- Jan 11, 2007
- 340
- 84
- Name
- Capt. Scott Goodwin
- Boat Name
- Morgan 24, Glasser 16'8
Hey BD’ers! I’m excited to share my boat build story with you as it has slowly progressed from a vision and desire to have my own boat after years of running other owner’s boats for my charter and private boat captain career previous to going to work as the editor of BD Outdoors. I will try to not be long-winded and sum up the pre-story as simply as I can.
As mentioned, I had avoided buying my own boat to charter for years as I knew the big bills that come with maintenance and repair. But eventually, my curiosity and desire to build my own began to creep in. I have spent most of my career well offshore, but I enjoy all types of fishing and as I was growing older, the offshore schedule and beating can take its toll. I watched the coastal charter boats make more money (fewer expenses) in less time each day and while still catching great fish. I began to envision a center console built to excel in that realm of fishing while still being able to do some limited offshore on nice days or take the family on trips like scalloping in Steinhatchee, Florida, a family favorite.
After countless hours looking on the web, I found myself drawn to the center consoles being fished on the west coast of Florida for inshore, tarpon fishing and offshore runs. Many had the classic, flat-back look and function that I love and can still go in very shallow water when the need arises.
One classic design that had been built for many years by a fishing family in Naples, Florida was a Morgan. While there were four sizes to their molds, the 24 Morgan fell into the size range I was looking for. I began to focus on searches for Morgans and the overall Internet consensus was that they were excellent boats. Stable, roomy, and a great ride thanks to the very prominent bow that cuts the chop in the Gulf waters.
The story I was told, is that the boat was designed to cross large bays on the way to fish the shallows of the Everglades by the Morgans. Therefore, the big bow that tapers back to a 12-degree flat bottom in the stern. The 9’6” beam makes the boat feel huge for a 24-foot boat, as does the fact that the motors are generally placed on Porta-Brackets. This allows you to fish right up to the back of the transom, utilizing the full 24-feet.
Well, I fell in love with this boat like a “mail-order” bride. I had only seen Internet pictures and descriptions, but I felt like it was the one for me. I also found out that the Morgan molds had been purchased and the boats were currently being built by Rick Dee of Marine Tech Inc. He was using modern, no-wood construction and said the boats were even better than the originals. I began to sketch out layouts and how I would utilize the space available.
Much of my design was based on the two Parker boats, 25 and 28 cc’s that I had run as a charter boat for many years. I knew what features I wanted to retain from those boats and some that I wanted to add. Of course, the budget always gets in the way of dreaming, but I was just sketching anyway.
Right about that time, I took the unexpected turn to stop fishing for a living and go to work as the Editorial Director of BD Outdoors. This job turned out to be a great blend of fishing and steady work, that charter fishing often lacks. However, the idea of building a boat that I was not going to make money with it, became a daydream again.
Time flies and life throws many ups and downs your way. After the passing of my Dad due to skin cancer, our family had an F250 Yamaha that my dad had just purchased to repower a pleasure boat that he had planned to take Mom around and explore the waters of their home in Jacksonville. We kept the motor maintained and running, but it had very few hours on it. Then due to a chain of events stemming from Hurricane Irma, the boat was badly damaged, but the motor remained untouched. Now the motor was sitting in the garage and I knew the clock was ticking on its value and function.
As a family, we decided to build a boat to hang it on and let the intended good times commence.
I immediately looked up Marine Tech Inc. only to find that the website was gone. I began to search online and found a few forum threads about Morgan builds and one of them had a contact number. I reached out, though I was not very optimistic that they were still in business. To my surprise, I was contacted by the gentleman in the thread and he explained that he knew the builder and they were still able to build the boats, though it was a side project to their current job.
Long story short, I was put back in contact with Rick Dee of Marine Tech Inc, the owner of the Morgan molds who had been building them for the last 20+ years. He was involved with a company building larger center consoles but was still able to build a Morgan 24 on the side if I wanted. (Update: He is now back to building Morgans full time in Vero Beach, Fl.)
I was very excited, but remember, I’ve still never seen one in real life, so there was still a huge gap between my vision and reality. We arranged to take a ride in one of the first ones they built after buying the molds from Mr. Morgan twenty years ago. Rick reminded me that the boat I was going to see was the first one and they had twenty years of refinement since then, but the basic boat was the same. A trip across the state to the Gulf side gave us the opportunity to step foot on a Morgan in person and we were not disappointed. I say we, because a good friend of mine was shopping for a boat to use in the Keys and at home. When I laid out my plans to him, he was interested enough to tag along and check it out.
