# Sneak Boat



## adam bomb (Feb 27, 2006)

Anyone build their own sneak boat? I just purchased a set of plans today and am gonna give it a go. Pretty excited about this project. Cant wait to get the plans and get started.


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## San V. Sasse (Aug 19, 2010)

Yeah, it is called the SBEII 3 1/2", lol. No, but I want to see the pic when you get it completed.


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## adam bomb (Feb 27, 2006)

I like the 3 1/2" sneak attack too San! It really packs a wallop!:evil:.

I plan on taking pictures of the project as it progresses from start to finish. Gonna be a fun project. I plan to add some flip top doors like a layout blind as well as some stubble straps around the boat for vegetation.


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## raisinrat (Feb 9, 2006)

Hey I got the design for the doors for the boat you are building. They should work damn good on that little guy.


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## adam bomb (Feb 27, 2006)

raisinrat said:


> Hey I got the design for the doors for the boat you are building. They should work damn good on that little guy.


Bring on the pics. Im open to suggestion.


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## Buddwiser (Dec 14, 2003)

duckboats.net.....LOTS of good information there on building boats. If you log on, use your real name not a user name.


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## cheeseandquackers (Jun 20, 2007)

I have a little 8' Jon boat that i put aluminum framing on to fit fast grass and i have a trolling motor on it. I use it for a sneak boat but it has to be on calm water cuz it will go down, learned that first hand last year.


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## hunter301000 (Dec 6, 2005)

About the plans you bought, do you make the boat out of the 2" house foam boards and then fiderglass it?


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## adam bomb (Feb 27, 2006)

hunter301000 said:


> About the plans you bought, do you make the boat out of the 2" house foam boards and then fiderglass it?


No, this boat will be built from 1/4" plywood that has floatation foam. The entire thing will be fiberglassed inside and out.

And thanks for the other info guys, have been doing allot of reading on that site to gain more knowledge and help prepare for the build while i await my plans. Nice to see a bunch of boats and gather ideas to incorporate. Lotta ingenius duck hunters out there thats for sure.


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## limige (Sep 2, 2005)

adam, i didn't build mine from scratch but i did some rework on the one i bought. i'd like to checkout what your planning on building, how long is it? i'm curious what kind of boat it is.

there are stitch together boats that use the glass to hold it all together and theres fully framed boats that use glass as a water sealer. i fully fiberglassed the outside of my frame built boat (modified duck hunter). 

duckboats.net gives you a step by step on a stitch together, very good knowledge there, read through the whole build.

also duckhuntingchat.com has a waterfowl boats section, NSSU duckhunter builds boats like mine all the time, his website is tollerboatworks.com

remember you can modify the plans to fit your needs but lots of thought needs to go into it before the build.

uscomposites.com is the best source for most of your glassing supplies
i chose to go with FME paint (flat marine enamel) from lock, stock, and barrel, awesome oil based paints designed for duck hunters based out of st. clair shores, mi

we'll have to chat some on it sometime. your really gonna need a nice hot, dry summer to do the glass work or a nice large heated barn/shed


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## adam bomb (Feb 27, 2006)

Mike,
Im gonna build the Hybrid Next Level. Its a small boat at only 8' in length and 44" wide. Going to be around 14" tall or so. I intend to use it in back bays, small rivers or shallow waters where cover is limited. Not a big water rig by any means, but will have a small outboard to power it.(They built a 10' with a 15 hp) I dont have the plans in hand yet, but from what i understand its going to be a mix of frame and stitching(mostly the curved areas of the hull). If things go well with this build ill probably try their double ender, but expand the dimensions significantly to make it layout worthy.

Thanks for the heads up on the links. Ive already been reading allot on some of the sites youve mentioned. Lots of good info on those for the boat builder. And from my limited research, US Composites is definitely the place to buy. Theyre resins are half the price and come highly recommended. Same with their cloth, mat and other building materials.

As far as building it, its going to be build indoors in the heated shop. From what i gather this will be a fairly quick build and if things go well i intend to use it yet this season.


