Hog Island Skiff—almost

[T. Wiles]

So here I am in Memphis, ready to pick up a boat that is not here.

[larry babin]

I’m jealous. A buddy has one on order too now and it’s supposed to be ready in May. We’ll see. frickin’ indestructible.

[Zach Matthews]

Hmm.

[T. Wiles]

There’s a 40/30 Yamaha jet ready for me at a local marina once I get the boat.

[Zach Matthews]

Very cool, Travis.

[C.B. Crumpler]

Thats me Travis!

Im supposed to be picking mine up from Memphis next weekend! I am glad to see the pics of yours. Cant wait to see it on some Musky water. Come to think of it I may make a detour after memphis…

[T. Wiles]

Is Kenny welding you a trailer, or do you have your own?

[C.B. Crumpler]

No I am just making due with a rando trailer I have laying around for now. I want to get one from them, the one that actually fits.

I don’t really mind if the newer ones aren’t nicer, I am just ready to get mine!

What all did you get on yours? I just got oar locks, blade locks, and rod storage. Prob going to get a tower on it later.

[T. Wiles]

What all did you get on yours?

I’m getting the works on this one.
Bow trolling motor bracket for Minn Kota Riptide, bow casting station with cadting brace and bracket for Yeti, Sawyer Oars and sleeves–with cooler for bench seat, poling platform, and two sets of rod holder tubes.
The jet cavitation plate will have to be added later.

[p.j. petiniot]

I had never heard of Hog Island Skiffs before reading this thread-

Thanks for the heads up—-

[Zach Matthews]

Travis –

Did you get your boat? Did you listen to the podcast on this one? You were the reason I learned about their skiffs and reached out for the interview.

Zach

[T. Wiles]

Hey Zach,

Sorry I’ve been out of touch for a while…just got my laptop back, after getting a nasty virus removed (damn PC’s!) Also been traveling, and my home looks like HGTV with contractors ripping it apart for renovations, so I’ve been offline a while.

Listened to your Podcast with John St John, and found it very informative, Thanks for doing it–John’s a great guy, and works hard to produce a nice product.

Here’s the scoop on the skiff:

There have been numerous holdups in production, namely the acessory add-ons were slow in fabrication due to use of a new welding company to create the parts. John is very meticulous, and would not send 2nd rate parts for his boat without thoroughly inspecting them with his stamp of approval.
There are a couple of us East TN, NC, VA die-hard river-chasers who have been anxiously awaiting the boat arrivals, and it’s finally about to happen.
After this first holdup, I expect production of these boats to become much more straightforward and efficient.

Original post was changed in the shuffle, so here’s a few photos from before.

Aluminum trailer that I had welded in Southhaven MS near Memphis by Cherokee manufacturing:
Exceptional quality and equal or less cost than the galvanized EZ Loaders that I was considering:

My first glimpse of an early prototype of the skiff:

Now, Here’s my skiff (the one on top), ready to be delivered from California to Charlotte. It’s due to arrive next week:

• This reply was modified 12 years, 11 months ago by Zach Matthews. Reason: Travis - this board uses real HTML instead of bulletin board short codes. I fixed the links for you. - ZM
• This reply was modified 12 years, 11 months ago by T. Wiles.

[Zach Matthews]

Travis –

When are you expecting the boat? Let us know how it does. It looks awesome.

Zach

[T. Wiles]

Finally got to pick up the skiff yesterday. The Boat looks great. Now time to rig a motor and get her floating.

[Tim Angeli]

Great looking boat Travis. I can only imagine all the new water that will open for you – already looking forward to seeing the pictures.

[C.B. Crumpler]

congrats Travis. been a long time coming, I can attest as well.
I am supposed to once again be picking up this weekend. We shall see…
I cant wait to see what you get in to with that thing. Lets arrange a Hog outing some time.

[Zach Matthews]

That’s awesome Travis. What kind of motor are you going for? Mind posting some real world draft stats?

I noticed the price is not posted on the website. Do you mind giving us a ballpark idea?

Zach

[Mike Lewis]

I’m really liking the looks of this boat as well, super cool.

I have the same questions Zach does. PM is fine if you don’t want to post the $

Also, the jet cavitation plate – is this a necessary extra needed to run an outboard with the jet foot? Is it boat specific?

Thanks!

[T. Wiles]

<cite> @ZachMatthews said:</cite>
That’s awesome Travis. What kind of motor are you going for? Mind posting some real world draft stats?

I noticed the price is not posted on the website. Do you mind giving us a ballpark idea?

Zach

Here’s a pic of a modified 25 E-tech that scoots this boat around on the Little Red on Low water. The owner says it gets on plane and maintains a great shallow draft close to 4-5 inches. It was installed by an experienced jet boat builder in Missouri. Notice that he raised the transom with about 1/2 ” sqare aluminum at the top to get the jet foot flush with the end of the boat. Also, he suspended a cavitation plate about 1-2 inches off the motor bracket to allow space for the drainplug.

About five other boaters, including myself, are going to add a 40/30 Yamaha 4 stroke jet. It weighs about 40 lbs more than the Etec… but it does not require a conversion from prop to jet. The installation requires some tweaking to get the right plane.

I plan on switching between my 25 prop for salt, my 2.5 prop for backcountry floats in heavy shoaled whitewater rivers, and the 40/30 jet for most of my river fishing that doesn’t require dragging over dry ledges. Still figuring out how to hoist the 225 lb four stroke motor once I get it. Northern Tool has a chain hoist and frame for about $300 that looks like it will work.

As for cost: this boat is still in it’s early “design” generations. John is being generous with his lower fees mainly as a favor for asking his early customers to wait on fabrication. I cannot quote a hard copy invoice, but the boat is in the range from $5-6K with the accessories. The EZ Loader trailer is around $1300 and I had my aluminum trailer made for $1450. John plans on streamlining his production for more orders by the end of July after several expo/boat shows.

[Mike Lewis]

Very cool Travis, thanks for all the info on the boat. A boy can dream….

[Author]

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