Wooden Boat People
By McKenzieDriftBoat.com
First Boat, I have no idea what I'm doing.
Hello. My name is Miles, I'm 23 and I think I'm about to become addicted to wooden boats. I have never owned a boat, but the other day I saw a 14ft drift boat for sale on Craig's List. Considering that I live in central Mississippi you can imagine my surprise when this river boat came up in my search results. After three days of trying to talk myself out of buying the boat, I made an offer and he accepted it. The seller moved down from Oregon and wanted to sell the boat to help fuel his desire for warm water fly fishing.
I know this boat is going to need quite a bit of work, but I am willing to put it in to enhance my fly fishing experience. The purpose of my post is to get the opinions and advice of people passionate about wooden boats. I know very little about wooden boats and the materials needed to repair and maintain this boat, however I do have experience with minor wood working and finishing.
This biggest concern I have is with the bottom. There are spot where the outer coat has chipped off. I need to know if I should completely refinish it or if just refinishing the missing areas would work. What do I use? Where do I get it? Please be as detailed as possible.
This is the edge of the boat where the hull meets the bottom. What do I need to do in order to make sure that it is sound?
Now I know that I need a new rope for my seat and I know the "frame" needs to be sanded and finished. Should I strip all the paint from the entire boat, just inside? what's the best method? Should I just give it a new top coat?
In other drift boat forums I would be told to set it on fire but I'm hoping a forum by this name will be a little more friendly to me. If this were your new project, where would you start? How would you proceed?
I know there is a lot of information on this forum and I slowly digging deeper into it trying to learn whatever I can.
Thanks for any and all input,
DeBar, The Wood Boat Rookie
Views: 964
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Bottom.JPG, 2.3 MB
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jayson Hayes on
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a good place to start would be to start stripping the paint and checking for soft spots in the wood, you wont know exactly what you have until this has been done
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Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on
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Jason is correct, however I would check for soft wood with a sharp object like a scratch awl, ice pick or skinny screwdriver before I started sanding. It is not uncommon for there to be rot in the floors where water has been allowed to sit or in the stern of the boat when it was propped up on the trailer. Where the frame members meet the floor rot can also occur. The chines, the long pieces of wood along the outside bottom of the boat are the most often damaged part of any drift boat and can be replaced. Speaking of replacement, every part in your drift boat can be replaced. The question isn't if it can be done, it is it worth it to you in time money and effort.
The benefit of restoring what appears to be a nice boat is that you will learn a tremendous amount. Your woodworking skills will be much greater than when you started. A restored drift boat in Missouri will be an object of interest to many people, when you can say that you restored it the feeling of success is priceless, much greater than the time and money invested.
The first thing that you should do before you go out and get dirty is order Roger Fletcher's drift boats and River Dories at Riverstouch.com . It is an invaluable resource and will not only give you a better idea of how your boat is built, it will also provide a fascinating education on these wonderful vessels, who started them, who improved them, where they were used and the romance of them.
I don't remember where in Missouri you said that you were located. You might want to send a message to Greg Hatten, he spends part of the year in your fine state. If you can break something on a drift boat greg probably has done it so he's knowledgeable on repairs. Keep posting pictures as you explore your boat and keep asking questions, we love to answer them. The search function at the top of the home page is very helpful in getting some indepth answers. Sometimes you might need to rephrase the question a time or two until you get a query the search engine understands.
I'm glad you have decided to buy your boat, it will be a good experience for you and for us to share with you.
Welcome aboard.
Rick Newman
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Permalink Reply by Troy Nicolls on
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Rick
What a wonderful answer. I haven't been thinking of drift boats for nearly 4 months(been building a scull boat) and I'm ready to jump right in and build or restore another after reading your reply!
Decent looking boat he's got there.
troy
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Troy, thanks for the kind words. I agree, that at least from the ten-foot view his boat looks quite good, however thorough investigation will lead Miles to a clearer path. Seeing what you, Kevin, AJ, Dutch and and others have done with older boats I am confident this boat could be renovated.
Rick Newman
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Permalink Reply by Terry E Walsh on
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Looks like fun! Also looks like an Ostrum built boat, just guessing.
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Permalink Reply by Kevin C. on
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Miles, the pictures posted are a bit confusing ,especially the one showing the hull meeting the bottom and the fiberglass one of the bottom...Zoom out and re-post so we can see the situation.Stripping the entire paint job is step #1 to expose the original wood.Poking around to find any rot is #2 Once determined you can proceed from there.My credo is,if 80% of the boat is sound, it's well worth the restore for a first timerLooks like the case here by the photos.Don't be discouraged,it's lots of work but WELL worth it.I recommend Ready Strip by Back To Nature to get rid of all that paint...excellent product... scour this site for previuos posts for restoration and keep us posted..
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Permalink Reply by Randy Dersham on
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That bottom with the big holes in it is likely to come off easier than you think. Get the boat into a garage or shop, turn it over so the bottom is up and start to peel off the fiberglass. I'm guessing that most of it is ready to de-laminate from the wood. You might hit it with a heat gun as you go or you might not need it.
Remove all of that fiberglass and poke for rot as has been suggested for the rest of the boat.
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Permalink Reply by Jim Hall on
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Randy makes a good point. It's not that much different than remodeling a home. You begin by removing anything that isn't solid. Don't be married to a plan now, just begin by removing any "schmeggy" stuff and boat will show you what it needs.
Use a chisel instead of a sander. It has a better feel for rot and doesn't put as much nastiness in the air for you to breathe.
Have fun!
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Permalink Reply by Miles DeBardeleben on
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Thank you to everyone for the advice and information. Next weekend my brother and I are going to open the cover of this book and see what kind of story she will tell. I am eager to begin writing some new chapters to her story as well. I will definitely keep y'all posted on my progress, but do not expect it to be a speedy restoration. I still have a year of graduate school followed by medical school, so to say the least spare time is rare. Y'all have be extremely helpful, and I look forward to getting to know y'all through the extension of yourselves that are your boats.
Hotty Toddy,
DeBar
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DeBar, I heard that medical school students don't have to work very hard or for many hours per week so you should have plenty of time to work on your boat. :<) It has only taken me a little over four years on my boat and it was only a kit! I only got an AAS degree during that time too!
Good luck and keep us posted on your progress, we like pictures.
Regards,
Rick Newman
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Order some West system Epoxy and some fiber glass,....your going to need it after you get in about 80 hours of sanding and elbow grease!
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