replacing chine rail

Hey there wbp:

I have a 40 plus year old wooden 14' drifter, probably an old Don Hill boat. I cracked the right chine rail (chine batten?) on a low water rogue trip this fall, and I am in the process of replacing it. The rail was oak, 15/16" x1 7/8" x @ 14'. My question is: will I be able to torture the wood into place? I am going to look at a piece of white oak today, just trying to figure out the best way to bend the piece into place. I figure there are folks on this forum who have done this before, so looking for good suggestions about how to proceed. I think I can run the batten long on both ends until it is screwed into place. Any suggestions would be most welcome. I would love to know what set ups folks use to make the bends, and do you ever laminate or steam or is that not necessary?

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Permalink Reply by Greg Hatten on January 7, 2010 at 9:06am
Laura... you mean this drift boat??

This is a good friend of mine and fellow river rat, Dave. We ran the Rogue together a few days before this happened and then Dave went back up to Graves and ran it again. I spent a few days off the river and then went down with my son in a different group. When we checked in at Smullen we were cautioned that a Drift Boat went down the day before and to be careful going through Blossom. I was "shocked" to see that it was Dave's boat as I rowed around it in the middle of the rapid... it was eery and I felt an immediate "panic" - what happened, is he OK, is his dog OK, is he still on the river????. Didn't get the whole store til we were off the river and on the cell phones... although several people "on" the river knew bits and pieces and knew everyone was OK. Dave is good on the sticks and he's run that river at least 30 times... Just goes to show you who's really in control out there.... even when you do everything right. Dave was fine and so was his trusty Black Lab "Rogue" that rides on the bow.
GH
Permalink Reply by Laura Dalton on January 7, 2010 at 9:28am
That is definitely the one.....So glad to hear everyone was all right, it is always unnerving to see a sunk or wrapped boat in that rapid, and nobody we talked to knew what had happened. Since there was no one there working to remove it we feared the worst, and we could tell from the permit number that they were a day or two ahead of us. Was he able to pull it out of there, or did it get "flushed" when they breached the dam that next week?

Also goes to show you should always scout that rapid, you never know what you may find there. I have had my fair share of karma clearing episodes, but that is part of the spice, after all.:)
Permalink Reply by Mike Dearing on January 7, 2010 at 10:37am
I saw that sunk boat this fall too!

How did he get it out Greg? Z-drag and lots of work imagine. What I didn't get about that accident was what was he doing that far right? Blossom always seems easy as long as you don't miss too many strokes, but the consequences of not doing so are always there and very big.

Mike
Permalink Reply by Greg Hatten on January 7, 2010 at 11:22am
Hi guys... here's a better angle of the bow of the boat taken from the "scouting rock" before we went through Blossom. I think he came straight down the Beaver Slide, got a little too far right, hit Sandstone Rock which dipped the tail for just a second and water poured over the transom. It did a slow sinking fish-tail until it wedged just off the Clamshell - bow sticking straight up to the sky.

He gave the boat to someone who agreed to get it out of there... Dave was ready for a new boat well before this and now he has a great reason to go get one.
GH
Permalink Reply by Mike Dearing on January 7, 2010 at 4:08pm
Greg,

That is a better angle. I thought it was wedged way further right then that, I just couldn't remember. I've seen more then a few boats run up onto the clamshell and almost sink, but never saw one go down, thank goodness.

This view is a great shot of what its like to run right of the horn rock when the river's up higher of course. I've been through here more then once when the only rocks showing were the two big ones at the top and the very tip of volkswagen. Its pretty fun when its get that high, the holes that get created from all the other rocks are pretty impressive.

Mike
Permalink Reply by Dave Z on January 8, 2010 at 9:36am
I get chills looking at those pics. The water in the floorboards was probably yellow right before the ship went down.

