WaterfowlForum.Net

..........he was gonna build a boat over the weekend, last Thursday night at the dinner table. Said he wanted to build an aluminum version of my fiberglass duck skiff. He's been talking about it for some time now, and even went as far as buying two 20' sheets of aluminum for stock. "He" is my stepson from my last marriage, put me through more hell than any parent should ever have to deal with, but finally, I am seeing light at the end of the tunnel. I married his mother when he was 10 years old, and he was a handful. An ADHD kid, who bored easily, but took to hunting and fishing with me like it was his job. I had him under my wing until he turned 15, when he started hanging with the wrong crowd, and took a hard left. The next 10 years were tough on his mother and myself, and even though we have since divorced, he and I remain very close. I have pulled him out of a lot of scrapes with the law, never anything violent, but that boy was always into something . Anyway, he has been out of work a few weeks, recovering from double hernia surgery, and last week was his final week off. He started building the boat last Friday morning, and called me Saturday midday, wanting measurements from my outboard's mounting brackets, to be sure his transom would be right for mounting a 25 Yammie. Decided to drive over to his house, give him a template that I had drawn up on cardboard, and see how the project was going. When I pulled up, I was amazed at how much progress he had made in a mere 1 1/2 days






For a kid building his first boat, pretty damn impressive, and I can't wait to see the finished product. Also, can't wait to get him started experimenting with aluminum duck sneaks

That's pretty cool! Please continue to update us.

Damn that looks good. keep us posted

yea really nice, like the pods on the stern

That is impressive.

Yup, more boat than I've built in my life.

I give props to anyone that can weld aluminum. Can be some tough stuff the work with. Boat looks awesome!

flyn88 wrote:I give props to anyone that can weld aluminum. Can be some tough stuff the work with. Boat looks awesome!

Fast and furious. Been doing some TIG the last couple weeks. Can't dick around.

R. Chapman wrote:

flyn88 wrote:I give props to anyone that can weld aluminum. Can be some tough stuff the work with. Boat looks awesome!

Fast and furious. Been doing some TIG the last couple weeks. Can't dick around.

Don't go balls out on the heat and you don't need to. It's all about control

Finally got a look at the mostly finished product when Dustin came by to eat dinner with us last Friday night. He took my old beat up 25 hp and tested the seaworthiness of it Friday as well, and was impressed with how well it handled. He is already starting to plan his 2nd boat, kid's on fire with desire

Sweet.

Very nice! Looks to be built solid for sure. Plans to paint it or leave raw? He might be on to something........

Does he have a weight on the boat?

Looks great

He will likely paint it camo, but unsure at this point. He wanted to build the first one as a prototype, and get a feel for what it is going to take to build, and make it a learning process. He has already mentioned several changes he will make based on the experience. The company that he bought his 1/8" aluminum sheets from, told him that if he wanted, they could cut the pieces for him with their machine, and could get it all out of one sheet, as opposed to his using two sheets like he did on the first build. That would save him a lot of time, but there is some concern about them copying his pattern, as this company builds aluminum boats, but mostly bigger boats for the govt. Seems to me that as labor intensive as it is, not sure if matters at this point. Unsure what it weighs Olly, but will try and find out. That thing is built like a tank, and according to what he told me when talking it out for sea trials the other day, it handled very well in a rough chop in the bay with my old beat up 25 h.p. He is in the middle of the learning curve right now, and with his enthusiasm, he can take it as far as he cares to. Several people are already asking him to build one for them, so we will see. I am going to have him build me a pirogue for dragging into potholes, and hunting the really skinny water in our delta. That kid has always plenty of energy (ADHD growing up, and a handful for me ), and has a great imagination. In addition to the boat building, is also in the process of building a two-story houseboat. He told me years ago that he wanted to live on a houseboat, and build boats for a living, and it tickles the shit out of me to see him starting to move forward and realize his dreams.