Wooden Boat People
By McKenzieDriftBoat.com
Dorf's Wooden Drift Boat
I just found this Forum the past week and was pleased to see all the interesting discussions. I have previously (2006) built and launched a 16 ft. Peterborough Stripper from Tom Moore's original Canoecraft. The Bear Mountain Boats Forum was a wealth of information, as I had not built anything from wood that was expected to float, in water. The stripper was a lot of fun to build.
About a year later I discovered/purchased Roger Fletcher's book and decided to make a go of it and build a drift boat. Last April I laid out all the framing on poster board full scale. I am a retired Mfg. Engineer with 41 yrs in the Machine tool and Automotive Industry with lots of hrs. Hanging over a drafting table. After making the decision to build I spent many hours deciding materials, features etc.
I have 210 BF of White Ash from a couple of trees infected with the Emerald Ash Bore (big issue in Mid-Mich). So the framing is Ash (3/4" x 3.00"). I finished the last one in December. I just need to coat them with epoxy (been waiting for 60 degree temps). The frames are constructed using Half-lap joints. I discussed this in 2011 with Jim Watson of Gougeon Brothers and he offered their services in testing the joint strength (they have a MTS Tensile Test Machine w/ 100K Load Cell). I just received the results and test pieces a couple of weeks ago and will post them soon in this discussion. (I need to figure out how to post pictures here.)
The Stem blank is solid Ash. I just finished the transom a couple of weeks ago. It was made from African mahogany. The sides are going to be 1/4 x 7/8" WRC w/bead & cove. I have a couple of planks left over from the canoe. The sides will be encapsulated in 6 oz. glass and West System 105-207 Epoxy prior to being fastened to the frame. The bottom of the boat will be "cold molded" ash at 1/4 x 2 1/4" in two layers one oriented Fore Aft and the other 90 degrees to the first. Planning to add graphite to epoxy on the bottom.
Next work is to build a strong back and begin assembling the framing. Am looking foreword to your comments and assistance.
Thanks for being here.
phil w. (Dorf)
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Phillip Westendorf on
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Last Weekend I took the Canoe and Drift Boat to the Wooden Boat Show in Presque Isle, MI on Northern Lake Huron. It was a nice show with a few really nice restored old wooden boats, a coupe of wooden racing hydro's, and misc wooden boats, canoes and such.
I saw something I had never saw before, a "Sun Dog". It appeared at Mid-Day and was there for an hour or so. Here's a picture of it. It surrounded the sun 360* but the picture wouldn't come out due to the bright sun in the middle. so here's the lower portion.
Here's the Drift Boat, almost ready for the water.
Hope ya'll have a Happy 4 th. of July Holiday. Tight Lines,
Dorf
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Where did the Summer Go? Been busy working on the boat the last few weeks mostly sanding and Varnishing and adding a few additional things. Working to be ready for the Steelhead this fall. Not too much yet to do, finish the seat backs, assemble and finish the rear seat and add a couple more coats of Varnish on the Hull's outside and it's off to the River.
Tight Lines.
Dorf
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Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on
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Outstanding! Time for some fish slime.
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Permalink Reply by Nick Theodoratos on
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Looking real good Dorf. I went looking for Kings yesterday, but no luck.
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November 5, 2014
FINALLY! Today I finally Launched the Drift Boat and spent the whole day fishing the Lower Au Sable River for Steelhead. My fishing partner (first time river fishing in a boat) smoked me! Jerome was two for three with one in the 8-10 # range. I was 0 for two, but we had a heck of a good time.
Learned a few things I need to change. The Ash oars weren't set up properly and I couldn't adjust the rubber collars so I had a heck of a time rowing. I think I need to raise the oar locks above the Gunnels about three inches. I think I'll make a set of temporary blocks to raise them and try them out next time.
Boat handled well despite the problems with the oars. Here's a pic at the launch, ready to go.
Here's Jerome's nice one.
Tight Lines,
Dorf
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Looking great! I am very envious of you and your partners fishing luck. Another problem you will always have is extra time spent at the put-in and take-out. You will have to tell everyone that sees your boat all about how you built it. It is beautiful. I hope that you sperad some of the fish slime around to break it in. What did you christen your boat with. Leininkugel Beer?
Rick N
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Nuff said?
Dorf
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Nov. 20, 2014 Manistee River. Real Winter weather, Snow and teens. Managed to boat 9 Browns and one Rainbow. All catch & Release. Good day on the river despite the weather. Introduced a friend to the sport and caught his first trout. His reaction was worth the whole days effort.
Learned a few new issues too with the boat. Water freezes in/on the anchor rope and tight spaces in pulleys. Makes for a difficult time dropping the anchor rope from the rowers seat. Managed to pull it in though, just a little more effort. Ended up having to haul it in over the side after the first time and was a royal pain. Need to revamp the pulley system to open up the rope clearance. Other solution, I suppose, is to keep it out of the water when temps are below freezing. That's not going to happen.
Darn this is fun!
Tight Lines,
Dorf
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Permalink Reply by Bill Craig on
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Dorf:
Which section of the Manistee did you float? The launch looks like Tippy to High Bridge but can't tell with the snow. I just finished my boat and want to fish that river in the Spring. Florida is more comfortable fishing in the Winter. Congrats on a nice boat.
Bill Craig
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Bill,
Your correct. I put in at Tippy (the first pic above) and took out at Highbridge. The 4-5 inches of new snow made it necessary to winch the boat up the incline at the ramp at Highbridge. I didn't want to risk getting the truck stuck on the incline. It's fairly steep there.
Was a nice float, would have been better if it was warmer and less snow, but we had a good time. We had the whole river to ourselves. One other river boat with a guide and three clients. They just hung around the dam though.
I am looking forward to Spring also.
Tight Lines,
Dorf
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Update 2015,
Well I learned an important lesson today. I pulled the boat off the trailer and loaded it on the strongback bottom side up to make the work I intend to do easier to do. I intended to add a couple of coats of Varnish to the sides for additional UV protection. After I washed the bottom and sides I discovered a few flaws in the bottom. In a few of places the epoxy was chipped away and the glass exposed.
More importantly there were several places where there was a red colored background in the chipped out epoxy. It took a while to figure out where this redish color came from. When I was fairing the bottom prior to any epoxy work I used Auto Body Filler to several low places to eliminate having to sand off a good amount wood to get it sanded fair. The Bondo was used to build up 2-3 v low spots, about 1/16 inch max thickness.
It's apparent the epoxy didn't bond to the Bondo like it does to wood. Now I am faced with the option of sanding the Bondo completely off and re-filling with thickened epoxy and re-glassing the bottom. There's a couple of pictures showing the problems below.
On another issue, I am not too impressed with the ability of the graphite in the epoxy provide abrasion resistance. I have a lot of scrape marks, some of which are extensive. They alone would cause me to add a minimum of two more coats of epoxy.
I know there have been lots of discussion on the "Graphite Issue", now I think you can guess my stance on it. The rivers I have floated are not rock infested and the water not too fast. So if your going to be floating "Big Water" you might want to look at another option than graphite.
Here's the red background (Bondo) scratches. The pic is upside down, showing the scarf joint in the Outer Chine Log.
Here's the glass exposed. Note the many scratches in the epoxy.
Here's more of the Bondo Scratches.
It looks like I'll be doing a heck of a lot more work on the bottom than I thought.
Dorf
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