Bottoms Up 23 Build

[Kraken]

Thanks Don. I’m looking at almost the same setup. Zuke with a 25” shaft. Also wonder if it porpoises. I’m moving as much weight forward as I can. Thought about putting a water tank under the casting deck.

[ohreally]

Plastic tanks are a no-go for other reasons as well I've found out over the years. My 23 will have an aluminum tank meticulously installed and protected. Best of luck with your rebuild. May it be the second love of your life.

Plastic will (poly) absorb all kinds of moisture, alcohol, solvents etc. and will eventually structurally fail because of the force of 100 gallons of fuel crashing around the cell over the years. They will crack, and plastic opens up big-time without warning. They don't leak like aluminum or steel tanks - they bust open.

[Kraken]

I’m back at it. The temperature has dropped and I have a goal to get to paint in January. I have the bilges gelcoated along with the insulated fish boxes. All the transom holes and voids have been filled. The vent holes in the gunnels have been filled. I’m starting to install the fuel tanks. I have the lines run. Was really tight running two sets of hoses but I managed. Just need to get the fuel restraint brackets bolted in. Next up will be to add lights to the fish boxes.

I messed the deck up a little by not using enough resin in the first layer . I left small air bubbles under the duratec. They are the size of a BB or smaller. Found them when pressure washing. I’m planning on pulling the deck out and hitting it good with the pressure washer to expose the voids then fill them with fairing compound and sanding. Hope it works. I don’t want any opening up after finish painting. I also need to find time to work on the deck hatches and receiver lips.

I cleaned up and pulled her out of her tent into the sun for the first time in a year. Took her to a local shop to talk about having some fairing and painting done. I put the front edge of the center console 10” in front of the fuel chases. The leaning post has a 16” gap. Should move the CG forward some and opens up the transom for fishing and diving fun. Looks good.

I’m looking for a bracket. Armstrong is pricey at $3700, A & J quoted $2900. Still looking. I’m most concerned about the finish or powder coating coming off. Does anyone have suggestions. Looking for a 30” setback 12 deg, 80” platform with a floatation chamber.

[Old'sCool]

Stoner Boatworks is building glass ones.

[Kraken]

A lot of work has been done. It’s hard to balance work family and boat. It will be better when I can combine family and boat for a few fun keys trips. Maybe swordfish?

I finished installing the tanks and fuel lines. The deck is bonded down! We used Arjay vinylester bonding compound. A good bead around the lip of the old deck and a 6” wide glob down the middle of each stringer. I had a friend help. He went down the port side, starting at the bow. I did the starboard side. The 5 gallons of Arjay bonding compound was split into two buckets and mixed with a drill. We only used 4 gallons. The rest was wasted. The deck is rock solid. Need to add tabbing but waiting to finish the transom and do it all at once.

[DonV]

Good move on the Arjay! Nothing to worry about as far as anything coming apart!!

[Kraken]

Now starting on the transom cap. I want to have a 40 gallon live well in the middle and two hatches that hold 5 gallon buckets on the sides. There is a 2 1/2” curve to the top.

I started by making a template of the cap out of foam. I’m going to try to do this in one piece out of a mold. I used 2x8’s and melonine to create the curve. The scrap melonine was used to create the sides and slight curve in the rear wall. Modeling clay a made the radius in the corners. I ran a small socket across them to get them smooth. The live well and hatch forms are mdf that has been sprayed with duratec primer and sanded. Here is a pic of the partial assembly.

My plan is to paint in two layers of gelcoat and layin two layers of 1 1/2 oz mat then two layers of 1708. I’ll add scrap cossa as reinforcements then one more layer of 1708.

I’ll mold up the live well also the same way then glass it in. I hope everything fits. I measured three times.

[castnetcracker]

the layup schedule for your stern cap will be rock solid. I did the same but with Divinycel H80 and it was plenty.

[Kraken]

I laid up two hatches as a learning process before tackling the big job. The layup is rock solid and the hatches fit great.

Today my son helped with the transom cap layup. We started spraying partall mold release. Then painted two coats of gelcoat. With all the small cavities the layup was hard. Hope we got all the air out. Two layers of csm and two of 1708. Took all day. Glad I had help. Also took 3 gallons of vinylester resin.

Tomorrow we will add the final layer of 1708 over the cossa reinforced. Then we can pop it and see how we did.

[Kraken]

I popped the transom cap. It released from most of the mold but got hung up on the bucket plugs. I had to destroy them. There are a few blemishes that will need fixing. I did the entire layup as a continuous wet layup. I think that adding the 1708 over the wet csm caused the issue. If I were to do it again, I’d let the csm kick before adding additional layers. Overall not a bad part and should save me time.