As promised to the owner, his boat is ready.  Before official summer..Memorial Day. 

Doing this restoration was enjoyable and I think the customer got good value.  He now has a very serviceable boat that is also a genuine piece of history.…

Hey, I am working on a boat in the 7th hour class, and I think we are almost to the point where we will be making oars soon. How long should the oars be?

Is there a way we can finish our boat and make it look good in 25 days of school when we are way far behind.

  A progress report on the refurbishment of the Don Hill boat: 

  I've finished with the bottom, the rock shoe install, the chine and a new stem.  Finished up the sides while it was upside down, too.

  Flipped it over and...sighed.  More, a lot more... basic sanding, staring me right in the face. 

  I put three coat of Dura Tuff clear coat finish on the outside.  This is the finish that Don Hill used.  I called the fellow who bought out Don Hill's patterns and…

The last big one of the trip, Lava Falls. 16,000 cfs, running the left side run. The private group just behind us flipped five out of eight attempting the same run. Don't be too far right!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JagH1FqPdU

There are a few more videos on my blog:

 …

This one was early on a cool morning last week. Nice morning…

Here is the bad girl going into Hermit. Pulled an oarlock about halfway through, but it didn't seem to matter much. Big wet ride--the water was pouring out over the gunwales at the…

To my utter amazement, I made it through Grand Canyon in the 48-inch-wide Edith upright. She's a wet and wild ride, but ballasting is a miraculous cure for a cranky little boat. Here is Granite Falls, one of the wilder rides, and one that I'd been dreading since the onset of the…

  I have not figured out how to post pics here yet.  For now, I will reference you to my Picasa web album(s) with about 20 pics of this project as it's progressed 'till now.

  I was commissioned to bring this boat back to life late last fall.  It was soaking wet, full of ice and leaves, a forlorn sight as the client pulled up to my shop with it.  He's a recreational floater, wanted the boat saved, if possible, so he could float it this summer.   He seems to be OK with…

I have an older boat - A 16ft 1985 Rays River Dories Rogue River Model, with some rot on the floor as a result of an inadequate seal between the original bottom and the UHMW that was attached at some point.

The outside chines are in pretty bad shape as well, so will need to be replaced.

I'd like to repair it without replacing the whole floor.

Is there anyone in or around Bend, OR with some experience in this, that I could go to for help in repairing this little…

Well, here it is. My parents asked me when I thought this boat would be finished... I said never, but hopefully I will be taking it on the colorado, Loma to Potash. Putting on finishing details.

My oar blocks had to have a nother piece of wood put in the middle bacause the lock was hitting the side of the boat otherwise.

Built decking…

Well some how I have made it this far, with much help from all of the folks on woodenboat. I would like to thank you all for all the help and advise through out the past few months. My Rouge is down to the finishing details: oar blocks, sanding, oiling, etc. Here are a few pics over the last weeks:

Got all the decking cut and in place, there are some sizable gaps where the decking should be closer to the boat, but they will be taken care of by the 5200 edging. The biggest one…

I just posted a few videos of the Edith—the Kolb boat I just finished—running the Big Drops in Cataract Canyon last week. That is one wet boat, but hard to pivot! 

I haven't found the way to downsize these for the web without losing  lot of clarity. Oh well. Check 'em out at:

www.fretwaterlines.blogspot.com

I head to Lee's Ferry with Edith in the morning for a Grand Canyon run.…

Looking for advice and plans and builders for a wood jet sled in thee style of Dean river boats.

Open to any and all thoughts.

Thanks,

Tom

After I got back from a 6 day Cataract trip I went straight to work on the boat (I think even the night I got back after the 6 hour drive) and have been working ever since. I had the bottom installed the day before I left and cleaned the garage.

When I got back I flipped her over and started on the interior framing.…