BoatBanter.com - Driftboat

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- - Driftboat (https://www.boatbanter.com/boat-building/6332-driftboat.html)

there's a free skiff program in Basic on my website which will accept
dimensions of for a driftboat and display a bunch of calculated numbers.
it can be used to try various shapes and loads. it is a tiny bit imprecise
for fully rockered drift boats because it assumes a flat run in the
forward and aft thirds as recommended by H Chapelle. for the kind of
water driftboats are used in I'd pay attention to draft (shallow) and
freeborad (high) when carrying two people.

Greg Carlson's program comes with a a drift boat example if I'm not
mistaken. You can easily vary the length and beam (but not the flare and
resulting rocker) and see how the computed numbers change.

Either program can be used to decide how big a drift boat is needed to
cope with the weight of two people and then you can go looking for plans
for a boat of sufficient size.
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as an afterthought, a design for a two person drift boat would probably be
longer to accomodate two seats and two sets of oars. It would be an
interesting challenge to sychrnonize two sets of oars in the turbulent
waters driftboats are made for although they were in use here on the
Ottawa River in the logging days. those were a type of "batteau" dory
locally called "pointer" boats.

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William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network
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ok found a real small portable drift boat. check out
http://www.fishingnorthwest.com/boats.htm

I have been doing something similar for quite sometime and have seen other
mini boats float down the river in front of my place, all home built I'm
sure.
You what we have been doing at
http://www.premier1.net/~daveb/rowboats.html
Nothing for sale here, just fun!
--
From the rocky shores of the Skykomish river
David Bosworth
http://www.premier1.net/~daveb/
Kevin wrote in message
om...
ok found a real small portable drift boat. check out
http://www.fishingnorthwest.com/boats.htm

(Kevin) wrote in message . com...
ok found a real small portable drift boat. check out
http://www.fishingnorthwest.com/boats.htm

Several things would suggest to me that this is a prototype and wonder
to myself how much real life testing it has had, I could be wrong. One
could imagine by the photos that this is the first season for this
boat, and it may not get a lot of testing till spring. I see no
flotation in the boat and even though as a drift boat it may not be
required, it would be plain stupid to take a boat that small on water
like that, without it. Look at these pics:
http://www.fishingnorthwest.com/boats.htm
http://www.fishingnorthwest.com/crissxshadowboat.jpg
As a builder it makes me furious that someone would sell someone a
boat this small and tell them to take it on water like this but I will
hold my temper here. This boat is just too small in my opinion for
this kind of water and without flotation? Also, I don't see anywhere
on the site a reference to being a USCG registered builder, following
the rules and regs that apply for construction, safety, flotation,
seaworthyness, etc. If it is a novelty you want, go for it, if you
want a drift boat, keep on looking till you find one that will do the
job you need it to do.

Sorry to rail on you like this, but you asked. I can come off like
this because I am a hobbiest, and all of these comments are opinions,
based on the limited information available on this builders site. I am
sure some of the professionals here would agree with me that the boat
you are looking at is just to small, but being professionals, they
have decided to stay out of it, I can understand that.

Boats are always a compromise between size, weight, style, and
capability... If you really want the right boat, you will put
capability at the top of the list and work down from there. You may
not get exactly you set out for in the first place, but you want the
boat to do what you intend when you get it on the water.
Unfortunately, that is not always the boat we initially imagined.

The above statements are only opinions based on looking at the website
provided by the builder and noted here by the origional poster. My
opinions only reflect my impression and obvervations and do not
necessarily mean I feel that this is not a good boat, although I do
not think it is the right boat for this kind of boating. Still I have
built over 50 boats, all under 12 feet and done a lot of boating in
many of them, I know small boats and what they can and or
should/should not be asked to do. Again, I don't build drift boats but
would note that the established professional builders don't build them
this small, I am guessing there is a good reason for that. ;)

And since I should not shoot my mouth off without a solution... I am
looking over a set of Roger Fletcher's 17 footer (riverstouch.com)
here and could probably see it coming down to 15-16 feet LOA. If you
built it right and left out some of the interior (or made it removable
for transport) you could probably keep this boat under 200 pounds,
maybe even less using ocoume and glass but it would take a good touch
with the epoxy spreader. I could do it. I built a 17 foot Payson Dory
(Gull) last season and kept it under 140 pounds. Maybe you could knock
this boat down to 15 feet, but not much less in my opinion, either way
I would ask the designer first.

