# Monark 14 foot project



## cathprod (Feb 11, 2009)

Hello All! I have been visiting this site quite often over the past few weeks as I get ready to spruce up a 14 foot monark that was given to me by my grandmother. This site is such a fantastic resource. I have quite a hectic schedule so it will take a little while for me to complete the project. My first dilemna is getting the boat registered. It has never been registered and my grandmother lost all paperwork showing that she owns it thanks to a hurricane. I would like to find out its age, if anyone is familiar with monarks I would appreciate any help you may be able to offer in finding this boats age. I have posted some pics of the boat and then it stripped down to the aluminum. This took a good 7 hours with help from a friend. We took turns using a Milwaukee sander with a wire brush attachment. I ordered some steelflex for the bottom and will use a 4 inch roller to apply. I will then use spray cans of etch primer for the rest of the boat before going with I am not sure what kind of spray paint. I am thinking of just decking the floor of the boat because of the boats width and turning the bench seats into storage. I will gladly accept any suggestions being as I am new at this kind of thing. Like I said though, for now posts will be few and far in between.


----------



## ben2go (Feb 11, 2009)

Looks like a solid project.Find the hull identification number and take it to the titling agency, in the state it was last registered in.They can reissue the paper work.Then the title can be transferred into your name.


----------



## russ010 (Feb 11, 2009)

Nice Rig!

I don't see an HIN tag on the transom... so it may be prior 197?? can't remember the year those were first put on


----------



## bassboy1 (Feb 11, 2009)

russ010 said:


> Nice Rig!
> 
> I don't see an HIN tag on the transom... so it may be prior 197?? can't remember the year those were first put on


'72 is when they were required. Same with capacity plates. So, if your rig doesn't have one, it is pre '72, or the tag was removed. If it does have one, it could still be pre '72, as many companies started putting them on before they were required.


----------



## ben2go (Feb 11, 2009)

If there is no HIN you could register it under the old boat rules.DNR did this with my jon.It's registered as a 1971 Jon.


----------



## cathprod (Feb 11, 2009)

There actually is a hull tag with a five digit serial number. The problem is that Louisiana requires an inspection of the boat if the boat is homemade or does not have the proper 12 digit serial number. Part of this application process involves providing proof of ownership. Since the papers for this boat are nowhere to be found I have to get a history of the boat notarized by a justice of the peace. This is why I am trying to find out its year of manufacture, I would like to have as much info as possible so that the justice of the peace does not have reason to deny me. Thanks for all the help. I am looking forward to all of your suggestions once I get working on the boat, I am still waiting for the steelflex to arrive.


----------



## ben2go (Feb 11, 2009)

I am not 100% on this, but I think 5 digit serial numbers were prior to 70.Try to get your titling agency to check the numbers that you have.Then you can send in for copies of the original paper work.Getting copies and doing a transfer is a lot easier that coming up with a history report.


----------



## baptistpreach (Feb 22, 2009)

We have the same boat!!! https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=5624 Mine wasn't registered, and it had a 5 digit HIN; I believe your grandmother can sign a notarized statement that she has owned it for 15 years or at least 10 years, and get a title (that's how it works in OK at least, I know it varies though). The man I had bought it from had it for 30 years or so, and my guess is that its a 65-70. I found out that Monark was formed in 1959, so its at least that old. I got mine titled, so don't give up! I'm getting ready to paint mine, but keep up the good work, its awesome to see another one, and you're in the same boat as me  .


----------



## lswoody (Feb 22, 2009)

Looks like it will be a somewhat easy project. Good luck!!!!!


----------



## Specknreds (Feb 22, 2009)

cathprod said:


> There actually is a hull tag with a five digit serial number. The problem is that Louisiana requires an inspection of the boat if the boat is homemade or does not have the proper 12 digit serial number. Part of this application process involves providing proof of ownership. Since the papers for this boat are nowhere to be found I have to get a history of the boat notarized by a justice of the peace. This is why I am trying to find out its year of manufacture, I would like to have as much info as possible so that the justice of the peace does not have reason to deny me. Thanks for all the help. I am looking forward to all of your suggestions once I get working on the boat, I am still waiting for the steelflex to arrive.