We crawled all over it, measuring and discussing options and changes. We cast off the lines and went for a ride. The boat was super stable due to its beam and so roomy for the same reasons. The boats are custom built using a simple 3-piece design, but that is exactly what I wanted. A simple boat, built to fish hard in a variety of ways, yet keep my family and friends comfortable too. That’s always a tough blend in a fishing boat, but I had seen examples of how I thought it could be done.
We were amazed when the owner eased the boat out of the channel and up onto a grass flat and straight towards the edge of the mangroves. Trimming the Porta-Bracket upwards, the boat idled across 20” of water without even stirring up the sand. Though fishing my home inshore waters was not a primary goal, the ability to go shallow would certainly have benefits; like the family scallop trip and more.
The Gulf of Mexico is not known for having larger seas like the Atlantic, so we had to resort to boat wakes, our own and others, to test the wave-cutting ability of the deep bow of the Morgan. While not big waves, we were impressed by how the boat sliced right through them, even when we sat up front for the impacts. We stopped and drifted side-to to oncoming boat wakes - nothing but stable. Gunnel height had been a prominent question for us as many Gulf boats have what I would say is too low of a gunnel for me. The Morgan offered 21” in the stern, which hits me at the top of the kneecap. Just enough to call it good, though a coaming pad would be required for comfort. It was high enough to not create a tipping point. The kids and my wife would hit even higher on their leg, creating even more fall-over prevention.
As we idled back into the marina, we passed several other Morgan 24’s in various configurations of tower and layout. It was great to see more options, as we don’t ever see them on the East Coast in our area. We both decided on the ride home that we wanted to take the next step and explore the cost of a build.
I can’t tell you how many early morning hours when I couldn’t sleep, were spent snipping pictures and gathering ideas. Of course, dreaming up features is free and building them is not, so after our first meeting with Rick, the builder, we had to tone down a few of our items, but not too many. It sounded like we could still afford to build our dreamboats each slightly different, but very similar.
I tried to keep the back story short, and believe it or not, that is the short version. Lol. But it gives you enough of the story to appreciate its history.
Now I’ll get on with the good stuff. Pictures of the build.
Ice Blue gel coat getting sprayed in the mold. This was the beginning!
The gel coat is followed by layers of fiberglass and then the sides are stiffened with foam core and glassed over.
Stringers are built heavy-duty and ready to glass into the hull.
Stringers in and the beginning of bulkheads.
Here the fuel tank is being fitted. I opted to bump up the standard 75 gallons to 100 since I knew I would be spending my time on local offshore and coastal areas versus inshore shallows. We also made a water tank between the fuel tank and the bottom of the boat. We predict to possibly have 40 to 50 gallons of freshwater which means we can use it to clean with all day.
Sanded down and gel coated white for ease of cleaning and sealing of the raw glass.
We had a long run of space under the deck outboard of the consoles. Instead of adding more expensive hatches, I opted to put in rod tubes to carry alternate sets of rods that we may or may not need on a particular day. I can carry them without having to work around them or get them salty. On the other side, I just did a cut out to store gaffs, chamois mops, deck brushes and other long items that are otherwise hard to store.
The deck is built as a solid piece, then cut and fitted into the hull.
While construction was taking place, we were having some of our components built in other places to speed up the process. (remember this was a side job at first so we all agreed that finding components to build in would speed it up)
We ordered our consoles from Panga Marine on the west coast of Florida. I like the recessed top. I'm thinking of a Seadek pad glued to a thin rubber material to give it weight. I don't want to stick it down, but would be great to protect and give traction to the catch-all that it will be during the day.
The tower helm pod was built by Quality T-Tops in Tarpon Springs, Fl. They did a great job and cranked out a custom Matterhorn white version. They have three designs to choose from.
I liked the built-in pod for the upper station electronics. A 9" Simrad NSS9 evo3.
The leaning post/livewell/tackle storage combo was an easy choice. Birdsall Marine makes some great options and I went with the Baitmaster 40. This unit is in the prime real estate of the boat and takes care of many needs. Tackle storage for 4 Plano 3600s are on each side and the seat tips forward for more storage. This will become the heart of the tackle storage and the place that I work from during the day. It will contain the most likely needed tackle and leader during the fishing day. The sides will house the extras and other miscellaneous tackle and rigging supplies.
A 40-gallon livewell will handle most of my bait requirements. The builder did add an upper overflow drain so that we could eliminate the standard standpipe that is always in the way. The standpipe drain opening will get a plug that can be removed to drain it at the end of the day. A four-rod holder rocket launcher is built into the backrest making this a pretty compact powerhouse accessory.
