Wooden Boat People

By McKenzieDriftBoat.com

Transforming a 16X48 Drift Boat into a Decked selfbailing Whitewater Dory...

Hi Folks....

I am working on a 16X48 Drift Boat and transforming it into a Decked self bailing Dory.

Does anyone out there know any of the history of this boat or who could have designed or built it ?

It has 8 ribs and the Oar locks are positioned 17" behind the center of the boat towards the stern.

I got it in Boise this Summer

So far I have :

Sanded the interior to bare wood .

Applied 2 coats epoxy to seal bare wood.

Put 18.5 oz. triaxial and Resin Research epoxy on interior floor.

and in the process of cutting recycled 1x6 T&G Red Cedar for the Bulkheads and decking....

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Permalink Reply by charles G on October 5, 2016 at 7:09pm

Looks like don hill design I have the same boat deck! Photos from Westwater at 12000 flipped it that day held to up great flip it back over by my self!

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Permalink Reply by John Squire on October 5, 2016 at 10:45pm

I was thinking it may be a Don Hill too. Your boat is laid out how mine will be , Nice looking boat... Do you have drains in the passenger footwells ?

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Permalink Reply by charles G on October 5, 2016 at 7:15pm

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Permalink Reply by charles G on October 5, 2016 at 7:19pm

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Permalink Reply by charles G on October 6, 2016 at 4:56pm

I did put drains about half way up the sides! then I have a bilge pump that gets the rest of the water! you don't want them to low because you will take on water! I used a lithium battery and it held its charge all summer!

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Bird on October 8, 2016 at 8:27am

Charles, nice to see your conversion. I have what I believe is a Ray's 16x48 and have ben contemplating the same. Do you have pics of the steps that you took?

Thanks, Kevin

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Bird on October 8, 2016 at 8:30am

John. I am considering the same for my 16x48. Looking forward to seeing you project. Keep the pics coming.

Kevin

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Permalink Reply by John Squire on October 10, 2016 at 10:37am

I did lots of research on boatbuilding and found this site to be GREAT !!! Thanks Everybody....

I am using Recycled T&G Cedar my neighbor gave me for the bulkheads and decking. I just gave it 2 more coats of epoxy to fill the fiberglass weave (18.5 OZ ) on the floor and attached the bottom (first board of T&G) to the ribs and hull with epoxy I'm going to fasten each board seperatly to assure a waterproof bond as I go up. I will post pix soon as it is raining now and the boat is covered....