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## limige (Sep 2, 2005)

I finished mine in the garage last November. Not sure if it was more humidity or lack of fresh air but I got what they call blushing when I did it Indoors. It would be tacky on the outside the following day. You have to wipe the boat down with wet rag once the glass is dry and give it 4-6 more hours to finish setting up. 

Now in the 90 degree heat outdoors it was solid within an hour

hopefully you have better luck with your setup just a heads up. 

I'd love to build a smaller one. Something more portable. Mine is around 600 lbs and rated for a 35 hp motor. I'm only using an 8 hp, doesn't move very fast anyhow, lol. But I'm tied to having a boat ramp to put it in the water. I'd love something I could hand launch with better lines above water. I love that skull boat on duckboats.net.


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## raisinrat (Feb 9, 2006)

I got a design that I have been working on all summer. Just waiting on the extra funds to build her up. It is mix of three boat designs. I was able to find some old plans of some of the old market hunting boats which helped me figure out a few things also. My build should be a 100lbs or less and be 10.5 ft to 11 ft long. I am pretty sure it will hold about 600lbs also when I am done.

Also Adam I will have to either draw something up or call you and explain the door design I got in my head. I looked at a ton of Layout ground blinds to come up with this.

Hunting from a boat you built I hear is like nothing else when you get that 1st duck from it.


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## adam bomb (Feb 27, 2006)

raisinrat said:


> I got a design that I have been working on all summer. Just waiting on the extra funds to build her up. It is mix of three boat designs. I was able to find some old plans of some of the old market hunting boats which helped me figure out a few things also. My build should be a 100lbs or less and be 10.5 ft to 11 ft long. I am pretty sure it will hold about 600lbs also when I am done.
> 
> Also Adam I will have to either draw something up or call you and explain the door design I got in my head. I looked at a ton of Layout ground blinds to come up with this.
> 
> Hunting from a boat you built I hear is like nothing else when you get that 1st duck from it.


Sounds good....My thoughts are some bimini hardware for the pivot points and either some cordura that ill sew a pocket in and insert the conduit through?Also sew on some stubble straps, or ill cut up one of my crappy decoy bags and use that in the same manner. Im leaning towards cordura though for durabililty and wind protection.

As far as killing the duck outta the boat, if its anything like making your own lures, which i do a TON of, its a very gradifying feeling to have it all come together. If i do my job right im hoping to get splashed from the folded bird!


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## AR34 (Jun 18, 2008)

you will love building a boat. Not sure how to get the glass done in the cold without the sun?? you may want to go with a fast cure resin. I did one in the winter and I am not sure if my resin was junk or not. (threw it out). but I ended up redoing that part of the boat in the summer. Here are my builds. Sure you have seen them from the Hybrid thread on the Fuge. all these are based off the hybrid design with some personal changes.


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## adam bomb (Feb 27, 2006)

AR34 said:


> you will love building a boat. Not sure how to get the glass done in the cold without the sun?? you may want to go with a fast cure resin. I did one in the winter and I am not sure if my resin was junk or not. (threw it out). but I ended up redoing that part of the boat in the summer. Here are my builds. Sure you have seen them from the Hybrid thread on the Fuge. all these are based off the hybrid design with some personal changes.


So your saying you think ill have trouble with the resin indoors with hot dry heat from a corn stove? Its all of 75* in the shop and very low humidity.

BTW, the boats look great....Im putting lights on mine as well. Gonna power them with a 12V gell battery to keep weight and size issues down. Probably put a couple LED Cockpit lights in as well. Anything i need to know when it comes time to register the boat as im most definitely gonna put a small outboard on it?


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## raisinrat (Feb 9, 2006)

The info is in the plans for the coast guard stuff you need to do. For the state just a receipt showing the material should be all you need.If you don't put on motor on it there is no need to do the coast guard thing. II found that out talking with a boat maker. There is a loop hole in the rule or something he said.That is what he told me tho not sure if thats true or not tho.


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## limige (Sep 2, 2005)

not really a loophole, just like a row boat or canoe, only motorized boats need to be registered. no motor, no inspections. 

adam, if the building is pretty good sized for the fumes involved you might be fine, remember, glass fumes are combustible, careful with doing it where there is a lit flame involved. not sure if its a sun issue or heat/humidity issue. 

either way i'm sure you can do it, longivity is the only issue, do one and check it out, you can always try another down the road and perfect things.


