Design a boat for...

[jeepster]

Hey guys,

I am trying to figure our a specific boat design....

Basically, I am looking for the saltwater equivalent of a drift boat.

I want something for rowing, and trolling flies on weighted lines in lieu of downriggers in waters up to 40 feet deep, basically a boat made specifically for summer run silvers, pinks, cutthroats, and in the winter time, a boat for fishing the tide rips for saltwater steelhead......


I want a saltwater fly fishing boat.... No down riggers, no level winds, no mooching reels, a strictly fly fishing only boat.

The boat that instantly comes to mind is a 18 foot grand banks dory with a 25hp inboard shaft driven yanmar diesel....

Call it oldskool, but.... I've yet to see a more traditional, functional design such as an east coast dory.....


I want a motor to get home, but I want oars for fishing.... Any idiot can troll with downriggers and an outboard, but trolling flies via oar for salmon in the salt is..... Well....

Lets just put it this way, if you ever get around to trying it, your outlook on fishing will NEVER be the same....

In BC, they have an elite members only group called the Tyee Club.... Look it up

[PolarBear]

Here ya go, the best of both worlds.
http://hydeoutdoors.com/boat/models/powerdrifter/powerdrifter.shtml

[RadSav]

Plans for building your own Banks Dory are easy to come by.  Why not build one and ad a drift boat type casting platform on the bow? 

You can modify the stern with outboard friendly angles and supports.  I don't expect you'd need much in HP to get it moving well enough to get you back to port.  25 would probably be more than enough.  There use to be a guy that fished out of Newport, OR who ran a 17 or 18 horse Johnson on one and got along pretty good.  I'd suggest throwing traditional out the window when it comes to oars though.  I'd want carbon oars for that much boat in the salt.  A skull type seat would be a nice touch too.

If you are good with wood and build it tight I'd also suggest skipping on the fiberglass.  No need to add more weight if you plan on rowing open water.  Linseed oil would work great and keep your cost down.  And it will never crack and peel.  All my guide drifters were oiled instead of painted.  Though I did run UHMW on the bottom.  In open water that wouldn't be necessary.

While it might not track as well in wind a 17 - 17.5' drifter is going to be easier to row.  And if you build out of wood should be just over 300# dry.  I expect an 18' Banks will run just slightly more weight, but will bust you good rowing all day.  Much better than trying to row 550# of aluminum.  Especially if you add a 40HP motor to a beer can sled.

[jay.sharkbait]

Hey guys,

I am trying to figure our a specific boat design....

Basically, I am looking for the saltwater equivalent of a drift boat.

I want something for rowing, and trolling flies on weighted lines in lieu of downriggers in waters up to 40 feet deep, basically a boat made specifically for summer run silvers, pinks, cutthroats, and in the winter time, a boat for fishing the tide rips for saltwater steelhead......


I want a saltwater fly fishing boat.... No down riggers, no level winds, no mooching reels, a strictly fly fishing only boat.

The boat that instantly comes to mind is a 18 foot grand banks dory with a 25hp inboard shaft driven yanmar diesel....

Call it oldskool, but.... I've yet to see a more traditional, functional design such as an east coast dory.....


I want a motor to get home, but I want oars for fishing.... Any idiot can troll with downriggers and an outboard, but trolling flies via oar for salmon in the salt is..... Well....

Lets just put it this way, if you ever get around to trying it, your outlook on fishing will NEVER be the same....

In BC, they have an elite members only group called the Tyee Club.... Look it up

I would do something with water ballast. It would be cool to flood a centerline tank while stationary or trolling slow and be able to let the water out to run fast on flat water while under power.

Didn't the Tyee club start out at April point?

[Encore 280]

I knew a guy back in the 70's while stationed at LaPush that had an 18' Poulsbo boat that he used for commercial trolling up there. Had an eleven horse Wisconsin gas engine in it and would putt around all day long with that thing. Could probably outfit one with oars too if ya wanted. Very sea worthy boat. I think there's still some floating around too. Might be abe to Google them and see where to find one.

[TheHunt]

I agree with RodSav build your own. 

Look up stitch and glue method it is really easy.  Scarf joints are the challenge with a skill saw.  But it would be way more fun to build one and then you can design everything for your specific use.

[jackelope]

Plans for building your own Banks Dory are easy to come by.  Why not build one and ad a drift boat type casting platform on the bow? 

You can modify the stern with outboard friendly angles and supports.  I don't expect you'd need much in HP to get it moving well enough to get you back to port.  25 would probably be more than enough.  There use to be a guy that fished out of Newport, OR who ran a 17 or 18 horse Johnson on one and got along pretty good.  I'd suggest throwing traditional out the window when it comes to oars though.  I'd want carbon oars for that much boat in the salt.  A skull type seat would be a nice touch too.

