Wooden Boat People

By McKenzieDriftBoat.com

A few pics of my first attempt at building a wood boat and QUESTIONS about building a McKenzie DB

A small dory I built for drifting creeks and streams. As the pics show, the outside was completely encapsulated in fiberglass cloth/epoxy. I found this site, ordered the book from Roger Fletcher and discovered that wood boats don't have to have fiberglass cloth or epoxy to survive more than a year. I'm going to build a Traditional McKenzie (either a Rapid Robert or Double Ender w/Transom). So now the questions I have are:

Are most of you just using epoxy for scarfing?

What are the seams sealed with?

What keeps water out from around fasteners?

Silicon bronze, copper, stainless fasteners? which are preferred?

I want to build a boat painted on the outside with clear finished Rub Rails, Chine Caps, and clear finished inside.

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by David Witton on June 12, 2016 at 5:53am

Greg

That's a good looking boat! Looks like you have the skill and tools you'll need to create a masterpiece. I can answer your questions from the perspective of my build...

I used epoxy to scarf joints, prime the sides and glass the bottom. Other joinery that isn't subject to immersion got Titebond III.

Seams that wouldn't need to be taken apart in the future (chine log) saw 3M 5200. Seams that would need to be disassembled (chine cap) got LifeCalk. Much of this advice is straight from Roger's book.

I treated predrilled screw holes with LifeCalk before adding the screws.

Fastener choice is a lot about budget. I used silicone bronze ringshank nails, everything else was SS.

I'd encourage you to read the building logs on the site. There's a huge amount of information here - and a number of different approaches and perspectives, along with the reasoning behind them.

Best of luck with your build - post pictures and ask questions!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Greg Hall on June 12, 2016 at 2:31pm

Thanks David! Beautiful boat you built. I have been reading the book by Roger Fletcher. I've pretty much read about all the boats he offers plans for, as well as the chapters on wood and building a drift boat. I wasn't sure if his construction method was entirely historical, or if it was intended for a contemporary build. Some of both I guess. I am interested in the building methods employed by builders today. If I intended to paint my boat on the outside (which I do), without any information, I would lean towards a epoxy/fiberglass outer skin followed by fairing and then marine paint. After that, I would add the clear finished hardwood chine caps, sheer rail, and rub rails. Before I make any decision, I wanted to get perspectives on what most builders are doing. I will continue reading the information here. If there are some particular build threads you can point me to, please do.

I'm still wrestling with what to build. The 14' Rapid Robert probably makes the most sense for my intended use, but I am having a hard time passing up the beauty of a 16' double-ender w/transom.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Mike Thomas on June 12, 2016 at 7:22pm

That 16` DE/W/T is a beauty for sure. For a long time thats what I wanted too. But then I decided it wasnt really wasnt what I needed for my rivers, and I wanted something a little smaller and still able to put a motor on in the future so I decided to try my own thing and make it my own.

I went with alot less rocker and a 20" transom with less angle, should work great with a small motor. Its working out nice now that I`m getting my oar height dialed in. Was shooting for 14`. The bottom ended up 47"x12`6" and almost 15` with more of a point at the bow.

I epoxied about everything followed with varnish. The outside got epoxy/glass sides and bottom/varnish on the sides...graphite on the bottom. I used around 500 ss fastners

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Greg Hall on June 12, 2016 at 7:36pm

Beautiful boat Mike! That should be a very versatile boat. What plywood did you use?

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Mike Thomas on June 12, 2016 at 7:43pm

Thanks Greg. Not a western ww boat but I`m liking it. Only marine ply I could get was Okume. Frames and floor DF, chine log,caps, rails and trim is white oak, with a little cherry, walnut and mahog for fun :)