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Stripper Troutboat Update - Part 2 |
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by Larry Pullon - Little Rock, Arkansas - USA |
(click HERE
for Part 1)
I have been waffling a little on naming this boat.
Thought about Hawbuck for a while – but that
name has been taken, and anyway, I call my operation
Hawbuck Marine. I used up LonjJon last year on a plywood
prototype. So, after giving it very little thought,
I decided to stay with previous naming conventions
and simply call it "Trout Boat”. Not glamorous
- but it will be a fine name nonetheless.
I used to wonder why people took on boat projects
in the winter. The cold wet weather can really be
a challenge if you don’t have a heated shop.
The fact is there are too many distractions in spring,
summer, and fall that conspire to take you away from
boat building.
Things are going a little slower with this boat and
I am well behind my imaginary schedule. Fortunately
I have excuses at the ready! First, there was a whole
three days down in Texas crappie fishing on Houston
County Lake (extend that with pre-trip preparation
and post-trip bragging). Then, there was all the spring
honey do’s like yard stuff, and cleaning stuff,
and fixing broke stuff (some of which is still in
progress). I also spent days deployed to several Arkansas
towns when tornadoes caused frightful damage. And
let’s not forget that wooden boats don’t
pay the bills in the south – so I restored and
sold TWO johnboats to pay for stuff.
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These are the two Jonboats I had to
restore to pay for stuff.
(click images for larger views)
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I also went back added a second layer of fiberglass
to the outside of Trout Boat. A second layer is just
as much work as the first layer only you don’t
get credit for it! Well, that about does it on excuses,
there are more, but I am not ready to commit the reserves
until I know which way the wind is going to blow.
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Longjon,
the prototype. |
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Like I said, the prototype for Trout Boat was LongJon.
It proved that a folding boat was doable as a home
project but also highlighted how important weight
would be. Had I messed around with car toppers I would
have known this (or maybe if I was reasonably intelligent?)
but I completely overlooked the weight factor and
it proved too much for me to fold and unfold LongJon
without help.
| Now, this
is what a Troutboat ought to look like! |
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After fiberglassing the front section, I decided
to rein in my desire to make rapid progress and add
another layer of 12oz fiberglass to the outside. If
Trout Boat were to be a Sunday afternoon leisure boat,
one layer would have been fine. But, this is going
to be a rock mashing, stump grinding, go to the fish
kind of boat that is likely to come into frequent
contact with hard stuff – I will trade a dent
or scratch for a good fish every time! I also had
in mind that my brother and I are planing a 100 mile
river trip down the Buffalo and White rivers this
fall – and we will be making that trip in Trout
Boat!
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The White
River - is this worth building a boat
for or what?
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You may know – more fiberglass equals more
sanding. Hours of sanding, no I mean, hours and hours
of sanding. And then there is the sanding dust. Fiberglass
sanding dust gets into everything – inside tool
boxes, storage cabinets – anything that is not
completely sealed, there was even dust on the ceiling.
| Bulletpruff
but light! |
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So, once I decided to stop sanding it was time to
spend a day dedusting the place. Dawning my trusty
gas mask I got out the 100mph blower and proceeded
to dedust the shop. Never mind that I blew the dust
onto my nearby house, the cars and other stuff within
a half a mile. It took a whole day, but eventually
I prevailed.
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Here is
a sneak preview of the color combination.
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Now I can get on to the second half of this project.
The part that most people are going to see.
Larry Pullon
More articles by Larry Pullon:
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