Building a boat

Having a boat built.... guess i'm to picky and wasn't satisfied with any production boat. If you have idea's about what makes the perfect boat, please share them. Of course I have my ideas and they are already about 50% complete on the project but i'd sure hate to miss that one "MUST HAVE" design element in the build. Gonna be chasing crappie off the front and catfish out the back. Love to hear from other fisherman!! Currently working with a 22' length, 80" floor, 30" side height, forward dual console with walk thru windshield, 125 gallon stern livewell and 35 gallon front livewell. Tell me what i'm missing.

One thing I do not have figured out is interior lights. Thinking waterproof strip LED's. Any suggestions on brand and how many feet of LED strip i need to light it up? I'm open to other lighting options. Tell me what ya think.

Super Cool! Nick Goodman had one made. It has been about 2011 (June 2011 CTC Kids Catfish Tourney at Running Branch Marina on Lake Limestone), but as I recall, it was a flat bottom. His brother Jody was over CTC (Central Texas Cafish). I forget the length,. but he built the walls (side & rest of the boat) higher than normal. I guess to escape high waves better. As he was having it built, he had plans to rob his motor off his other boat. Many said it would not run as fast & be much slower, as this one might be nicknamed more of a "barge". However, after putting it all together, the rumors were quelled as it outperformed what others had thought.

OK, as to me, my hints or suggestions ...

If you might run set lines, at all, if right handed, set up the starboard (right) side for that. If left handed, then Port (left side). They would include strategic cleats to assist, in the front on that side (1) and 2 along the side of running them.

For Dip Nets & gaffs, plus 4# sledge Hammer, I assemble some concoction of Schedule 40 PVC Tees or Sweeping Tees (1 1/2"), so I can stab the dipnets, etc. into them & have them standing & easy to grab the appropriate one. I have 5 different nets I use, 3 gaffs & 1 hammer. You could also have them made with tubular aluminum I guess. But they do make it handy & easy for grabbing the appropriate tool for the fish at hand.

Top. If you have not thought about it, you can make some sort of sturdy roof squared "U" frames that mount on each side & swing up. Along with some sort of lock bar or pin. As to what type of material or canopy, there are many options. Due to the many variables along the pathway, as well as the sun's destructive rays, I found it easiest to just use the cheaper tarps & replace as needed. You can get one custom made, but one bad "hit" can rip it fast. You could get it made with snaps for easy attach & distatch. You could even make the squared "U"s to take off with a pin, to place out of your way if not wanted or needed. I can tell you this, in some nasty weather, it makes the fishing trip much more pleasurable.

On the front end, I find that mounting a few treated boards up there help to cushion accidental front end disasters. They can be at level, below, or above depending on the situations to be encountered.

Similar to the dipnets holders, I a also going to be making a dispenser for fish tools, such as certain hook liers, measuring sticks, and such. Sort of like a bucket with slots for the tools to go in like the dipnets do, so I can see the end & know which to grab easily. The proper tool grabbed fast enough can make all the difference. If you want to get fancy, you could make it Lazy Susan style- on a swivel rotating base. Or perhaps set on a swing arm that you could bring near you when needed & out of the way when needed closer.

Also, my boss, made a mount to go over his motor, to place one ice chest in, to get out of his way on the deck, if the spare room is needed. I think that wason his previous boat.

That's it for now.

Very cool! May I ask who is doing the work? I've been thinking about something like this for a while.

Nice

I was wondering who was doing the build as well. It looks like exactly what I've been wanting. If you throw a castnet a lot have them make the front deck where it drains so you don't have Shad slime running all over the boat. Wash down pump is also something nice to think about in a catboat. What gauge material are you using?

