What have you done for your boat lately?

Jake Watrous · Feb 16, 2023

The munchkins decided the canoe needs a dragonfly, so work has stalled while I teach myself how to paint one onto a mock-up of the bow deck we made for painting practice. Gonna be nerve-wracking when I do it for real.

Tried out different types and styles of wings, and now it's on to testing to see if the teak sealer messes up the iridescent paint job. Next up, carving paddles.

Edit: teak sealer, not steak sealer.

Greg Armstrong · Feb 16, 2023

That’s going to look great!

Jake Watrous · Feb 16, 2023

Greg Armstrong said:
That’s going to look great!

Thanks!

Eastside · Feb 16, 2023

Wow! That is going to be stunning. One of my boats (besides the 17 ft canoe that I posted earlier) is my 16 ft Clackacraft purchased in 1985. It’s in the shop getting minor repairs and new gel coat. Yesterday, they finished repairs on the bottom of the boat and getting gel coat sprayed today. Here are photos of the sanded hull.

Jake Watrous · Feb 16, 2023

Eastside said:
Wow! That is going to be stunning. One of my boats (besides the 17 ft canoe that I posted earlier) is my 16 ft Clackacraft purchased in 1985. It’s in the shop getting minor repairs and new gel coat. Yesterday, they finished repairs on the bottom of the boat and getting gel coat sprayed today. Here are photos of the sanded hull. View attachment 54422 View attachment 54423

Any upgrades being done to it while it's in the shop?

Eastside · Feb 16, 2023

Yes. Replacing the rope seats with swivel seats in the front. Will be able to change between single and double seats up front. Keeping the rope rower’s seat which will give me more leverage when rowing through whitewater. When I bought the boat, I had custom compartments built in the front and back for hauling gear on multi-day Deschutes trip. Everything packs efficiently into the boat. I lined the box under the front seat with closed cell styrofoam, making it a cooler. It holds ice up to four days, even in July on the Deschutes. Will post photos when I get the boat back.

Jake Watrous · Feb 16, 2023

Eastside said:
Yes. Replacing the rope seats with swivel seats in the front. Will be able to change between single and double seats up front. Keeping the rope rower’s seat which will give me more leverage when rowing through whitewater. When I bought the boat, I had custom compartments built in the front and back for hauling gear on multi-day Deschutes trip. Everything packs efficiently into the boat. I lined the box under the front seat with closed cell styrofoam, making it a cooler. It holds ice up to four days, even in July on the Deschutes. Will post photos when I get the boat back.

I love it when folks restore things rather than replace. Looking forward to the photos.

_WW_ · Feb 17, 2023

So...I bought another boat! LOL!
It's a pram/dinghy style, fiberglass, and is basically a blank palette to set up for lakes. The Scotty anchor mounts and rod holder mounts showed up yesterday.
It has an adjustable plank style seat. I know I'm going to want something with a back...I may have to glass in a pedestal if the stadium seat I have on order doesn't work.

Pictures to come...

Eastside · Feb 17, 2023

_WW_ said:
So...I bought another boat! LOL!
It's a pram/dinghy style, fiberglass, and is basically a blank palette to set up for lakes. The Scotty anchor mounts and rod holder mounts showed up yesterday.
It has an adjustable plank style seat. I know I'm going to want something with a back...I may have to glass in a pedestal if the stadium seat I have on order doesn't work.

Pictures to come...

You can get storage boxes to mount seats on or better yet (dare I say) a Yeti. It might be easier to glass in supports to hold the box in place. Pictures of the boat will probably stimulate other ideas. The only Yeti items that I have been willing to buy are a coffee cup and water bottle.

Eastside · Feb 17, 2023

Jake said:
I love it when folks restore things rather than replace. Looking forward to the photos.

It would be very expensive to replicate the storage that I have on this boat.

Bruce Baker · Feb 17, 2023

Jake said:
The munchkins decided the canoe needs a dragonfly, so work has stalled while I teach myself how to paint one onto a mock-up of the bow deck we made for painting practice. Gonna be nerve-wracking when I do it for real.

Tried out different types and styles of wings, and now it's on to testing to see if the teak sealer messes up the iridescent paint job. Next up, carving paddles.

View attachment 54411
View attachment 54455
Edit: teak sealer, not steak sealer.

That dragonfly looks awesome! Did you consider getting a decal or something akin? Or were you wanting wanting something original and done by you?

Jake Watrous · Feb 17, 2023

Bruce Baker said:
That dragonfly looks awesome! Did you consider getting a decal or something akin? Or were you wanting wanting something original and done by you?

Honestly, I didn’t think of a decal. That would have been cool.

The boys (7 and 10) wanted me to put a dragonfly on it, and we had this iridescent paint from an old craft project. I did look at stencils, but none seemed right.

So, I decided to try and draw one. Never been much for drawing, but since the painting on my 7yo’s vise board came out ok

(Got his signature from his homework)

I figured I’d at least try. So we built a second, extra, deck and here we are.

The real one will be painted smaller, at an angle, and in the wider part of the deck.

Peyton00 · Feb 17, 2023

I walked by her today and told her," I'll get you out soon girl, be patient".

Dogsnfish · Feb 17, 2023

Jake said:
Thanks!

Wow, that looks really nice!

Jake Watrous · Feb 17, 2023

Dogsnfish said:
Wow, that looks really nice!

Thanks

Eastside · Feb 17, 2023

Awesome and although it’s been said before, the look on your son’s face is priceless.

O' Clarkii Stomias · Feb 17, 2023

Eastside said:
Wow! That is going to be stunning. One of my boats (besides the 17 ft canoe that I posted earlier) is my 16 ft Clackacraft purchased in 1985. It’s in the shop getting minor repairs and new gel coat. Yesterday, they finished repairs on the bottom of the boat and getting gel coat sprayed today. Here are photos of the sanded hull. View attachment 54422 View attachment 54423

Those high sided clackas added a huge amount of confidence in big water, but when the wind blew....... I had an '83 16X48 with the low sides. Great boat, but I bailed it a bit with camp gear in big water.

Eastside · Feb 17, 2023

O' Clarkii Stomias said:
Those high sided clackas added a huge amount of confidence in big water, but when the wind blew....... I had an '83 16X48 with the low sides. Great boat, but I bailed it a bit with camp gear in big water.

They do suck in the wind. Last September, the last five miles to Heritage was brutal. We made it with my BIL navigating “there’s a rock coming up” and me on the sticks. We still liked each other when we reached the launch but it wasn’t fun.