So I've received some great advice from some of you concerning my jump into the wooden boat world and I am hoping for some more.  I currently row Sotar rubber and Aluminum dory 18' (soon to be for sale).  This wood is pretty foreign to me so thought I would ask a few more questions and try to post some pictures that should help.  Recently bought this boat and as you can tell it is the middle of some scraping and sanding from previous owner.

 

The other side looks about the same.  The decks have been painted and about half of that is scraped off as well.

 

Here's a picture of the decks and hatches

 and one more for good measure

The interior of the hatches has also been painted but was flaking off everywhere.  I have scraped and vacumed the interior paint and the wood seems to be in great shape.  The boat is made of marine grade plywood (previous owner said) and everything looks to be solid and intact.  The white paint is west marine polyurethane super gloss I believe.  SO here are my questions: 1) Boat is 15' so seems a bit short for a briggs.  Anyone recognize the lines and can tell me what type of boat design this might be? (Tatman, Rays, Rogue, etc?).  Looks a bit similiar to the "Desolation" boat from Jeremy that I saw on his blog

2) I plan on painting the boat so should I continue to scrap all of the existing paint off to bare wood or treat the existing paint like a primer, prep the surfaces, primer the whole thing and repaint? Not looking for a showboat, just a workhorse that I can call my own.

 

3) Haven't had time to look at the bottom closely (it's 4 below outside!) but a quick glance looks like a formica or fiberglass type of coating glued on to the bottom. It is not in good shape but the wood is.  I was thinking of removing everything down to bare wood then glassing and epoxying it.  Chines all look to be in great shape.

 

4) Thanks alot for any advice you can give.  I am really a newbie so thanks for indulging my naivete.  Hope to get her ready for my July main salmon trip!

Thanks again-

Mike

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I'm new to wood boats myself, so I can't help you with the design, but that's a nice looking boat. The wood looks to be in much better shape than many refurbs posted on this forum including my own. From my experience, I can tell you scraping paint can be arduous and time consuming to say the least. I tried to scrape, sand, grind 2 layers of peeling paint off my boat, but finally ended up epoxy coating and painting in the end. However, from the look of the exposed wood on your boat, it's possible your paint might come off a little easier. I suspect most folks will suggest you sand, epoxy then paint, but I'm sure you will be presented with many options. You're gonna love your new boat...and the helpful people on this website. Better get to work, July is much closer than you think!

1) 15' does sound a bit short for the original Briggs design, and a "true" Briggs has a 4'-5' flat section right in the middle where the chines and gunwales run parallel to each other.  At least thats what I've read in Roger Fletcher's book

2) hard to say without seeing the condition of the boat up close, but I'd probably just sand and paint.  make it easy on yourself.  you'll probably get ten different answers if you ask ten different people about this though..

3)again, ten answers from ten people, and I'm no purist, but do you have a good reason to take the bottom off?  why not leave it on?  for now at least?  If the floor and chines are in good shape and theres no reason to suspect rot, I'd be inclined to leave it on, try it out...

Mike,

You found a gem.  If I had to guess I would say it's a Ray Heater 16x48 hull that was retrofited with a whitewater deck.  A worthy project for sure.  If it is a Heater built boat it will have the best materials and craftmanship and be a joy to work on. 

A couple thoughts.  Since you are planning on just paiting anyway a coat of any good marine enamel will get you headed to the river in little time.

If the boat is sound, so much the quicker.  But you need to do a good inspection of the wood, especialy the inside chine log and the frame joints.  Crawl in there and start poking around with a screw driver.  Good wood will allow you to make a dent only,  if you sink it down1/4" you are heading for a bit more work.  Pop the chine caps and inspect the chine joint.  Lastly check the bottom.  These are all the places to find rot in a boat that may have had water standing for months or years.  They can all be replaced if needed.  The forum has tons of posts that explain all of these processes. 

Enjoy the ride.

This looks like a great boat.  15' LOA means it is probably what we call a 16x48. That means the measurement on the shear line from front to back is 16ft and the widest part of the plywood on the bottom of the boat is 48 inches. 

I am guessing that it is home built for two reasons: One, because the rub rail is touching the chine batten.  Most builders placed one to one and a half inches  of side between the chine batten and rub rail.  Two because the false stem is pointed and the outside rail and chine batten also come to a point.  Most builders flatten the false stem to an 3/4 of an inch or so to have room to attach hardware to the stem.  It's interesting that this boat has no rings or hardware for trailer winch or safety chain. 

 

I highly recommend that you do not trust the chine battens.  The wood can be in great shape while the bedding in the joint is getting old and starting to leak.  If you plan to put a fiberglass bottom on the boat then first remove the chine battens.  With them off you can cover the boat bottom, trim the fiberglass along the  boat edge and then re-install the chine batten so the bottom of the chine batten is just a little proud from the boat bottom. This will protect the edges of the new fiberglass bottom and insure that it lasts a long time.

Yep, looks real similar to the boat I just sold, pretty standard Mckenzie, maybe a Woodie Hindeman design or something. Definitely looks home brewed. Not a Briggs boat, but a briggs-ish interior. Looks like fun! Get that thing ready for the big runoff this year.

 

 

Mike,

My "guess" on the boat is a 16x48, Don Hill, High Side and definitely a Kit as Randy says, home built. Great rowing boat by the looks of that "chine line" shape and a great project. As A.J. says, poke around with the screwdriver on the inside and outside and as Randy suggests, redo the whole bottom. You will regret not thoroughly checking the boat out AND fixing it. Have Fun!

Cheers, Robb

Randy is right about it being a kit built boat.  Good eye Randy, I was so intent on the lines of the hull that i missed the rub rail position and uncapped stem.  No builder, especially Ray, would install the rub rail right on top of the chine cap (batten).  Not that it is wrong to do so, just not a pro builder move. The full rocker, wide flare and width at the passenger seat suggest Ray's style but missing are his signature knees at the transom.    Regardless of the builder, it is a cool boat.

 

More images of the joinery would help determine the builder.  Hard to see signature type work that is hiden under the decking.  I would love to see this boat.  Hope it comes to the show.

Thank you everyone for your input!  I will be searching the forum for hints and strategies and keep you updated of the progress.  I am sure that I'll have more questions.

Mike

 

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