . . . I have my boat over in cataumet. I have a Rev4 19P prop if you want to try it out . . . I've been dying to see what it'd do on a 23 with a bracket and a 250 (making future plans)

[Billybob]

The boat's looking good, Nat.

[Snookerd]

Nat-
Nice job. Great to see the boat staying in the CSC family . That 250 is sweet. Keep the pix coming......