Mike, I too am in the process of finishing a project that this gentleman and his son from whedbey started. It is a Don Hill 16' HS,(high side) drift boat.Most everything was done to it but have looked very hard at putting the UHMW on the bottome, for protection and to slide over the rocks,launch and stuff.I found these two sites that sell at the wholesale price and found that i could buy a piece big enough for my boat at about $120. So for about the price of a wet coat product, you could put this on. Am going to do it with mine and will let you know how it goes, but i have to finish the sound boat first, need to be able to go out crabbing.
http://www.mcmaster.com/
http://usplastic.com/
Hope these help, I would post pictures of my project if i could figure out how to reduce the images enough to attach them. So anyone with suggestions , I sure would appreciate then, Fishy.......

Kyle,

I think once I add the add'l 1/4" ply to the bottom, along with a couple coats of the graphite/epoxy mix the bottom will be in fine shape. To me, the flex is a good thing...if it was too stiff something would be likely to give out along the bottom.

Wood boats, to me, have a special "feel", or one could even call it a "personality". Sorry you gave up on your wood drifter..perhaps someday I'll do the same, but not for awhile.

Fun5: I have let the ground out area dry for several days now, and tomorrow (I'm down in Woodinville helping my dad install a new shower at the moment) I plan to use a dremel tool and grind a bit more, just to be sure I got it all and anything adjacent to the bad spot. I am told by experts that the dry rot will follow the glue lines in the ply, and want to be sure there are none of those little germs left to procreate..

Put a lot of thought into the issue of shortening the length..and have decided to leave the length as is, but to lessen the angle of the back transom so it will better accept the outboard. I do have to replace one short piece of the 1/2" ply bottom at the transom, but this too will be covered by the addition of the 1/4" piece. Should be solid as a rock (in case it hits one!) and remain full-length.

I'll post up some new pics tomorrow.

Mike

mike,
glad to hear the flounder bay was helpfull. It also sounds like you've got things in order.
I just wanted to warn you about one thing regarding painting over the epoxy. You will need to wait at LEAST 7 days after applying an epoxy coating until you paint over it. The blush created by the epoxy will cause the paint not to cure (don't ask me how i know this). Also make sure to either wipe the blush off (amonia water mix) and/0r sand it down with some 220 grit sand paper.
I would also use a primer over the epoxy before you put your paint on.
Just thought i'd mention this.
Look forward to seeing more pictures. You're doing a great job and keep it up.

Take care,
chumsalmon

please keep us posted.. i love watching these projects. someday i am gonna find me an old double ender to restore:)

Somethingsmells:

Sounds like a great project! Restoring one this old (my neighbor tells me he remembers this boat on the Skagit back in the late 60's) is a bit of a project, but I figure there is a lot of learning to be had in the process that can be applied to future projects.

Chumsalmon: I'm using the System 3 Epoxy, and got their book on its use. Great book to have and it explains in detail much of what I'll need to do. I think they call that film "amine blush", and your directions seem to be "right on" with the System book (now that I looked it up!). Thanks for the reminder..that's a step I might have missed!

Here is a shot of the exterior now that it is fully sanded and (in time) will be filled, epoxied and painted.



Working now on stripping the interior paint. Much tougher job with all the angles, corners and structure, but it's coming along OK. The interior will be painted, also, but I want it to look as good as possible when done, so ALL the old crap is coming off.

Here is a pic of the transom area. You can see the line on the bottomw here the old, inner transom was mounted. Once the new 1/4" addition to the bottom is mounted and epoxied in place, that "U" shaped piece will be placed back in the cut-out, epoxied in and edges filled. Plan is to add a 1/4" piece on top of that, inside, to cover the line from where the old inner transom was mounted to the back of the boat. This will provide additional support for the new transom in back, and better strength for the outboard.



Mike

mike,
looks great! You're doing a wonderfull job. Keep us posted and if ya need in help or have any questions feel free to ask. Good luck and keep up the good work.

chumsalmon