Scotty from SmallBoats.com

I think your coming down a bit harsh on the guy, I have seen canoes and
those small squareish kayaks go through better water than that.
The pro's might not build anything this small because it would be tough to
make a buck in this size boat. In fact I don't remember seeing the length of
his crafts mentioned on his site.
Having built a few small boats yourself I'm sure you would agree with me
that there is about as much work in a boat that size as one a little bit
larger and alot more useful.
Always enjoy your input.
--
From the rocky shores of the Skykomish river
David Bosworth
http://www.premier1.net/~daveb/
Backyard Renegade wrote in message
om...
(Kevin) wrote in message
. com...
ok found a real small portable drift boat. check out
http://www.fishingnorthwest.com/boats.htm

Several things would suggest to me that this is a prototype and wonder
to myself how much real life testing it has had, I could be wrong. One
could imagine by the photos that this is the first season for this
boat, and it may not get a lot of testing till spring. I see no
flotation in the boat and even though as a drift boat it may not be
required, it would be plain stupid to take a boat that small on water
like that, without it. Look at these pics:
http://www.fishingnorthwest.com/boats.htm
http://www.fishingnorthwest.com/crissxshadowboat.jpg
As a builder it makes me furious that someone would sell someone a
boat this small and tell them to take it on water like this but I will
hold my temper here. This boat is just too small in my opinion for
this kind of water and without flotation? Also, I don't see anywhere
on the site a reference to being a USCG registered builder, following
the rules and regs that apply for construction, safety, flotation,
seaworthyness, etc. If it is a novelty you want, go for it, if you
want a drift boat, keep on looking till you find one that will do the
job you need it to do.

Sorry to rail on you like this, but you asked. I can come off like
this because I am a hobbiest, and all of these comments are opinions,
based on the limited information available on this builders site. I am
sure some of the professionals here would agree with me that the boat
you are looking at is just to small, but being professionals, they
have decided to stay out of it, I can understand that.

Boats are always a compromise between size, weight, style, and
capability... If you really want the right boat, you will put
capability at the top of the list and work down from there. You may
not get exactly you set out for in the first place, but you want the
boat to do what you intend when you get it on the water.
Unfortunately, that is not always the boat we initially imagined.

The above statements are only opinions based on looking at the website
provided by the builder and noted here by the origional poster. My
opinions only reflect my impression and obvervations and do not
necessarily mean I feel that this is not a good boat, although I do
not think it is the right boat for this kind of boating. Still I have
built over 50 boats, all under 12 feet and done a lot of boating in
many of them, I know small boats and what they can and or
should/should not be asked to do. Again, I don't build drift boats but
would note that the established professional builders don't build them
this small, I am guessing there is a good reason for that. ;)

And since I should not shoot my mouth off without a solution... I am
looking over a set of Roger Fletcher's 17 footer (riverstouch.com)
here and could probably see it coming down to 15-16 feet LOA. If you
built it right and left out some of the interior (or made it removable
for transport) you could probably keep this boat under 200 pounds,
maybe even less using ocoume and glass but it would take a good touch
with the epoxy spreader. I could do it. I built a 17 foot Payson Dory
(Gull) last season and kept it under 140 pounds. Maybe you could knock
this boat down to 15 feet, but not much less in my opinion, either way
I would ask the designer first.

Scotty from SmallBoats.com

"David Bosworth" wrote in message ...
I think your coming down a bit harsh on the guy, I have seen canoes and
those small squareish kayaks go through better water than that.
The pro's might not build anything this small because it would be tough to
make a buck in this size boat. In fact I don't remember seeing the length of
his crafts mentioned on his site.

If you study the photos you will see that there are no scarfs or butt
joints in the side panels. Built with standard plywood panels you can
guestimate that the boat is about 7'9" long and less than 4' wide.

Having built a few small boats yourself I'm sure you would agree with me
that there is about as much work in a boat that size as one a little bit
larger and alot more useful.

I looked at your website and your boats look a little longer, 10 feet?
Anyway, even at that, you are in much calmer water than the guy we are
discussing here. The origional poster should note that your boat,
being larger than the one he was looking at is still a one person
boat.

Always enjoy your input.
--
From the rocky shores of the Skykomish river
David Bosworth
http://www.premier1.net/~daveb/

I think the easiest and best way for this guy to get a two person boat
for rougher water is either go with a decent sized drift boat, or a
slightly smaller semi dory type river runner like the Rouge river type
boats which can again be found at the url I mentioned in an earlier
thread. The wider transom gives a lot of stability with the shorter
boat.
Scotty

Backyard Renegade wrote in message
om...
(Kevin) wrote in message
. com...
ok found a real small portable drift boat. check out
http://www.fishingnorthwest.com/boats.htm

Several things would suggest to me that this is a prototype and wonder
to myself how much real life testing it has had, I could be wrong. One
could imagine by the photos that this is the first season for this
boat, and it may not get a lot of testing till spring. I see no
flotation in the boat and even though as a drift boat it may not be
required, it would be plain stupid to take a boat that small on water
like that, without it. Look at these pics:
http://www.fishingnorthwest.com/boats.htm
http://www.fishingnorthwest.com/crissxshadowboat.jpg
As a builder it makes me furious that someone would sell someone a
boat this small and tell them to take it on water like this but I will
hold my temper here. This boat is just too small in my opinion for
this kind of water and without flotation? Also, I don't see anywhere
on the site a reference to being a USCG registered builder, following
the rules and regs that apply for construction, safety, flotation,
seaworthyness, etc. If it is a novelty you want, go for it, if you
want a drift boat, keep on looking till you find one that will do the
job you need it to do.