Welcome to Tinboats!! What part of LA are you from? PM me and I might be able to help you on a LA registration.


----------



## cathprod (Feb 22, 2009)

Hey Guys thanks for all the help. I will look into what you said baptistpreach, I am meeting with a justice of the peace at the end of this week to attempt to get the papers notarized (fingers are crossed). 

Specknreds: I am in Westwego (across the river from harahan (metairie).

Thanks again, I am looking forward to get all of the paperwork taken care of so that I can get to work!


----------



## Specknreds (Feb 22, 2009)

cathprod said:


> Hey Guys thanks for all the help. I will look into what you said baptistpreach, I am meeting with a justice of the peace at the end of this week to attempt to get the papers notarized (fingers are crossed).
> 
> Specknreds: I am in Westwego (across the river from harahan (metairie).
> 
> Thanks again, I am looking forward to get all of the paperwork taken care of so that I can get to work!



I use to work out at the Chef and know I work in Slidell.

Where and what do you fish? I'm in Hopedale (fished a Redfish Tournament this weekend) or Venice just about every weekend.


----------



## cathprod (Feb 22, 2009)

As of late I have been fishing Seabrook in a 18' fiberglass Wellcraft. I have also gone to Lafitte a few times and out to Lake Catherine once. So it has been saltwater only as of late, but I am looking to get this 14' ready to do some bass fishing this March. I do not have full access to the 18' so I have not gone out enough to really learn any area, hopefully that will change soon!


----------



## cathprod (Feb 22, 2009)

Hey baptistpreach, my friend who is going half in on me with the monark like yours just purchased a 15hp 2 cycle outboard. Any idea how it will fare on the Monark? 

I checked out your boat a while back when I was first wanting to find my own boat and now that you showed me that is the same as mine I am looking again very closely. 

How stable is the boat with the decks as high as you have them? Also we have a 20# thrust trolling motor, do you think that will do okay for trolling while fishing?

I am sure I will have more questions, I will try not to plague you with them. :wink:


----------



## Specknreds (Feb 23, 2009)

cathprod said:


> As of late I have been fishing Seabrook in a 18' fiberglass Wellcraft. I have also gone to Lafitte a few times and out to Lake Catherine once. So it has been saltwater only as of late, but I am looking to get this 14' ready to do some bass fishing this March. I do not have full access to the 18' so I have not gone out enough to really learn any area, hopefully that will change soon!




Thats awesome! Your the first on on Tinboats that fishes close to where I fish. We might hook up one trip, I can show you around Hopedale which is very fishable in a 14'. I learned the area in a 14' Monark until I ripped the transom out of it. It was my fault, I hung a way to big and heavy 4-stroke on it and you know how bad the roads are on 10 between Pontchartrain 
and N.O. East. If nothing else you are more than welcome to follow us when you get your boat running. 

What is your opinion on them closing the MRGO as far as affecting the fishing around Seabrook? The ole timers are telling me that it will become freshwater again.

How wide is your 14' (you might have said and I missed it)? I had a 1448 Monark with just a decked floor and it was very stable. I'm 230lbs and I could stand on the side of it without fear of it tipping. A 20# TM is a little on the light side but will work as long as you do not have a lot of current or wind.

Don't be afraid to ask ?'s. The people on here are the best and pretty knowledgeable. Just remember, A dumb question is one not asked!!!


----------



## cathprod (Feb 23, 2009)

I know what you mean about the roads, one thing on my list is to make sure to rig up a transom saver. 