A company near Peoria IL, AAD Custom Welding and Boats. They have a FB page and they post as they progress through the build. They have a ton of pics in the Photos section of their page. Its full on custom, you design the hull and the whole lot. I gave them a drawing with everything laid out to the inch. Pretty scary, I was about a year researching builders, then paying a lot of attention to other boats i'm around, finally resulted in an order of what I consider a hybrid containing all the things i like about several different boats. The bottom of the hull and the transom are 3/16" thick and the sides are 1/8". For comparison a SeaArk is 1/8" everywhere, so just a little heavier built. They are booked for about a year right now, so if you decide you wanna go their way, you have time to do your research.

1 of them good air ride kinda seats on the passenger side so I am fresh when we get to the spot when you take me out ! Keep on posting with the updates !

Awesome post. Would love to see the finished product!

Nice!! What engine you gonna put on it?

Great project. i would Insulate the livewells if possible.

Fourstroke 225 Mercury

trlrman..... should i go ahead with a mini fridge and light snack bar near your air ride pedistal to keep you comfortable as we chauffeur round the lake? I do look forward to a trip with you on the new ride!!

A place to crawl my big self back into the boat, also hang the motor and talon anchors.

That is so cool. Only one thing better is to say you built it yourself but that takes some serious time and skills!! Cant wait to see finished product. Hope she is everything you dreamed her to be.

That would be awesome ! I have grown partial to the heated seat in my truck ,can we make that happen also along with magic fingers massage ? LOL

Nice! I've been following this guy in Alabama on his aluminum boat build.

aldeer.com

Made the 1,142 mile round trip (long drive) to see the build in progress for the first time. Made the final additions and adjustments. Had the windshield laid up on supports to get an idea of how it will look and to figure some other important measurements. Should see some pics mid week with consoles built and windshield installed. They had a good start on the trailer. Looking like completion around end of the month. (Windshield will be raised a bit and centered) It's a little bigger in person than I expected. Dropped off sonar units, interior lights and some networking items... electrician can put his 40+ hours into the boat in the coming weeks!

Wow!!!! That is one heck of a nice boat build!!!!!

I can't wait to see the completed build and the price tag.

Great start. I would like to know the know the build price. I am sure it will be sharp when done.. The one thing that I wish I had more of is dry storage.

Electrical...

Your new ride is looking sweet pardner!!! And it will be cool to see the finished product. If you can, call em up real quick like though and tell em to please take the extra time and run the electrical nice if they can...

Running all the electrical nice can be a little bit more work but taking the time will be worth it in the long run. I just got thru guttin out all the old electrical on my rig and totally rewired it. It use to be such a mess and it would take forever to figure out problems whenever there was one. It was a huge eye sore. I also got tired of the wires always being in the way whenever I tried to put sumpin in or get sumpin outta the console. I installed all new switches and mounted new bus bars and fuses where they’re easy to get to and check. Also ran all the wires around the contour of the console instead of right down the middle and wala... no more mess!!! It’s so beautiful now, I just wanna make some sweet sweet love to it like good Ole Serjy said!!!!!

It went from this...


To this...

Tell em No breaks baby Noooooooooooooooooo Breaks!!!!!

I'm sure you already guessed, but it's not the cheapest option available. I ordered a 22ft boat, then added an 18" swim deck/float pod off the back, then they dont count the front portion of the "V"... about 2ft. I was expecting overall length without a motor to be nearly 25ft but it has landed at 26ft, its a lot to tow and stow. Cost of the build, Boat, motor, trailer, dual consoles, windshield, 2 seats and 4 bases, livewells....basically everything except the extra electronics I have added landed at 41,528.25. Pretty comparable to a new seaark procat 240 in terms of cost. Once the sonars, talon anchors, trolling motor and few other small additions are added, I dont even plan to tell my wife the amount of money we will be riding around the lake, just feels bad to say the number.

Don't forget cup holders!

Snarff You need to come and do my boat!!!..lol!!!!...Mine is a big ole mess under the console!!

Consoles built today. Also a shelf running down the interior of the boat near the floor, kind of hard to see it in the pic. Can see in one of the pics where the pop up anchor cleats will live.

