wineyarders
Deckhand
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2012
- Posts
- 59
- Likes
- 14
- Boat Make
- '74 Midland
Morning, I’ve been lurking on the site for a bit and figured it was time to join the fray. I recently picked up a well-used ’74 Midland skiff that has been bouncing around on craigslist for awhile. The boat needs some serious cosmetic work with a few repairs/parts in the mix, but the deck, transom and stringers were replaced about 5 years ago and all seem at this point to be very solid, although the deck needs some patching. A couple of things to point out is that the previous owner essentially laid a second hull inside the original to beef up the hull and he raised and inclined the deck to help with drainage. I like the added hull strength but I’m not sure about the raised deck yet. I’m in the process of stripping all the hardware in preparation of patch and paint work and figured folks on this forum would have some ideas on a couple questions I have.
1st question is regarding the deck. I’m going to leave it for now, but I’m wondering how others feel about deck height on these boats. I’ve read some comments that the deck height is too close to the waterline and can cause drainage issues, but you lose freeboard and some stability with the raised deck. I’d say the deck at the bow is raised about 6 inches, and it’s not clear how much it was raised in the stern. There’s only about 15†of freeboard at the mid-point of the deck, which isn’t a whole lot of freeboard. Anyone know what the approximate freeboard is for these boats? Any comments on the stability and roll of these boats with the standard deck height?
My second question is regarding the console and weight distribution. At this point I’m only going to be using portable gas, which will probably stay in the stern with the battery. The current console needs to be replaced and I’m looking for opinions on what to replace it with. I’d love to put a little pilot house up in the bow but I don’t think that’s much of an option without dropping the deck back down. But what do folks think about the size console I should be looking for? I'd prefer to have the console well forward to maximize deck space. Do I want to keep it small and light or something with a little more beef?
Thanks for any input,
Ryan

1st question is regarding the deck. I’m going to leave it for now, but I’m wondering how others feel about deck height on these boats. I’ve read some comments that the deck height is too close to the waterline and can cause drainage issues, but you lose freeboard and some stability with the raised deck. I’d say the deck at the bow is raised about 6 inches, and it’s not clear how much it was raised in the stern. There’s only about 15†of freeboard at the mid-point of the deck, which isn’t a whole lot of freeboard. Anyone know what the approximate freeboard is for these boats? Any comments on the stability and roll of these boats with the standard deck height?
My second question is regarding the console and weight distribution. At this point I’m only going to be using portable gas, which will probably stay in the stern with the battery. The current console needs to be replaced and I’m looking for opinions on what to replace it with. I’d love to put a little pilot house up in the bow but I don’t think that’s much of an option without dropping the deck back down. But what do folks think about the size console I should be looking for? I'd prefer to have the console well forward to maximize deck space. Do I want to keep it small and light or something with a little more beef?
Thanks for any input,
Ryan
