The skiff list DETAILS

When staring to work on a flats boat skiff design you have to make up a weight list to know in advance what is going into and on your skiff. With this you get an idea what its going to cost after sourcing out your parts and materials. Also if you can weigh each piece in advance then you can work with this on your new design. The thing to realize is that 98% of what you see on the below list is what will go on most all skiffs in the 12 -25 range and upwards. The only differences will be rub rails and engines.

Every thing else will be small sutilties. But it maters when you want to have a skiff weigh out all up in the 600-700 lb. range. It also matters in all kinds of other boats like high performance sailboats , multihulls and anything that wants to be fast with low horse power. So get a good scale and start weighing every thing and make your list. I would print up mine here for you but I cant find it right now.

When I was in business for myself I used  to make up these parts lists and price all my whole sale vendors against each other to see who had the best deals. This really played out well when building  over $400,000.00 in boats a month. Doing a one off today in your garage its best to find a freind in the business and see if you can get stuff from them at a good break in cost. Today on the Internet you can find all kinds of good deals but you have to take the time to do this. I am always looking through old boatyards for deals to be found. It helps to be thinking years or projects in advance.

This list is blurry here. If you can see it the prices are old but gives you an idea of whats up.

I will post all these drawings on my facebook photo page as they are real clear there.

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My dinghy cruising packing list

Ive been doing quite a bit of dinghy cruising this year. So much so that I havent had much time to write about it, sorry.

Ive gotten my packing routine down to the point where I feel its getting quite efficient.  I always bring the same items and store them in the same place for every trip.  A little organization goes a long way when it comes time to find something.  I try to bring only what I need, and use items for multiple purposes whenever possible.  I only bring extras of items that are crucial.

It really bugs me to have things out where I have to walk on or around them, so I store everything in the lockers and under the thwarts and side decks. Once everything is packed away, it looks like Im not bringing anything at all.  Thats not easy to do in an open boat.

Here is the packing list that I use.  This first page shows where on the boat I store everything.   Many of the items are stored in bags.  I use soft-sided cooler bags for food and water, duffel bags and backpacks for clothing, and dry bags for electronics. Page 2 shows the contents of each bag.

Most of this stuff stays on the boat permanently.  Usually all I have to pack for a trip is food and clothes.

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