Dave's New Drift Pram-She's Done!

Here's the next generation.  my version of the minimalist 1 sheet boat that will take two sheets....

Solo boat for quick, easy access, pickup truck ready.

8' sheer, 40" floor, 50" sheer. 2 frames. meranti on the plywood. shop grade AC for the bottom, some frames are cedar, some are cypress.  chines and trim will be white oak.

The goal was to spend no money on it and use what I had in the shop. so far so good.

It's an experiment.  Might end up on the burn pile, who knows.  I built one model, then started into wood.  Things hammered up well until I pulled around the wider transom.  Had to plane its angles to fix...  Now it is right.

I hope to be bottoms up on it by saturday.  I'm tired of winter.

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4-13-2013....Done!   Two coats of paint on it.  You will also notice there are no chine caps, or outer trim, other than rails. Oarlock blocks are not installed, but I made them out of Delrin. Nothing but a simple seat in this one.  It is glassed on the outside and bottom, tape on all the corners outside the hull.  Paint is Valspar exterior latex.  It is one-man portable and gets wet this week. 

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Permalink Reply by Jayson Hayes on March 25, 2013 at 9:36am

very cool Dave! i build one like this years ago for duck hunting. fun little boat

Permalink Reply by Dave Z on April 13, 2013 at 3:35pm

Done!

Permalink Reply by Dan Hooper on April 13, 2013 at 3:40pm

Nice looking boat Dave.  How long of oars do plan on using?

Permalink Reply by Dave Z on April 13, 2013 at 4:06pm

Thanks Dan.  I made a set of  7 footers the other day.  I sat in it with them and they seem about right. Full finished specs to follow and free plans on my blog soon. After it hits the water I'll decide if it is worthy and follow up on a post with details.

Permalink Reply by Stephen Markley on April 13, 2013 at 5:01pm

+1!!!

Permalink Reply by John Weston on October 21, 2013 at 9:08am

Dave, any more info on the new pram? I really like this and would like to build it. thanks.

JW

Permalink Reply by Wayne beer on March 4, 2014 at 10:44am
This is what I need for pothole duck hunting my old pram dinghy is getting long in the tooth and many patches how do I get a hold of the plans for this adventure machine
Wayne beer
Permalink Reply by Dave Z on March 5, 2014 at 10:25am

Wayne, 

 

there is a link here to the free plan.  i have used it for ducks.

http://www.thtchronicles.blogspot.com/p/pickup-pram-ver-1.html

 

have fun.

Permalink Reply by Brant Jaouen on March 10, 2014 at 5:46pm

Hi Dave,

First, I love this little boat. I've noticed that the recent trend in rafts is to put rowing frames on really small boats (like the Hyside Mini-Me) for day trips on pretty serious whitewater. They look like a real blast. It seems to me that this is the drift boat iteration of the same concept. My question is, how do you think this boat (or its bigger cousin Z's drifter) would do as a decked white water boat? I've seen some video of small wood prams in rapids and it looks amazing, but I'd worry about flipping and sinking. Given that this boat requires minimal investment, it almost seems perfect for aggressive white water exploration in places like the upper Colorado or the Snake in Jackson. Also, it would be a heck of a lot easier to recover and fix than even a small Mackenzie. I know it sounds crazy but I'd love to hear your thoughts on decking one of these little guys - though my current schedule makes this mostly a thought problem....

Brant Jaouen

Permalink Reply by Dave Z on March 13, 2014 at 9:11am

Brant,

It woudl have a major pucker factor, but i suppose it could be done.  I wanna see the video.  I'd go with higher sides, keep the seat low and carry minimal to no gear.  basically, treat it like a kayak. You are welcome to coem to PA and ill loan it to you, you can take it downt he WW section of the lower Yough.

 

The bigger Z-drift pram would be a good boat I believe.  Out of any of the boats I have built or rowed, that 11' thing is the most oar-responsive boat I've had.  even with a passenger and gear (beer).  Anyone who has sat at the oars realizes this instantly.

Could very easily be decked, or canvas-decked.  It woudl be a great candidate in my opinion.

Just so you know, im in the middle of the first off build of the older sister to both those designs... we're sorta coming full circle on this one.  So if I could tell the story a bit, then tell you where we are going.

 

The 11' Z drift pram intent was for a small, lighter, two man boat for some of my home water.  no WW, barely a class dos on even the highest of conditions.  Designed for fly fishing, low sides for less wind push and easy in/out.  Something that coudl be dragged by my kemosabe and I through woods or longer than normal distances, dropped off of bridges, etc... 

 

Performance is damn near perfection for this purpose.

 

The little green pram was made for my daughter on our pond, and for a fun little duck hunting boat on the local swamp.  Made with scraps.

 

Happy with the performance of the 11' boat, I started using it more and more and my 16' sits in the barn on bricks. so then I started fishing lakes chasing muskie.  and then I got a real motor and desire for more space... so here we are, building a double flat ender, wider, longer with a bit of rise on the forward end when motoring.

but to be totally clear, this boat also must row well for the same purposes as the original 11' design.

 

I sold my 11' to a close friend, so will still have access to it, and recall that we built two of these little devils and my primary fishing partner has his still.

 

its a sickness that has no cure.

 

 

 

Permalink Reply by Brant Jaouen on March 13, 2014 at 10:02am

Dave,

Thanks for the reply. What gave me the idea was Mark Stuberr's McKenzie "Play Boat", which looks like a blast to row. His boat was designed with very high sides and looks to have a lot of rocker. My idea would be to go the opposite direction. Decking your 11' boat with low sides - basically like a giant kayak. You'd be swamped a lot, but hopefully you wouldn't have a whole log of volume available for swamping. In Mark's boat, he's basically sitting in a bath tub, but he has a bilge pump. I'm not sure I'll have time for this project in the near future but it sure would be fun. Plus, the huge deck on the front would be a perfect spot for my wife to get some sun when the water is calmer or for standing to sight cast in our high mountain lakes. Hot summer days on the upper Colorado would be this boat's home. 

Having rowed a high sided boat for years on the North Platte in Casper, WY (my "home" town), I'm jealous of everything about the prams that you build. I'm excited to see more pictures of the new build. Also, would love to see some pictures of the little guy in action this summer.

I have the sickness, but sadly I also decided to quite my finance job and start medical school in my mid 30's. So, temporarily, I'm retired from the boat building business and I mostly just live vicariously through you guys. Hopefully, there will be a demand for a physician on Grand Canyon trips of the future.

Thanks again for the reply,

Brant

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