Boat Plans Aluminum | Opinions are like assholes

Boat Plans Aluminum

Everyones got one.

Every now and then Ill ask a boat-related question on a public forum or email list.  It sure isnt a problem getting people to weigh in with their opinion, thats for sure.  The challenge, actually, is picking through the dross of misunderstanding, inaccurate information, speculation, and completely made-up answers to find the grains of expertise and knowledge.

This is precisely why I picked the boat designer I did, because they has already provided me with a wealth of trustworthy and well-respected information about boatbuilding before I ever bought my plans (read Boat Plans: Choices Made and Not Made).

For the most part, during my build, Ive hewed pretty close to the plans and the recommendations of the boats designer.  Im all for experimentation, but Im also deeply respectful of the experience and expertise of those who came before me.

In the planning stages, there were boats I liked that came close to what I wanted, but differed in some way from my vision of our little shantyboat.  I definitely flirted with the idea of taking those plans and making significant modifications.

I resisted that urge, for the most part, and picked a boat design that met my needs, at least in terms of hull design.  

For the changes I did plan to make, I had the good fortune to be able to talk to my boats naval architect and get his advice on these modifications (read Questions for the Old Man).

The opinion in boatbuilding forums is often to take this design and lengthen it, or add one of those or one of these.  And Im sure for those experienced boatbuilders, such modifications would be a breeze.  But what about the first-time boatbuilder, the person just starting out?

I think people get excited sometimes about sharing what they know, but forget that there is a bigger picture.  Too often, I think that picture holds the very real possibility of a half-built boat collecting rainwater in the backyard of a frustrated amateur boatbuilder.

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Dinghy Boat Plans | Hockey Puck Manufacture or Epoxy is Stressful II

Dinghy Boat Plans

Did I mention that epoxy is stressful?  To recap:  You have 15 to 30 minutes to get a bucket full of epoxy mixed, applied, and secured down before it turns into a rock-hard mistake that must be laboriously chipped, chiseled, and sanded off. 

Add to that, less than ideal conditions of 95°F days and adding a thickening filler that reduces the epoxy pot-life by a huge factor. 

During our days of mixing thickened epoxy (to adhere joints together and fill gaps), we inadvertently manufactured many hockey pucks in the bottom of our mixing containers. 

But by far the most interesting mistake I made was one one particularly hot day that I made a triple batch.  I broke the batch down into three containers, and successfully used the first batch before realizing that the other two batches had already begun to gel.  One of the three had kicked off dramatically and begun to melt through the plastic mixing container.  I set it out in the yard somewhere safe.

"Before Its Time"  2012.  Mixed Media: Plastic, epoxy resin, natural materials.

It formed an interesting, uh, sculpture as all the epoxy melting through the bottom oozed into and solidified around various bits of yard mulch.

Here is out collection of hockey pucks and sculptures weve created.  As we move to finishing the hull, well be mixing thin batches with no filler, so the likelihood of unexpected epoxy disasters decreases.

This is what a long day of working with epoxy does to me.


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Pontoon Boat Plans | Fiberglass Bond Coat

Pontoon Boat Plans

Okay, so lets review.

Fiberglass (of more accurately glass-fiber reinforced plastic) is a composite laminate of hardening plastic goo reinforced with Ziggy Stardust-esque silvery spun glass fabric.  We have already applied the "seal coat" and need another several layers before were done.  I found the Glen-L instructions for applying fiberglass for you.  This is pretty much what we used.

Heres the application sequence for the "dry method:"

1. Seal Coat - seals the wood surface prior to applying the cloth
2. Bond Coat - used to wet out and bond the cloth to the surface
3. Fill Coat - fills the weave of the cloth
4. "Finish" Coat - provides enough resin build-up for final sanding and finishing
5. Arent We Done Yet? Coat - enough epoxy hopefully to hide the texture of the cloth
6. Seriously, This Is The Last Coat - finally enough to more or less completely hide the texture underneath

And then after that we have to protect it like a new born baby from dangerous UV rays with paint or varnish.  Well do varnish.

We agonized over this day for weeks.  We thought it would be stressful and it did not disappoint.  We enlisted the help of Jen to complete our three person team.  This was one of those days we talked a lot about The Plan and worked out roles beforehand.  Kai was the epoxy mixer (and later the touch-up person).  Jen was the epoxy applier/roller/splooger.  And I was the smoother downer/problem fixer/epoxy redistributor. 