Sorry to rail on you like this, but you asked. I can come off like
this because I am a hobbiest, and all of these comments are opinions,
based on the limited information available on this builders site. I am
sure some of the professionals here would agree with me that the boat
you are looking at is just to small, but being professionals, they
have decided to stay out of it, I can understand that.

Boats are always a compromise between size, weight, style, and
capability... If you really want the right boat, you will put
capability at the top of the list and work down from there. You may
not get exactly you set out for in the first place, but you want the
boat to do what you intend when you get it on the water.
Unfortunately, that is not always the boat we initially imagined.

The above statements are only opinions based on looking at the website
provided by the builder and noted here by the origional poster. My
opinions only reflect my impression and obvervations and do not
necessarily mean I feel that this is not a good boat, although I do
not think it is the right boat for this kind of boating. Still I have
built over 50 boats, all under 12 feet and done a lot of boating in
many of them, I know small boats and what they can and or
should/should not be asked to do. Again, I don't build drift boats but
would note that the established professional builders don't build them
this small, I am guessing there is a good reason for that. ;)

And since I should not shoot my mouth off without a solution... I am
looking over a set of Roger Fletcher's 17 footer (riverstouch.com)
here and could probably see it coming down to 15-16 feet LOA. If you
built it right and left out some of the interior (or made it removable
for transport) you could probably keep this boat under 200 pounds,
maybe even less using ocoume and glass but it would take a good touch
with the epoxy spreader. I could do it. I built a 17 foot Payson Dory
(Gull) last season and kept it under 140 pounds. Maybe you could knock
this boat down to 15 feet, but not much less in my opinion, either way
I would ask the designer first.

Scotty from SmallBoats.com

Backyard Renegade ) writes:

If you study the photos you will see that there are no scarfs or butt
joints in the side panels. Built with standard plywood panels you can
guestimate that the boat is about 7'9" long and less than 4' wide.

I agree a one sheet boat is too small for rough water. I've made two one
sheeters which I use a lot, one is a sailboat (Loonie), the other for
paddling (Delta). The sailboat has to have sponsons to carry a 25 sq ft
sail. Both will ride over boat wakes but constant bouncing around in short
sharp waves is out of the question. I take the paddle boat through swifts
and small rapids but nothing of even moderate size. Its sort of like
driving a sports car, the small size makes small rapids fun. Same with the
sailboat, the small size makes small waters with their ever changing winds
enjoyable. I've had the sailboat out in strong winds on small waters where
the wind doesn't build up waves, and sailed it down shallow twisting
creeks. (photos of these boats on my website.)

(For a maximum capacity one sheeter look for PRISM on www.google.com.
Inspired by my Delta with its Bolger ends, Prism is a rowboat, and sits
deeper in the water.)

I haven't seen anthing in the way of mathematical analysis of hulls in
rough water like the kind of rapids drift boats are made for. The
hydrostatic numbers I get from free hull design programs aren't
applicable. You need a lot of bouyancy for riding up and over standing
waves and for traversing foamy water which does not have much carrying
capacity (being a mix of water and air). If you look at canoes built for
running rapids they are voluminous, beamy with a lot of freeboard.
Paddling a white water canoe is like driving a bus compared to paddling a
regular canoe. The minimum load for a drift boat is one person which puts
a lower bound on the bouyancy the baot can have and still function in the
water its designed for. What that is I don't know but you won't get it
out of a one sheeter.

It all comes down to what kind of water you want to use the boat on. You
can "drift" down dome pretty wild rivers, or you can "drift" down some
tame canals. From what I've seen of "drift" boats they are designed for
the wilder water. If you're going to call it a "drift" boat it should
have that capability.

--
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William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network
homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm
warning: non-freenet email must have "notspam" in subject or it's returned

"David Bosworth" wrote in message ...
I think your coming down a bit harsh on the guy, I have seen canoes and
those small squareish kayaks go through better water than that.

Those Kayaks and Canoes are probably closed in and full to the brim
with flotation bags. The Canoes are what they refer to as OC1. There
is some discussion amongst paddlers, with the way you are tucked into
the cockpit of an OC1 with a full deck, sprayskirt, and nothing but
you, your clothes and float bags in the boat, weather these are
actually canoes at all or just funny shaped kayaks that you kneel in
;) They are not the canoes you see on local lakes, and if they are
they are outfitted, as is the paddler, for those conditions, outfitted
in fact more like a kayak, but that is a discussion for another group.
Still the point is, this kind of water:
http://www.fishingnorthwest.com/imag...sdrftboat8.jpg
and open, flat bottom, 7 1/2 foot boats just don't match. Especially
if the boat does not have proper flotation.
Don't even get me wrong here, I just want to see the origional poster
get a boat *he* can use, and although, the fellow who built this boat
may be very comfortable in it in these conditions, I don' think the
average boater would find it to be the right tool for the job he
described, remember, he is looking for a driftboat for two.
Scotty, the usual suspect