In response to Gavin's comment #3 regarding my last blog post:

Yes I'm still in PA; in so far as any potential internet burglars may be concerned. Sorry we couldn't connect on the Lehigh river, all I can say is you HAVE to get fishing with me and Jimmy - the sulphur hatch is really bringing out some strange browns; they're taking # 2/0 creek chub flies. We needed some really big tippet.

Truth be…

Still waiting to get the wooden boat on the river but here are some spring rubber trips in the meanwhile...

Owyhee River, OR: Early May, massive winds, a bit of snow, low water...gorgeous.

Copper River, AK: Early June, sun and rain, record low water, lingering snow, bears just…

These are the times that try the souls of boatbuilders in eastern PA. Allow me to demonstrate pictorally with one of my beloved helper monkeys...

Which of the following Gavinses seems happier?

A) Rower's seat-sanding Gavin in my grimy garage...

or

B) Lehigh river fishing Gavin during the Sulphur hatch

Needless to say,…

I recently began thinking about my next wish list boat. I mainly fish the Deschutes, McKenzie, MF Willamette, Lewis, and coastal rivers, though I desperatley want to fish the MF Salmon.

After looking at the Montana Boat Builders Freestone and Kingfisher I am thinking about a stich and glue boat with lots af creature comfort, and storage. Any thoughts formthose of you that have a sticth and glue boat

For those who are intrested in a new drift boat trailer or parts. I invite you to check out my new web site (www.driftboattrailers.com). Keep in mind that it is undergoing construction. I welcome any and all feedback you care to provide. Thanks

Dennis Liden

We couldn't finish in time for the festival in Jackson, but we managed to get her out on the North Platte this weekend in Casper, Wyoming. Pretty pleased overall with the boat, although the high sides were rough in the Wyoming wind.

There's still a good amount of work to be done, as we have not installed the anchor system yet and we still need to Spar the entire interior (just expoxy right now). The System Three book says to wait two week after the…

Took a weekend off from boatbuilding as promised. Spent one day partying it up at my 4 year old's birthday celebration and the other day chasing shad in the Delaware water gap (for a friend's birthday). Although the party was a hoot, I'll spare you the details of the former and concentrate on the later.

In eastern PA, the shad run is our version of the steelhead, chinook, or other seasonal run. Basically, it's all we got without driving 5 or 6 hours to…

The weather around here has been a bit unpredictable as of late.

For those of you who do not reside in the northeast, it has gone something like this: real warm weather (like high 80's) early in the spring (like late march/early april) and then cold...real cold. Around here, 32 degrees in early May is pretty rough - I'm glad I haven't had the time to plant my garden yet.

Needless to say, after warming up following the chill of winter, we have…

Once the chine logs had cured, I began the whole faring process which I found rather enjoyable. As far as sanding goes, it is quite pleasant and almost like hand planing a piece of lumber.It's pretty much the opposite side of the sanding spectrum from, say, sanding drywall. The longboard really helps too. While it would be a really easy thing to make a longboard, I bought one because I like the 3M hook-it idea - I've pretty much gone this route with all my implements of sanding…

With a lot of this boat-building stuff to-date, I seem to fearlessly blast ahead relying on the experience I've gained in the cabinet shop and on the job site back in the day. Oh yea, and the web site here helps a good bit too in terms of confidence...

Not to say I'm a master woodworker (or even close), just plain fearless and quite possibly stupid.

That is, I was fearless up…

Well it took a month's time from deciding on St Patty's day to build it to launching it on April 17th, but The Hanna Platte floats, can carry 600 pounds worth of fisherman, dogs, beer and gear. She drafts about 8 inches in the water and cuts through the river much better than my raft. Plus she must weigh around 200 pounds, I'd guess and is pretty easy to load on my raft trailer. I decided to mount a cooler as my rowing seat as I saw posted here to utilize room in this small boat. you can…

So following the great hull-forming (or what I call the 3M 5200 Massacre), I'm killing some time waiting for things to cure before installing the chine logs. On a bright note, I finally understand the reason for my calling as an environmental engineer - (apparently or undoubtedly) it is Karmic in nature. A balancing act - all to make up for my terrible, terrible indescretions with the 5200 and all the associated solvents. Holy mineral spirits, my garage is a veritable superfund site. God…

So I awoke Saturday morning, bleary-eyed from a long nite in the boat building garage. Still not sure...only knew that more boat parts must be built. More boat parts...So in the beautiful PA spring morning, I started out cutting some more parts: rails, logs, battens, floor boards, whatever -

Next thing I know, its 8 pm my head is spinning and there's something that vaguely resembles a boat in my garage. Yes, gavin; I…