All summer, it had been ridiculously hot and sunny.  But the day we chose to do the stressy bond coat, the sky threatened to rain and spit occasional little dribblets on us.  Grrr. 

We stapled the cloth in place to the hull smoothing out the wrinkles best we could.  Though the instructions suggested removing staples before the cure, we found it was better to wait until the epoxy was completely cured before removing the staples lest you pull up the cloth.  Note that putting the staples in, we were careful to make sure they stuck out enough to allow them to be easily pried up with a screwdriver.

The Glen-L instructions suggested that for places where the cloth met it be double-lapped with tapered edges tapered.  That is, lay one layer of cloth, sanding the edge to a taper after it cures.  Then lay the other layer of cloth overlapping, and then sand that other edge after it cures.  That meant that since we couldnt do the overlap in one day, we needed at least two days to finish the bond coat.  

So we got all clever and did half of the bottom and one side on Day One.  Then the other half and other side on Day Two.

Each of us had a set of tools.  Kai used the usual measured containers and an endless supply of stir sticks.  Jen used a dense foam roller with a long handle.  And I used a wide trowel and a fiberglass roller that I handmade with alternating-sized washers and a paint roller.  My job was to go behind Jen and trowel any pools of excess resin into areas that needed more of it, and then roll down the stubborn cloth that had bubbles or warbles in it with the roller.

The magic of this process is that as soon as the glass cloth is covered with wet resin it turns transparent.  So it is easy to see if youve applied enough resin to wet it out.  Here Ill interject a warning:

Do not skimp on resin during the bond coat.  Make sure every bit of the fiberglass cloth is wetted out and transparent.  The next coat WILL NOT cover any areas that got too little resin.

We had some spots like this.  We learned the hard way.  Take a look at the very edge of the corner on the photo above.  Tiny but still irritating.  These places where there are air bubbles behind the fiberglass are potential places for air and moisture to gather and rot to form.

However, other blemishes, like little bits of resin-saturated glass fiber that stuck out (got snagged by my trowel in many cases) or awkward corners, were easy enough to sand down and resin over in the next layer.

In general, places we had worried about, particularly the seams looked great.  After they cured I would have to sand them down in preparation for the next layer.

After this first bond coat layer cured overnight, we sanded down any wacky blemishes and tapered all the places where the glass cloth would overlap.

Then we laid the cloth over the other half of the bottom and the remaining side and applied epoxy over that.

When this second half of the bond coat had cured, we tapered those edges and the result was quite beautiful.  The texture of the cloth was clearly visible, so the next step is the fill coat.

Youll notice there are few photos of us actually working this work day.  Uh, no surprise.  We were definitely eyes on the prize in order to get this done in a way that didnt suck.

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Kayak Boat Plans | Search and Rescue An Adventure like No other

Kayak Boat Plans

Pacific City, Oregon

Over the course of the last two years, I’ve taken quite a liking to different types of water crafts. One being an inflatable pontoon boat (Stealth Pro) and second fishing kayaks. The ladder being my primary focus this year, but what’s important isn’t so much about boats but the focus for this story is the adventure. Where one thing leads to another and how important the little things tend to be.

One Sunday morning in July, my day began setting up my fishing kayak for a planned Ocean trip to Haystack rock the following weekend. This would be my first Ocean trip in a kayak and I was in a hurry to setup my trolling motor. With my kayak and gear laid out in the yard under a shaded tree the sun began to rise and the sweat began to pore, nearly 90 degrees and only 11am I was in need of refreshments, a cold one as I may say.

A few hours after lunch I was ready for a long neck, the heat and frustration drove me back inside to the sound of the air conditioner and screaming kids. My phone had been inside all day so I decided to check it. To my surprise my wife stated I should call my friend back (Let’s call him Jhun). I was concerned. Turns out he was kayak fishing near Haystack Rock in Pacific City and flipped his boat, in need of help. I called immediately, I could hear the distress in his voice as he explained… A sneaker wave surprised him and flipped him over. He was unable to flip it back over. He presumed the marine battery in the rear hit the hatch and provided a large enough gap for water to enter hull. He was safe, on the beach with no kayak. Kayak in need of a rescue I thought… You see, I have a tandem sit-on top kayak so it seemed like a good idea. I told him I was on my way, I quickly ran a list of items I might need in my head and shortly after gathering everything I was gone. For legal purposes, let’s say I drove the speed limit…

Screenshot: Pacific City Sun

Photo to the left shows his rescue. Why they werent able to bring the boat in from this point, im not sure, I wasnt there... However im sure Jhun was happy to be on board. 

