New I/O dog house in the works

[elkhunter338]

I just ordered some Aeromarine epoxy, wood flour, and fiberglass. I plan to build a new i/o dog house for the starcraft. the old one is falling apart and I need a new one. I plan to make the dog house out of 1/8 plywood with a 1/2 foam core, cover the outside with epoxy/fiberglass, then paint. This should last a life time. This will give me epoxy/fiberglass experience because I am planning to possibly build a 25' boat.http://woodenboatblog.com/taxonomy/term/1 a jumbo tolman skiff. If the epoxy i/o house goes well I plan on starting to build this spring/summer. Sell the 21' Cheiftain this summer or next summer depending on build progress. I can't find a 25'-26' starcraft in my area and the more I see the wear and tear of salt water on my boat the more I realize these boats just don't hold up for long term saltwater use. Plan to post pictures of the new i/o house as the project proceeds.

 

[Grandad]

Hi elkhunter. I really think that these doghouses should be built in at least 2 pieces. The original Starcraft designs hinge the doghouse forward into the only available floorspace. Even when you remove adjacent jumpseats, if you're out on the water with passengers aboard, there's just not enough space for everything and everybody. I'd hinge the top half upward, so it's entirely out of the way for most "get it going" repairs. The lower section could be U-shaped and buckled in place. It would also be easier to find space for that section too, if you did need that out as well. - Grandad

 

[Watermann]

The big tin is tough to find out here in the PNW, at least at a fair price. Sounds to me like a solid plan on the doghouse, it will be interesting to see how it turns out.

I sure hope you have a big shop to work on that skiff and I can see a project like that taking a good amount of time.

Not sure what year your Chief is but if you were to ask Starcraft when they made them what was long term use they would say 20 - 30 years would be long term, let alone 45 years like my Chief. I know most people don't even bat an eye at getting a new car when theirs is "worn out" at 10 years old and can you imagine if the car was constantly soaked in salt water?

 

[GA_Boater]

I had an I/O at one time and the one piece DH was hinged like Grandad said. The hinges were on the deck and it opened into the cockpit and filled it up. It wasn't all that easy to work on the motor with the DH in the way. I would look at something like Grandad said with the top hinged toward the stern for access to the top of the motor and a U-shaped lower for serious access. Just my couple of pennies.