The old 14’ Specialized Marine drift boat is getting a new bottom this summer, right now it’s a mixture of coatit, bondo, caulk, and a few other unidentifiable substances. After the wood work is done I’m wondering if fiberglass and coatit is the way to go or uhmb. Anybody out there have experience with wood driftboats? Tell me how you did your bottom and how it’s holding up. Any advice would be appreciated.

Oh, I thought we were talking about something else.

When you say uhmb, do you mean uhmw (ultra high molecular weight) polyproplyene? This is the stuff (normally white) that is used for industrial cutting boards and such... burly stuff. I work for a snowboard company, lots of ski and snowboard companies use this stuff for the bases on their skis/snowboards... if you could get it in a color other than white, it might be great for the bottom of a drift boat... maybe white would work, too.

-N.

You can get UHMW in many different colors, Ive seen it green, black, red and so on. You can get it in 4x8 sheets,But it is spendy.
Don Hill River Boats in Eugene can help you out. Type that name in a search engine and you should find his webpage.

I had a wood sled that I revived with west systems epoxy and fiberglass cloth. Came out real well and tough as nails. check out this link and take a look: http://www.sites.onlinemac.com/rspofford/woody_page1.htm

West System epoxy and fiberglass cloth is wonderful stuff. I put a new bottom on my 25 year old Don Hill last year. A complete no-brainer. However, I don't run rough rocky rivers like the Sol Doc anymore. Too old and too lazy. If you want to use a wooden boat on such rivers you should go with the bullet proof plastic stuff.

Happy gluing!

WaterDog thats a great looking boat, is the epoxy you used made by 3M? Ive heard of the epoxy and graphite mix from a guy at the sportsmans show, can't remember the name of the stuff though. Think it actually was the Don Hill rep that told me about it, sounds like I need to get in touch with him. Thanks to all for the tips, now the fun starts.

Driftwood,
I dont know who makes the West Systems epoxy but it was very east to work with, especially for a novice. The boat never leaked and I was never afraid of beaching the boat on the rocks. Ray at Ray's River Dorys in Portland helped me out a bunch and I bought all the supplies from him. Man I wish I still had that boat.

The leftover material made a great camping box coating however.

I added about 65 pounds of glass weight to the bottom of my boat when I built it. I used a mixture of woven roven and layers of 12 ounce cloth with polyester resin. I have bounced down many rivers in low water and have taken blows in the soleduc and calawah and upper Kalama, but haven't had to do any repairs to the boat in 8 years. I even ran into a jerks "boat trap" where angle irons had been driven into a rapid and that was my worse hit ever, and I really should patch the two sides up forward but even that didn't manage to puncture all the way thru the glass. I glassed the inside of my boat with epoxy and that has required periodic maintenance. If I did it again I'd just go all polyester with extra cloth. The cloth is where the strength comes from.

Riverdog-
What a beautiful boat! It is probaly inappropriate but what the heck.....I"ll ask.......If you ever plan on selling your boat please let me know (509-582-3324).


MacSteely

I built a wood boat a few years ago. UHMW is the only way to go. You can get black UHMW at Laird Plastics on Industrial Way in Seattle. You want 1/4". A 10'x48" sheet is about $80.00. Finish your boat bottom however you want. UHMW will NOT strengthen the bottom of your boat, only protect against abrasion. It does this well though. You must screw UHMW onto the bottom of your woody. I know, it's a scary thought. Just lay the UHMW out in the sun for a couple hours before screwing to the hull. Leave your hull in the garage or in the shade. UHMW will expand and contract with heat/cold much faster than your hull. If you don't have it warmer that the hull, it will expand on a summer day and get all wavy. Bad for getting up on top of the water. After screwing the stuff on, back out each screw and coat with 5200 marine sealant so they won't leak into your new hull bottom. Use Silicon Bronze screws. Get them at Tacoma Screw, they're all over the Seattle area. These are the only screws that wont rust or corrode in some manner. My only real advice is, buy an aluminum boat! My woody was my first boat, and I was always babying it, instead of fishing. I bought a used Willie and now I can relax and not worry about the finish!!

Mac,
Sorry dude. I sold that boat 3 years ago. I didnt want to but I out grew it and had no place to keep it out of the weather. Wood boats do have a lot of character. I miss her and thanks for the compliment.

WaterDog-
I could've gone a life time without hearing that! I guess I will get over it.
Oh well, the story of my life. Day late and a dollar short and just plain short! The good news is that my wife thinks 3" is long!