Bentz-Craft restoration - 2 years in - FOR SALE!!

FWIW - I hate wiring, also. It’s not the project itself, but rather the access. In my experience, access is always very limited and you have to be a contortionist.

-The size of a fish is directly proportional to the time between when it’s lost and the story is told. - Me
-What’s the best eating fish, you ask? I’ve found that for a lot people, its the ones that they happen to be able to catch, clean, and cook. - My Dad
-Until you have loved a dog, part of your soul remains unawakened. Anatole France (paraphrased)
-RIP my “Puppy Dog” 10/15/2004 - 1/14/2013. I’ll never forget him. What a special friend he was.
-Team Gonna Fish

Well, trying to tackle a house remodel and a boat restoration at the same time was not a great idea……but the house is officially DONE……time for the boat work to resume. Today we will get the cap the rest of the way off, and evaluate what needs to be done inside the hull. More to come on that.

Paint has been decided. OD green hull with a tan deck and all black hardware, including poling platform and motor. Paint will be AwlCraft on the hull and Awlgrip on the deck. Non-skid will be ground out and replaced with sprayed on non-skid.

Snagged a Simrad GO7 the other day, got to decide whether to flush mount it or use a RAM mount.

Lots more to do, plenty of pics coming up soon.

Wadmalaw native
16’ Bentz-Craft Flats Boat

WE GOT IT APART!

After a couple of more hours of cussing and sweating, we got it! A bunch of wooden wedges, 1400 hammer blows, and it just POPPED off.

Everything looks good inside…the foam in the stringers is only wet in a very small area, looks to be an easy repair. Bilge will be cleaned and coated with BilgeCoat this week, and new tank will get coated and go in as well.

Hope to have the cap prepped and ready to set back down by the weekend! Thanks again John Ulmer for the help and brainpower, reverse engineering this thing was fun!

Of note, found this inside…Mr. Ulmer believes it to be a crab fly made by Mad Mike Benson

Wadmalaw native
16’ Bentz-Craft Flats Boat

Well, cap is off, old bilge holes in the hull are plugged with koosa board and glass, and the bow is repaired from what appears to have been a very violent dock strike.

Bilge to be painted this morning, interprotect 2000 gray for the bilge area. Rigging to start tomorrow so we can set the cap down early next week!

Getting excited!

Wadmalaw native
16’ Bentz-Craft Flats Boat

LIVEWELL DRAINS…
IF THE TOP OF THE WATER INN LIVEWELL IS HIGHER THAN THE OUTSIDE WATER AND YOU ADD MORE WATER, DOESNT MATTER IF THE OUTPUT HOSE IS BELOW THE WATER, THE WATER WILL DRAIN OUT (VERTICAL PRESSURE WILL ASSURE THIS)
IT MIGHT DRAIN A LITTLE SLOWER, BUT IT WILL STILL DRAIN, AND YOU CAN PUT AN AEREATOR HEAD ON THE INPUT TO SLOW DOWN THE INPUT TO MATCH THE OUTPUT

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IF I RESPOND IN ALL CAPS, ITS NOT ON PURPOSE, AND I AM NOT YELLING

EASILY VERIFIED
DRILL A LARGE HOLE IN THE BOTTOM OF A 5 GALLON BUCKET AND SUBMERGE BUCKET AS DEEP AS YOU THINK THE BOTTOM OF YOUR LIVEWELL WILL BE, THEN ADD MORE WATER TO BUCKET.
WATER WILL DRAIN OUT TO EAQUALIZE WITH OUTSIDE LEVEL

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IF I RESPOND IN ALL CAPS, ITS NOT ON PURPOSE, AND I AM NOT YELLING

quote:
Originally posted by chris V

EASILY VERIFIED
DRILL A LARGE HOLE IN THE BOTTOM OF A 5 GALLON BUCKET AND SUBMERGE BUCKET AS DEEP AS YOU THINK THE BOTTOM OF YOUR LIVEWELL WILL BE, THEN ADD MORE WATER TO BUCKET.
WATER WILL DRAIN OUT TO EAQUALIZE WITH OUTSIDE LEVEL

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www.joinrfa.org
IF I RESPOND IN ALL CAPS, ITS NOT ON PURPOSE, AND I AM NOT YELLING


Thanks, Chris. I’ve actually been reading alot about head pressure and that stuff, and that’s the way I’m going to do it.

I’ve decided to only one run live/baitwell. It will drain through a standpipe in the bottom of the tank, and have an overflow at the top just in case. It will be filled with an 1100GPH Rule pump, and an Atwood aerator pump will recirc water in the tank and spray back into top of tank. I will run a 6" and a 12" standpipe, depending on what bait is being used…

Unless someone knows of an adjustable one that actually lasts longer than a season.

Also, any suggestions on bilge pump hose? I’d prefer to not use the corrugated stuff as it doesn’t last long and it absolutely restricts flow…is the bilgeflex stuff the way to go?

I only need 10 feet of it, and can only find it sold in 50’ rolls…

Wadmalaw native
16’ Bentz-Craft Flats Boat

FOR HIGH END STUFF WE USE THE SMOOTH INSIDE AND CORRUGATED OUTSIDE.
IF ITS EASLIY ACCESIBLE WE JUST USE TEH STANDARD CORRUGATED STUFF

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IF I RESPOND IN ALL CAPS, ITS NOT ON PURPOSE, AND I AM NOT YELLING

I ALSO WOULD NOT WASTE THE MONEY ON A 1100GPH PUMP
THERE IS NO WAY YOU ARE GOING TO DRAIN THE WATER THAT FAST
THE PUMP, THE WIRE, THE HOSE, ALL COST MORE AND YOU CANT HANDLE THAT MUCH WATER.

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www.joinrfa.org
IF I RESPOND IN ALL CAPS, ITS NOT ON PURPOSE, AND I AM NOT YELLING

quote:
Originally posted by chris V

I ALSO WOULD NOT WASTE THE MONEY ON A 1100GPH PUMP
THERE IS NO WAY YOU ARE GOING TO DRAIN THE WATER THAT FAST
THE PUMP, THE WIRE, THE HOSE, ALL COST MORE AND YOU CANT HANDLE THAT MUCH WATER.

www.teamcharlestonmarine.com
www.joinrfa.org
IF I RESPOND IN ALL CAPS, ITS NOT ON PURPOSE, AND I AM NOT YELLING


Already had it…I’m gonna give it a shot, going with a 1.5" drain, and have an overflow, so I’m hoping it will work to save the $$. Also thinking of installing a ball valve inline with the fill…if I use that to control the flow, will it hurt the pump?

Wadmalaw native
16’ Bentz-Craft Flats Boat

quote:
Already had it....I'm gonna give it a shot, going with a 1.5" drain, and have an overflow, so I'm hoping it will work to save the $$. Also thinking of installing a ball valve inline with the fill.....if I use that to control the flow, will it hurt the pump?

I put a 500 GPH for my bait well and it easily will pump more than my 1 1/4" overflow can keep up with. The fill into the pump should have a sea cock on it anyway, but I’d rather not restrict water flow to the pump. I put a valve on the output side of the pump to regulate the bait well level.

Capt. Larry Teuton
Swamp Worshiper

Have you thought about insulating the live well? I have one insulated and it doubles as a cooler when not holding bait. Your bait may appreciate the cooler temps as well.

quote:
Originally posted by CajunLad V

Have you thought about insulating the live well? I have one insulated and it doubles as a cooler when not holding bait. Your bait may appreciate the cooler temps as well.


We were just discussing where to add foam, and where not to. I don’t want to add too much weight to the boat, so I don’t plan on foaming the entire thing. I do, however, plan to insulate ALL of my stern lockers. It’s a pretty easy thing to do when it’s apart…figured it couldn’t hurt for sure.

Thanks!

Wadmalaw native
16’ Bentz-Craft Flats Boat

Bilge is painted! I also went and saw the Ulmer guys again yesterday and got a brand new console and the new gas tank.

Today we will prep and coat the tank in epoxy, then lay her in the hole and begin prepping the underside of the cap. This is moving along nicely!

I want to have the boat in the water in Rockville on July 4th…

Wadmalaw native
16’ Bentz-Craft Flats Boat

quote:
Originally posted by leadenwahboy
quote:
Originally posted by CajunLad V

Have you thought about insulating the live well? I have one insulated and it doubles as a cooler when not holding bait. Your bait may appreciate the cooler temps as well.


We were just discussing where to add foam, and where not to. I don’t want to add too much weight to the boat, so I don’t plan on foaming the entire thing. I do, however, plan to insulate ALL of my stern lockers. It’s a pretty easy thing to do when it’s apart…figured it couldn’t hurt for sure.

Thanks!

Wadmalaw native
16’ Bentz-Craft Flats Boat


I may be way over thinking this… but…

Just thinking out loud…

If the deck is going to be OD green with black hatches, it will get pretty warm in the sun. If I remember pics of this hull in the water, she sits pretty low in the back, a lot of the hull side submerged. With the surrounding water cooler than the deck, would fully insulating the well insulate it from the warm deck or from the potentially cooler inner hull cavity that would be essentially water cooled?

In a hull where more of the side of the boat, the inner hull cavity, and bait wells were above the water line, maybe it works the other way around???

I don’t know…


17’ Henry O Hornet w/ Johnson 88 spl
26’ Palmer Scott project hull
14’ Bentz-Craft w/ Yamaha 25

Deck will be tan, hatches will be tan as well. Only the hardware (hinges/poling platform/wheel/rod holders/etc) will be black. All of the fiberglass will be tan on top.

As far as the insulation and all, I’m not sure about all of that physics stuff!

Wadmalaw native
16’ Bentz-Craft Flats Boat

quote:
We were just discussing where to add foam, and where not to. I don't want to add too much weight to the boat, so I don't plan on foaming the entire thing.

Closed cell expanding foam only weighs 2 pounds per cubic foot. I wouldn’t worry about the weight of it. I always insulate my bait tanks too, then they can substitute as coolers. Remember too that USCG regs require enough foam for positive and upright flotation. I wouldn’t go with less than that. 1 cubic foot of foam will provide 60 pounds of flotation.

http://boatbuildercentral.com/proddetail.php?prod=E_foam_kit

Capt. Larry Teuton
Swamp Worshiper

DO NOT EVER RESTRICT THE FLOW INTO A PUMP
ALWAYS RESTRICT THE EXIT

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IF I RESPOND IN ALL CAPS, ITS NOT ON PURPOSE, AND I AM NOT YELLING

leadenwah; don’t know what your plans are but with such an extensive rebuild/restore you might also want to consider plumbing in a bubbler system , you won’t believe how much fresher bait acts with one…just sayin.:smiley:

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When you see “Old Glory” waving in the breeze, know that it is the dying breaths of our fallen hero’s that makes it wave.
author unknown

quote:
Originally posted by gail wins

leadenwah; don’t know what your plans are but with such an extensive rebuild/restore you might also want to consider plumbing in a bubbler system , you won’t believe how much fresher bait acts with one…just sayin.:smiley:

[http://www.militaryappreciationday.org

When you see “Old Glory” waving in the breeze, know that it is the dying breaths of our fallen hero’s that makes it wave.
author unknown


Even over an aerator pump? I will check it out for sure.

Wadmalaw native
16’ Bentz-Craft Flats Boat