Windshield found its home. Better look at the shelf running down the inside of the boat as well as the consoles and dry storage/step going to the front deck. Haven't seen many pics myself, they have been running wiring.

that will be a beautiful boat once completed. The price is not bad compared to others I have seen and what you are getting is very good.

hope you enjoy it for years to come

Sitting on the trailer makes it seem closer to being done. Wiring and interior finish work should be done this week. Be waiting on the motor then.

Rubber flooring went in a while back. Everything is sitting on GO....but it wont go! Waiting on a motor. Hopefully it comes in soon. Hoping the next update will be pics of the finished product. Maybe ill wait til I can boat a few "Box Fish" for pics.

It's done! Heading to get it tomorrow. Only thing to do is install the rod holders and plug in the Lowrance units when i get it home.

Builder posted a short video of the test run today. Ready to get some slime in it.

https://www.facebook.com/613361442055456/videos/1740210392703883/

What's its name?

Lot of names have been floated at it... close race between Sea Donkey and Sea Monster right now, lol. No real serious though about a name. If anyone has suggestions, post em up! May put a name on it sometime, Wife has had her eye one some graphics that a local guy makes, if we do graphics, ill probably have to sticker a name on it!

Thanks for taking us along through this build! I love to see quality craftsmanship! Good stuff! I hope that rig catches lots of fish!

Better put some throw rugs in the floor , it's too purdy to be getting dirty !! CONGRAT'S !!!

Absolutely Love it!!!.... I am curious to know, why you chose an outboard motor?...I would have explored other propulsion options that would allow you to run shallow or through timber... congratulations on an awesome boat and a dream come true.

Very nice rig!!

DUUUDE ! You, and your wife did a great job putting what you wanted on paper,and from someone who has spent
50 years in metal fab and welding ,this shop does great work.

Wow! What a boat!

Thanks, and YES, the guys at AAD do good work. They build it how you ask. I like trolling their page to see what they are building, almost every boat they build, i see something that stands out or I've never seen before. Had it out a few times now, got half the break-in done on the motor. Finally got all the electronics dialed in and everything in sync. About 5 more hours engine time and ill be free to use and abuse. Waiting on a different prop, it is under propped, can't make it to 3/4 throttle without hitting the rev limiter. I'm ready to see how it handles when i get the correct prop on it. Trimmed out, using a little under 3/4 of the throttle handle and holding just a tick under 6k rpm it runs 41.6mph. Not sure what it will do when its right and tight but expecting something toward 50 mph... be more than i need.

Thanks to all who followed along on the build. I'll drag it down to TX next winter and chase the catfish, shout at me if you catch me on the lake.

Excellent thread hope you have happy cat fishing from the new rig

Wow! thats a nice boat and a ton of work! I am picky too but I instead bought a 2472 MV seaark hull and customized it from there and still took about 3 months of constant work.

The only thing I do not like is it can be a wet ride. I'm wanting to upgrade my 90 hp honda to a 150 honda for more speed plus lift the front out of the water more and cause the splash to be further behind me rather than hit me on windy days lol.

As far as interior lights, do not buy light strips off of Amazon....they suck! Went through several and several brands on Amazon trying to put light on outside of boat as well as inside and they burn out and short out easily even though they are "water proof" and "marine grade". Academy sells about 2.5 feet strips that are durable and have never let me down. I have had them on my boat for a year a half with not one trouble. Make sure to buy double sided automotive tape to secure them! Here is the link below:

https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/ma...ting-kit-110590021#repChildCatid=4152553


Heres a video of my boat! One thing I want to point out is I used angle iron and put that over the front and back deck so it created a cavity to hide my interior lights and give the boat a nice glow. I also have some automotive quick connects every 4 feet in the caprail to set out exterior lights or small flood lights for fishing. I also put 8 inch white lights on front and back of CC with convenient toggle switches as working lights at night.

I also put lights and toggle switches in the storage areas so I could lift up the doors and turn a toggle switch in the corner to light up the storage area.