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Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on September 23, 2011 at 8:15am

Hello Ben, how about "How to fit a deck and drain system"? Not much has ever been written about it and you recently spent a lot of time learning about it.

Chapter 1 Why have a deck on a drift boat.

Chapter 2 Discuss the scope of the project.

Chapter 3 Materials required and why they were chosen.

Chapter 4 Concerns/planning that must be considered before you install a deck.

Chapter 5 Steps required to install the deck.

Chapter 6 Tools required to do the job.

Chapter 7 Choosing finishes for the deck and boat interior.

Chapter 8 Applying finishes and the tools and the techniques required.

Chapter 9 Finishing details.

 

Just a few thoughts. This project could get much larger than you expect. Sound familiar! How many credits is the class and how much is the project worth? You might want to balance your passion for drift boats with the requirements of the class and the available time. I recently finished an AAS degree and know how easy it is to take on too much for the time available. The end of the quarter approaches and you are far from done. I am simply guessing that the point of the class is to improve your ability to write about a technical subject in the format the teacher has outlined.

I hope that this helps. What is your major? How did your boat work out? What would you do the same and what would you do different on your next build? Hey, there's a topic for you! Explain what you did on your own boat and the results and or changes that you would make.

 

Good luck on the project, hope that it all goes well.

 

Rick Newman

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Permalink Reply by Robb Grubb on September 23, 2011 at 10:30am

Ben,

Rick is right regarding the massive amount of information (about 100 years worth) on framed driftboats used on rivers and how to build them using different techniques.

My .000002 cents worth: Maybe write something about hull shape choices (just the shape, regardless of building materials or methods; ie: framed, S&G, etc.)

I am always thinking about rocker, flare, flatspots, side height, sheer lines, weight & balance, tracking, maneuverability and all that mumbo jumbo (that's my technical word for the day) to best design a boat for a particular use or type of water; Day fishing trips, pulling plugs on NW rivers, two people up front vs. one in back and one in front; wide transoms for motors and planing on the step, full rockers for technical water, flat spots for weight carrying and traveling on camp trips, wide bottoms for less draft, etc. and so on.

Maybe choose 6 different shapes and write about all that with good math yet simple enough so I could understand it and turn it into a usable boat...

Cheers, Robb

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Permalink Reply by Ben Kittell on September 23, 2011 at 12:13pm

Thanks for the input guys! Rick, the boat worked awesome. Took it through WestWater at over 8 grand. Performed well... but just sold it :) Had to fund the next boat... as well as buy a raft :) This time im going a little smaller, easier build. Less decking as well.

 

The class is only 3 credits and its to learn how to write in the "professional world" (dont think ill ever make it there), but its a project that I am really interested in. The decking focus could be a good idea, otherwise I was going to try to keep the topics broad. Just providing info, not opinion. So for example, I would just tell of the different finishes on interior, pros and cons of each. But I would not say that oiling is the way to go. I would assume that the audience does have knowledge of wood working tools so I would only tell of the tools needed for the job, not how to use them.

 

Thanks again, Ill keep you all posted on progress and direction of the paper. Maybe if it turns out good I could post in somewhere on the intra webs.

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Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on September 23, 2011 at 2:37pm

Ben, I'm glad to hear that your boat worked well. You have the boat building bug! It is very easy to take on to big a project so I think that you are going the correct way. I will bet that you will learn more if you focus on communicating a technical part of the project rather than the entire topic. You can then fulfill the assignment, work on your wordcraft, semantics and structure of the document. You have figured out the challenge, when you said they don't know about woodworking tolls, etc, it is "my" job to communicate a segment of the knowledge not the whole story. Think about how BB King plays the Blues. Each note says a lot, it isn't how many notes he plays, but how he plays or uses each note to convey his message! Just like setting up for a rapid with a heavy loaded boat. good boat placement and planning will put you in the right place at the right time and you will use fewer strokes to get there! Or perhaps like your choice to make a smaller boat next time with less decking. It has to travel the same water as the previous one but in a more delicate or maneuverable manner.

 

Good luck on the project and the boat!

 

Rick Newman

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Permalink Reply by Ben Kittell on September 25, 2011 at 11:22am

Im starting to agree that focusing on one particular part would be a better way to go. The decking idea is not bad. It would be fun to focus a lot on one particular part. Im sure I would learn a lot about it. I have a project proposal meeting in the next week or two where Ill talk to my professor about it and see what they suggest.

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Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on October 8, 2011 at 9:38am

Ben, how is the assignment coming? What did you decide to do? When is the assignment due? Inquiring minds wants to know.

Rick Newman

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