Upon arriving at the beach he explained where it was nearly 2hrs ago when he called, now pointing to where it was, almost a half mile away. Now, the first items I grabbed before leaving the house was keys, wallet and… my Smith Optics. However even with my Smiths on I was squinting trying to find this kayak… Where is it, what are you looking at? Oh right, yeah… I think I see it. We decided to talk to a few paddle boarders that had tried to help earlier in the day. We contemplated heading out at that point, but decided to climb the point to get a better visual. Note: Remember to stretch.

Upon climbing the hill, I did finally spot the kayak. A Jackson Big Rig nearly 14ft in length, 36” wide, marine battery, trolling motor, rod, gear, phone and wallet all on board. When the sun hit just right, I could see its now vertical nose bobbing a foot or two just North East of Haystack rock. Shoot, it’s going out to sea. At just past 7pm we could see a calm spot about a quarter mile wide, maybe a mile or so from the break of the rock just around the kayak, but after contemplating how long it would take us to suite up and get out there, we knew we wouldn’t have much light. The other thought in the back of our minds (due to the time), we had never kayaked a tandem together. Now I have kayaked my 5 year old son and mother around but I’m doing all the work (on a lake no less). So after staring into the sunset and contemplating all the options, we decided to call it a night just after 8pm. He mentioned he would come back in the morning to see if it washed to shore –or if he could get the help from any Dory boaters, I mentioned let me know if you need any help, said our good byes and that was the end. Over 3k in gear off to never never land.

That night, after telling the story in detail to my wife and discussing why you don’t paddle alone in the ocean at least without taking the proper precautions. We decided it was best I went along to “Search” for this kayak the following morning. We both knew, if it was my boat in the water – I would want to keep looking. At that point, our gut was saying, hey it floated all the way out to the rock, it’s going to keep floating somewhere. It’s not just going to sink. Assuming it hadn’t found a few more rocks to play on. Shortly after 11pm we decided to get up bright and early to start combing the beaches and chatting it up with the locals.

The following morning required coffee and away we went. First upon arriving we notified a few kayakers getting ready to make the voyage out, they said they would help if needed and keep an eye out. Jhun and another kayak friend hiked the point to take a better look. No luck. I spoke to the fire marshal and he just laughed in disbelief that we would find it. It’s sunk they said, it’s long gone they all said.

Sheila and Jhun: In search

A few locals said the current was headed south the night before. Mentioning Nestucca Bay and some of the surrounding road ways. We explored every access point and beach half way to Lincoln City. On one beach South of Pacific City a local said he was watching the current all afternoon, the current was heading north and recommended checking Sand Lake. Sounded plausible, north we went. After arriving at Sand Lake an employee their said he overheard on the radio of a boat being found, but was unable to provide any other information, as if it was a treasure hunt and we had to find each clue. Back to Pacific City we went, feeling a little ridiculous but hopeful, we had no luck getting in touch with Police or Fire on the non-emergency lines. We arrived back in Pacific City (PC) but once more we were disappointed to find no new leads. Our thoughts of a kayak laying along the shores were cut short with the view of Dory boats coming and going.

Devils Lake - Tandem

I think we were all disappointed at that point, but we kept truckin’ along and eventually made our way South to Lincoln City. No sign of any kayak, but damn we were hungry. Off to the buffet, Chinook Winds it is! At this point the mood was pretty grim. We spoke of alternatives for next week’s kayak trip. Jhun had another kayak (not as cool as the one he lost) so we planned for Nestucca Bay. After lunch we hit up the outlet’s and drove over to Devils Lake, Jhun and I went tandem in my kayak thinking we mind as well make the best of it.