This was another big day. The lifting from the mold. Very exciting!
Then the deck went down and was glassed into place. This boat is solid as a rock!!!
Next bulkheads started to be fitted and glassed into place. An anchor locker forward which drains overboard through a small weep hole to keep sand and mud from entering your bilge. The next space will be the forward storage closet with a door cut in for access.
The cap has also been built at this point. I had Rick reinforce the bow deck for a trolling motor to be mounted. We also beefed up some of the side rod holders in case we are using electric reels somewhere.
The V-seating is being trimmed to fit and will be glassed into the boat.
A dry fit and everything is starting to look like a boat. All components are going to be faired in and glassed to the deck before the paint so it will all be solid, built-in and no screw heads to rust or crack the paint. I have to mention that Rick and his crew are a pleasure to work with and are very knowledgable about the build and the options to consider. We had a variety of additions and modifications and it was never an issue.
The boat has been underway for a while now, so I’m going to catch you up with the construction fairly quickly and then we will eventually catch up to real-time on the build. The boat is currently at Bluepoint Fabrication in Titusville getting a tower with a second station built. None of my previous boats had a tower, just a crow’s nest on the hardtop because I always needed to be on the deck to help the charters. But many coastal fisheries are incredibly enhanced by having more height and I knew I wanted controls in the tower and the quickest possible way to get back down to the deck to help family and friends with the business of fishing. I’m not building it to charter at this time, but many of the same conditions exist with fun fishing so the crossover is a given.
Here is a picture I clipped online that is the inspiration for the Bimini top up front for family comfort and shade and a tower that is fully functional and easy to get up and down. V-seating up front takes care of two objectives. First, it gives passengers a place to sit and/or ride on calm days. A Bimini top will be the best way to create shade over the seating area while retaining the ability to quickly fold it down or remove it if needed. The built-in seats also create very dry storage areas as they have a hatch and cushion over them creating double protection from water. This is where I intend to have everyone’s baggage for the day. The console is going to have a cooler seat in front of the console door with a cushion for a backrest. I did not want to have to move that cooler for people to access items if stored in the console. The sides of the console were going to be blocked by the rungs of the ladder leading to the tower. I wanted these to be wide to facilitate climbing up and down. I did not want to have to chase the rungs with my feet and they taper aft like many towers I had seen.
I guess I could ramble on for days with my theories of placement, but I will just add my thoughts with the pictures as we go. I hope you find it interesting! It is an evolving process and there are many new technologies that I’m finding since the last boats I built up or rigged for other owners.
These are very exciting times to be a fisherman and boater, but one thing still remains to be one of the hardest parts…..The Name?...
To be continued......
As mentioned, I had avoided buying my own boat to charter for years as I knew the big bills that come with maintenance and repair. But eventually, my curiosity and desire to build my own began to creep in. I have spent most of my career well offshore, but I enjoy all types of fishing and as I was growing older, the offshore schedule and beating can take its toll. I watched the coastal charter boats make more money (fewer expenses) in less time each day and while still catching great fish. I began to envision a center console built to excel in that realm of fishing while still being able to do some limited offshore on nice days or take the family on trips like scalloping in Steinhatchee, Florida, a family favorite.
After countless hours looking on the web, I found myself drawn to the center consoles being fished on the west coast of Florida for inshore, tarpon fishing and offshore runs. Many had the classic, flat-back look and function that I love and can still go in very shallow water when the need arises.
One classic design that had been built for many years by a fishing family in Naples, Florida was a Morgan. While there were four sizes to their molds, the 24 Morgan fell into the size range I was looking for. I began to focus on searches for Morgans and the overall Internet consensus was that they were excellent boats. Stable, roomy, and a great ride thanks to the very prominent bow that cuts the chop in the Gulf waters.
The story I was told, is that the boat was designed to cross large bays on the way to fish the shallows of the Everglades by the Morgans. Therefore, the big bow that tapers back to a 12-degree flat bottom in the stern. The 9’6” beam makes the boat feel huge for a 24-foot boat, as does the fact that the motors are generally placed on Porta-Brackets. This allows you to fish right up to the back of the transom, utilizing the full 24-feet.
Well, I fell in love with this boat like a “mail-order” bride. I had only seen Internet pictures and descriptions, but I felt like it was the one for me. I also found out that the Morgan molds had been purchased and the boats were currently being built by Rick Dee of Marine Tech Inc. He was using modern, no-wood construction and said the boats were even better than the originals. I began to sketch out layouts and how I would utilize the space available.
