Another Newbie?

My name is Don Ward, I am new to the forum and drift boats.  I have read Roger's book a few times.  I am pretty set on building the 16' double ender with transom, however If I am recommended something that you think will suite my situation better I am open to advice.

 

I am going to float mainly waters in PA and some in michigan, I want a boat that will float skinny water and could possibly fish a 3rd guy in the back(but not all the time).  I feel pretty confident in doing all the frame work and trimming the inside from what i have read.  I am going to be looking for more advice about finishing the boat, epoxy, fiberglass, and oils are going to be a new ball game, so in the future i will post about this if i cant find it in past forums.  Fortunate for me I live somewhat near Dave Z and contacted him last night to see if I could pick his brain and look at some his past boats, (he replied quickly and is very supportive, as he was a few years ago when I thought this build was going to start).

 

Thanks in advance for any advice and it already feels cool floating around on this forum, LOTS of boats for me to drool over.

Don Ward

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Permalink Reply by AJ DeRosa on March 19, 2014 at 8:07am
Skinny water and third guy in back are not the forte of the double ender with transom. Think Rapid Robert or a 14'pram type boat. Skinny water needs a flat bottom and guy in the back needs symmetry.
Permalink Reply by Dave Z on March 19, 2014 at 5:42pm

AJ beat me to it.  I have a 16' DET out of Roger's book.  Not what you are looking for.

You don;t need the rocker around here in PA.  You want large, flat bottoms for max surface area. 

With low payload, that 16' rides higher than alot of boats, and certainly higher than the production boats out there, but it is not a skinny water boat.

Permalink Reply by Don Ward on March 19, 2014 at 8:55pm

Then my question would be are there plans out there to keep the look of the DET but decrease the rocker to fit my needs?

Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on March 20, 2014 at 7:03am

One method to reduce your rocker is to "dish" the bottom of your side panels. Instead of a straight line between the base of the bow and the stern you need to form a concave shape. This is where building a model of your proposed boat is very helpful. Dave Z, Guy Fredrickson are two folks who come to mind that discuss the building and the benefits of building a model before you commit to wood. There is also a discussion of this technique on Montana River boats at this address: http://www.montana-riverboats.com/phorum/list.php?3 Sandy, the owner and operator of the site has a several discussion on how to reduce your rocker.

There is a second method to reduce rocker. If you have a tombstone transom at both ends of your boat the curve of the panels will be less and the surface area of your boat increases. A pram or Rapid Robert illustrates this process at the wider end of the boat. While it doesn't have two tombstone ends you can see what happens when a wide transom is installed.Again the building of a model will demonstrate this concept best. All boat designs are compromises, only you know what final design fits your criteria best. Experiences of others can help you find your way.

Rick Newman

Permalink Reply by Jayson Hayes on March 20, 2014 at 9:54am

Hey Rick, another great way to take out some of the rocker is to build the hull without putting on the bottom and then drag it around town behind your truck for the day without the trailer until you have the desired shape of your hull............hahhahaha! I would model it first and manipulate the geometry of the hull to the desired shape keeping the classic look of the double ender, just widening the bottom of the frames slightly on a few of them can make a huge difference very quickly and then adjust the back cuts on your uprights accordingly for a nice fit, maybe even a nice fatty transom like Mike Baker is doing on his boats too!

Permalink Reply by Don Ward on March 20, 2014 at 11:37am

This is my motivation for building, it was 7 years ago, I had been building bamboo rods for about 2 or 3 years and my wife and I did a tour of the west.  While in Missoula, I took my first guided trip and luck have it, I ended up with a guide who had built his own wooden boat, I knew this was the next thing I had to do.  I spent alot of the day asking him about building and vowed to build that boat some day.  (Not to mention we crushed into a huge rock that day, stopped the boat on a dime and nearly threw me and my wife out of the boat, and nothing happened to the boat...wow) With a house remodel, a growing family and numerous other projects I have not got to the project yet.  With this all said that is why i am looking for this design style and 3 seater.  I can work with the models but i have almost zero boating experience.  So until I can get in a boat and see how things act in current and how to balance loads the modeling might be all for not.  If someone out there has altered the plans and can help me out great. If not I might just build from the plans in the book, because like most guys on here, this will probably not be my only build.  Then perhaps I will build a trapper next. 

 

I do take all the advice seriously and think it over so thanks for taking the time to help me out.

Permalink Reply by Lawrence E. Long on March 20, 2014 at 11:57am

Don:  Excellent advice from AJ,Dave Z and Rick.  If you have never built a boat I suggest you work from plans- a lot of time and $ will go into it- so you don't want to reinvent the "wheel" the first time out.

Good Luck

Permalink Reply by Eric Loudenslager on March 20, 2014 at 1:35pm
Check out some of the recent threads at the Montana River Boats forum. There are individuals building a Montana Boat Builders Freestone skiff. Low rocker, wide bottom, fifteen foot side panel, seats three. Stitch and glue construction, plans are available. It would likely serve your purpose.
Permalink Reply by Mike Baker on March 20, 2014 at 7:15pm

Fatty Transom, I like that Jayson. Think of the traffic I might get with 'Mike's Fatties'. Here is the latest Fatty.

MIke

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Permalink Reply by Don Ward on March 20, 2014 at 7:50pm

If a fatty transom is what it takes, im in, but I am a true newbie so any help changing that would be great.  how many of the ribs need changed, I would assume if you just enlarged the transom and didn't change the frames that it would just shorten the boat. that pic looks great, is it a three seater?

Permalink Reply by Dave Z on March 21, 2014 at 10:19am

I beleive that Tatman boats (I know they ar eon hiatus) but they do have a 17' by 54 with a flat spot I believe.

 

Jason knight built it.

 

Don, if you build bamboo rods, then you have more than the skill needed to model one up and go your own way.  I can lead you in the right direction on a model.

 

Mike Baker- hell of a shop and nice looking boat.  Don- see that flat spot?  thats what you want.

Dave

Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on March 20, 2014 at 8:49pm

Do you work in that shop? It's too clean! Looking good!

Rick N

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