I would be thrilled if you would be willing to help me learn Hopedale. I did not grow up fishing and one of the problems that I had with Lafitte was not really knowing where to go. I received a few tips from neighbors but unless you really take the time to get to know the area you will return home empty handed over and over again. So I will take any help I can get once I get the boat water ready.

As far as Seabrook I have not been fishing there enough to really be able to tell you how it has changed. I am a newcomer to this fishing thing and now that I have a boat I am hoping to get out there often so that when my son (8 months) is old enough I can show him a good time. I mainly have been fishing Seabrook because it is close, easy, and because the boat I had access to is not the most reliable, so it was important to be close to the launch. I am glad to see that there is someone else from my neck of the woods who knows saltwater areas for a 14' (though fun, bass fishing will never compare to a good redfish fight or to specs when the bite is on). I will surely let you know when the boat is ready to go! 

By the way...It is 36" wide.


----------



## baptistpreach (Feb 23, 2009)

Good question about the stability. I haven't taken it out with my seats installed yet, but I did do a test to see if I like the placement of things. It isn't the most ultra stable, and I have to be careful but it works fine. As for your 20lb trolling motor, I would think it would be too small. I've run mine with a 50lb and it did fantastic, and I've got a 30 or 35 I'll test out and let you know how it handles. Again, check craigslist, you'll find a better trolling motor for cheap. I got a 9.5hp motor on mine, but I haven't tested it yet (or checked to see if its running!), so I can't really say about the 15hp motor other than I'm sure that's the biggest you can put on it safely. Plague away with the questions, I'm just glad to see another one on here! Soon, you'll see my finished product. I just figured out where to put my switch panel and FF last night, so that's one of my last hurdles! Keep it up, depending on your fishing needs, you might try building a floor a little lower than mine to help with stability, I really wanted to maximize storage, and have a "big" livewell, so that's why I did what I did.


----------



## cathprod (Feb 28, 2009)

I finally found some time to get some more work done, I will try and post some pictures tomorrow evening. I applied two quarts of steel flex and wish I would have bought more becausee it is not quite as thick as I would have liked. But in spite of this I think I am really going to like this stuff. I will hopefully get a little more done tomorrow and post some pics of the progress. My friend was kayaking in a bayou north of New Orleans and said the bass were on a feeding frenzy, so I need to get moving!


----------



## Waterwings (Feb 28, 2009)

Hearing you guys talk about Metarie, Ponchatarin, & Slidell brings back some memories  . While stationed in NOLA from Oct. '85- Oct. '89, I started out living on the Naval Support Activity at Algiers, then had an apartment on the West Bank near the mall (can't recall the name), then moved to an apartment over in Chalmette. Where I worked was at the Training Systems Lab & School (next door to the Naval Reserve Center, right on Lakeshore Drive. We could see Lakefront Airport out our front door. Do you know if the reserve center or other bldg (where I worked) survived Katrina? I'm thinking probably not.


----------



## cathprod (Mar 1, 2009)

Well here are the promised pictures if any one is interested. I gave a shot of the whole bottom and then a closeup of where I fastened the transom brace using stainless steel #10 bolts/washers/nuts with some 5200. That is the best position I could get the boat in by myself (and I probably should not have even attempted that. This steelflex seems like a great product.

Waterwings: I am guessing you mean Oakwood Mall on the westbank, it was redone after Katrina and is really nice now. As far as the buildings where you worked, I am not sure what condition they are in. I have fished right by the Lakefront Airport though, and have caught a few really nice speckled trout, though I could not imagine what it would be like out there in this 14'.


