Soon to be new duck boat

[Throbbin Rods]

Picked up a 1974 Mirrocraft 16' boat last fall

before picture.jpg

. Progress has been slow due to the busted wrist but so far I have gotten the following done;
Transom out

Bad transom 1.JPG

New transom built, 4 layers of fiberglass resin, installed.
Two forward tank seats removed to allow floor space

open space small.jpg

New 5/8 PT Plywood floor cut to fit around ribs and one side glassed.

new floor small.jpg

Going to glass the other side today. I will be riveting aluminum flat stock from side to side as a grid for the floor to rest on, then use self tappers to secure the plywood.
I have DA'ed the entire length of both sides of the boat.
Going to flip the boat over today and put it up on my 6' sawhorses so I can DA the bottom, and get a coat of primer laid down. Then the Parker Duck Boat Paint goes on, then stencils. Due to lack of time and wrist I will modify and re-use the blind from my previous duck boat. Once the paint is done I will bring it over to get a sprayed in bedliner, then mount the motor. After that all that is left is to build a console and mount the FF/GPS combo, the compass and the remote control spot light. Toying with the idea of adding a bow mount trolling motor as I think it would be ideal for setting and picking up decoys, plus I picked one up in a yard sale for $50..
Now for the bad news. September 9 I am having surgery on the wrist as it is not healing. Apparently when the bone fractured it tore loose from all the ligaments and tendons etc. They are going to remove the broken bone and tell me that I will be fine without it. I am going to be the best PT patient ever because I have paid for a hunt in Arkansas for Thanksgiving week. I absolutely will be ready for that hunt, even if I miss most of the first split here in NH.

[Darren]

Best of luck with your project and your wrist! Neat old boat

[Rick]

You're embarrassing a guy who can't work up the gumption to scrub some decoys.

[Throbbin Rods]

Just riveted in about half of the supports for the floor. Using flat aluminum stock, riveting from rib to rib in order to lay the floor on the grid and not have it bow in the middle. Going to put two pieces in the length of the boat tied to all of the pieces running width ways. Still some room under there for some insulation board, sound deadening, warmer for the dog and extra flotation!
More pics tomorrow
Bill

[Throbbin Rods]

Picture of floor supports riveted to boat ribs.

floor support grid.jpg

Note that they expanded from the direct sunlight and the heat yesterday. Nice and tight this morning.

Today I will add two long pieces of aluminum the length of these short pieces to tie the whole grid together. Then the floor gets set in place and screwed, and off to the bed liner spray people 2 towns over. Probably won't touch the boat until after vacation now, leaving for Maine Saturday moning.

Has anyone here ever painted molded plastic boat seats? I have a really nice captain's chair that I want to put behind the console but that white seat will stick out like a sore... thumb.
Thanks!
Bill

[Darren]

I paint plastic boat paddles and other plastic hunting equipment, there's some cheap spray paints out there geared toward plastic. Probably going to want a few coats to hide that white

[Throbbin Rods]

Yesterday I got the boat flipped upside down onto some long sawhorses thanks to Mr Kubota. Today is DA and prime if the rain holds off, tomorrow is base coat, this weekend is stencils.

[Throbbin Rods]

Boat is painted and stenciled. while I was at it I painted the trailer and stenciled that just because I could!

[Rick]

You guys with ambition make me sick. Feel like I've done something just getting a lick in on the jungle we call a lawn.

[aunt betty]

Nice. Now all you have to do is pay the $$$ to change the title on the boat to reflect that it's a new color.

My title says "olive green". The bottom is that color but the rest? uh uh
It's sort of black brown green tan ...with a hint of olive green. Put that on my title. Only $90.

[Throbbin Rods]

No title for that boat. It is a 1974.
Today I will paint the inside and maybe get it out to the LINE X place for undercoating on the floor.

[Throbbin Rods]

Inside and top is painted. Rear tank seats are bacl together. waiting on Linex until I get the console built. Tomorrow the motor goes on and I start the console!

[Throbbin Rods]

Motor on and running. Steering cable and wheel found in my bins of "spare parts ". Battery charging. Time to get started on the console! Busy day.

[Throbbin Rods]

Question for the group - what height would you prefer for a side console boat? I currently have roughed together a plywood box to rest the original Mirrorcraft console on. I am very comfortable either seated or standing with the steering wheel at that height. It just seems high. I guess I should just do what feels right. The current box is 22" tall and then the little OEM console sits on top of that. Bottom of steering wheel is around 25".


Welded up a set of guide on mounts to get this big girl on the trailer straight.
Built the box, all glued and screwed. Gas tank is going in this afternoon, drilling the boat for the gas tank vent. Building a couple of shelves to go inside the plywood box. Going to start wiring up dash this afternoon as well. Seats will be mounted. Looking like a weekend test drive.

[aunt betty]

?? No clue cuz I'm an Outlaw Ooser (High Performance Tillers) type of guy.
What is this..."con sole?".

