Blue River Drift Boats

I grew up 2 miles up the valley from Blue River, so I'm calling this one a Blue River Drift Boat even though I live in Victor Idaho now.

I've built a couple of bright finished 17 footers just because I'm a retired yacht builder and can't seem to avoid having a project underway.  I built this boat as a keeper for me, with the goal of building a very durable boat with a little lower maintenance requirement than the previous ones.  However I've contacted the urge to go ocean sailing again before they commit me to the "active retirement center" LOL so have decided to sell it before it splashes. So if there is somebody out there who doesn't have the time to build an exceptional boat for themselves, give me a call.

The hull shape derives from a mid-profile Don Hill 17' x 54" Fly Fisherman, but I wanted a more big water friendly shape on the stern so I pulled it out to a raked rounded transom that makes it a double ender a little over 18' on the gunnels. The other round stern designs I've seen simply leave the top as an exposed plywood edge,  but i carried the oak rails all the way around to form a fantail shape like was once seen on classic motor yachts. While the transom area is heavily reinforced with glass and epoxy,  I put a Sapelle veneer on it for appearance. 

The bottom has 46 oz of glass bedded in epoxy and graphite, while the chines are multiple layers of Kevlar and glass inside and out.  Hull bottom is 46 oz glass, 1/2" marine ply, and glass inside skin. Hull sides are 3/8 occume glassed on both sides.  All structural wood is white oak.  Rather than black bed liner inside, I use marine grade polyurethane with anti skid particles added on the areas you stand on. There are four watertight compartments, two sealed in the floor system, and two with gasketed hatches.

The front seat is sized around a size 45 Yeti cooler, and wide enough for two if needed.  In order to make the boat as adaptable as possible, and to make it easy to maintain, everything inside bolts in place on two rails with multiple location options fore & aft.. Even the anchor arm un-bolts.  In a few minutes you can take everything out and store it in the garage for the winter.  The goal was to build a work of art that didn't loose sight of ease of upkeep.

I've built several boats with side lockers, but found that they always seemed to be the wrong size for what I needed to carry, and made it more difficult to get in and out of the boat for wade fishing riffles.  The idea with this boat was to have a boat that could work OK for an afternoon on the South Fork,  but had the capacity and flexibility to run white water and carry gear on extended trips.  Rather than side lockers there are multiple attachment points to secure four or five large dry bags.  With large volume flotation bags and a much better boatman than me it probably could even run the Colorado.

Materials plus $10 per hour = $10,000--- that is about what It would take to make her yours.

Richard

307-413-5869

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Permalink Reply by Richard Elder on June 28, 2015 at 3:47pm

Here are a few more photos.

Richard

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Permalink Reply by Don Hanson on July 3, 2015 at 7:37am

   Nice...$10/hr for your labor?  About normal for a boatbuilder, I guess..

Permalink Reply by Charles Tatton on July 4, 2015 at 8:03pm

Richard, that is a beautiful drift boat!  I really like the clean and uncluttered layout inside.  I would love to see more photos.  Do you have any of the outside of the boat, the sheer line.

Permalink Reply by Richard Elder on July 6, 2015 at 12:35pm

Hi Charles,

Thanks for the kind remarks.  Since this boat is traditional-- ie straight plywood sides the sheer is determined by the bottom profile and rocker.  I did massage the stern sections a bit to try to make it work better with a rear fishing station.  Of course moving the front passenger as far forward as possible helps too. 

No artsy recurve--- don't get me started on that topic!

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Permalink Reply by Charles Tatton on July 6, 2015 at 8:26pm

Richard,

Thanks for the additional photos.  I like the combination of traditional lines and clean, more modern interior. I have always appreciated the beauty of traditional wood framed drift boats but couldn't get past the "busy" interior and thus tend to prefer stitch and glue designs.  Purely a personal preference, of course.  This boat has the best of both worlds.  Very nicely done!

Charles

Permalink Reply by Ants Uiga on July 5, 2015 at 9:30pm
Richard,

I have spent much more time around sailboats than drift boats, so the fine work and interior details are highly appreciated. That's a great build with yachting influences. Not a traditional drift boat design, but a nice transition.

Here's hoping the new owner is equally appreciative (and not budget constrained like me).

It is great to see new ideas that worked out well.

Ants
Permalink Reply by Richard Elder on July 6, 2015 at 12:53pm

Hi Ants,

Here is one for you!  Since I made the mistake of selling her 20 years ago she has sold twice, each time for more money. Unheard of in the boat world.

On that same topic not everyone appreciates this kind of boat .  I got a hatemail from someone in Oregon that contained everything but a death threat against me --- and everybody in Wyoming as well because they didn't like the boat.  Sociopaths & madmen stalk the land---.

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Permalink Reply by Ants Uiga on July 6, 2015 at 1:21pm
Mariposa is very classy and traditional yacht like. The maintenance must have been top notch to support the increase in sale price. Is the hull wood or glass or composite? If it was cold molded I could easily see the price jump.

The rudder catches my eye. It must have two attachments (gudgeons and pintles) and a large underwater section to give the impression of a tilting rudder (like tilting dagger boards on modern racers).

Back to the drift boat
The transom shape impacts how following seas push a sailboat transon. When you are drifting with the current, does a rounded transom/bow handle any different than a pointed or flat one?

Ants

PS. My traditional sailboat was originally built in Holland with similar mahogany cabin and teak decks. The hull was steel in fine Dutch, hammered to round bilge tradition.
Permalink Reply by Richard Elder on July 6, 2015 at 2:24pm

Sounds like your sailboat is one of the Frans Maas boats that I have often admired.

Mariposa is a glass hull with wood deck & superstructure of an Atkins design from the 1940's called a Cape George Cutter. She didn't have a caring third owner, but building to last pays dividends. 

RE transom shape--- makes no difference at all in flat water--- the benefit comes when you are pushing through big standing waves.

Permalink Reply by Ants Uiga on July 6, 2015 at 8:53pm
I remembered (vaguely) that the boat was a Van de Stadt design, build by Kok shipyard in Muiden, Holland as #260 in a series of Amuthon 35's. As I checked the Van de Stadt webpage for a list of designs, an Amuthon was not listed. The boat was sold in the early 1980's so memory is certainly fuzzy.

Nonetheless, there are some elements of traditional yacht design (varnish, teak decks, bronze fitting, mahogany) that are visually striking and a curse in sunny Californis climate. I appreciate nice traditional (low maintenance paints) but I am still a sucker for varnish. At least smaller boats can be kept out of the continual sun.

Ants

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