----------



## Waterwings (Mar 1, 2009)

That looks good! 8) 


I believe it was Oakwood Mall. They had a Maisson Blanche store there as I recall. Nope, I wouldn't take a 14' on Ponchatrain either. :shock:


----------



## Nick Jones (Mar 3, 2009)

cathprod said:


> Well here are the promised pictures if any one is interested. I gave a shot of the whole bottom and then a closeup of where I fastened the transom brace using stainless steel #10 bolts/washers/nuts with some 5200. That is the best position I could get the boat in by myself (and I probably should not have even attempted that. This steelflex seems like a great product.
> 
> Waterwings: I am guessing you mean Oakwood Mall on the westbank, it was redone after Katrina and is really nice now. As far as the buildings where you worked, I am not sure what condition they are in. I have fished right by the Lakefront Airport though, and have caught a few really nice speckled trout, though I could not imagine what it would be like out there in this 14'.



That looks great bro! I am fixing up a monark too and so is BaptistPreacher.


----------



## Specknreds (Mar 4, 2009)

Waterwings said:


> That looks good! 8)
> 
> 
> I believe it was Oakwood Mall. They had a Maisson Blanche store there as I recall. Nope, I wouldn't take a 14' on Ponchatrain either. :shock:



Believe it or not a lot of people fish Ponchatrain in flatboats. I wouldn't and I don't recommend it. It's notorious for whipping up the ugliest chop you have ever seen and swamping boats on a slight breeze. The places I fish (in my 14' modified-v) are all in the marsh or no more than a mile or two from safe harbor. I do fish the outside a lot but you really need to use your head and have a quick route to protected water.

WW, just about every building had flood damage of some type. We had 19' of standing water (does not account for the waves) at the shipyard where I worked. I will ask the guys at work tomorrow about the building you are referring too.

Cathprod, It's looking good. You need to hurry, the Spring bite should start any day if it hasn't started already. You might have said, but what motor do you have for it? One more prying question, what does Cathprod mean?


----------



## cathprod (Mar 4, 2009)

Well I have some more updates. I have cut out the top of the bench seats for storage and made the stencil for cutting out the plywood for the floors. I am planning to use a 1x12 on top of the bench seats and cutting it down the middle so that each half opens from the middle of the bench seat toward the side of the boat. I have also painted the rest of the outside of the boat above the steelflex with an etch primer and a silver acrylic enamel (it came out okay considering we rolled and brushed the acrylic enamel). I will post pictures of the silver acrylic enamel in the next day or so, I only had a chance to take a picture of the primer.

Specknreds, I am moving as fast as I can, I stayed up til almost 1 last night working (it seems like late at night is the only time I can muster up). Cathprod is a shortened form of my business Catholic Productions. We produce bible studies on CD and DVD as well as operate a screen printing shop. I am also teaching a couple classes at Dominican right now and really enjoying my 9 month old son, which is why I am super busy. Keep me posted on all the fish you are catching, I am sure it will make me move a little faster!


----------



## daltonmcgill (Mar 4, 2009)

looks good


----------



## Specknreds (Mar 4, 2009)

Cathprod, I was just picking/motivating you about hurrying up  Your doing the right thing by spending time with your son and he will be sitting beside you in the boat before you know it. They grow up way too fast.


----------



## baptistpreach (Mar 5, 2009)

Great job. Here' s a though about your storage opening from the middle. you won't be able to access it from the outside of the boat, but if you flipped the way it opened, or even made it front to back, then you could access inside and outside of the boat. (for the times you just need to grab one thing or put something back in or out of the boat. I cut my hatches different for that reason


----------



## mud69bug (Mar 7, 2009)

Hey cathprod.
What happened with the boat registration.My wife works wlf here in district 3.She says if the boat was registered in your grandmothers name,then all you should need is a notarized act of donation from grandma to you.With that you should be able to get it registered in your name.
Hope this helps.
Bobby


----------



## Specknreds (Mar 7, 2009)

:WELCOME: 
Mudbug, where are you from?