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## AR34 (Jun 18, 2008)

Not sure on the indoor glassing?? I know they do it, but you may want the fast cure stuff, do a small area and make sure it gets hard. Just look for problems. I did mine in my garage and heated it also. I could very well had bad glass too.
Lights... I use two mojo bats 6v or the 12V feeder bats.


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## adam bomb (Feb 27, 2006)

AR34 said:


> Not sure on the indoor glassing?? I know they do it, but you may want the fast cure stuff, do a small area and make sure it gets hard. Just look for problems. I did mine in my garage and heated it also. I could very well had bad glass too.
> Lights... I use two mojo bats 6v or the 12V feeder bats.


Thanks for the heads up guys. Will have to do a test piece of wood and see how it goes. If it dont work, it dont work, ive shot ducks without this boat. Will wait till summer if i have to.

How did you mount those batteries? Did you put em right together or seperate them on either side of the boat and wire them in series with long jumpers?


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## AR34 (Jun 18, 2008)

adam bomb said:


> Thanks for the heads up guys. Will have to do a test piece of wood and see how it goes. If it dont work, it dont work, ive shot ducks without this boat. Will wait till summer if i have to.
> 
> How did you mount those batteries? Did you put em right together or seperate them on either side of the boat and wire them in series with long jumpers?


Tie rap the 2 6V and run in series. My other has a 12V deer feeder bat in it. 20.00 at cabelas with charger. They are a little bigger than the mojo bat. maybe 2lbs. the one bat has been in my boat for 3 years and never charged. only use it for the running lights...


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## limige (Sep 2, 2005)

Adam franks sells them, same as the batteries for vex's and cameras so you may already have one to use. Look on the side it'll tell you either 6 v or 12v.


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## raisinrat (Feb 9, 2006)

limige said:


> Adam franks sells them, same as the batteries for vex's and cameras so you may already have one to use. Look on the side it'll tell you either 6 v or 12v.


Vex sized batteries should be 12 v 6 or 7.5 amp. You can some LEDs off that for ever. There is a guy on the fuge that has some nice ones for inside the boat.

I found the link. http://www.tollerboatworks.com/LED%20Strip%20Lights.html


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## TSS Caddis (Mar 15, 2002)

Am I the only one envisioning Adam sculling up to an unsuspecting raft of ducks and blasting some layout hunters decoys


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## adam bomb (Feb 27, 2006)

Yup, the 12V battery used on Vexilars etc is what i intended to use. AR34 Did you just wire up the 6V in series cause you had them lying around or is there a method to your madness?

And Caddis...Somebodies gotta test the durability of those new walnut shell dekes your making!!!:lol:


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## AR34 (Jun 18, 2008)

adam bomb said:


> Yup, the 12V battery used on Vexilars etc is what i intended to use. AR34 Did you just wire up the 6V in series cause you had them lying around or is there a method to your madness?
> 
> And Caddis...Somebodies gotta test the durability of those new walnut shell dekes your making!!!:lol:


I had some from some exit lights my dad gave me. They were 6V.... And the lights mentioned above I have in the big boat. Work well.. at a good price.


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## limige (Sep 2, 2005)

whats the good word adam, get started yet?


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## thedude (Jul 20, 2004)

indoor glassing should be fine with run-of-the-mill medium thickness/cure epoxy. You don't want fast dry, it will harden before you're done using it. 

60* and up for most epoxies is workable temps. Too cold and it slows the catalyst. 75* is roasty toasty and it will help with applying the epoxy as well. Check out US Composites website, they had the best price on epoxy when i did my boat.


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## limige (Sep 2, 2005)

adam must be too busy to post up, lol.

dude, i know what they say, i had to call US composites when i started working indoors in a 2 car garage, it wasn't setting up the same. they said it was blushing. i had to wait several hrs and wash it with warm water and give it more time to finish curing.

hows it going adam, you glassing yet?


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