Wooden Boat People

By McKenzieDriftBoat.com

Floor Repair on the Obsession...

I pushed my boat pretty hard down on the Rogue Wild & Scenic in September. The water was low and so was my ability to spot new trouble in old places which resulted in a couple of holes in the bottom of my boat. It took a couple of Class II's to "remind" me that a familiar line can change with the water level... so "HEADS UP". DOH!!

My river-side repair with Duct tape stopped the bleeding from both wounds well-enough to finish the float - but I did a lot of bailing along the way. Back home in the garage I assessed the damage: one broken rib, a big "push-up" hole directly below the passenger seat, and a "push-up" hole at my feet.

Here's what I did to fix the "holes". Sanded the area down on both sides. Light coat of epoxy (used a blow dryer to "blow" it in all the cracks). Another coat of epoxy after a light sanding. Glassed the damaged area, more expoxy, more sanding. Final coat of epoxy and sanded smooth as glass.

For the broken rib... I sandwiched it with some scraps of mahogany... clamped, epoxied, screwed and varnished... very sturdy.
The last thing I did was re-apply the UHM plastic to the bottom and THEN... I put three coats of Black Durabak 18 Poly on the "inside" of my boat for extra protection and to cover up my "patch-work". This is GREAT stuff... kinda like an "Arma-coat" for boats. Got it from Randy Dersham and love the way water "beads up" on it!!!

That's it... ready to roll. By the way - the "Bar I put in my boat" got a great work-out this year... it makes the boat much more responsive but it only works if you spot boulders early enough to avoid them!!
Thanks for taking a look.
In case you want to check out the pictures Scott Volstedt took of my boat going through Slim Pickens... here you go.
http://www.woodenboatpeople.com/photo/photo/slideshow?albumId=13122...
GH

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Permalink Reply by Jason Knight on November 17, 2009 at 2:43pm

Sweet job Greg! what a clean fix... I would expect nothing less... an inspiration as always, thanks for sharing the images...
The slideshow of your run through Slim Pickens is great as well...

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Permalink Reply by Greg Hatten on November 17, 2009 at 4:23pm

Happy to share and hope I entertained the group a bit. Hey - nice "fish pics" by the way... wish you would've landed that Steelhead for Christine - good one.
Are you making plans to come out this spring for the Boat Festival??
GH

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Permalink Reply by Jason Knight on November 18, 2009 at 4:38am

Yeah it was a heartbreaker to lose it at the last second - but Christine felt the rush of fighting a steelhead, so I was still happy for her. I am REALLY hoping to be able to make it out this year to the boat show... I am going to leave some open time for that week, and hopefully the stars align for us this year.

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Permalink Reply by Jayson Hayes on November 19, 2009 at 12:33pm

Greg, i like how you made your foot-holds, i thought about doing the same thing but wasn't sure how well it would work, how do you like it and how comfortable does it feel?

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Permalink Reply by Greg Hatten on November 20, 2009 at 3:16pm

Hi Jason,
I really like the foot-holds / bar in my boat... it makes a big difference and gives you a lot more power and leverage. I highly recommend the bar - sometimes I put my feet on top and push off and sometimes I put my feet under the bar which works a different set of muscles and accomplishes the same thing. Can't believe I went so long without one!!
Let me know if you want pictures of the "install"... I posted a "step by step" on this site last March or April called "I put a bar in my boat..." - I'd be happy to dig it up for you.
GH

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Permalink Reply by Jayson Hayes on November 23, 2009 at 12:22pm

Thanks for the feed-back Greg, i did see the your step by step on your build, great job. the Pendelton looked really good too!