Ok, as I said in the last post I've got the Eastside in the garage and am ready to start tinkering until winter when the real work will start.  I also decided to start on a chip cover for the boat.  Decided that with the high frequency of dirt roads I will be on that I needed a cover to protect the front of the boat as much as I can.  Dug out some canvas scraps I had around and got the basic cover put together.  need to reinforce it in a few spots and hem the edges for…

Picked up the boat and had a few surprises.  One of the leaf springs was broken but the owner replaced them both at a trailer shop and got me on the road.  I spent a day epoxying D rings into the boat and stripping the extra stuff from the boat to get it ready for the trip.  Dinosaur National Monument requires flotation in drift boats and open canoes so I fitted the rear area of the boat with 3 canoe float bags to make her legal.  Had a great time and was really impressed with the handling…

I'm new to the group and I'm going to apologize for not having a wooden boat.  I'm starting with a vintage Eastside fiberglass 15' drifter that I plan to deck and outfit for whitewater trips.  The goal is to hold my self and my wife pretty much self supported for 3-5 days on class 3-4.  Will also make a great boat for taking the future kids on floats.  I'm running the Gates of Lodore the second week of August and will mess around with balance in loading and get a feel for where I want to be…