If you are good with wood and build it tight I'd also suggest skipping on the fiberglass.  No need to add more weight if you plan on rowing open water.  Linseed oil would work great and keep your cost down.  And it will never crack and peel.  All my guide drifters were oiled instead of painted.  Though I did run UHMW on the bottom.  In open water that wouldn't be necessary.

While it might not track as well in wind a 17 - 17.5' drifter is going to be easier to row.  And if you build out of wood should be just over 300# dry.  I expect an 18' Banks will run just slightly more weight, but will bust you good rowing all day.  Much better than trying to row 550# of aluminum.  Especially if you add a 40HP motor to a beer can sled.

Because any idiot can buy a boat...building one yourself is...well....

 

[Antlershed]

Why not just buy a drift boat and put a kicker on it? You could use that for almost everything

[TheHunt]

Just be careful as a drift boat in the wind is not too much fun.  Running a motor would make life easier.

[Skillet]

Grand banks style dories have too much rocker in the hull to plane, and would be way too overpowered with that 25 diesel.  I had a 26' st pierre dory with a 9.9 hp yamaha outboard motor in a well. Barely sipped fuel, but hull speed limited it to about 6 mph.  I could have put a 4 hp in it and not hurt performance any.
From you post it sounds like youll need to get up on plane.  For that you're going to need a straight run aft.   Take a look at the Glen-L workboat dories section for ideas.

[Bullkllr]

Jeepster- very interesting quest ...You know your not venturing into uncharted waters...but a rowing well and powering well create tough compromises in boat design.

You could go really old-school and fish out and back with the tide like my gramps and dad did in the sound. Could make for some long days...

An Alumaweld Sea Dory comes to mind- a few of those might still be around- more of a motor boat- flat bottomed sled type- oars typically used for "boondogging" not row-trolling.

I've owned drift boats for over 30 years. I don't even like them with a motor in a lake- terrible in any wind- Not what I think you're looking for in the salt.

This one is interesting. Is this what you're thinking or is it more boat than needed? I wonder how it rows?
https://docs.google.com/a/bethelsd.org/presentation/d/11tFGLbGS4w-1KrldkJCuIt11rQW3gFMzk3Y69kTNK0w/edit#slide=id.g5e308cd_0_81

Lots of "dory" plans out there. I would think it may take some looking and research to find the ideal one. Fun idea. Best of luck.

[jeepster]

Yeah, it's a pretty tall order to come up with the perfect boat for this design.

When I say drift boat, I know how bad they are in the wind, they aren't made for rowing, but rather floating down a river and being able to turn to avoid boulders. The original makenzie style drift boats were modified sea dorys, of the grand banks style with just a little more rocker.

The motor I have is a brand new 4hp Yamaha and that lives on my sailboat, and if it weren't for the rigging, mast, and 5 foot draft, I'd slap some downriggers and fly rod holders and all sorts of fun fishing goodies on it, including a tiller autopilot hard wired into my gps sonar chart plotter and run the contour lines on the charts with deadly precision, while sitting back and letting the boat fish itself, sipping cold ones listening to the stereo. But I want something for shallow and quiet operation.

I might just settle with a smaller dory, with covered decks like a Norwegian faering to serve as ballast, and make one into an insulated fish hold, with a well for the motor mounted amidships, but have it set up with a slider rowing seat.

If I decide to go that route, building a boat is no it deal, I do work at a full service yacht yard as a diesel mechanic, and when I'm not doing that I commercial fish and built boats for a number of years

I've gotten used to slow boats, when I ha my glasply I'd go blast around at 35kts and cover so much ground to get to one or two good spots where in reality, I probably passed a few dozen honeyholes that nobody knows about because they aren't on any of the fishing hole maps, in books, or talkd about. Going slow, and thoroughly covering an area results in way more fish.

[RadSav]

With 4hp motor I get the impression you might be looking at something smaller.  Maybe 16 to 18'?  Gig Harbor Boat Works has got some neat little rowers including a sweet 16 footer called the Swampscott Dory. 

I knew a guy that fished the Siletz in Oregon with a wooden Whitehall (I might have that name wrong it's been a while).  I saw him more than once buck some dang serious chop heading out to pull his crab pots.  Seemed to row effortlessly against the river and tide current.

You got me thinking hard last night about options.  One that came to mind would be to get something like a Tatman McKenzie drifter kit and add a removable keel from the deepest point of the rocker aft.  Not only would you have a drifter if you wanted to take on rivers, but you'd have a much more stable platform to fish from than a typical rower.  Depending on the depth and weight of your keel it should drastically improve a drifters ability to track in the wind.  Well, at least in my mind it would be a drastic improvement

[Come Get Some]

Driftboats are only bad in the wind beacuse they do not have a keel. Why not modify a flyfishing style drift boat with a keel and have the best of both worlds. They are readily available and glass is strong,durable and easy to modify.

[Encore 280]

Check Craigslist, there's a 14' Tyee listed plus build your own skiff in 6 days. It's in the Oly Pen. section and dated 05 Mar. I believe. Nice looking boats.