OD16 Glassbottom Project begins!

[whitehawk]

In the late sixties I had a wooden skiff I bought in Miami. Basically a flat bottomed skiff made from 1/4" plywood. I got the idea of a glass bottom from my woodshop teacher, brought the boat to school and we all made it our project for extra credit. Cutting the opening perfectly square was a challenge. We did frame the box with members running from frame to frame, leaving enough space for seating the glass and removable back-stays. Those were the days of basic caulking and non-tempered glass clad poultry wire. The rear seat was divided into three boxes with the glass to the far port section. Needless to say after a few beachings you couldn't see through the glass, and it was forgotton about for years. (got an "A" on the project though) Then in the 80's they came out with A.R.Grade Lexan.(abrasion resistant) We drug out the old skiff and put in a piece of that stuff and it worked great. Unfortunatly the transom pulled loose when we were launching in heavy surf and we had to leave the boat on the island (covered with branches) for the week until we could get a tow-boat out to tow it home. Of course it was gone when we got there. We asked the guys at the quarrantine station and they hinted that the caretaker of the Gar Wood estate probably dragged it home (down the beach) and we were out of luck. This is now called Fischer Island in Miami's government cut, where the Chalks seaplane recently went down. I would like to try it again though, with more modern materials.

[whitehawk]

I forgot to mention, after cutting to hole and BEFORE installing the glass we took the skiff out for a try without the glass, figuring we could save some money.(kids) The moment we got underway the compartment flooded, funneling water into the rest of the boat, almost sinking it. I had to kill the power and jump out to swim it to shore without it's sinking.

[kiwi]

I forgot to mention, after cutting to hole and BEFORE installing the glass we took the skiff out for a try without the glass, figuring we could save some money.(kids) The moment we got underway the compartment flooded, funneling water into the rest of the boat, almost sinking it. I had to kill the power and jump out to swim it to shore without it's sinking.

You jumped in the hole to walk it out?

Tony

[whitehawk]

I see where that might have been unclear. The rear seat was full width, side to side. The seat was divided into three equally sized compartments, each with it's own purpose. The viewing port was built into the PORT side compartment. We had omitted the glass, since it was still mounted in a door. We decided to take the boat for a spin, thinking no harm would be done since the top of the compartment was higher than the water line. HOWEVER, the motion of the boat under power funneled water into the rear of the boat via the viewing port. (insert sound effect) I jumped out of the boat (not the view port) and swam it (the boat) to shore. :roll: