Cabin Skiff on the trailer

Subject: Cabin Skiff Project
Date: Sat, 05 Aug 2000
From: Ray Macke

Attached are a few photos of my Cabin Skiff project. I incorporated several modifications which included stretching to 18', moving forward decks up to top of bulwarks, changing cabin & berth shape and making the windshields tilt open for ventilation. I started the project on 10/26/99 and slid it off the trailer for the maiden voyage on 7/22/00.

Cabin Skiff launched

There is still a lot of work to do. The idea was to float it so I could find the waterline. I plan to paint the sides of the hull blue but the Easypoxy is only going down to about 2 inches above the water. Problem is I have been having so much fun cruising around I haven't been able to force myself to stop long enough to get it painted. As of 8/4/00 I have about 9 hours on it and the trip long on my speedometer shows 102 miles.

I haven't had enough time to really nail down the performance numbers yet but this is what it is looking like so far. With the new Honda 50 hp four stroke I find it will plane at about 17 or 18 mph. Top speed is 30 mph.

I built the Cabin Skiff with the intention of doing some long river cruises and good fuel economy is essential because fuel facilities are scarce. I am equipped with Horizon's Speed/Trip meter and their Fuel Flow meter. What it is showing me is at 21 mph I am burning 2.1 gph which equals 10 mpg. At 25 mph it goes to 2.6 gph or 9.6 mpg. At full throttle 30 mph the burn is 3.3 which equals 9 mpg. Again these numbers are preliminary as I still am fine tuning both the instruments and the Skiff but so far I am quite pleased.

I must say I get a LOT of looks from other boaters. You just don't see anything like the Cabin Skiff on the rivers here in the midwest. Also, in one of the photos you seethe trailer and I built it from Glen-L's plans. Everyone that sees it is surprised when they find out it is not a "factory" job.

If anyone is interested in the building process they can visit my web site at http://lightning.prohosting.com/~raymacke/ . It tracks my progress from the beginning with lots of photos and text (also has a section on building the trailer). I will continue to update it as the project continues with both building info and my impressions of the Skiff.

Profile view

My biggest concern at this point is getting it done. I have enjoyed the process so much I hate to see it come to an end!

Below is a portion of an email sent to Mr Macke, followed by his response.
...A warp in the boat bottom is NOT common with the CABIN SKIFF; it is a general problem with any boat. In fact, it is rare on the CABIN SKIFF due to the longitudinals fastened to the aft bottom as described in the instructions. This is one of the reasons we do not advocate lengthening a Stitch-N-Glue, fully patterned boat--it is very difficult to keep the lines true.
Glen Witt

Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000

....
I have to agree about lengthening the hull. I like the extra room BUT if I was doing it over again I honestly don't think I would do it - too much room for error. But as they say, live and learn!

Still I am having a ball with the CS. I'm heading out for a while tomorrow morning. Who cares if it is only 35 degrees - I am enclosed, not exposed and will be grinning from ear to ear.

Ray Macke


Update: 7/25/05

River miles traveled since 7/22/00 launch: 19,046 miles & 1076 hrs

Cabin Skiff on the beach

Cabin Skiff in the water

To read about Ray's travels, see the News Letters, Index of articles under Cabin Skiff.

Return