Much of my design was based on the two Parker boats, 25 and 28 cc’s that I had run as a charter boat for many years. I knew what features I wanted to retain from those boats and some that I wanted to add. Of course, the budget always gets in the way of dreaming, but I was just sketching anyway.
Right about that time, I took the unexpected turn to stop fishing for a living and go to work as the Editorial Director of BD Outdoors. This job turned out to be a great blend of fishing and steady work, that charter fishing often lacks. However, the idea of building a boat that I was not going to make money with it, became a daydream again.
Time flies and life throws many ups and downs your way. After the passing of my Dad due to skin cancer, our family had an F250 Yamaha that my dad had just purchased to repower a pleasure boat that he had planned to take Mom around and explore the waters of their home in Jacksonville. We kept the motor maintained and running, but it had very few hours on it. Then due to a chain of events stemming from Hurricane Irma, the boat was badly damaged, but the motor remained untouched. Now the motor was sitting in the garage and I knew the clock was ticking on its value and function.
As a family, we decided to build a boat to hang it on and let the intended good times commence.
I immediately looked up Marine Tech Inc. only to find that the website was gone. I began to search online and found a few forum threads about Morgan builds and one of them had a contact number. I reached out, though I was not very optimistic that they were still in business. To my surprise, I was contacted by the gentleman in the thread and he explained that he knew the builder and they were still able to build the boats, though it was a side project to their current job.
Long story short, I was put back in contact with Rick Dee of Marine Tech Inc, the owner of the Morgan molds who had been building them for the last 20+ years. He was involved with a company building larger center consoles but was still able to build a Morgan 24 on the side if I wanted. (Update: He is now back to building Morgans full time in Vero Beach, Fl.)
I was very excited, but remember, I’ve still never seen one in real life, so there was still a huge gap between my vision and reality. We arranged to take a ride in one of the first ones they built after buying the molds from Mr. Morgan twenty years ago. Rick reminded me that the boat I was going to see was the first one and they had twenty years of refinement since then, but the basic boat was the same. A trip across the state to the Gulf side gave us the opportunity to step foot on a Morgan in person and we were not disappointed. I say we, because a good friend of mine was shopping for a boat to use in the Keys and at home. When I laid out my plans to him, he was interested enough to tag along and check it out.
We crawled all over it, measuring and discussing options and changes. We cast off the lines and went for a ride. The boat was super stable due to its beam and so roomy for the same reasons. The boats are custom built using a simple 3-piece design, but that is exactly what I wanted. A simple boat, built to fish hard in a variety of ways, yet keep my family and friends comfortable too. That’s always a tough blend in a fishing boat, but I had seen examples of how I thought it could be done.
We were amazed when the owner eased the boat out of the channel and up onto a grass flat and straight towards the edge of the mangroves. Trimming the Porta-Bracket upwards, the boat idled across 20” of water without even stirring up the sand. Though fishing my home inshore waters was not a primary goal, the ability to go shallow would certainly have benefits; like the family scallop trip and more.
The Gulf of Mexico is not known for having larger seas like the Atlantic, so we had to resort to boat wakes, our own and others, to test the wave-cutting ability of the deep bow of the Morgan. While not big waves, we were impressed by how the boat sliced right through them, even when we sat up front for the impacts. We stopped and drifted side-to to oncoming boat wakes - nothing but stable. Gunnel height had been a prominent question for us as many Gulf boats have what I would say is too low of a gunnel for me. The Morgan offered 21” in the stern, which hits me at the top of the kneecap. Just enough to call it good, though a coaming pad would be required for comfort. It was high enough to not create a tipping point. The kids and my wife would hit even higher on their leg, creating even more fall-over prevention.
As we idled back into the marina, we passed several other Morgan 24’s in various configurations of tower and layout. It was great to see more options, as we don’t ever see them on the East Coast in our area. We both decided on the ride home that we wanted to take the next step and explore the cost of a build.
I can’t tell you how many early morning hours when I couldn’t sleep, were spent snipping pictures and gathering ideas. Of course, dreaming up features is free and building them is not, so after our first meeting with Rick, the builder, we had to tone down a few of our items, but not too many. It sounded like we could still afford to build our dreamboats each slightly different, but very similar.
I tried to keep the back story short, and believe it or not, that is the short version. Lol. But it gives you enough of the story to appreciate its history.
Now I’ll get on with the good stuff. Pictures of the build.
Ice Blue gel coat getting sprayed in the mold. This was the beginning!
Stringers are built heavy-duty and ready to glass into the hull.
