Steve Sobba's Page

Hey Steve,
Your boat turned out great! I am part way into building the same boat, I have a question if you don't mind. The plans say on rib #8 that there are two angles for the rib, I am sure when I get to it it will be clear but I have been wondering what that is all about. Also did you go with the 3/4" thick chine or go a little thinner, because I know those Don Hill boats really bend at around rib 8.
Thanx for any info you want to provide
Mike

I always tell people to get three confirmations before they believe anything they read on the internet. Turns, out that's true for the stuff I write, too. The tubing o.d. is 2.5", not 3", but it is more or less .0625" wall. Stone is the brand name on the bushing, which is made of some high tech plastic or another. I bought the tubing and the bushing from McMaster Carr, an industrial mail order place in Chicago, although I used to buy them many years ago at an industrial supply place in Minneapolis. I don't have a McMaster Carr P/N for the tubing now, but I recently redid my setup with a half inch axle. I used their tube bushings P/N 60565K26 with reducer bushings P/N 2705T33. You may not want to order from them, but their web site should help you decide what you want if you can at least reference those numbers.

Steven,

Kudos to you for ingenuity. They look great. You will have to let me know what you think of them after you get the boat on the water. I wish I could be more help on the oars question, that's one area I need to work on a bit.

Tight lines,

Jesse

Steven,
The exterior of my boat is a few coats of Z-Spar (2015) Captains Varnish over epoxy. The interior is just oiled. This was my first time varnishing a boat - and if I had to do it over, I would have built up a few coats of varnish on the panels before construction while they were laying flat - but I was not sure how I wanted to finish the exterior until I had it built... The Captains seemed to roll and tip pretty well - though I do not really have a means for comparison.

You have a great looking project there! Love those front seats too...

Steven,

The boat is beautiful. If I may, did you design the front seat yourself? If so may I ask how? I love it.

Jesse

Steven,

It is Line-X truck bed liner. The stuff is indestructible. Having said that their are a couple of issue you need to be aware of. 1st off, it weighs in at about .7 lbs per square foot and is heavier than most other options (glass Kevlar, UHMW). 2nd, it is not the slickest stuff on the market. 3rd, once the stuff goes on, it's not coming off. Well it may come off but chances are you are going to have to replace the surface it is attached to. Because of this last one, it is not recommended that you cover the chine cap... that is if you are building a framed boat. The chine cap generally takes the hardest beating and therefore may need to be replaced multiple times during the life of a boat.

I chose to use the stuff for a couple of reasons. #1, my boat is nearly 30 years old and I wanted to make sure that there was going to be no leaking, or seeping at all; mission accomplished. #2, because the stuff is indestructible. Even though it is not supper slick, which by the way is wonderful when sliding over rocks and gravel bars, it does not tear, rip, crack or break down at all. And it does a good job in the sliding department, just not as good as say Kevlar. #3 I only use this boat on the very clam (with respect to rapids) rivers of the Henry's Fork, South Fork of the Snake and Madison rivers. Therefore the concerns at this late stage of her life regarding the need to change the chine cap are pretty minimal.

I am planning on building another boat and will probably use the stuff again, however will only be on the bottom of the boat. I will purposely leave the chine cap exposed in case I need to replace it.

Man that was long winded, I hope some of that was helpful. Good luck with your decision and please let me know if you have any other questions.

Tight lines,

Jesse

P.S. what rivers are you planning on floating in KS?