What have you done for your boat lately?

Jeff Dodd

Steelhead
Do you guys stand up in your prams to cast? Or mostly just stay seated? I've never used a pram.

When you shop for a pram, look for one that you can comfortably stand and cast! Otherwise, you’ll be tempted to stand, do it, and then wish you didn’t!

With aluminum Jon boats, 40 floor is kinda a minimum width for standing and casting. For example- Lowe 1040

The 36” Jon boats look like accident waiting to happen.
 
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Jake Watrous

Legend
Forum Supporter
That’s over the top! I thought I was doing good restringing the rope rowing seat on my drift boat…
You were. I actually started out with seats that copied your drift boat seats. Triangles to hold the rope, etc. I tried paracord, 1/4”, bungee/shock cord…just about everything, and found I wasn’t up to the challenge of getting it work. Frames were too weak, rope spacing was wrong, couldn’t get tension right…it went on and on. I even toyed with the idea of asking to come take measurements of your seats.

So, I settled for weaving seats out of flat nylon tube in the hopes that by the time they wore out I’d have an idea about how to make the rope seats work.
 

Jake Watrous

Legend
Forum Supporter
Carved some quick paddles out of basswood for the kids. The little buggers grow too fast to merit anything fancy.
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…and the corgi.
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Wove the front seat
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And started the installation.
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EDIT: Seats are in, but the adjusting seat brackets are going to be replaced with a single bar as they pivot. Whoops.
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EDIT #2: Finished the matching flybox.
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Jake Watrous

Legend
Forum Supporter
When you shop for a pram, look for one that you can comfortably stand and cast! Otherwise, you’ll be tempted to stand, do it, and then wish you didn’t!

With aluminum Jon boats, 40 floor is kinda a minimum width for standing and casting. For example- Lowe 1040

The 36” Jon boats look like accident waiting to happen.
At some point I’d like to pick your brain about this kind of stuff. I’d like to design and build a lapstrake skiff someday.
 

Paige

Wishing I was fishing the Sauk
Top notch craftsmanship and amazing build Jake. She just keeps getting better every week!
 

Wetswinger

Go Deep
Forum Supporter
Tell me about your paint (system?).............. I LOVE this boat.
I bought this boat used this Winter. It's a dozen years old. The original owner put epoxy with traction additive on the floor. The bottom exterior only is glassed for protection without paint. I went ahead and painted the bottom also. The exterior sides were original epoxy paint. I went over the entire boat twice with an orbital sander using 80 grit paper. Some areas sanded pretty well but other spots, like the floor, were bulletproof. At least I got the loose material off. I dusted it with a towel and then scrubed it with alcohol to remove the fine dust. 2 layers of Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer. I read about it on some boating blogs. It's thick and tenacious and comes well respected even on wood. One quart did the entire boat.. The paint is Rustoleum Top Side Marine paint. 2 layers. It took 1-1/2 quart. Top Side paint is fine on the bottom also as long as it isn't left submerged more than 4 or five days. This boat will be used only as a daytripper. On the wood surfaces I used Verathane Spar Varnish semi gloss. It finishes darker than clear. 2 coats. 1 quart. So hopefully this old boy will continue float for a few more years.
 
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