drift boat project

hi my names cody and i just got a 1970 tatman 16x48 yesterday and my buddy and i are going to restore it, and i would like some pointers, because i have A LOT of questions. so i'll start out buy explaining a little about the boat. it has a decent sized hole in the bottom where some rot had to be cut out but other than that spot there isn't any other rot that i have seen, and i trust the h*ll out of the guy that gifted me the project and he started it awhile ago and he assured me that there is no other rot. so i guess i'll get to my questions.

#1. when it comes to patching the hole he already scarfed the other wood around the whole so i know what to do when it comes to cutting the wood and scarfing it but i need to know if i should screw or nail the patch to the surrounding wood or glue it or whatever i need to do to make sure it doesn't pop out or have anything else go wrong with it.

#2. doing the bottom of the boat i've researched multiple ways to do it but i would to hear what method you guys think is the best. UHMW sounds like it can be a pain in the a*s but if you guys have good points on it i would like to hear them.

#3. i cant find much on chines so i could use a lot of help there. and it has like a double rail thing that i don't know what its called but its like a gunnel or hand rail or something and that is going to need to be replaced so any knowledge on those would be really nice.

#4. for the interior i have the original front or passenger seat and it is in awesome condition, but i do not have a rowing seat or the thing where the bow is idk what its called sorry :/

#5. sealant and/or epoxy's. idk anything about them so any help would be awesome.

I think thats all the questions i have for now im sure i will have way more at a later date i will try to get pictures on here asap but for now that will have to wait.

and by the way i am a super rookie at this ive grown up around drift boats but do not know hardly anything about restoring them. so if you haven't any tips or pointers at all please help. thank you Cody.

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Permalink Reply by Cody Joseph Carlson on October 14, 2013 at 9:21pm
This is the only picture I have right now ill get more soon.
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Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on October 14, 2013 at 10:16pm

Cody, welcome to WoodenBoatPeople. You have lots of questions and we have the answers. The questions you have asked have all been answered a bunch of times. So I'm going to assign you some homework. I know just the thing, more homework. The search function on the top right of the site is your friend. If you type in the sentence "How do I rebuild my drift boat?" I guarantee you will be directed to river of rebuilding, rot, epoxy, paint, oars, etc knowledge. the process will point you to a bast body of information. As you travel down the path be sure and look up AJ DeRosa and how to scarf in patches, System 3 epoxy, Raka Epoxy, West Systems, Brad Dimock, What paint do I use?

Concurrently you need to order Roger Fletchers Drift Boats and River Dories from Riverstouch.com. It is THE book on these fine boats. It will further your education and respect for these boats.

I have recently been assisting a friend here in Spokane rebuild his boat, We have worked on a little bit of rot, removing varnish, fiberglassing the douglas fir to keep the checking in check, glassing the bottom and applying epoxy and graphite, glassing the interior of the floor, applying bedliner to the floor, fairing the exterior, sanding, applying epoxy over the fairing, sanding, sanding and today we applied the first coat of Kirby enamel. Oh yeah and we also used Daly's Seafin Teak Oil on the interior of the boat.

Steve, the owner of the boat has read all the posts ever written and read Roger's book. It has been amazing to work with him and see what he has learned. You can also learn a great deal and have a great boat.

I and others will answer your questions but the initial process of exploring the history of drift boats and reading how others of overcome the challenges of selecting materials, repair techniques will give the answers we give you more value. Soon you will be helping others when they ask how to rebuild their boats. It has happened before. If you can post more detailed pictures it will help us answer your questions plus we like to see other folks boats.

Respectfully,

Rick Newman

Permalink Reply by Cody Joseph Carlson on October 16, 2013 at 2:32pm

thanks alot rick you really helped me out and there is so much info on here its amazing but one question that i have now is do the chines have to be marine grade? and does anyone know where i can find fiberglass cloth near portland oregon. and is there a specific cloth that i should use? thank you

Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on October 16, 2013 at 4:43pm

The chine caps are commonly white oak or sometimes ash. You won't find that in a marine grade only plywood. Fiberglass cloth is supplied by fiberlasssupply.com in Washington state. Great service and close enough to keep your shipping costs down. They also have the major epoxy brands too. Where are you going to apply the cloth? Interior on the floor, on the bow area of the floor, on the exterior of the floor, on the outside of the plywood to keep your wood from checking more? How many layers, etc. Do some more reading, there are lots of opinions and discussions. If you can post some more pictures of your problem areas. That will help us all out.

Rick N

Permalink Reply by River Dory on October 17, 2013 at 10:49am

Tap Plastics has fiberglass cloth in Portland.  West Marine in Delta Park should have it as well.  You can also hit Cy up at Ray's River Dories for new chine caps. Have fun with your project!

Permalink Reply by Cody Joseph Carlson on October 17, 2013 at 5:31pm
Thank you for the input the guy at rays river dorys was extremely helpful he gave me a bunch of useful info and he has everything I need to do the job. So my only step I have to do now is wait for the boat to dry out and then the fun will begin.
Permalink Reply by mitchell on October 17, 2013 at 6:08pm

Go get em Cody and remember to purchase and wear a filter face mask when your sanding and such. And, like Rick mentions give us more photos. We are all jazzed to look at others Drift Boats and they will encourage more feedback...yeah that's it.

Permalink Reply by Cody Joseph Carlson on October 18, 2013 at 8:38pm
Got more pictures
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Permalink Reply by Cody Joseph Carlson on October 18, 2013 at 8:41pm
I think only one actually loaded
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Permalink Reply by Cody Joseph Carlson on October 20, 2013 at 11:25am
This picture are being a pain
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Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on October 21, 2013 at 7:58am

Cody, here are your pictures. I'm not sure how you are posting them or if you might be posting from an Ipad. which can be tough to post from.

Here's how I post pictures;

click on the small icon that looks like a picture in the row of icons above this box. When it opens I click on the "Browse" button and you should be able cruise through your files and locate each image file. Select that file and it should load. You can then choose to either keep it full size (721 pixels) or make it smaller, any number less than 721. You can also choose to have it centered, left or right oriented.

You might want to name each image with a different name other than image,jpg I labeled then Cody1.jpg, Cody2.jpg and so on. It will be easier to sort through them and it might not confuse the computer when you try to post what it thinks is the same file multiple times.

Hope this helps.

Rick Newman

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