This was inspired by the 14’ fishing surfboards Manoa and I made about 8 years ago. We wanted to a fishing craft similar to the TAKO boards Steven Ing used to make back in the 70’s and 80’s. I wanted to make this on lighter so I started off with a 12.5’ x 36” x 7” ¾ lb. EPS SUP blank from Pacific Ailed Foam. I then round off the nose and tail, turned down the rails and cut out the rear for the engine. Foamed stained the blanks with colored epoxy and Q-cell, glassed the both sides with 7.5 oz. e-glass. I built the transom with ½” ply wood and 2” polyiso foam and later glassed it with PVC and 7.5 oz. cloth.
I powered it with a 2.5 HP Yamaha 4 stroke and placed tie down plugs for the cooler and fish box. The pictures here are from the water test we did on it this weekend. The goal is to get to the hot fishing spots with the outboard and use the paddle to stay in the area.
It floats well and can support two 200 lb. adults. On the down side, it is difficult for one person to carry.
Wow uncled, that is pretty awesome. How hard is it to stand up on? There are a couple of places that have some good flyfishing on island, that I have wanted to try something like your rig. Also what does the bottom look like?
I used to use a canoe, then ** **Gheenoe, and would standup to try and sight cast to fish. Your setup looks alot better.
I’ve been kicking around an idea for something built similarly but slightly bigger and more boat shaped. The idea I have is based off of a boat build on the microskiff.com website. Figure I could glue up EPS sheets, stiffen with some plywood stringers and shape it. I was thinking 14 feet long and 4 feet wide. I have a 23 foot center console but the 122 gallon fuel tank is a bit of a buzzkill.
It’s like standing on a dock. The bottom is flat and I placed a fin box in front of the cut out for the motor. This is used for SUPing when the motor is pulled up.
The old Steven Ing boards were 14’ x 48". It was super stable and we glued them up with 15" nose rockers so we could take them out outside and ride bumps in the open ocean. Those were great boards but they were beast. I wanted to make something realiviely simple so I can also SUP on it. BTW, the pad is a yoga mat I found at Ross for $15 and ued Super 77 to glue it on. It is a Godsend for the knees and feet…
You are on the right path here. It’s better to go shorter and wider than longer…etc. My 16 ft x 35" board is light and easy to paddle, but when it’s windy it is challenging. Also the length at 16 ft and pretty flat bottom…well it doesn’t span the chop well. My next one would be 13 ft x 36. But now I’m thinking about putting a small 4 stroke on it. But I’d might put it right in the center of the board, that way i could side slip it into reall tight areas between the kelp etc.
Do any of you recall when Clark made the “Hawaiian Fishboard blanks”? I always wanted to get one of those and do the Florida version; but instead just stuck with early generation technical poling skiffs, for our shallow-water fishing. Once you’ve used a poling platform, it’s hard to give it up. Sighting fish is so much easier.
Killer-looking craft there, and it looks like a lot of fun for your waters!
Awesome Dennis. I am building a fishing rig too. I have two 14’ downwind sup blanks and making a catamaran style that you can take apart. I was scratching my head on how to make the transome and yours is the perfect answer. Super clean look. Do you recommend the motor with a long or short shaft?I am getting a honda 2.3HP.
I built the motor mount cutting out L shaped plywood and Poly-ISO high density foam. I glued them together and glassed them with 7.5 oz cloth and PVC. I glued the mount to the board using cloth and epoxy under pressure. I then sunk in eight 1/2" x 6" wood dowels and glued them with gorilla glue. I placed fin rope and glass around the base of the motor mount. I like using the short shft motor becasue it was cheaper than the long shaft. I purchased the outboard for $889 out the door.
You can attach a sliding plate to your mount to tune motor position. Lotsa fun things to play with doing small skiffs, which in reality this is. There are slightly bigger versions with center consoles used in some areas - with similar “surfboard” profiles made to accept and shed boarding seas. All jack plates and tunnel hulls so the prop operates in a pocket, the draft on plane is nearly zero.
Mako224, what type of boat do you have? or is it your screenname?
I had a 21foot sailfish for 5 years that I just sold this summer. It had a 250hp on the back and could really move. I used to fish Hatteras and the Chesapeake when I lived on the east coast. I remember loving to go to Hatteras because it was only a 15-20 mile run to get to fish. Now in Hawaii , I have caught Mahi from a kayak less than 5 miles from shore. Good times!
Cheers,
Jason
If you are serious about building one, Pacific Allied products have a few more 12-6 SUP blanks. They go for $190 each which is a really good deal. They only have the inventory on hand and wont be making anymore.
Those guys are pretty awesome. Check out this website http://forum.aquahunters.com/. Alot of good fishing info on there. Also look on the makahiki page, they have a contest every year for a several months, and they bring in everything from ono, ahi, mahimahi, sailfish, oio, ulua, uku, etc…One of the guys on there a couple years ago got a 99lb ahi, out of waianae.
uncled,that is a pretty good deal, going to give them a call, will be out that side of the island next week.
