Craig's Page

Craig,
I just noticed a comment from a ways back you left me... I am have never worked with the fisheries/biology dept... although that would be a really cool gig. I did get pretty interested into becoming a Conservation Officer here in Michigan, but the budget cutbacks have been slowly cutting the DNR off at the knees here in MI. I have always thought that would be a really interesting way to be involved in the outdoors and protect our resources. (Instead I followed my other passion and got hooked up in doing graphic design/art related stuff).

Anyways - my boat is getting close. I am hoping to have it done in the next month or so. Just need to get the accessories hooked up and it should be ready to go. I made a game-time decision to varnish the exterior of my boat, while the surface is not perfect I figure I can always paint over it if it annoys me down the road.

Your paint job looks great by the way.

I will keep you posted on how the convertible 17x52 rows when I get her on the river... I think it should work well. My girl and I are planning on taking her on the Big Manistee River here in nw MI.

Craig- Nice work. The sides are incredible fair! I love the color as well. You should be really pleased. How was the quick fair to work with? I have read the instructions and understand that it needs an additional flow coat to seal the quick fair, which seems to be counterproductive. I'm I missing something here?
agian the blue paired with the wood really looks nice.
Brian

Craig,

Thanks for the info. Things are coming along. I decided to make the rowing seat adjustable which took some time to figure out. ,I am almost completely finished with the interior and should be ready to oil. I am not going to make it to OR for the festival. I have to be in SLC for work that weekend. I am planning on taking my boat to the festival over here on the Snake in May. I should have some pics soon....

Thanks again for the info on the paint.

Jesse

Craig,

Hey I have a question about your paint. Did you go with the Interlux Briteside? If so how much did you order and is that enough? Let me know your thoughts when you get a second.

Thanks,

Jesse

So Craig, how is your groove coming? Any luck yet? I have decided to build the kit before I try to rebuild " Lazarus". Keep us informed on your progress.

Rick Newman

Craig, as my friend Greg Hatten knows, I've been fortunate to fish all over the place. Fly in helicopter trips - Dean River - Babine and more in BC. Love to fish the standards, Deschutes, Klickitat, Cowlitz, East Fork of the Lewis, Kalama, North Umpqua, Rouge. When I do go after trout, I have fished all of Wyoming, Idaho, many rivers in Colorado and we have a favorite where we catch 20+ # Rainbows and recently discovered the Owyhee in Eastern Oregon. Have you fished that one? 3# Browns a dime a dozen (20 + fish a day this size), 5# Browns common and that occasional 10# Brown. I did catch one Rainbow there last October I estimated by measuring to be about 8#. All of these fish on size 20 and 22 hooks. Little stuff but deadly.

Craig,

That paint doesn't sound fun. Which sucks cause I am going to paint the outside of mine. Your pics look good. I have no idea when I am going to be able to fish. I wish I could get it done to bring it up to Oregon, but with some upcoming business trips and the time between now and then getting shorter, I don't think I am going to get her finished. I keep "obsessing" over stuff, and I ends up taking substantially longer than I had hoped. However, I think I can see the end. Who knows :D!

In one of your pics it looks like you are putting new rub strips on... yes? If so are you painting? The wood looks rich and wonderful. I am excited to see how it turns out. Man I wish I could come up there at the end of the month.

Anyway, I wish you wonderful progress on the project this weekend.

Tight lines...

Jesse

My camera battery died last night but it revived enough to get some pictures this morning. I will attach them here. I don't think I will have to worry about doing a partial scarf like AJ so generously provided. I'll have to do a scarf on two new sheets of plywood because I am going to replace both sides. See the pictures of the rotten wood and poor repairs on the other side. Since the frames are rotten on the ends, I'll replace them also. Also the chine logs and chines are bad or going away so they will be new. With all that new wood, I'll probably replace everything else too! If you look closely at last nights pictures you will see rusty iron/steel screws. Everywhere they were installed water had entered and the wood rotted. I have a feeling that this boat is much older than 1984, but I'm not certain how fast iron can rust away to nothing and how long it takes wood to rot. At least the bottom is pretty solid, the seller said it was recently replaced. Too bad they didn't do the entire job right. Since I got laid off from my job officially today I may have some extra time to dedicate so I can complete the boat before the 24th.

rick

Rick

Craig, yesterday I got some time to look at the remainder of the boat. Take a look at my blog for details. Bottom line is I will have to replace all frame members and the sides. If your friend is serious about wanting the boat I could build up to his color choices, epoxy coverage, fiberglass on sides, varnish or piant on inside, etc. Can you ask him if he would like to talk about it and see if we could acheive a deal? If not then I will just use my best judgement.

Rick Newman