There are still a Few of these Original Boats Around.
I was not able to find any Plans, however an old fellow
I
met that has one, allowed me to take lines and
measurements
from his. The following is most of the building process
I used.
This page is to show the process I went through to
build my " Round Bottom Sneak Boat " . This type of boat was used here
on the lower
Susquehanna River ( Mostly from Harrisburg, Pa. down through Holtwood,
Pa. ) . It is similar
to a Canoe , in that it is a Symmetrical double ended boat. However,
that's where the similarities end.
If you were to cut the Boat in half, across the middle, the shape of
the Hull would be much like looking at
an old Whiskey Barrel, except for about 4" - 6" of Flat bottom, that's
how Rounded the Hull is.
Here is a short video of the Round Bottom being
paddled
with me and my son
in it. We were not hunting at the time, however you
can see how the boat is
laid over to one side in order to use the other side
as a " Blind ". This boat is built
too a particular Hull shape so that it is very
"Loose"
when sitting level on the water,
but becomes very stable when leaning to the side.
You'll notice how close the Deck is
to the water, believe me, at this point the boat is
VERY stable, in fact it can be
difficult for a solo hunter to " Roll " the boat far
enough to one side to effectively
hunt this way. ( I'm not sure how long it will take
for the video to load on your computer,
so be patient. Let it load completely , then play
it. )
<----------> Click to start video !
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Sorry, I don't have Pictures to post
before this
stage of construction. I laid out the StrongBack and Station molds as you would for any type of Strip built boat. I then made cutouts in the molds to recess the Keel and the Stems were attached. Then I began the Stripping process. Because this is a Prototype boat, I opted for Marine Grade Plywood , ripped into 1/4" x various widths. |
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Because of the Fast Taper and Quick
Twist,
that the strips take near the Stem, I made the first 4 strips on each side 1/2" wide, then increased the width to 3/4" for the next 6 strips then finaly ripped the rest too 7/8" wide. All strips are Epoxy edge glued, then tacked in place at each station with a small finishing nail, then clamped to the previous strip with a C-clamp or a Spring clamp. |
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NOTE: whenever you Epoxy parts together
and they are touching something you don't want them to Bond to use Wax or Wax paper to protect the part you don't want bonded. I used Clear packing tape, like for taping a box for shipping, to cover the edges of the station molds so the strips would not bond to them. |
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Here you can see that I have completed
the
the stripping to the Top of the stem. Another NOTE: If this boat were going to be finished with Stain and Varnished, I would have started the stripping from the Sheer Clamp rather then the Keel. That would give much better appearence. Since this baot will be painted camoflage, inside and out, I took the easy way. |
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At this point, the Hull has been
completely
stripped and after Lots and Lots and then, Lots more sanding, the Saturation coat of epoxy was applied. After that cured then it was sanded and the Cloth was laid over the hull. |
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Here the Hull has been Glassed and is
ready
to be flipped. |
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Here the boat is being rolled off the
Strong
back, Thats my good friend Steve in the foreground . The Station Molds were unscrewed from the strongback and rolled with the boat. Then they were just poped out of the Hull. |
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Here is the Hull after stations have
been
removed and it has been set back up on the strongback. I have lots of cleanup to do to the inside of the Hull. |
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Here you can see I started to place the
1/4"
thick x 2" wide White Oak Ribs. This was the first time I Bent ribs and it took me a few time to get the hang of it. The ribs are placed 12" on center. |
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This was how i prepared the ribs for
bending.
I boiled water in the steel bucket on a coleman camping stove, then i poured the water into a long container that held 2 or 3 ribs at a time. After the Ribs soaked for about 20 minutes, they were pulled from the water and Quickly placed into position. |
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Here you can see the ribs are installed
and the
Deck knee braces are installed. |
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Not much new to see here. I have
started to
fit the far deck. |
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Here the far deck is in place and the
Coaming
has been installed. |
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All the decking, coaming and Rubrail is
in
place and beeing sand in preparation for Epoxy saturation. Bacause the deck on this boat will not be walked on much, i didn't feel that Cloth needed to be applied. |
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Just a quick picture of the pretty,
Shiny Deck
and interior before everthing is roughed up for the final Duck paint is applied. |
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Looks neat. Its been a long road to get
this
far and i can hardly stand it, waiting for the paint and water testing. |
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The Big Day is at Hand !
This will be her first time touching water. |
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Yep, she floats. Now to pull it to
shore and
peak inside, hopefully shes dry. |
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This is the first she was Rowed. I did
find that
an 8' oar would be best. The only Oars i have are 6.5' so i guess i'll have to make a pair ! |
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Now the real test. Is it stable in
hunting
profile ? She's more stable than i could have hoped for. Thats my 11 year old Daughter in the Front Gunner position. ( Its not hunting season yet, but we can dream can't we ? ) |
If you have any questions or comments, please
feel free to drop me an Email !
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