In spite of a fair amount of lame oarsmanship by her captain, the Julius once again survived Grand Canyon upright. Roger Fletcher, Andy Hutchinson, Dan Dierker and other friends conspired to build her ten years ago, and this is her fourth trip through Grand Canyon. To date she has not been knocked over or ge-busted. Pretty cool little boat in spite of the damned eight-foot oars and short rowing compartment. Of particular horror is my truly lame run in Bedrock--I thought for sure we were…

I was looking for a boat trailer, and instead ended up with another boat and still no trailer. 

I'm wondering if any of you guys can tell me what boat this is?  The son who I bought it off said his dad built it from plans a while back but he does not know what they were. 

I have to get it home & open this can of worms to see what is in there, but there is no rot and I think I can get her in great shape shortly. The price was crazy cheap, so at the very least…

Started working with my son last night.  Sawzall and a 5yo makes for short work of the interior and removing the chine logs.  Lucky for me the previous owner/builder was not familiar with marine fasteners and 5200 adhesive.

Truck bed liner on the bottom is in pretty good shape. 

 …

Hi All, I'm looking forward to the  boat festival in a couple of weeks, thought I would share a few photos of the first trial run of the Eagle Rock Boat Porter.  My solution to the problem of two left over pieces of knotty Port Orford Cedar.  Looking forward to meeting many of…

Hello all im  new to the site lots of great information here. One reason is why i joined up and also i need some help with my bottom replacement since i never have done this before, so any information would be greatly appreciated. I bought a Don hill river boat in 1997 it had a uhmw plate on the bottom which led to its demise with dry rot. I actually started working on it this month its still in pretty good shape as far as the structural part of it. The paint is good on the outside i have a…

Another chapter of Martin Litton's early dory history manages to live on:

Moqui Steps…

These posts are a little picture heavy but I'm on a roll and don't have much time for chatter... please comment or ask questions though!

so here's the progress at the end of the last post. I like it when stuff fits where I wanted it to go!

Here's the framework for the gutter system.  These gutters are based on the design of the newer OARS Dories…

Finally getting to work on the decking.  Ordered some marine plywood and started out glassing the whole thing.  I did some scale mockups of the pieces I wanted to cut and messed around on some scale plywood so I could get maximum use and waste as little material as possible.

 …

Here is a video of us knocking together a McKenzie last Friday night. I wish the GoPro had not run out. This is a time-lapse of the first 80 minutes:

Building the Blacktail

After a quarter century in the desert sun, rain and snow, the Betty Boop is back on the river. And after eight or so years including a few harsh winters, Julius is afloat again as well with a new floor and reconditioned decks. What fun--here is a post about their re-launch:

Betty and…

Sitting here in my Wintry-March living-room, surveying the snowy moguls in my backyard longing for some open-water and wondering if this melt-off is going to gain some steam here, my memory kicks me back to early September 2011. Just a half a year ago, and yet it seems so long ago. People tell me that our kids' childhoods go by so fast and to enjoy every minute of this fleeting time. Man are they right!…

Finally got around to getting some pay-backs on a piece of mahogany I've been holding a grudge with for quite a spell. Two winters ago (about this time of year) a particular rail decided it didn't want to be a part of my nice new drift boat. When I decided to "force" the issue it decided to push back. Actually, it was more of a recoil; darn thing split and punched his way through some plywood in the process...…

Hey Rick, thanks for comments.  I experience the tenaciousness of 5200 as well, will not be using it on anything that may have to be removed in future.  Not sure how much the 1/2 by 16' pannels are, I did get some samples sent to me the scarf joints look awsome, and A grade faces look good.  Not sure of all the ins and outs as it is a product that I can't find anyone using it.  I did find a referance to it in Ian Outred's book.  As well as alot of Larch referance in Wooden Boat magazine…

Rick,

Thanks much on chine cap suggestion.  Hoping you and some of members of this group could find some holes in this method-as I am sure there are.  Any suggestion for eliciting more comment?

 Do you know of another source of plans, like the ones in the Fletcher Book?  I love looking at the different lines of drift boat others have created.  Best, Doug

Your questions are right in line with the questions I was having in my mind. 

On the Woodie Hindeman boat I did I actually deviated from the instructions in the book - used a timber strong back and took some of the rocker out of the little 14' boat in RF book.  I thought the of developing the design of new boat with temp. frames let into strong back, also temp attach stems to strong back.  This would serve as my form for clamping steamed chines and gunnels.  The side pannels would be…

Hi to all members, I am new to Wooden Boat People experience-although I have enjoyed reading many of your comments over the years.  Using the Roger Fletcher book as a guide with kind help for Randy and Sandy, I enjoyed building my first drift boat (14' Woody Hindeman Double Ender) three years ago. The boat is very fun to use, but I really like building as much as paddling.  Four strip canoes later the disease of building boats is taking hold much as it has other family members.  If you read…

I am thinking about taking my wood drift boat on the Salmon River in Idaho to do some steelhead fishing.  Has anyone floated from Lucille to Twin bridges?  If so what is that stretch of the river like?  is there anything to really worry about such as rapids or rock gardens?

The next boat is close to being finished.

I'll follow up with more photos when I flip it next week and start putting varnish on the rails and deck. Outer hull paint and bottom coating went on this week end. …

Finishing a 16 footer with 52" wide bottom. Thinking of buying a 5X8 Utility trailer (Northern Tool) and modifying. Anybody do this and if so any tips or pics? I am in Lancaster, PA and driftboat trailer are seen here about as often as we see a wild panda.

Thanks for any help

what is the best paint to use on the outside of the boat and inside? how do you get it really shinny?