BigSilverCat

The shark fin starting to take shape.

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skate

Nice umbrella!

I considered a Bimini but was afraid my Skater Brother card would be pulled.

My idea was to have a custom folding SS tube frame be made to fit inside the upper edge of the windshield then attach it with a pin to the center windshield support frame. Of course it would have to be high enough to clear your head but could angle up from the windshield. That would give you sun protection and hold up much better than the fold style with straps running forward. I have huge one on a deck boat that holds up to 60 MPH speeds fully deployed.

BigSilverCat

The boat in primer with guide coat being sanded.

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BigSilverCat

Elmers glue.... Actually they hot glue the pieces in place then fiberglass them together.

Most high performance boat builders do not have skilled craftsmen that can do this kind of work. They just lay up a mold and pop it out, and they all look the same. Pretty much all skaters look different from each other because they are hand built.

greenmonster383

An idea for additional drainage for the cockpit area, in flats boats with the water line higher than the deck height the use of a clam shell covering the opening on the exterior and a removable plug for the interior. The clam shell doesn't allow water to flow in the opening as long as the boat in moving forward ex. up to 5mph and above 5mph roughly it creates suction to help aid pulling water out of the cockpit. When coming to a stop the removable plug can be installed to prevent back flow into the cockpit.

1MOSES1

Fishing boats with open cockpits use scuppers. Clam shell with a ping pong ball inside. When sitting idle the ball floats creating a seal. When under way it drops out of the shell and allows drainage.

NASCAT

I reread post 1 if I'm not mistaken the boat is actually very near completion so many of the idea's or suggestions readers may have at this point would not be able to be implemented if the boat is much further along than the condition the pictures posted depict.
I understand you are documenting the entire build, all the planning, organizing & details that have gone into the build / design to get it to this point but how far along are you actually. Not asking you to fast forward the thread just provide us with an idea of how or where we might actually be able to contribute.

111scoundrel

What a great build!!! Thank you for sharing what it takes to put together an incredible creation. Keep sharing the pictures and good luck!

NASCAT

With regard to keeping water out of the cockpit from weather or sea conditions why couldn't there be a zippered in cockpit skirt that at least keeps the majority of the unwanted water out. I know it can't fit like a kayak and your ability to move around in the cockpit is also paramount but I would think if the zipper hem was permanently affixed to the interior top edge of the cockpit opening you'd keep the unwanted water out + your gear & supplies drier w/o inhibiting mobility.

Was the question about how you guys will catch your ZZzz's ever answered? Traditionally Skaters don't have cabins or even under dash space (like a DCB) but I'd think a 50' cat would be able to accommodate some spacious protected area if you figured it into your over all build.

BigSilverCat

Yes the boat is almost complete, on your earlier question. I am trying to show people a chronological time line of building it. I would post more pictures each night to move it along faster but they somehow got knocked out of order on my phone and I have 40,000 pictures in my phone. So it takes me around 3 hours each night to dig through the pics and find some to put in order, then email to my self to get onto computer, then make a post and the pictures end up upside down so I have to edit the picture and redo the post to make it right. Even tho the boat is almost complete I still welcome any ideas or suggestions because we can always go back and change stuff. When its done and were out testing it I'm sure we will find things we want to change.

I know there are a lot of different ways we could have done cockpit drains, we looked at doing it everyway anyone has suggested so far but what we have is guaranteed open when we want it open and guaranteed watertight when we want it closed.

We need to be able to move around easily in the cockpit, which is why its not canopied. And we are going to use the boat as a pleasure boat going to poker runs. All of our safety gear will be in coolers that will keep them dry and float if the boat sinks.

On sleeping, when we do the around the world run we will have to stop basically once a day for fuel. We will have a pit crew in a jet flying ahead of us to most of the stops and getting stuff ready so when we arrive they can start putting fuel in the boat and checking over all the stuff. Tightening bolts, checking or changing oil, replenishing supplies, using a camera on a pole to look under the bottom for damage or cracks, changing props according to how long our next leg is and weather conditions, ect. And while they are doing all that which will take a few hours we will be sleeping. Then when its done wake us up and off we will go to the next stop. We will have a few big bean bags on the boat that we can sleep on if we need to.