Wooden Boat People

By McKenzieDriftBoat.com

I put a bar in my boat...

After four seasons and many miles on the water, I knew something was missing. Maybe I should've put a bar in the boat when I built it - but I wasn't sure how much I'd use it and figured I could always add it later. Now is later...
I decided I wanted a bar with a little character and authenticity - something that was functional, sturdy and rugged. I didn't want to add a lot of weight, spend much money, or have any sharp angles or edges that might interfere with fly line off a cast. Here's what I came up with...

Found it at a salvage yard in Eugene, it came out of an old bar in eastern Oregon and "Ned" wasn't sure if it was a foot rail or a Pole?? He cut off a 24" piece and charged me $20... it was old and tarnished and PERFECT.

I sketched a pattern for the braces similar to the lines on the knee locks. Glued up scraps from my boat (glad I kept every leftover piece of wood), cut, sanded, and finished them - had to buy a "core bit" from Home Depot for $9.50.

Sunk three 1/4" screws into the bottom of the braces, built a receiving rail (more scraps) underneath and between the two outside floor boards on each side and made the braces adjustable and removable without damaging the floor.

Polished most of the tarnish and stain from the brass bar (just in case it really was a brass Pole and not a brass foot rail in it's former life). It's a little too shiny right now but it will take on a nice "McKenzie River patina" as it ages and weathers.

My passengers will be glad I'm not pushing off their seat anymore for leverage...

Happy Hour at my new bar...

All in, the cost was about $32, the added weight is about 6.2 pounds total (braces & brass), and the hours invested were hard to calculate because I was "lost in the wood & whiskey"...
GH

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Greg Hatten on March 24, 2009 at 10:27am

Thanks... just trying to keep you guys entertained!! I can't wait to take it out for a little "test run" this weekend.
GH

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Permalink Reply by Brent Ross on March 24, 2009 at 9:34pm

Nice work Greg! I thought the pole supposed to be vertical?

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Permalink Reply by Greg Hatten on March 24, 2009 at 9:55pm

I'll work on that "vertical" pole... "gonna need a bigger boat".
GH

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Permalink Reply by Bob Howell on March 25, 2009 at 2:26pm

No really, you should get rid of that cheap mahogany passenger seat and put 2 bar stools up there.
They could even swivel!

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Permalink Reply by Greg Hatten on March 25, 2009 at 7:07pm

You're a visionary!!
GH

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Permalink Reply by Jesse Ronnow on March 26, 2009 at 8:04pm

Greg,

Every time I look at your boat, I wana redo on my project, what I have already redone several times over. Nice work. Just plain beautiful!

Jesse

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Permalink Reply by Greg Hatten on March 27, 2009 at 6:29am

Thanks Jesse... if I count all the "re-do's", I think I built three or four boats in the course of building one. I'm an amateur, but I really enjoy the process... gotta build another one. Only cure is to build another one.
Here's another one of those silly things I added that you might be able to use... when I put lids on my fly boxes, I wanted a little "shelf" space to set my bottled water or beverage of choice - so I added little "side wings"... I drilled a large hole in the one on the left to hold my spare oar lock (which seemed to float all over the boat)... the one time I needed it in a crisis, I fumbled around for it...