Captain Denis Loc: Shark River Hills, New Jersey

Hello,

My name is Denis J Quilligan and I live in Shark River Hills section of Neptune Township in New Jersey. I was thinking of creating a fishing vessel to use in the Shark River where I live. I decided to build a catamaran using 2 vintage Walden Kayaks powered by a 24 volt Minnkota electric trolling motor. Using stainless steel boat railing hardware I connected the vessels making a teriffic shallow draft fishing vessel. Any comments welcomed.

Denis J Quilligan
USCG Licensed Captain
former owner of
Tampa Bay Charter Fishing
O’Neal’s Marina
St. Petersburg, FL

Billycrap2 Loc: Mason county,W(BY GOD) Virginia, 🇺🇸🦅

It looks good to me let us know
how it work
heck you might start up a company👍🏽👍🏽🎣🎣🎣🎣🐟🐟🐠🐠🐋🐋🇺🇸🇺🇸🦅🦅

Grizzly 17 Loc: South central Pa

Do you get your gear in the two yaks? I saw a rig similar to that except the guy used two canoes n put a plywood platform between them. Good luck Denis. Let us know she work👍👍

Fishandrods Loc: Alpine Ca foothills of San Diego

Looking at them it will be important that they are aligned right so they are both pointed straight ahead not fighting each other to go where you’re taking them. Good luck it should work great for stability as long as the connecting bracing is not flexing too much with all the weight in the seat area between the yaks.

Dakoda Loc: Cle Elum, WA

Pretty ingenious.

FixorFish Loc: SW Oregon

I made a similar out of two matching windsurf boards and a folding "sandchair" lawn chair years ago, using square aluminum tubing. Had a transom on the back, with a deck for battery and gear (behind the seat) and the lawn chair out of 3--1/2" Baltic Birch panels so it folded to collapse the windsurf boards vertically, secured flat with pins. Fit easily in the back of my pickup, though they were of the "ancient" version......11' feet long, not very maneuverable unfortunately, and hung out a foot beyond the tailgate.
Wish I had pics, sold it when a guy saw it up at Lake of the Woods, here in Oregon, and offered me an obscene offer (at the time & in the financial state I was in back then !), Took his cash and helped him strap it to the back of his plush motorhome....win/win. But I kinda wish I still had it. That was before electric motors became a factor in registration, so maybe I dodged a bullet by not having to prove that my home-built "boat" was seaworthy and could be assigned a hull # so it could be registered....????
Thanks for sharing, absolutely love creative ways of accommodating getting on the water to go fishing.... one person or a half-dozen. Have fun, eat some fish !

Gordon Loc: Charleston South Carolina

That's pretty interesting Denis. You got two built in live wells if needed.

Gordon Loc: Charleston South Carolina

Welcome to the Stage also.

Gordon Loc: Charleston South Carolina

I have an old windsurfer and they are big. With two were you able to carry more then one person?

NJ219bands Loc: New Jersey

TooMuch Loc: NE Alabama

Pretty cool. My concern is similar to FnR point. She ll work well for several outing I'm sure. At some point, you may need to modify the connection. As it sits right now, I'd take it and have some fun!

FixorFish Loc: SW Oregon

Certainly could have, buoyancy-wise, as well as potential "deck space sq.footage".
However.......I had just come off my second divorce, and to be upfront about it.....at that point in my life, I did not want to have to share much of anything with anybody. Most certainly not my "refuge" in the form of a boat where I could be fishing and enjoying the peace and solitude on the water.
While I still have more than one "one man boat" to choose from, I find myself apologizing for not being able to take more than one, maybe two if they're not big folks, on my drift boat or my 12' Livingston lake/estuary boat. Still working on my 14' mini-pontoon that will accommodate 4-6.
Guess I am becoming more gregarious about my angling in my old age, actually actively looking for fishing partners rather than shunning them, these days !
Pretty soon I'll probably be found driving downriver to Social Security Bar (an actual place on the Rogue River !) and sit myself down bankside with all the other "old codgers"...... Oregon's version of Florida and SoCal's "pier fishing".... hehehe.

Captain Denis Loc: Shark River Hills, New Jersey

You guys are right.

That is why I searched high and low for the exact make, model and year of both kayaks. It is tracking just fine but there is another problem. With my weight and the trolling motor weight my homemade center deck is pulling the inside of each kayak down and tilting both kayaks down toward the center. I will be using a 2 inch square stainless steel tubing to hopefully solve that issue. Using a total of 6 bolts through the tubing will keep both kayaks and the center deck in place, square and level. If that doesn’t work, I plan to fiberglass the entire opening of the kayaks closed with waterproof hatches for access. It is a work in progress. I am now waiting on a carbide hole saw and a carbide drill bit to make my holes for the stainless steel mounting hardware.

I will keep you posted.

Capt. Denis

FixorFish Loc: SW Oregon

You can easily add more rod holders or even small downriggers with that tubing. I'd be inclined to find gasketed plastic storage boxes that fit the "holes".....gear on one side, bait/livewell on the other. Just have to figure the attachment placing that allows access, but still affords the stability you are trying to achieve.

Looking good, keep going.....and what customized boat (or ANY boat, for that matter !) ISN'T "a work in progress" ?....... hehehe.....

eightpound Loc: Jackson, NJ

Sounds like you still have a few years or decades to hang out on the water with your really nifty piece of work! In 5 days I'll be 88. 3 years ago I sold my 15' "flats" (drew 8") boat. Fished Florida flats two months every year and worked the ocean from The Shark River the rest of the time. Balance got a bit dicey in the ocean after 80. Seems as though you have built a very interesting craft. Not sure about the ocean. Easily the Shark River. Good luck and tight lines.
Frank aka The Old One