JEM Watercraft

absolutely beautiful!

Thanks Les. We have put a lot of hours into them. My posting has been running way behind my building. They are actually getting close to being finished.

Bottoms painted.



Time to cut some more holes in them. I used the Bosch blades that Matt mentioned in his Stanley build. They are the best jig saw blades I have ever used.







I think I will be able to see what is in the hatches. The white paint is not really as bright as it looks in this picture.



I am scuffing the varnish between coats with Scotch Brite pads. I got tired of doing it by hand and decided to use my sander. The pads stick good to the hook and loop disc on the sander. It works good but messes up the hooks on the sander pad. I bought a Harbor Freight sander to finish with. The complete sander costs less than $20.00 with a 20% off coupon. That's about the same as a replacement hook and loop pad for the Dewalt.



Here's where both boats are now. Studs installed for foot braces, adjustable seat mounts in place, four coats of spar varnish. I don't really like the high gloss of the varnish. I think it will be blinding in the bright sun. I thought about a coat of satin varnish, but I would like to have a finish in between satin and high gloss. I may let it dry for a while and try buffing it out to tone down the gloss a little.

Stay away from the satin unless you can locate some for outdoor use. A normal satin varnish will PEEL when it gets wet.
I know I have gone down that road with one boat I built.

Chuck.

Wow. I can't believe it's been almost a year since I touched these boats. I had some serious health problems hit me and have not done much of anything for the past year. The doctor told me I appear to still be alive and it is time to start doing stuff again. He said building and paddling is fine, just don't try to lift very much. I started on these boats again last week. Other than a heavy layer of dust on everything, I am now calling them finished.







There is a pretty good sized storage area under the hatch in front of the seats. I wish I had tried to fit an eight inch hatch in there instead of the six inch.



I used hidden bungees to hold the deck hatches in place. I wanted to keep the front decks as clean as possible, and did not want to use exposed bungees or straps. The internal bungees really hold them in place tight.







I have not weighed these yet, but I know they are too heavy for me to lift onto the top of a vehicle. I could have done it when I started them, but not now. I picked up a cheap double jet ski trailer that I will modify to haul them.



I hope to get them wet in the next few days.

Beautiful boats Terry. They look fantastic. Sorry to hear about your Lost Year but glad you are on the mend. Let us know if the boats will catch fish.
Bob

Exceptionally well finished boats there Terry - you must have taken a lot of care with the details.

Bet you were nervous starting to cut the hatches - I think it's the only part of boat building I don't like.

As for the gloss I don't think it will be a problem for reflected glare - a white deck would be worse as it would reflect a greater total amount of light. I recommend trying them out for a while before doing anything to the gloss. And don't forget all the fish slime - it should come off easier with gloss.

that's artwork!

Thanks for the kind comments. I set up the trailer temporarily to hold these boats. If I like how it works, I will make it a little more permanent.

Ready to go to the water.