Wooden Driftboat Rendezvous III
- This topic has 34 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated Nov 21, 2008 at 2:05 pm by
.
-
Posts
-
Scott,
“All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.” – TE Lawrence
That is a gem of a quote, especially when read from a cubicle! Where did it come from?
D.Seven Pillars of Wisdom – Introduction. His next sentence is “This I did.” I liked Peter O’Toole’s portrayal and can hear him uttering that line. 🙂
Tim,
You don’t need a kit. you can get away cheaper on plans alone. Â Then it is truly DIY.
If gotta have a kit, Rays River Dories has essentially the same boats.
Where in PA are you? Â I am in SWPA.
Scott- AJ is a good dude and very helpful on the drift boat forum. Â He has a slew of nice old, oiled boats. Â He gives advice from a working mans boat perspective and not trailer queen boats. Â My kind of guy.
dave
I am in SE PA…absolutely the worst part of PA for fishing.
Anyway…a year ago I could have got the kit from Tatman for a 16 footer for around $1,400….now it is $2,400!
Tim,
I don’t want to pour salt on the proverbial wound….but I got my kit from Tatman about ten years ago for about $950 with another $200 for shipping and crating (Oregon to Georgia). I had previously ordered plans from Don Hill ($75). This is where I have to respectfully disagree with Dave on the kit vs. plan thing. My experience was in the difficulty of obtaining the specialty materials such as marine plywood, Port Orford cedar and Alaskan cedar for certain parts of the boat. I quickly discovered that to obtain these materials or a suitable replacement, I’d either pay horrendous shipping charges or have to drive hundreds of miles to a supplier. At that time, I could only locate marine ply at lumber dealers near the coast….Savannah was the closest for me. I’d also have to buy or rent some specialty tools to do things like scarf joints.
After considering all this….it made more sense to go the kit route with its CNC-cut pieces and such. The frames have a lot of different angles and bevels requiring compound mitre cuts. Another option was to get just the pre-cut frames but I’d still have to scarf two pieces of marine ply for the sides and another two pieces for the floor as well as the gunwales.
If I were close to a lumber supplier that stocked the right materials, I’d go the plan route….otherwise the kit was best for me. I was able to get West Epoxy and the plastic skid shoe locally.
Whether you go kit vs. plan, you’ll have a blast watching it take shape. I remember getting really excited the day I attached the frames to the sides and saw it taking shape.
Have fun with it
Dave,
Unfortunately the plans I have are simply 8 1/2 by 11 inch photocopies in a 3-ring binder…..as opposed to large blueprints. Probably not what you are looking for as a display item…..but let me know.
You are right about building that second boat from scratch….I would not hesitate to try it. We build these things because we love wood-working. As a matter of fact I got bored and built a 1/2 scale model of my 16 footer to hang in the Man Cave.
If I do build a second boat….I think I’ll opt for a 17 footer with a 52″ width. My 16′ boat sits a little low in the water with 3 adults, food, tackle and iced-down adult beverages in it.
Oh man…that room is awesome
Si’ senor….another obssession of mine…right behind flyfishing 😉
Nothing really valuable….just some old stuff that I can remember seeing in the tackle shops in the 60’s. Brings back some memories.
Dave,
I did build a stitch-n-glue canoe that my son uses for duck hunting…..and it works great for that. I do have concerns that a stitch-n-glue driftboat would not be as strong as a conventional framed boat. Might be wrong on that though. I’m sure stitch-n-glue advocates would object. I would prefer the traditional design if I build another.
Do you have any photos of the 13′ double-ender? I’d love to see it.
I’m going to try to make Scott’s driftboat rendezvous if he hosts it again 2009. I know PA is a long way from Arkansas…but that might be something you’d be interested in.
Thanks for the comments….Steve
I’m going to try to make Scott’s driftboat rendezvous if he hosts it again 2009. I know PA is a long way from Arkansas…but that might be something you’d be interested in.
WBR IV, September 11-12, 2009. Cotter, AR. Would love to see some more woodies show up.
Scott,
I know exactly where that is……matter of fact…..I camped beneath the railroad trestle at that campground. If I remember right….the boat ramp is directly across the river. Are the big brown trout cooperative at that time?
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.