Wooden Boat People
By McKenzieDriftBoat.com
Drift Boat Project #3
Here we go again. Taking a little road trip to Oregon this weekend to pick up a genuine piece of driftboat history – a 1960’s era Keith Steele McKenzie boat.
This will be my third driftboat project and I am super excited to have one that was built and used in Oregon by a legendary builder.
My first boat was an early 1990s Tatman kit that I built while living in TN and sold a few years after building it. My second one was all fiberglass of my own design and build. That one was stolen a few years back.
Now I’m living out west and it just won’t do to not have a drift boat. I have spent several months deliberating on whether to build a super nice wooden one, pick up a cheap used glass one, or look for a Woody Hindman or Keith Steele. As luck would have it, this Steele boat showed up on Craigslist and a friend, knowing I really wanted one snagged it before someone else could. An older guy in Oregon had the boat built for him by Keith Steele sometime in the 1960s after Steele gained notoriety for building the first Grand Canyon dories. He had a stroke a few years ago and realized it was time to let the old girl go.
The boat looks all original and complete and the owner says it is solid and perfectly usable as-is but my friend and I are going to go through and restore her. But maybe we’ll do a float or two in her first.
So what do y’all think… should I finish the whole boat with a bright finish or paint the outside? If paint, what color? My first one was hunter green with a tan rub strip and bright inside. I liked that look. Also thinking of maybe a turquoise color. It currently looks to be painted white.
I'd also really like to go by Steve Steele's shop while I am nearby. Anybody know how to contact him?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by CWarmouth on
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I think you are probably right about that, Mark.
Thanks for the nice comment. Rick. You always have a good word.
I'm glad something about this build could inspire you, Mike. Your project is top-notch and has come a long way since that first post.
As far as luck goes, George Beasley, a notorious guide I used to work with back in the day told me that "the sun don't shine on the same dog's butt all the time" after a run of a bunch of days of great fishing. Well, that might be true but it's shining on this dog right now, and I'll take it. Had another stroke of good fortune today.
Inspired by the relative ease by which that skid shoe came off, I decided ignore all the advice, set my jaw, and remove those rub strips. And man, am I glad I did. They came off without much of a fight and I am going to feel so much better about glassing the outside of the hull with them off of there. Now I know I can do it right. A little damage was incurred on the starboard side as a chunk of ply came off with the strip, but it's an easy fix.
Things are going to be so much easier with these things off. And in one piece too!
A little damage to repair with some thickened epoxy.
I can't get over the number of fasteners on this boat.
And as I'm banging away on this the rub rail, look who comes to say hi. This little guy is a trip!!
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Permalink Reply by Mike Thomas on
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I like the bug :) I think you need to find where he lives and move him into a teny tiny drift boat of his own!! You cant just put him out on the street. Looks like Ricks transom trim is the same setup, thats how I`m making mine. I keep going through the photo pages and checking out all the great ideas people have come up with for this or that.
That is alot of nails. Those traditional boats are pretty sweet. Awesome project. Good move on the rub rails. Are those scarf lines on the rails? I`m not going to have any scrap pc`s of ply to make any out of. Might have to just plane down some solid wood. I know some people dont like them, opens the door for water to get in, dont need them with fenders on the trailer etc., but I like that traditional look. I was thinking watch going through the thin ply with that belt sander.
This will be a great thread to watch as your boat comes back to life, only much improved with the glass and all.
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Thank you, Mike.
I'm serious about the spider. I got that picture because he was following me around the boat. Would walk right up to the edge like that and look at me like that. Maybe he is trying to be threatening, like "get your filthy hands off my boat" but I think he's checking out the progress.
Yeah, those are scarf lines you are seeing. I like the trad look of the rub rails. Figure that if there was no rot under them on this boat, after 45-50 years, and as you can see, no finish on the plywood under the rails, it's probably safe to say it is ok to put them on.
I am ordering the glass and epoxy tomorrow. How many gallons have you used on your build?
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Permalink Reply by Phillip Westendorf on
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Another Transom Pic.
The dark spots that you might think are screws are 1/4" dia. Walnut Dowels. The trim pieces and chines are Epoxied permanently to the hull. I used a few screws to hold the Trim pieces in position and then removed the screws and glued in the dowels after I drilled out the screw holes. There are no screws in the boat's hull.
Dorf
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Mark,
It's not Coat It, the bottom has two layers of 6 oz. glass each buried in 4 coats of epoxy. Then there was three coats of epoxy with graphite on top of that (as shown above).
This year I sanded off the graphite epoxy and added a third 6 oz layer in the middle third and added three more coats of graphite/epoxy. I made the mistake of adding too much graphite the first time and it made the epoxy brittle...
Dorf
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What was the ratio of graphite to epoxy that worked well? How much graphite for the bottom? I am ordering tomorrow.
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I need to know too. Ive got the stuff and my glass is on the bottom. Soon as the chine caps are on I can flip it and do the graphite. I know too much is not good, makes it more brittle
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Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on
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The Gouegon Brothers that came up with the WEST System reportedly recommend 10%. I believe that's by volume.
Rick N
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Permalink Reply by tungsten on
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i would go with a mix say 5% wests 404 and 5% graphite.Or even something like 5% milled fibers splash of cabosil and 3% graphite.
Epoxy by itself isn't very abrasion resistant so adding a type filler that is really helps.
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Permalink Reply by Richard Sutherland on
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No screws at all? Is it all glued and clamped? What about that inhibiting future repairs. I am tempted to do that with my restoration. Refinish every part and glue it all back together. What glue did you use? Brand, etc. Thanks, Dick.
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Howdy y'all. Well, it's been a long time since I have posted any progress on the old boat. There is a good reason for that. It's been a long time since there has been any progress made on it. It's been a long time since I have even looked at it.
On the umpteen-millionth day of sanding and scraping I looked up through the slurry of sweat and sanding dust on my glasses and said, "Whoa, I live in Idaho! Do I really want to spend the rest of my life hunched over a belt sander?" So I took a break to enjoy the good life a while.
Like this...
But now I'm thinking, "Whoa, I live in Idaho and I have a half finished drift boat in the garage. I gotta get to it!" This time I'm gonna try to be a little less obsessive over it though.
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