Stuart's D5 Dinghy.

[OneWayTraffic]

Got the boat wet again in the local river. Another leak into the back compartment. Filled it up with water to see where it was coming out of, and I am pretty sure that a couple of pinholes under one of the back brackets is to blame. 30minutes work with a rotary tool sander, then a fillet of 1:1 mix epoxy has hopefully got it sealed.

Impressions of the boat:
A 2.3hp two stroke is heaps of power. There is no need to any more than half throttle.
It is an amazingly strong construction. The Westsystem 420 mix on the bottom has been scraped over the odd submerged rock and no obvious damage.

It is a lot smaller inside than outside. It's as big as I can fit into my trailer, but it is really a 2 person boat max. You need to keep your weight centered like in a kayak, but I rode out some chop and boat wake at anchor with no issues and no water aboard.

The beachmaster wheels make launching a breeze. Going out at low tide, I leave them down. They roll over the shoals and allow the front to float free (if that makes sense.)

I scrapped the idea of oars for now and bought a double sided kayak paddle. Much easier, and it breaks in half to work as a pair of smaller paddles. The outboard is the propulsion of choice.

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Not sure what happened with that second photo. The boat isn't that unstable.

[OneWayTraffic]

Took it down to the Hurunui river mouth today with my son. This is a small but fast river, with clean water that terminates in a spit with a lagoon. The best fishing is where the river outflows to the sea, but access is anywhere from a 15min to a 90minute walk depending on where the last fresh cut to the sea. Hence the boat.

When we got there, we saw that it wasn't such a long walk to the mouth, and the launch site was a wee bit hairy (fast water with a couple of overhanging willows. So we walked, leaving the boat on the trailer.

Hoping for salmon at the river mouth but still a bit early in the season. There was a school of Kahawai sitting in the surf chasing smelt and whitebait running up river. Fun fishing as these fish fight very hard on light gear, never giving up. Imagine somewhere between a salmon and a tuna on a pound for pound basis, with jumps like a rainbow trout.

I had to cast the rod out as my 10 year old boy wasn't quite getting the distance. Hooked 5 or 6 (I forget), landed two, kept one for dinner. At times it was a fish on as soon as the lure hits the water.

Not bad eating either, as long as you keep them cool.

[terrulian]

I have a feeling you made a very seamanlike choice.
As the saying goes, there are old sailors, and bold sailors, but no old, bold sailors.
Didn't stop you from fishing, obviously.

[Eric1]

Nice pictures! Thanks for the report.

[Jaysen]

I have a feeling you made a very seamanlike choice.
As the saying goes, there are old sailors, and bold sailors, but no old, bold sailors.
Didn't stop you from fishing, obviously.

I’m afraid I may prove this one day...

That’s some beautiful fishing. Congrats on the catch and the time well spent with a young one.

[Fuzz]

Nothing better than taking the kids fishing. Well taking them catching is better come to think of it

[OneWayTraffic]

I have a feeling you made a very seamanlike choice.
As the saying goes, there are old sailors, and bold sailors, but no old, bold sailors.
Didn't stop you from fishing, obviously.

Probably wouldn't have involved much other than wet feet to get the boat out into the main current. Still why bother when it's a short simple walk.

[OneWayTraffic]

Posting a few pictures of wear and tear after the summers use. Some scratches on the bottom deepest about 1mm. Few spots on the outside where it was scraped against the trailer sides (using a domestic trailer. Worst on the inside where i left the outboard for a road trip and it rubbed a hole to the glass cloth. Patched that with 1:1 epoxy. I’ll repaint over the winter but am considering a keel strip for next year. Aluminium bar isn’t expensive and I think I can epoxy it on.

[OneWayTraffic]

Most of those scratches were paint only.