Skagit 20 Offshore Restoration

Splash Well Shelf After completing the transom, the last task for restoring the aft portion of the Offshore was to rebuild the splash well. Most reading this probably know about this feature of outboard boats, but I wasn't real familiar with it. If I understand it correctly, when you slow down, especially coming off a plane, the wake (wave) catches up to the boat and you can get water over the transom. If you don't have a splash well this water would go into the bilge, which you could either pump out or open the drains when the boat is under way to let gravity and vacuum expel it. The well is self draining.  Remnants of the port (top) and starboard splashwell shelf when I got the boat. The shelf rests on cleats installed on the bulkhead and transom. One could also put cleats along the side, but the factory didn't do this; instead they tabbed the shelf onto the bottom of the vertical stiffeners you see in the above pictures. I did the same, because the s...

Miscellaneous  Since the last post I’ve installed flotation and the splash shelf, and am in the processes of finishing it. I’ll post details on this in a week or so. This post will deal with some of other work I’ve been doing, mostly while waiting for epoxy to cure. Tanks One feature of Skagit boats (at least those 20’ and over) I thought was pretty cool were integral fuel tanks constructed of fiberglass. Often referred to as “saddle tanks” because they were located on each side amidships, they offered convenient filling from gas caps located on the side decks. To me they were an attractive feature and I was glad to see they were intact. In the 1950’s fiberglass was becoming known as a miracle material for boat building. It didn’t need an elaborate wooden support system (i.e., keel, ribs, stringers), never rotted, could be constructed quickly and at low cost, and never needed painting. So, why not construct fuel tanks with it? Skagit Plastics did, along wi...