Friday, July 11, 2014

More flats boat photos from 1982 -86

You can click on the photos to make them full size.


These boats were built in the Florida Keys in Islamorada , and Key largo.
Bert Sherbs 17 Mako Remake
Bert's boat. Boy did they make ugly towers back then.
 Mako remake plug ,waiting for mold gelcoat to cure befor laminating.
Mako remake at Bayside Inn which is now the Bass Pro extravaganza in Islamorada. 
Carl Navarrea's skiff in my new shop Back Bay Boats in Tavenier Key largo 1985.
Flipping over Hal Chittums Mako experimental after painting. You can see the stringers printing tru the bottom because they are made of wood.
See the boat really was called the Mako experimental.
Glassing in the boxes, look at how narrow the hatch channels were. They had 1/4 in copper tubbing for draining so a real nightmare.
Stern view of Hal's skiff, you can see all the glassed over plywood.
Glassing in the sheer overhang with more plywood. This boat weighed a ton and I know that Hal even at that time in his life at 31 knew that if there was a better way he wanted to be part of it.
Inside shot of the cored Sea Craft I built for Dick Negley. This was another boat where I bought a finished boat on a trailer for 800.00 dollars and gutted the boat down to the bare skin. Dick had a lot of good ideas for this boat which was a great project and a great guy to work for. 
Dicks Sea Craft had a 100 gallon fuel tank under the console which could all be removed , the boat had three live wells, a 235 Johnson on the stern with a jack plate toe kick and a full transom across the stern. Because we saved so much weight with the build it could carry a lot of stuff , go fast and shallow for the places he fished in Texas and the Gulf. It is till owned by his friend Dev. This is 1983, the two Mako remakes and this skiff took Lawanda and I 12 months to finish at a set price and time frame.
Bow of Sea Craft
Dick Negly's scooter boat being planked up
 Hull skin on temporary framing ready for outer skin.
My little wedge tunnel for the 200 Merc that was fitted with a jet drive.
Pretty simple boat.
Inside showing stringers going in with Uni S- glass. Any boat that has Kevlar on the inside is wasting your money. E - glass done right will do just great, s- glass is only a little less stiffer than Carbon but a whole lot less in cost. Carbon is great in certain areas and if you have deep pockets then it's the go to material for certain projects. All these boats were built using Dion resin which is a polyester and all these boats are still going strong.
Lawanda next to the first half of the skin coat using Kevlar on the out side. The day that Dick first launched the boat he ran over a steel pipe sticking out of the bottom and all you could see was a slight scratch.
Testing the bottom 
Flipped over working on the insides. I will post pictures of this boat fishing when I find the photos.
Our shop Back Bay Boats next to the Tavernier Health Dept. It is an auto body shop now.
Before getting into flats boats I built sailboats, this a boat for Lawanda and I being built next to the Sea Lark building which is now Bass world. 1982
Lawanda and I going out in our Bahamian catboat to set some Lobster habitats . We ate a lot of lobster back then as they were everywhere. This is 1982
We all raced in the afternoons off what is now the Lorrilie resturant. No one was there in 1982. I built these three cats.
Myself and Dave Calvert at Bayside Inn with my new  sailboat hull which I have just built and am moving here to fishing building. Dave was a sailmaker there and went on to help Steve Fosset break the North Atlantic crossing record on Playstation. Little did we know the fun we were going to have down the road from this day in 1980.
One of many little dorys I would build in an evening. 
A 2 part folding row boat I built in an attic in the Bahamas. The boat had to fit through the window.
 I do not know if World Wide Sportsmen tore these down at their place in Islamorada. This was one of many projects that Ray Dye had me do while I worked there .
 So a few more shots from the past. Sure wish I still had the energy I had then.
More to come.




























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