16' drft boat

[pduhglas]

I am new to this forum, and have aquired an older wooden drift boat. I would like to restore it soon the salmon fly hatch is on! One thing I need to do is fiberglass the bottom. One suggestion I heard was to Rhino line (same thing as in a truck bed) to reinforce the original frame-is this a good idea?

Or do I strip it down? If so what steps to I take?

[thudpucker]

Interesting post.
When I was a kid I helped a guy build some McKenzie Knockoff's for drifting the western Washington Steelhead rivers. Great fun. I actually took people on three trips down one of the Rivers.

I built one from plans later on (years later) but I deviated from the plans to make the bottom like the knockoffs I dealt with in the 50's.

I made a bent wood, 2X2 stringer down each side at the bottom. Thats gotta be a pretty good piece of wood. Strong. It'l be heavy and hard. Not the soft stuff you buy at Lowes, you need Pine and you may find a place near you that deals in treated wood for underpinning of houses.

I made a scarf joint 1/4" Marine plywood bottom and with Pine Tar as a sealant, I put a jillion bronze screws in through the bottom, up into that 2X2 frame rail.
Put those screws every inch or so down both sides and across the stern if you have a wide place for a motor.

Here's the reasoning my Boss had, and I heartilly agree with.
That bottom gets raped during a good year on the rocks and shoals of the river. You may have to replace that bottom (if you have a lot of trips) maybe twice a year.
So dont waste any money on F/glass, Rhino lining or even expensive epoxy paint.
That stuff wont make it skid across the current any easier.
So what if it leaks?
I used plain old Oil based sealer. Probably stain would work too.

The bottom of the skiff is the temporary part.
The rest of it has to be pretty good stuff.
Now this story and advice I'm giving you here is only for a McKenzie style drift boat.

If you've never done this before, maybe you should pay a guide for a trip. There's a lot to learn, and a terrible price to pay for some certain mistakes in judgment.