Wooden Boat People

By McKenzieDriftBoat.com

Rapid Robert Floor Issue

I am currently starting a rapid robert from Roger Fletcher's great book. I want to know: if the floor boards were removed to reduce weight for some trips, would there be any chance of doing damage to the boat from walking or placing gear directly on the bottom?  It will be a 1/2" plywood and glassed bottom.  I realize the frames will make moving around awkward but having to carry the boat across some low places is no picnic.  Any insight into this will be of great help.

thanks,
Larry 

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Permalink Reply by larry Hambley on February 11, 2010 at 10:57am
Matt,

I'm not sure you can take a drift boat down the Ocoee and especially the Chatooga. If so, I believe you would have to be a very experienced boater at least for the sections I have seen. I have never seen anything other than rafts and kayaks on either. Maybe someone with more knowledge will let us know.
Permalink Reply by Dave Z on February 9, 2010 at 10:01am
Matt,

We could go on for days about finish...

If you saw my blog, I coated the Meranti with epoxy while the sides were flat. Just the outside of the hull. Then varnished. Then after assembly, varnished again. If you do epoxy the exterior sides, you WILL need some sort of paint or varnish. UV degrades epoxy - turns yellow, then get brittle and cracks. You need the varnish with a good UV inhibitor to protect the epoxy and the wood. What the epoxy does for you is it bonds/seals the wood and will give an ultra flat surface for th evarnish to sit on. Through film thickness you get more UV blockage, rather than have the varnish seep into the wood. Film thickness actualll disintegrates over long exposures, and thats one reason we need to maintain/redo a varnished boat every so often.

Oil on the other hand is a penetrating finish. It protects form the inside out. Maintenance is cake.
The interior is all oiled. Do this after construction. I think Jason mentioned about the simplicity of this finish. he has a meranti 17.5 footer, varnish/epoxy outside with graphite/glass bottom, but oiled interior. Oil is the easiest to maintain. I too like the subdued look of softly oiled wood.

I think most will agree, you'll want to epoxy first before laying down varnish. don't varnish over the bare plywood. It's easier to epoxy when its laying flat too. The amber tint of a good marine varnish will highlight the grain of the meranti. Unless of course you are using a two part poly- Sandy can chime in on this anytime. I have no experience with these............ yet.

If you choose to oil the whole boat, I think you may have ahesion issues if you decide to epoxy later, but it depends on how dry the wood has become. I have successfully oiled then painted a boat, with no adhesion issues, but epoxy might be a different story.

Alot of boats start out with epoxy then varnish because the wood looks so dang good. After 10 years of getting beat and repaired, many of them end up painted on the outside to hide patches, water marks, etc... Personally, I like a whooped boat.

I do stand by oiled is the way to go for an interior.

To further complicate things... My dream boat is a true Woodie Hindman 16' double ender, all fir, 5/8' bottom, 3/8" sides, 1/4" skid shoe and totally oiled finish, inside and out.

It's not a pipe dream. I'll make it happen in 2010. I have some 3/8" AA fir plywood that we found in my grandfathers barn from about 20 years ago. There are 16 sheets in all. Wait till I post some pictures of this stuff......................................

Dave
Permalink Reply by M Quinlan on February 9, 2010 at 1:08pm
Dave,
Still trying to get my 1st pipe dream down the river lol. Nice find in the barn, wow. Thanks again for you knowledge and insight! What type of oil do you recommend ? I hadn't searched , however it seems like there was a homemade mixture used out there long ago. Roughly does anyone know how much oil would be required to oil a sixteen footer entirely? And does this need to be done once a year?

Thanks Everyone!
Matt
Permalink Reply by M Quinlan on February 9, 2010 at 1:46pm
Didn't want anyone to think I was full of BS . I wish it were me, not bad for Atlanta !

Metro Atlanta Fisherman Pulls 16-Pound Trout From Chattahoochee
Posted: 5:02 pm EDT September 6, 2009
Updated: 5:43 pm EDT September 6, 2009

Comment On This Story ››

ATLANTA -- It had been a slow morning of fishing on the Chattahoochee River when J.D. Blevins of Buford hooked a brown trout that almost set a state record.

Blevins and a friend where fishing on the stretch of river from Abbott's Bridge to Medlock's Bridge on Friday.

Blevins tossed a sinking Rapala lure into the 'Hootch and hooked a monster brown trout.

Attachments:
Permalink Reply by larry Hambley on February 10, 2010 at 8:03am
Matt.

Thanks for the info on Atlanta area trout fishing. You never know what opportunities are out there.
Permalink Reply by M Quinlan on February 10, 2010 at 8:34am
Larry ,
Thanks , felt like I rambled on a little to much. People out west are most likely laughing , no where near as scenic and these fish are not something personally I would consider eating. I am just greatful they do run a stocking program so close to my house. Now the fish Dave Z is holding seems much more of the wild nature. That is one good looking fish ! As with many I have seen posted on this site .
Permalink Reply by Jason Knight on February 10, 2010 at 2:00pm
check this guy out...
Pending world record Brown Trout caught in one of our MI rivers... this just happened in fall 2009. Thought you might get a kick out of this.

"Rockford angler Tom Healy hooks 41-pound brown trout that shatters state record"

Permalink Reply by M Quinlan on February 10, 2010 at 2:35pm
Wow , now that's a Brown ! Thanks for sharing.

Matt
Permalink Reply by M Quinlan on February 16, 2010 at 7:55am
Dave , the best marine fir ply I have located is AB rated here is Atlanta $70.00 a sheet. I have decided to oil the whole boat. Now I know Fir has been known to check is this a problem using fir when oiling the bottom/whole boat? Thanks , Matt
Permalink Reply by Dave Z on February 16, 2010 at 11:15am
Matt,

Actually short of glassing the entire boat, oil is the preferred for fir in my opinion- because it checks. Fir will check no matter what unless you saturate it with epoxy and glass it. then you ar ebest off to paint it.

The checks don't hurt anybody on an oiled boat. It adds characte rin the long run and the wood is still structurally sound. They all check. A soft/pentrating finish (oil) is better because it works from the inside out. If wood checks under epoxy, you just kinda cancelled out the sealing property of epoxy becuase water will now get under the hard finish through the check.

Unless you skin it with 4-6oz cloth.
Permalink Reply by M Quinlan on February 16, 2010 at 12:51pm
Makes sense , thanks again! Gotta love a boat with weathered character. Matt
Permalink Reply by Dave Z on February 9, 2010 at 7:26pm
Matt,

You can buy a pre-made oil, however I use the "Old Down East Oil" formula.

1:1 mix of Boiled linseed oil and pure gum turpentine. I like to add pine tar in varied amounts- its not precise. So, something like a quart of oil, quart of turp and a half pint to a pint of tar. Mix it up good, or leave it overnight and shake the heck out of the can. The pine tar can be bought at equestrian supply places (they paint it on horse hooves to lock in moisture). You can also add some Japan Drier to evaporate off the solvents.

Check my blog entry 5.5.09 for oil details.
http://thtchronicles.blogspot.com/2009/05/5509-was-that-my-fly.html

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