Wooden Boat People

By McKenzieDriftBoat.com

Z's Drifter Pram

Hey guys,

I have been slowly working on this boat and thought I would share a few pics of the progress. Thanks for the guidance thus far Dave! A few details of the build so far:

• CVG Doug Fir Framing

• Meranti Sides

• Fiberglass bottom (done the same way as my previous boat with a rounded bottom edge wrapped in glass then chine cap applied to restore hard chine edge - let the debates begin lol)

I think this boat will be painted... not sure yet.

Here are a few random pics I have taken along the way. More to come once the boat gets turned over and the interior work gets going.

Let me know what you think.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jason Knight on October 24, 2013 at 12:38pm

Transom

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Permalink Reply by Jason Knight on October 31, 2013 at 5:07am

I made additional bracing to stiffen up the transom by laminating some 1/2" ply together.

They are test fit and screwed right now, but I will epoxy them into place to finish.

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Permalink Reply by Dave Z on November 1, 2013 at 9:37pm

Jason,

That looks great. My only concern would be the bracketry getting in the way when not motoring. When under power the narrow end is the front of the boat. When on moving water on oars, the wide end is the front. We typically stand at each end of the boat to fish , and while I don't think it would be too bad, you might take that into consideration. I think it is a great idea and will be stealing it on the revision 2 boat.....Nice work.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Knight on November 2, 2013 at 6:40am

Dave,

That is a good point you make about the brackets interfering with footing when standing in the front of the boat. I have gone back and forth with myself to come up with a compromise to get that transom beefed up but not sacrifice too much room up there. Some of my early sketches for the idea looked like reinforcement but still lacked in that "bomber" toughness department we often demand from our gear/boats, etc. I was going to do an aluminum bracket at one point, but for whatever reason I kept coming back to this idea.

What I am hoping is once the floor boards are cut and installed up there (on top of the transom frame) it will reduce the amount of bracket where your footing will be. There will still be some in the way, but that is the trade-off. I will need to get creative with how those floor boards lay around the brackets, but then again they don't need to be perfect, they are floorboards after all.

I have got a good feeling about this boat. Feels right so far.

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Permalink Reply by tungsten on November 2, 2013 at 9:17am

Nice job on the boat,I wonder how this motor will perform on that type of hull?

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Permalink Reply by Jason Knight on November 2, 2013 at 9:23am

I realize the limitations of a displacement hull vs. planing hull and have no delusions of going fast. That being said, I do think this boats reduced rocker will help the situation a bit.

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Permalink Reply by Dave Z on November 3, 2013 at 8:54pm

Tungsten,

I have run this boat under power, and it works surprisingly well!. The only thing i would change is the narrow transom. I would lessen the angle (less steep that is) about 3-5 degrees. Possibly kick the narrow transom end up a little bit. Under full load (two 200 pounders and a case of beer, fuel motor, ten fly rods) i want that narrow end up a little more under power.

Don;t take your hand off that tiller though, will go squirrely on you. But it beats rowing across the lake after dark.

I built the first model of the second version of this boat tonight with those considerations in mind. When complete, I'll be sure to post. It's stretched to 13', and fixed the narrow end as mentioned above.

Good work Jason. Looks really great. I think those brackets wont be too bothersome after boards are in place. But try and keep those floors low, below the frames. That low side height plus a high floor takes some getting used to on moving water. I abandoned my floor boards on that end of the boat and got some of that horse stall footbed rubber, cut to shape and it lays in there. works out really great.

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Permalink Reply by Ron Shealer on November 4, 2013 at 5:37am

Anxious to see the Dave Z three person version! Dang - I might have to build another garage!

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Permalink Reply by Bennett Yarbrough on March 8, 2017 at 7:17pm

Hey Jason, how'd the final product look? I'm planning on running side trays like the Z's pram has and was wondering how they do with oil. Also, did you use solid lumber or ply for the vertical supports? Would you do it different one way or the other?