The Art Of Skiff Building (With Harry Spear)
- By: Joseph Simonds
- on
Have you ever considered building your own boat?
It might sound like an exciting, yet overwhelming project.
One the one hand, imagine how proud you’d be after silently gliding up to a spot in a boat that you made and catching an unsuspecting redfish.
On the other hand… how in the heck do you build a boat?!
Well, Harry Spear is going to help answer that question.
Harry is a legend in the saltwater inshore fishing world.
Not only is he known as one of the best guides and tournament anglers in South Florida, but he’s also known for building some of the best skiffs around.
And since many people have been asking him how they can be their own, he’s about to launch his “Skiff Kits” that help you build your very own custom skiff from home.
Listen in to this episode as Harry and I discuss:
- The art of skiff building
- Why building your own boat isn’t as hard as you think it is
- How to buy a used boat (and what to AVOID)
- What really matters when it comes to winning saltwater fishing tournaments
- And much more
You can listen to this episode by clicking the play button below, or on iTunes, Stitcher, or Spotify.
Enjoy!
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The Art Of Skiff Building With Harry Spear [PODCAST]
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Harry’s about to launch his new YouTube series, Harry Spear The Art Of Skiff Building.
His goal is to create a community that can further the art of skiff building and let more people experience it.
Instead of buying a boat, you’ll now be able to make memories building your own.
He’ll be selling skiff kits and his YouTube channel will be full of tutorials and advice on how to make your boat from the kit.
Capt. Brian Esposito bought the first kit from Harry and you can see how he documented his process on his Instagram page @capt_brian_esposito.
Scroll back to August 2019 to see how it turned out.
How To Buy A Used Boat
Of course, if you don’t want to build your own skiff, and you don’t want to shell out the money to get a new boat, a used boat can be a great option.
Here are some tips from Harry about how to get a good used boat:
- Get a popular brand of boat because it’ll be easy to resell down the road (you won’t keep the boat forever!)
- Get a simple boat. Boats with extra things like rails, ladders, etc. have more things that can break on them.
- Look at forums and Facebook groups about boats. See what people like and what they don’t like. If a certain brand or model of boat gets a lot of good reviews, that’s a good sign. If it doesn’t get a lot of good reviews — avoid it!
Conclusion
I can’t imagine building my own boat from scratch without the internet like Harry did.
He said he didn’t have any skills or experience, but he did have determination, and I love that!
You can learn more about Harry and Spear Boat Works at the links below:
Have any questions about building your own skiff?
Let us know down in the comments!
And if you know someone who’d love to build their own boat, please TAG or SHARE this with them!
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I’m going to build one that would be a great option
I’ve been tempted for a while now to build one of the Chris Morejohn skiff designs with foam strips, or one of the Bateau stitch and glue boats. Just so many other projects and hobbies, but I’ll probably get around to it one of these days. The Spears kits will be yet another good option to consider. Probably save huge amounts of time and make it much more likely the hobby builder doesn’t get bogged down and quit. Also probably much more expensive. Hope he will post more info on his kit designs and pricing options once he gets his Youtube channel complete.