[Throbbin Rods]

Picture of the box with console resting on it, seat is just sitting there, pretty close to final resting place

[Throbbin Rods]

With a great deal of help from Karen the boat status is now as follows
Second layer of ply added to floor, glued and screwed
Gas tank in and plumbed
Console and platform in and attached.
New Bow eye in and new block drilled to attach same.
New bow and stern lights are in and wire run to dash area.
Today I will installl the fish finder/gps combo, wire up the bilge pump and the lights, add some fuel, and put it in the water!
Been a long process. All materials for the blind are here except the pvc and steel to extend the frame. Those items are due here Wednesday. I will be extending the blind frame on Wednesday. I need to finish it up because surgery is Thursday morning.
Karen will be sewing up the new pieces of camo cloth for the inside layer. After that she and her son will attach Fast Grass to the outside of the blind netting. From there it goes to have the bed liner sprayed in.
Once it is home from there I will sit and stare at my creation waiting and hoping for quick healing and a strong migration.

Pics Later today

[Throbbin Rods]

Mounted console and platform. Gas tank in and plumbed. Battery charged. Headed to mascoma lake for a test drive about 3:30. Freaking boat planes off in about 1 second. Flys across the water with that 50 horsepower Johnson. It will actually porpoise if you trim it up too far. Loving the boat and the motor. Well worth the effort. Many thanks to Karen for all your help and dedicating your weekend to helping me finish up. Many thanks to Devon for your help and the several times I asked you to help me for a "minute" lol. What a great shakedown run! Now a little more paint and a spray in bed liner and hook-up the fish finder. Then it will be healing and wait

[aunt betty]

Next you'll be building an air boat out of flex seal and window screens that you got for free on craigslist.
Skip to the 60-second mark for the air boat plans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VikGZ5T-S7U

[Throbbin Rods]

Duck boat is almost done. Need to install one small piece of flooring and finish painting motor. I made some mods to the plan, used some PVC to make rectangular panels, zip tied Fast Grass to these panels, then loosely zip tied one side to the top frame of the blind. These now serve as a roof of sorts, with a quick flick of the now repaired wrist the roof section flips open for easy gunning and a big surprise for the ducks and geese. The roof panels make a huge difference when looking down on the blind from a duck's eye view. I will try to get some pics today if it stops raining.
I am getting very psyched to try this boat out on a hunt!!

[aunt betty]

Try to make your roof waterproof so you can camp out in the boat tent.
Made a tarp sort of thing that drapes over the top on mine for when it's not ducky but when it stops raining or snowing you know.
Cook some food while waiting. Holds the heat in too if you're using a buddy heater or whatever. Got them old coleman catalytic heaters and love them. Not cheap to run but nice dry heat. Have propane heater too but mostly that's too much.
It sure is nice to have a way to dry your gloves plus unfreezing and drying your waders. Always get nervous when my waders have a half inch of ice on them.

[Throbbin Rods]

Coupke of pics of the boat with blind almost all done.

duck boat with blind 09-24-2016 1.jpg

duck boat with blind 09-24-2016 2.jpg

[Throbbin Rods]

Karen added the finishing touch late yesterday afternoon. I was helping Devon do some body work on his vehicle and she came out of the house and asked if I could help her for a minute. I held the stencil she made and she presented me with this!!
Attachment:

Cast N Blast II.jpg

I am frequently humbled by the things she does for me and how well she does them.

BTW, pay no attention to the gray splotches, I am filling holes from previous incarnation with JB Weld and haven't sanded them yet.

[DukMan]

Boat looks great! I'm sure the ducks will have a hell of a time seeing ya snuggled up in that thing... Good luck out there.

[Rick]

You guys with big projects make me feel mighty lazy.

[aunt betty]

Better get two fire extinguishers.

[Olly]

Looks good man, you'll kill plenty out of it for sure.

[Throbbin Rods]

Rolled on the Raptor bed-liner per instructions 3 days ago. Nice texture, good coverage. I got it tinted OD Green. I bought a gallon, really could have used an extra quart but didn't order it. Seems to be adhered quite well. First real test is Wednesday morning opener for duck season. Pictures soon

[aunt betty]

So you got one or maybe two days to fix any unexpected things before your season starts?
What zone you in? Oh. I guess New Hampshire is small enough to where you just cover all the zones eh?

[Throbbin Rods]

Opening day today was a bust for me. I went to my normal boat launch and it was closed for renovations. Drove 25 miles to the next launch. Six trucks with boat trailers and 4 other vehicles at that launch. That part of the river was well covered. Drove another 25-30 miles to launch number 3. One truck with trailer. Launched and headed to one of my favorite spots. Running a little late but running. Saw 3 divers I didn't bother to shoot, one mallard drake that was flying high and fast. The bright spot was the boat. Everything worked flawlessly. Motor ran great. Boat floats in about 3 inches of water, I swear. Headed back Thursday and Saturday.