Stringers in and the beginning of bulkheads.
Here the fuel tank is being fitted. I opted to bump up the standard 75 gallons to 100 since I knew I would be spending my time on local offshore and coastal areas versus inshore shallows. We also made a water tank between the fuel tank and the bottom of the boat. We predict to possibly have 40 to 50 gallons of freshwater which means we can use it to clean with all day.
Sanded down and gel coated white for ease of cleaning and sealing of the raw glass.
We had a long run of space under the deck outboard of the consoles. Instead of adding more expensive hatches, I opted to put in rod tubes to carry alternate sets of rods that we may or may not need on a particular day. I can carry them without having to work around them or get them salty. On the other side, I just did a cut out to store gaffs, chamois mops, deck brushes and other long items that are otherwise hard to store.
The deck is built as a solid piece, then cut and fitted into the hull.
While construction was taking place, we were having some of our components built in other places to speed up the process. (remember this was a side job at first so we all agreed that finding components to build in would speed it up)
We ordered our consoles from Panga Marine on the west coast of Florida. I like the recessed top. I'm thinking of a Seadek pad glued to a thin rubber material to give it weight. I don't want to stick it down, but would be great to protect and give traction to the catch-all that it will be during the day.
The tower helm pod was built by Quality T-Tops in Tarpon Springs, Fl. They did a great job and cranked out a custom Matterhorn white version. They have three designs to choose from.
I liked the built-in pod for the upper station electronics. A 9" Simrad NSS9 evo3.
The leaning post/livewell/tackle storage combo was an easy choice. Birdsall Marine makes some great options and I went with the Baitmaster 40. This unit is in the prime real estate of the boat and takes care of many needs. Tackle storage for 4 Plano 3600s are on each side and the seat tips forward for more storage. This will become the heart of the tackle storage and the place that I work from during the day. It will contain the most likely needed tackle and leader during the fishing day. The sides will house the extras and other miscellaneous tackle and rigging supplies.
A 40-gallon livewell will handle most of my bait requirements. The builder did add an upper overflow drain so that we could eliminate the standard standpipe that is always in the way. The standpipe drain opening will get a plug that can be removed to drain it at the end of the day. A four-rod holder rocket launcher is built into the backrest making this a pretty compact powerhouse accessory.
This was another big day. The lifting from the mold. Very exciting!
Then the deck went down and was glassed into place. This boat is solid as a rock!!!
Next bulkheads started to be fitted and glassed into place. An anchor locker forward which drains overboard through a small weep hole to keep sand and mud from entering your bilge. The next space will be the forward storage closet with a door cut in for access.
The cap has also been built at this point. I had Rick reinforce the bow deck for a trolling motor to be mounted. We also beefed up some of the side rod holders in case we are using electric reels somewhere.
The V-seating is being trimmed to fit and will be glassed into the boat.
The boat has been underway for a while now, so I’m going to catch you up with the construction fairly quickly and then we will eventually catch up to real-time on the build. The boat is currently at Bluepoint Fabrication in Titusville getting a tower with a second station built. None of my previous boats had a tower, just a crow’s nest on the hardtop because I always needed to be on the deck to help the charters. But many coastal fisheries are incredibly enhanced by having more height and I knew I wanted controls in the tower and the quickest possible way to get back down to the deck to help family and friends with the business of fishing. I’m not building it to charter at this time, but many of the same conditions exist with fun fishing so the crossover is a given.
Here is a picture I clipped online that is the inspiration for the Bimini top up front for family comfort and shade and a tower that is fully functional and easy to get up and down. V-seating up front takes care of two objectives. First, it gives passengers a place to sit and/or ride on calm days. A Bimini top will be the best way to create shade over the seating area while retaining the ability to quickly fold it down or remove it if needed. The built-in seats also create very dry storage areas as they have a hatch and cushion over them creating double protection from water. This is where I intend to have everyone’s baggage for the day. The console is going to have a cooler seat in front of the console door with a cushion for a backrest. I did not want to have to move that cooler for people to access items if stored in the console. The sides of the console were going to be blocked by the rungs of the ladder leading to the tower. I wanted these to be wide to facilitate climbing up and down. I did not want to have to chase the rungs with my feet and they taper aft like many towers I had seen.
I guess I could ramble on for days with my theories of placement, but I will just add my thoughts with the pictures as we go. I hope you find it interesting! It is an evolving process and there are many new technologies that I’m finding since the last boats I built up or rigged for other owners.
These are very exciting times to be a fisherman and boater, but one thing still remains to be one of the hardest parts…..The Name?...
To be continued......
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