SmokyMountain's PH18 Build in E. TN****SPLASHED****

[SmokyMountain]

Cparkerc,

I think the rope seat is very comfortable. I've worn shorts and had no problems. I was thinking the same thing you were while building. The seat allows you to dry quickly if wet wading. The material is white oak, very stong and durable.

Thanks

Andrew

[cparkerc]

Andrew,

Thanks for the review, appreciate it. I really like how those seats look, time to get building! Too cold here in Colorado for epoxy work anyway.

Thanks again, have a good weekend.

Carrington

[Murry]

I like the drift boat as well. Is that bondable UHMW on the bottom of that boat? If so I've got a couple of questions if you don't
mind.

Daniel,

Thanks. The bottom is Line X truck bed liner, sprayed on the bottom to about 4" above the chine of the boat. I have heard of UHMW (that is a high denisty plasitc?), but where someone had tacked it on. The problem was water in the seams and eventual replacement. (See the Montana Boat Builders forum)
Hyde has a G3 sole they put on their boat that's nice and durable. I have a buddy with one. You can beat the snot out of it with no damage. It's worth the money if purchasing.
Repair on the Line X is fairly simple. A little epoxy with some universal black and its as good as new. The only problem with the Line X is that if not applied smoothly it will bite a little going over rocks etc..

Andrew

Thanks for the replys Andrew and Bradley.

The problem was water in the seams and eventual replacement. (See the Montana Boat Builders forum)

I haven't had time to check out that site yet, but thanks for the link. While researching material for this purpose I was given the name of man who has developed a bondable UHMW. It's glued on with epoxy. I thought I had found someone I could ask about it.

Thanks again,
Daniel

[MarkOrge]

I have seen my share of drift boats in my years fly fishing the Bow in southern Alberta (before moving out to Toronto) that is by far the nicest I have seen. Beautiful.

I'll be watching your build as I hope to start my PH18 shortly after Christmas.

Have you made a decision on skeg/strakes/reverse chine?

Mark

[SmokyMountain]

I have seen my share of drift boats in my years fly fishing the Bow in southern Alberta (before moving out to Toronto) that is by far the nicest I have seen. Beautiful.

I'll be watching your build as I hope to start my PH18 shortly after Christmas.

Have you made a decision on skeg/strakes/reverse chine?

Mark,

Thanks for the Complement on the drift boat.

As far as the skeg / strake / reverse chine... I'm will install a skeg and two strakes. I have to figure out which trailer I will buy before installing the strakes. There is a regional Shorelander distributor about 30 minutes from where I live. Any recomendation on trailer would be appreciated.

I probably won't do the reverse chines, but will install spray rails and sharpen the chine. Anybody have any recommendations / suggestions on how far they should go ?? I like Joel's fiberglass stake / chine method by using an angle as a mold.

As far as progress, I got the stringers drawn and cut this weekend.




I have to cut the notches after I butt join them. As far as notches, there was not a lot of guidance of how deep to cut in the bulkheads / stringers. I used the ratio of 75% of depth in the bulkheads and 25% in the stingers. That way the majority of the notch depth are in the bulkheads and not the stingers. I felt there needs to be a little bit of a notch in the stingers so it will act as a system. There seems to be varying opinions.


Andrew

[Joe H]

Andrew,
Congrad's on the first cut, your on your way now, I ended up not putting notches in my stringers, wish I would have to insure proper alignment, I like the 75%/25% idea.

Keep on posting pic's
Joe H

[TomW]

I agree with you Andrew. One reason is when you flip and install them again you will have 3 peices of frame instead of 1 peice for each frame on those that are below the sole.

Tom

[Doc_Dyer]

ciao

[SmokyMountain]

I've been playing around with locker configurations and have come up with a preliminary layout. The rod lockers will be a shallow box with spaces for the reels to hang down. I'll install tubes going fore and aft. The fore tube will be long enough for fly rods. I have modified the cockpit space by shortening it by about 2 feet for more deck space. I plan to make my own hatches with a gutter system like Bassmuns or something similar. Comments appreciated... Still cutting panels... family activities are working against me right now....



Andrew

[Doc_Dyer]

ciao