Saw Titanium Craniums' post on the other forum for his 13' wood drift boat..thought about it...talked to the wife...and we agreed we just couldn't pass it up..

I've been looking for a good project boat...not one from scratch (yet), but one that needed to be gone through so the price was right, but also a boat that would be nice looking once revived.

Here's what she was when I started on it last Sat. evening.



Overall a sound hull, but being over 20 years old (best guess), the boat needed some care and renovation...so..to work I went.

Started by stripping all the interior seats, their mounts and the inside gunnels:



Sunday saw the transom removed, and if you look closely you can see where there was also an inner transom...Mark and I determined this was there to mount a small outboard on. The inner transom sits about 18" in from the back transom.



I am considering cutting about 8" off the back of the boat, and replacing the inner transom (the existing one has the only dry-rot on the whole boat) and relocating it as the rear transom of the boat.

This would shorten the hull a bit to 12' 8", but would allow a stonger rear transom to be installed, and with (I hope) sufficient room for my 7.5 Johnson to provide rear power.

Leaves the anchor system up to question. I can see using the boat somewhat as a "Power Drifter", able to motor back up-river to re-fish slots, but also a full bore drift boat that will be great for pulling plugs, etc. Small, but the best of both worlds.

Q: Anyone use a front mounted anchor system on their drift boat?

The transom issue has been set aside for now, as that horid green pain is ALL coming off. Spent 20+ hrs. over the last week sanding, scraping, using stipper, belt-sanding, etc. The stuff was on THICK, but the wood underneath will be sweet looking once properly cleaned, buffed, stained and sealed.

Anyone who has done a job like this feel free to jump in with whatever wisdom you can. This is a new thing for me, and while I'm having a blast and looking forward to next Coho season (and Steelhead!), I want to do this old girl justice and give her a new beauty.

Mike