Fletch's 14 skiff build- The Montgomery Ward (Turd)

[Fletch170]

Hey all, been a while since I've been on here, but I've been out enjoying the last build! So, I've always wanted to build a little skiff for fresh water fun, and calm days on the back bays in Jersey. Took me a while to find one of these hulls, which is another one of the molds that was passed around like a drunk college girl between Johnsen, Mitchell, Logan Etc. They just don't exist up here in the northeast.....everything is aluminium, which is no Bueno for salt use.  Found this Montgomery Ward 14.6 Sea King right around the corner. The guy bought it and never used it. I traded a 1970 6HP Johnnyrude for it, boat and trailer have a title. For me, this was gold, as I had about $125 bucks into the motor. The real awesome thing about this build, is that I have almost everything I need from leftovers from the last 2 builds.....so, heck yea?

So is it currently a huge pile of crap? Absolutely. But I only needed a donor hull. Everything is getting gutted. Also, I have a 20hp Johnson I picked up for $40 bucks, and have it all serviced and ready to rock. Just doing some painting now to make it look halfway decent.

The plans:

Remove the bench seating
Build a stringer system
Rebuild the transom, and beef it up
Build a front and rear casting deck.
Place the fuel tank in the bow to get the weight balanced
At midships, a grab bar and a cooler.

Here are some pictures on day 1.

[Fletch170]

Got a break in the extremely cold temps today, and took an hour to tear into it. Here is where the hilarity ensues.

I pulled the transom out in 10 minutes with my hands and a screwdriver.

Guys, someone rebuilt the transom with 1/2 inch paired pieces of plywood...which is fine. What is NOT FINE is using wood glue marry the 2 pieces. Instead of using Finerglass Matt, they used Bondo and Window screen to "glass in" the new transom core, which, was NOT tied into the hull sides. Had the prior owner actually used it, the damn motor would have fallen off. No hyperbole here, the motor would have ripped the transom off.

Also, there is ZERO foam in the boat, which you would have thought the rear bench would have had some.......but nope, none.

Got the old rubrail and other crap off as well too.

[Fletch170]

A shot of the transom core removed:

[Capt. Bob]

Welcome back Fletch.

The snow is a nice touch. Can't say I recall a rebuild thread showing just as much white stuff that wasn't ground fiberglass.

This should be interesting.

Good luck.