Glad to hear that a little bit of wood was the only casualty.
Permalink Reply by Greg Hatten on January 8, 2010 at 3:53pm
yup... there was probably a big yellow puddle on the fly deck from his dog too. Dave said his dog "Rogue", was washed through the length of the rapid, got out, shook off, and ran back up the bank and jumped in to try and swim out to Dave... didn't make it - got swept downstream again - got out and repeated the cycle... they finally got a raft over to him or he would've kept it up until he ran out of strength... good thing Dave puts a life jacket on him - and makes him wear it!! That dog deserves a medal for running a Class IV Rapid three times without a boat... or at least some premium table scraps.
(Sorry to digress from the chine topic, Laura)
Permalink Reply by Mike Dearing on January 8, 2010 at 5:37pm
Quite a story Greg ,and yes apologies to Laura for the thread hijack. Glad his dog is ok too.

We take our dogs on this trip occasionally, but quite honestly I don't like to, its my wife that insists from time to time. Your story is a good example to illustrate why I don't like to. When the shit hits the fan people need to concentrate one one thing, saving themselves, or whomever is in the boat with them, not worrying about your dog. Now I'm not implying your buddy did anything but save himself. But unfortunately I have saw this a few times where somebodies boat flips, pins, whatever, and its amazing how they immediately start worrying about the dog. Most dogs are way better swimmers then we will ever be and they do not need saving 9 out of 10 times.

Every time I hear about or see animals involved in river accidents, I think about that poor woman who got bumped out of a boat off the picket fence a few years ago and drowned after pinning on a rock. She got bumped out cause she was goofing around with a dog and lost her balance when the boat bumped.

So even though I am a total dog lover (my wife shows em and I get killer hunting buddies out of the deal) people should think twice about taking their beloved pets on the river with them. I think I need to make my wife read this post!

Mike
Permalink Reply by Laura Dalton on January 8, 2010 at 9:12pm
No worries about the thread hijack, I brought up this incident anyway and am very glad to hear how it all turned out. I don't like taking my dogs on more challenging rivers because they are a big distraction and worry for me, and I am usually already sweating bullets at the bigger rapids. On the rogue I think I would worry as much about bear/dog interactions as the rapids. That said, my dogs are not that well trained, and I have seen a lab in the front of an open canoe who could high side and brace along with her paddler. So I don't know if I can make the call for others. When I get back to the shop I promise to post pics of the chine batten replacement process and bring us back full circle, just in case they are useful to someone else. Enjoy the weekend,
cheers
Laura
Permalink Reply by Laura Dalton on January 11, 2010 at 10:01am
Ok, that was an amazing dog story! Here are some pics of the bending process:

started at the front (it looks like it is run long but it is actually a hair shy, just proud.

cam strap system for adjusting height (and third hand)

working down the boat with ratchet straps

just enough wood to make it! Phew! This week I will sand flush, caulk, epoxy and fiberglas tape to the new edge and paint.

cheers
Laura
Permalink Reply by Dave Z on January 13, 2010 at 7:59am
Laura,

You figured it out. Looks very similar to how I've put them on using ratchet straps. Good work.

Dave
Permalink Reply by Kelly Neu on January 8, 2010 at 9:55pm
While this thread is being hijacked, thought I'd add a dog story. Laura, can't wait to see the pics BTW.

We were on the lower salmon watching a one boat private trip run china rapid in july. They were 3 passengers plus a golden retriever. They seemed experienced river runners but somehow ended up rowing right into the big hole at the bottom. They flipped immediately and everybody disapeared. One by on they started popping to the surface .... the rower dude, obviously hurt washed onto the left shore, a girl getting spit to the left shore, then the dog also being brought to the left shore by the current... The dog who is almost on shore notices they are missing a person and instantly turns and swims right back into the hole, disapears, then pops back up, looks around, finds no person, swims back to the hole again, disappears, and in a long second pops back up right next to person #3 and they go to shore. whew! Everybody alive, the dude broken ribs. The dog... wow, totally selfless move. I don't think I'd swim back into that hole! Good Dog.

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