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…

Heh heh... I just picked up a free boat to restore. 16X48. All wood... at least 20 years old according to previous owner, but no idea really. Built in Salem by a company named Ostrem Boats. I googled them and nothing! Everything seems to be good.. I could find no rot YET. It is painted inside and out.

It has some kind of plastic bottom over the plywood, I don't think it is UMHW, it is white. Plywood ends on top is coming apart a little. I will be asking lots…

Got'er done...she even handled some class II-III this weekend on the first annual Colorado Wooden Boat and Beer Float at Pumphouse on the Colorado (thanks Mark)...I've still got plenty of finishing touches to keep me busy for a while, but they're just details (rear bench, floorboards, casting deck, bottle openers, etc...)...

I got rid of the outside chine guard and rubstrip, filled/patched the dings, and glassed the outside, scarfed in some new gunnel material (never even…

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…

I actually started working on this thing LAST FALL for cryin out loud! Progress has been slow, but it is going well. I have all the inside seams glued up with thickened epoxy. Tonight i am going to lay fiberglass tape over all these fillets.



This weekend I am hoping to turn it over and do another layer of kevlar...and POSSIBLY another layer of fiberglass on the bottom??? Right now i have two layers of glass and one layer of kevlar. The bottom is pretty strong right now, but…

So I rowed down the run a little ways and anchored up just above the tailout. The water is running Bombay gin clear today. We can see 3 large trout and a few dollies in 6 feet of water in the “V” just ahead of said tailout more clearly than if we’d had scuba gear. Mi compadre pescador irfshn is in the bow of Jack Salmon II and the omnipresent upstream wind swings him into perfect position.

irfshn in the bow of Jack Salmon II last Fall:…

My goal has been to build as quickly and cheaply as possible.  Its really fun just ripping angles into this warped and knotty drift wood and not worrying about the details.  Close enough is the name of the game.

The beach had plenty of pieces of 3/4" and…

After the driftwood for the frames were found I went in search of plywood.  It turns out the only plywood that survives the ocean and ends up on the beach is 3/4" or thicker.  However,  I didn't find that out until I had hauled about 400Lbs of the stuff home and measured it.  WaWaah.  At least I provided entertainment for the residents of sunlight beach as I rowed back and forth with a steadily sinking boat loaded with way too much drift plywood.  I imagined people were making bets on when…

So... After constructing the beautiful Zizumara, a boat I love a little too much, I thought a new direction in boatbuilding was in order.  Hence, the McDrift boat was born.  Attributes: cheap, disposable, made of wood and nails and a little oil to help it last 5 days on the Salmon River.  What happens on day 5? -Bonfire, Dam clogger, a return to drift wood or perhaps a free boat for the next river runner, who knows but it doesn't have to come back home.  This is a oneway trip boat.  (That…

Hello all,

I'm Bob from Salem, MA, and I have wanted to own/build a boat since I was 10. I now have the time, and a place to work, but want to make sure I know what I'm doing before I throw together something thinking it is good, only to sink in the harbor.

Fair warning, my carpentry skills are, at best, minimal, so I may be asking a lot of questions. Hopefully, I won't be too much of a pest!  ( lol )

I'm just too busy to put any time into this, but someone with the time and skills could have a very nice boat in a pretty short time.

I'm selling my 1985 16ft Rays River Dory.

This was built by them, it's not a kit boat.

 It has some rot on a section of the floor and on one of the lower chines, but I've pulled off the UHMW, and it looks pretty sound otherwise.

It's on an older flatbed trailer, and I'm asking $850. for the boat and trailer. 

I'm…

Looking for any info from the wood boat people about what I might expect there, running currently 20,000, launching in 3 days and waters going up.

best, Jim

  He came up yesterday and got his "new" boat.  A very happy and somewhat amazed (by the boat's transformation) fellow.   He insisted I take a small bonus payment for my work, which I did not turn down.  With the bonus, I made just about minimum wage..almost.  Other than the sanding, re-working the old Woodie was really quite fun.

  We put almost $1000 in materials and supplies into the job.  I had over 100 hrs of labor as well. 

In our original discussions and my quick…