----------



## cathprod (Mar 8, 2009)

Hey Mudbug. My grandmother actually never registered it so I have to fill out a registration app, an app for boat inspection (because there is no 12 digit hull number), and get a justice of the peace to notarize a court order affidavit of ownership. I have all of this now and will be mailing it in. From there I am at the mercy of WLF, but I spoke with a captain here who does the boat inspections and he said if I get the affidavit of ownership then I should be home free. So that is where I stand now. Thanks for asking, I will let everyone know how it turns out whenever I hear back from WLF, in the meantime I will continue working on the boat and pray really hard that all goes well with the registration!


----------



## Cheeseball (Mar 9, 2009)

cathprod said:


> ... really enjoying my 9 month old son, which is why I am super busy.



Man, I feel for ya... my son just turned 9 months a few days ago and has begun crawling. So me and wifey have our hands full. Kinda puts a big slow down to boat project - in a good way of course.


----------



## cathprod (Mar 19, 2009)

Wow it has been a while. I have an update for everyone. I have all the decking cut and have put the bench seat covers on. I went ahead with them opening to the outside of the boat but made sure that they would allow easy access while outside the boat as warned (Thanks for the heads up baptistpreach). You can basically get the idea of what she will look like once carpeted. The decks will be removable so I took a shot of the handle we will use to more easily remove them. I also threw in a shot of the final paint job and the 15hp Mercury. I finally took her out on the water and with three men averaging about 160 lbs each she seemed to go about 20 give or take a few. I will check with the gps next time out. The really good news is that there was not one drop of leakage!!! The bad news is that that where the ribs were previously welded they cracked again. We will be adding more ribs and welding the broken ones correctly this weekend so that it should be good as new. I hope everyone is doing well!


----------



## cathprod (Mar 19, 2009)

Pictures continued.


----------



## ben2go (Mar 19, 2009)

Nice wrk on the boat and cute little fishin buddy.I got a couple fishin buddies also,6 and 11 years old.


----------



## baptistpreach (Mar 19, 2009)

I like it! Very simple and usable! Great work. Mine is coming along well, I just had to do some serious restoration on my trailer, and now the boat can get on, and I can attach everything! Tomorrow morning is the first day of spring so I gotta get moving!


----------



## mrwiggins (Mar 21, 2009)

First, Great looking build!  

I like how you did the simple 2x4 bracing for the flooring. My boat is very similar to yours, and I think I would like to try the same thing for a low, removeable deck. 

Are the 2x4s just resting on the ribs, or did you cut a notch out of them so that they rested flush with the floor? I'm assuming that they're not attached in any way since you said it was removeable. Can you describe it, or better yet, post a pic?


----------



## cathprod (Mar 22, 2009)

The 2x4's are just resting on the ribs. I would post some pics for you but the boat is currently with a friend who is doing some welding on the ribs to increase the support. In about a week I should be able to post some better pictures for you. Basically the 2x4's look like a triangle. The full 4" height of the 2x4 sits on the back rib and then it is cut at the an angle so that once the 2x4 gets to the front rib it is at a width where the deck will sit level on top. There are three 2x4's like this and sturdiness will not be a problem.


----------



## Waterwings (Mar 22, 2009)

Lookin' good! 8)


----------



## Ron42261 (Apr 12, 2009)

Looks Good
Hey just thought I would say something
In the pic. I see your motor is laying on the wrong side should have it Tiller handle side down.

If it has oil in it - it will fluid lock- cylinders will be full of oil and it wont pull or If you force it may mess things up.
Pull spark plugs and pull till all oil is out - might even get in your carb.
Keep pullin it will take a while to start.

I fluid locked my new motor the same way.
Like your boat
Ron


----------



## cathprod (Apr 21, 2009)

Hey Ron,

Thanks for the heads up. She is still up and running and now there should be no need to take the motor off the boat, but in the even that I do thanks for the info, I would have never even thought to second guess anything. I need to actually post some pics with the full carpet job and seats installed. I have been so busy that when I finally find free time I go fishing and have failed to keep this updated. It is nothing fancy but makes for a cheap comfortable boat that can put me on some fish, which is all i wanted.


----------

