The original SILVER KING SKIFF inspiration.

Rachel and I motor up a small creek here in Islamorada on a daily basis to get groceries at the only extreamly over priced small store in town. Islamorada is a total tourist town. The prices here are worse than any where we have been through out the Caribbean Sea and Europe on our sailing adventures.

We pass by Carribee boat barn each time. 

The other evening I looked up as we were going by in our skiff.

They were closed, "I said , Rachel I built that skiff for sure"!

The next morning I was there when they opened up. Sure enough she was my Second flats skiff build I did at the age of 24 years old.

This is the skiff that I feel inspired the people who created the SILVER KING line of skiffs used for their line of skiffs.

The project was for me to redesign and hopefully add some improvements into a MAKO 17' skiffs hull design. I added 1" to the stern, two pairs of lifting strakes in the bottom to help stop the sliding and give better lift ,sharpened the Chines and added a nice flange to the new sheer height.

Not too much.

Then I designed two different deck interiors. This one had a Baitwell in the middle.

My client was Bert Sherb. Turns out Bert still owns this skiff and it's all in original condition with only the engines having been replaced. Even the rigging is original. Nice to have clients that take care of their skiffs. I had not seen her for over 30 years.

What fun to look back to my youth.

Enjoy looking at what at the time was one of two of the only composite cored skiffs built to date in 1983. This was a high tech skiff at the time. 

Seeing her in the evening light. They have alarms everywhere so we just looked.

 My late ex wife LaWanda and I carrying this skiffs bare hull into our shop in Key largo at the time.

The hull was a solid skin and all the rest was in core. This would change in 3 more skiffs when I built Carl Naverres skiff in all core.

This is the deck for this skiff built one off on my floor jig.

   

 

Console is built up of panels, glassed together and then faired and painted.

Fuel tank is a glassed in fiberglass one in perfect shape.

Nice hatch fits here. All hatches built by hand one at a time.

The tubing is for the gas line and bow light.

Not a crack in the transom

Baitwell, old school.

Same Awlgrip paint job. Same hardware.

This skiff will out live me for sure.

Take care girl