fiberglassing the bottom (repair)

Hey there,

So glad to have found this forum.  I have an old Pritchett RRS that I am restoring.  So far I have sanded, caulked, filled and repainted the inside.(pic 1) Now I have removed the old glass that was loose from the bottom of the boat.(pic 2)  Unfortunately, I know I need to wait until it gets warmer out before I can do the glass but I thought I would seek advise here since this is my first experience with fiberglass.

I think the spot in pic 3 should be pretty easy to fill with resin and fiber.  

Thanks for taking a look and offering any advice.

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Permalink Reply by Shawn Baker on December 6, 2021 at 7:47am

Welcome Wayd!  I have 2 wood boats..but my RRS is a 1970 aluminum hull...may have been based on a Pritchett RRS...it's not a Briggs RRS.

Beautiful boat.

Anyway, sand the edges of your torn glass to a feather edge so the new fiberglass can lap over it. Then sand the outer edges of your patch...the two feathers will "ramp" together and not leave a hard spot or an edge that can catch rocks.

Do get the boat as warm and dry as possible before saturating bare wood with resin.  You can tent your boat with visqueen to make a smaller area to heat.  Propane space heaters aren't good for epoxy...they dump a lot of moisture in the air and make the epoxy blush badly.  Electric is good...and anything indirect-fired is good.

Or wait until spring.  In what part of the world are you located?

Permalink Reply by Wayd Drake on December 6, 2021 at 8:21am

Southern Oregon.  I bought the boat from Pritchett's nieces husband.  It had been in a barn for 35 years.  

Thanks for the tips!! I bought a closed in tent for it but am not in a super huge hurry, in other words, I think I will wait.  I was definitely concerned about the over lap not catching rocks.  Also hoping that I can get the edge of glass at the chine to have a low profile.  My concern is that I think taking the chine off would be a bad idea, pretty sure he used ringshank nails.

Wondering if an entire new coat of epoxy after the repairs would be prudent.

It is interesting that there are several styles of the RRS.  

Permalink Reply by Shawn Baker on December 6, 2021 at 8:46am

As far as I know, Pritchett, Glenn Wooldridge and later Squeak Briggs (then his son Jerry Briggs) all had variants of the Rogue River Special. 

The boats evolved from the Rogue River driver (log driving boats) and they were all fishing and camping on the same section of river.  Pritchett and Wooldridge were the original Rogue River innovators.  With similar water, the design constraints had to be fairly similar and if one of them had a good idea, it seems likely the others followed suit.

read Roger Fletcher's "Drift Boats and River Dories" for some great history on these boats and how they came to be.

Permalink Reply by Shawn Baker on December 6, 2021 at 8:50am

I just flipped through the book I mentioned and Fletcher had noted that all of Pritchett's boats were in his favorite orange and black OSU colors.

So I looked closer and...check the hull number.  That's not just a Pritchett boat.  That's one of his personal boats. It is absolutely a priceless classic. I'm envious.  WOW!

I would strongly encourage you to get in touch with Roger, I'm sure he'd love to survey and photograph your boat.

Permalink Reply by Wayd Drake on December 6, 2021 at 1:34pm

I didn't look closely enough.  I must have this boat from the picture.  I have read the Fletcher book as well, great book but didn't notice the hull number.  I should reach out to him.

My plan is to bring it back to the OG orange and black (even though I went to UO) for history sake.  I have been out to Steve Pritchett's place and have seenBob Pritchett's last boat that has never been on the river.  He has an amazing museum. Steve said the color is 'Omaha Orange'.  I hope I can find it.  Steve said they used automotive enamel.

Interesting did bit:  I found, rolled up in an old fly fishing tube, a document from the Coast Guard licensing the boat for commercial use between Grants Pass and Graves Creek.  It was issued to Basil "Wayne" Riggs, who was a friend of Bob's.  He is also mentioned once in the Fletcher book.

I had been debating restoring versus 'making it mine' until I met with Steve and decided that it is better as a historical piece.  All of this is leading me to want to build my own for more regular use, but one day I will take this boat down the lower Rogue!!

Permalink Reply by Shawn Baker on December 6, 2021 at 1:46pm

That's so so cool.  I've been enthralled by the history of those old southern Oregon boats, especially since seeing some of the original Briggs GC dories on the Salmon River in Idaho.  I built a stitch and glue replica, but it's not the same.

I got to help a friend work on the 1972 Briggs 'Makaha' this spring and then was on the river with him and her this summer.The plastic caps aren't her original chines..she also would have had wood chines that were nailed on with ring shanks.  She had sat in dry storage since 1995 or so.  she did leak around the screws in the chines...not sure if they were bedded in anything.

Take some great photos when you get her back on the lower Rogue!!

Permalink Reply by Wayd Drake on December 6, 2021 at 1:58pm

There were some holes in the fiberglass before I made them bigger by tearing off the delaminated glass and I had it out on the water several times. It held air, no leaks even with the glass damaged.  Each trip out was only a short trip but still a quality boat for sure!!  

It is amazing that all the Briggs boats are still running the canyon except one and that one is in a museum.

I love learning about all the history, I am afraid that younger people like myself (ha, I am 49) aren't as interested anymore in wood boats.  I actually joined our local historical society to check more of their history out.  I have a fantasy of writing a book that covers guiding on the rogue after Bob and Glen.  There is not much coverage on the 1940-present time period and some of the folks that know still live here in town.

Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on December 6, 2021 at 10:02am

While installing the frames in my boat with ringshank nails I discovered that they had been installed incorrectly. Depending on the size of the nails they are easy to shear off with a very thin, sharp-edged tool. I used a sharpened, very thin Japanese pry bar. Worked great and no harm was done. A multitude of issues can be hiding under the chine cap, better to find out at this point in the process rather than later!

Rick Newman

Permalink Reply by Wayd Drake on December 6, 2021 at 1:07pm

I have met with Steve Pritchett and Brett Clark at Jerry's old shop and they both suggested not taking the chine off.  Thanks for the tips though, I may reconsider as it would make the gassing over the edge way better.

Wayd Drake

Permalink Reply by Shawn Baker on December 6, 2021 at 1:18pm

you're talking to the peanut gallery, then.  Those guys have forgotten more than I'll know. :)

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