Now a bit later in the day, we decided to go home the long-about way and head back north to PC for one last look-see. No real hope in mind but it would make a nice drive and we could end the day eating sea food with a few drinks looking out over the “Rock”. As we pulled down onto the beach this is where I would like to say we found Jhun’s kayak, but we didn’t. It was bitter sweet, no kayak in hand but the day was finally coming to a close. Jhun wanted to make one last climb up the point so I joined him so I could say my good byes to his boat. We made it to the furthest, highest point where we could get a better view of the Rock and southern shoreline, but to no surprise - no dice. Made our way around to check the north face, with view of the bluff as Jhun walked in front of me he stopped, paused… I stopped, paused… He pointed, “Mike I think I see it…”. Now hold up, stop the press, we’ve been out all day, Let me wipe the sweat off my face and put my Smith Optics back on. I thought I could hear the crack in Jhun’s voice. Was he to cry in joy, scream in excitement… I wondered. “Hold up, let’s get a closer look Jhun.” We walked, no we leaped closer. Confirmed! Still bobbing out of the water by a foot or two we had visual confirmation. Houston we are go, I repeat we are go for rescue. We hurried around the hill side towards our rigs, I called my wife… breathing heavily, load up! Start the truck! We found it! Was that a crack in my voice? Was I tearing up? No just sand, it’s cool as we skipped down the sandy hillside. We high tailed it out of their as my wife is telling me to slow down, watch for people walking. They’ll move. 10 and 2, on a mission!

Rescue in Progress?

On our way to the cliff

We thought the best course of action would be to drive around to the north side of the sand dune to access the bluff side of the rock, at least to get a better look. With hardly anyone on the beach on the north side, I’m not sure I’ve ever driven as fast on a beach in a full side pickup. Don’t tell my father, it was his truck.

The kayak was still there. Bobbing in the water almost taunting us. Feeling a little giddy but mostly things got real, really quickly. This was now a full on rescue mission. We were no longer aimlessly stumbling up and down the coast line, we had found it. However the kayak was not found lying in the sand like some beached whale in a dream, it was 40-50ft from the cliff side with a boarder of “danger zone” rocks in our way. We believed the tide was beginning to turn and start coming back in, but how would that effect the kayak in its current location. Would the kayak just repeatedly slam into the rock, or keep circling in the danger zone. We climbed around the rocks and discussed our options. With the waves much greater on the North side we thought it would be safer to launch and go around from the South, thinking the kayak might be circling and would kick back out to the south. We decided to suite up and head back around. Although in the back of my mind I wasn’t certain what way it was going to go. So we suited up. Jhun was longer going to screw around with the ocean, he hadn’t tightened his wading belt enough when he was knocked off his boat and had water in his waders upon returning to the shore

He brought a wet suit.

I had an incident in the Hood a year before so I tightened my belt along with everything else extra tight.  

Armed with:

• A pair of Korkers White Horse boots
• Redington waders
• Simms ChromaPOPs
• DryTop and a life jacket of course

No its not a shark, thats the nose of the kayak

Jhun aired up his raft and I gathered all the rope I had and using carabineers to attach them to the raft. Now why aren’t we taking the tandem out? Well, the water was a little rough for our liking and thought the raft would be a little more stable. We continued to watch and wait and calculate the water. At this point it was moving north, not south and calculated it was moving about 5ft every 20 minutes. At that rate, we could almost go eat dinner before it got out of the danger zone.

I believe Jhun could tell I was a little distressed or concerned. Wife and kids where in the truck waiting, crying and had already eaten all the snacks and ticktacks one could find. He offered we go eat and come back thinking the boat would be much closer and easier to rescue. I reluctantly agreed considered it took me a bit to get suited up and I the kayak was moving our way. After a quick discussion about dinner I stayed suited up while Jhun started to load up. I made one last check and noticed the kayak was moving even quicker than before, I waved to Jhun, we realized we needed to stay. We decided to daisy chain the ropes and if lucky enough either row out to the kayak and hook on, or swim. We watched and waited some more. We began to lose light, finally it made it’s way away from the rocks, it was still moving North. At some point since we originally found the kayak, the top hatch had broken off. No longer visible but foam from the inside began to float ashore. I began to unravel the rope as Jhun and I inched closer and closer. At some point, as I’m still unraveling the rope Jhun makes the call to head towards his kayak. You could see the determination on his face. The ropes began to knot up, he grabs the nose of his kayak, and he’s yelling something, pull? Oh crap, pull!! He’s still yelling, is he yelling stop I questioned? It was hard to decipher. I continued pulling as I’m unraveling the rope in attempt to throw the other end to Sheila our other kayak friend dressed in sneakers. She eventually grabs the rope, we pull, Jhun still yelling. Is he yelling pull or stop? I ask. No clue, we continue pulling the boat to shore. It must have weighed close to a thousand pounds being full of water with 300lb’s in gear and kayak. Finally it was ashore. Upside down, dang it Jhun! The three of us attempted to lift the kayak from one end. It wouldn’t even budge. No surprise, we tried again but this time with the help of a wave. It budged. That was our ticket. We needed the power of the waves to help flip this monster over. After a few tries we did it. Paddle, Rod, Cell phone, Marine battery and some odds and ends all there. What was left of the trolling motor or hardware I should say wasn’t worth anything. However both hatches had been ripped off but all in all. We did it, kayak Searched and Rescued!    

