JEM Watercraft

Last pics and work for awhile, off to San Antonio with my 5 elected officials for annual conference and training . . . what joy . . .

I have managed to put the tankwell sidewalls together and cut to size and fitted. Tankwell floor level is at the top of the scupper shown.



Also bought a cheapie seat (Pelican) and set it in place for visual but don't think this is the one I will end up with.


Mounted some Hobie mesh keepers on the cockpit sidewalls. Of course all this mounted stuff will come off for more resin and finishing.


And set the Crack of Dawn hatch in place for visual.


That's all until next week.

Got to get me a good camera

Ran some 3/8" PVC from the aft hatch to the cockpit. Decided to hide the rudder elevator lines. Haven't decided how to or what to use to run the lines through the aft deck yet.



The tankwell center brace and tankwell walls are glassed inside and out and they fit perfectly. This is just staging I will not fillet in until I finish my rigging and elevator line design and installation.

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Transducer is mechanically installed in the mid-hatch area, no silicone yet. Wires ran through the 1/2" PVC to the bow hatch area awaiting the battery.



Battery box started for my 12v deer feeder battery. This will mount in the bow hatch area against the bulkhead.


Chose to go with the rigid folding seat (camo, could not find black). I have glassed some 3/16" plywood to mount onto the seat and then velcro in place.


Only serious construction left is the cockpit floor, cutting in the front hatch and cutting out the scupper hole in the hull. Of course, glass the top when everything is done.

Started smoothing the edges of the gunnels down and preping for prettier topping.

Cut a strip 1/8 inch thick to cover the joint of the 2 panels.

Epoxied in place waiting for drying then sanding.

Thought I'd include a pic of my latest inovation. Picked up a cheap plastic parts cleaner at Harbor freight for $39.00. Poured in 2 gallons of vinegar and WOW, the epoxy washes away. Even brushes come out clean (but I still don't reuse them, afraid of some residual in the vinegar might mess things up). One caution. I completely forgot about metal and vinegar not mixing well. Next day found boat loads of corrosion. Used 3 coats of Rustoleum and everything been doing good for about a month now.

I love the hot weather, the epoxy cures out faaaasssstttt. Got a little more work done, now I get to rest while the heat does it's work on the epoxy. Could have this puppy finished in another weekend . . . maybe.

Left side wall top trim is done and looks better than I imagined it would.


Now I'm doning the tankwell wall tops. Also installed the floor braces so I can construct the floor and set it in place.


The battery box is epoxied in place and ready for action.

Tankwell floor is constructed and glassed on one side.

Starboard side top trim is in place and curing. Fore and aft.


Finished top trim port side.


Seat mount is glassed and attached. Velcro will be added later.

Well, I finally worked out how I wanted to run the elevator cables for my rudder. If you can see through the fuzzy pictures you can see that I lowered the rudder mount by 3/4". That allowed me to drill straight through the transom and not have to drill through the deck at an angle. I installed 1/4" OD copper tubing and the new cord fits perfectly. A few dry runs proves that the control is smooth and easy to use.


The copper tubing fits into the 3/8" PVC already mounted with a water tight bulkhead fitting. The copper tobing is sealed in with Marine Goop (silicone). The Copper tubing is flared on the outside of the transom.

The woodwork is completed with the exception of some potential trim and cutting in the front hatch. Now I'm sanding the top portion, from the joint of the 2nd and 3rd panels up, getting ready to do the upper 4 oz glass work. After that I will flip the boat and graphite the bottom, then go back to the top side and put on my finish coatings and, finally, rig the boat out.

I hope it isn't vain to be proud of what you build but this Cape Fear is a beautiful design and the more I sand it out, getting ready to do the finish work, the prettier is looks (to me).

I'm guessing that this puppy is around 50-55 pounds max which includes the rudder controls and wiring conduits.

Not going to post any pics of my sanding progress. I am going back to bare wood on the top panels, decks, cockpit and tankwell areas not covered with glass. Also cleaning up the fillets and blending the glass edges getting ready to apply the 4 oz glass and finish resin coats.

My DeWalt 1/4 sheet sander gave up the ghost so I had to go to Depot and buy another one. I am going to try out the Ryobi and see what a $20.00 savings gives me.

I can say that the lines that Matt (JEM) built into his design are beautiful. I need to put her on the scales and see what she weighs, feels like about 50 pounds or so. That's 20 pounds lighter than my OK Big Game tupperware boat that is only 12' 3" long with no rudder.

I can't wait to get in this puppy and see what she will do but my new shop is a tin roof oven these days and the air conditioner isn't helping. I do have a new 2 ton central unit sitting that may get installed soon

That is a great looking boat, you have done a wonderful job.

Well, despite work and all other interruptions I finished my sanding and have applied the saturation coat on the entire upper half including the cockpit and tankwell.

The bow deck. The bow looks a little different than Matt's (JEM) design. I took a little poetic liberty because I prefer the pointy bow rather than the laid back.


The cockpit is very roomy and I like the knee break in Matt's design. Rudder steering controls are in, rudder elevator is in.


Tankwell is a little higher than Matt's design (1") because I'm afraid my body weight could cause a little deeper ride than most people.


This coat has dried and I completed a smooth finish light sanding and will apply 4oz glass to the upper panels and decks tonight when it is cooler.

After that I will flip and apply graphite to the bottom.