Houston we have landing

With a high five, our job was nearly complete. My day, as long as it was, was beginning to come to a close. I was glad to be a part of this day. As tired as I was I was exhilarated of the fact we actually found this Big Rig! Over 24 hrs later. I was grateful for having gear I felt confident in, from the Korkers boots to the shades on my face. It made my day, a rescue worth remembering. If I hadn’t been confident in my gear, I wouldn’t have felt confident in how I could perform, thus hindering my ability to help.

So for all of you, stay safe, and remember the little things. Purchase the right gear for the right job and enjoy the journey.

Author: Mike Prine 

Gorge Fly Shop Webmaster

Gorge Fly Shop Team

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Canoe Boat Plans | Columbia Gorge Fishing Report August 10th

Canoe Boat Plans

MP Quote

Fishing Report

Fishing has really picked up on the Deschutesand is primed for some good days on the Klickitat this week.  Get out and fish!  The 2:00 restrictions have been lifted for the Deschutes, but most others remain in place.  Please check with us, Washington or Oregon Fish and Game Departments before fishing if you are not sure about the current regulations. 

Summer Steelhead is generally the fish of choice for most of the hard-core anglers in the area and prospects for a fabulous day on the river are looking really good.  We heard fabulous reports from the Deschutes River last week and expect it to be good this week and next week too.  The White was spilling dirty water for a few days, but it did not stop the fish from snapping.  The dirty water usually just prevents anglers from getting out.  I love fishing when the clarity is 1’- 3’ because the fish tend to be in closer to shore and you can typically fish a light tip as they are sitting in the shallower water than typical. 

The Klickitat Riverhas been fluctuating clarity from around 1’ to 3’ or so (and we love it).  It never quite got to that “steelhead green” color that everyone else likes, but it has been fishing pretty well nonetheless.  The clarity hasn’t seemed to match the temperature as much as typical.  I believe (and I am usually wrong) that the “in-river” work that has been going on is affecting clarity as some natural settling of the dirt is throwing some sediment into the river that wouldn’t be there otherwise.  The work that I am talking about is the removal of an old road above where the Little Klickitat comes in.  This work is a good thing.  Improvement of habitat and returning portions of the river that were altered back into a natural state is one thing that we should all be able to agree on, even if it causes a little extra sediment to flow down the river.  So that being said, the clarity should get better, but I love fishing with it hovering about 1.5’ because I can go wherever I want; there is no one to compete with and there are just as many fish around as when the river is clear. 

Smallmouth Bass fishing has been excellent on the John Day Riverand Columbia Riveralong with many of the impoundments along the freeway on both the WA and OR side of the Gorge.  The Columbia came up quite a bit as the powers that be have been pushing water downstream in a successful attempt to cool down the big river.  It should finally drop below 70 this week for the first time in two months.  This should get the smallies moving and opens up a bit of water as the weeds have not been able to grow up to the surface yet in a lot of spots that have otherwise been really weedy this summer. 

Carp fishing has been good this past week as the rising flow in the Columbiahas moved fish into some new flats that are relatively weed-free right now and holding quite a few fish. 

Trout fishing has been great in most places this past week.  Unfortunately for you trout guys, the reports on trout fishing tend to get pretty sparse as soon as the steelhead start to show up.  As soon as one guy says “steelhead”, everyone seems to forget about the trout fishing.  I would bet that the Crooked, McKenzie, Metolius and Upper Deschutes are all fishing really well.  The upper part of the Lower Deschutes (near Warm Springs) has also been great lately with both Slate Wing Duns and a few early Mahogany Mayflies hatching that have been getting some attention as well as the evening caddis hatch just before dark. 

Lost Lake is still fishing very well, and trout have been coming up to the surface early and late to eat Callibaetis, Grasshoppers and Carpenter Ants, as well as just about anything else including beetles, damselflies and maybe some early caddis. 

As always, we are happy to talk fishing any time.  Give us a call if you have any specific questions on local rivers, gear, and tactics, or if you just want some encouragement to get out of the office.

"Fly Fish the World with Us"

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