Favorite Drift Boat?

[Brian Clemens]

wlredband, gonna have to agree to disagree. There are some interworkings that puts this boat over the top some i can say some i cant say. I can tell you it's infused aka vacuum packed when it comes to the epoxy resin, no layering and rolling the epoxy on the boat. There is a core cell foam and gets sucked down to 1/8". This stiffens up the hull and supports the carbon fiber, its the middle structure. The other stuff I can't say.
As for taking a beating, yes rocks do cause damage, but surface damage and easily fixable. Hitting those rocks at 3-5mph is a lot different than hitting waves going 50-60mph, at 80mph water is like concrete. Hitting waves going that fast may not cause surface damage but over time will create small stress fracture cracks you cant see. Not easy to fix. Both are bad and both are caused over time. Ill take hitting rocks. Having worked on a few planes that may or may not have had carbon fiber/Kevlar I know how it can be used and its structural integrity. If done correctly that stuff is hard to beat, F1 cars are built out of it, super cars, bikes and the list goes on. You can be skeptical, but I personally know what that material can and can't do. This drift boat will revolutionize the DB world.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Just some info about drift boats over the years:


Wood:

Originally they were made of wood but I think it is too dry in the Sacramento Valley for them.

I think the wooden ones do well in rainy, humid climates like Oregon and Washington.

20 - 30 years ago lots of folks were making their own wooden drift boats from kits or plans.


Aluminum:

Aluminum boats (credited to Willie Illingworth) came online in the '70s.

These welded aluminum drift boats were almost indestructible and needed very little maintenance.

They were a little colder and noisier but really took over.


Fiberglass:

LaMoyne Hyde introduced the fiberglass drift boat in the early '90s.

I think fiberglass are the most popular now especially in milder rivers.


High-tech new materials:

Today they are always trying to make drift boats lighter and stronger.

__________________________________

Drift boat fishing guides would ask the manufacturers to modify their next boat making subtle changes,

If these changes were a good thing the companies would offer them as an option or add it to the standard package.



Leonard Lehr, a good friend, bought a long (18'?) nice wooden jet sled and had it here in the Sacramento area for a while.


My friend Don Rotsma in Reno built a wooden drift boat from a kit or plans one winter.

In the Spring he test-ran it on the high water of the Truckee River and lost it. He said it was probably tooth picks now.



A story I was told:

Down at the mouth of the Rogue or Klamath River, a guy saw something metal barely sticking up in the gravel down near the ocean.

He dug around it and after some time realized it was the tip of an old aluminum drift boat, completely underground.

A friend with a backhoe came and dug it out for him. It was not in that bad of shape but looked like it was "hammer finished".

He said it was a conversation piece now and he fished it all the time.



PS: Drift boats have no floatation, or did not in the past.


~50 years ago we did not see many drift boats on the Valley rivers, especially the Lower American.

Years ago they were floating drift boats on the Klamath and Rogue but not the Trinity much.



(1960) Someone brought one of those really big long V8 jet boats they used on the Klamath and Rogue Rivers to the lower America.

I was at Watt Avenue and it must of been Spring flows because it went right up the river. I think it held 10 to 20 people?


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[WLREDBAND]

Yep, we can sure agree to disagree. CF has been around forever, and is widely used in the aerospace industry (to name just one). It's use and properties are pretty well known to engineers. In the marine industry, especially as a hull material, it's not widely used (unlike all those other industries). There is a good reason for that, as the Titan submersible incident clearly showed. Those hi-tech racing boats going around with CF materials have a relatively short (and expensive) life span. No thanks, I'm not interested in my drift boat randomly disintegrating when it hits a rock, which is an unfortunate side product of running a drift boat.

[Steve S]

In the last four years I've helped a buddy build four carbon-kevlar-fiberglass composite canoes. The hulls are light and strong.

That said, while running the Lower Sacramento out of Redding at 7000CFS we hit a rock in a 17 footer built on an 1/8" vaccuum epoxied foam core. Finished weight about 60lbs.

At the time the boat was loaded with approximately 450lbs of passengers and gear and travelling at about 5mph on the approach to a chute. We hit a rock at about 40 degrees to the waterline and put a 12" crack in the hull at said waterline. The boat remained watertight and we finished our float and the crack was subsequently repaired.

While the carbon-kevlar-fiberglass composite over foam core is rigid, light and durable I do not believe it would be my first choice for freestone rivers. I can only imagine the havoc that might be wrought on a chine, or in a heavier hull, carrying more load. While the hull is servicable, repairs are a process.

For lakes, or rivers without rocks, I think the C-K-F composite would be a gem and I have often thought of using a TPL, Livingston or Olympia pram as a plug and laying one up with ash and spruce gunnels. Clear coated carbon cloth makes for an exquisite hull and the composite lay up over foam core is light and rigid as hell.

Anyway, just my $0.02. I look forward to seeing a production drift boat hull based on carbon fiber.

[Troutsource]

I bought one of these Boulder Boat Works River Skiffs used in May for about 50% off (it was their demo), but have yet to use it!

https://www.boulderboatworks.com/river-skiff/

Goal is to use it primarily on the Lower American & Yuba, as it's built for lower gradient rivers.

The material is a polymer that actually floats and comes in sheets like plywood (the frame uses wood, I believe). It's apparently indestructible (like aluminum), in addition to being lighter than aluminum or fiberglass. It's also quiet and temperature resistant (like fiberglass).

He doesn't know it yet, but I'm going to ask Andy G to float the Lower A with me to teach me skills and do some fishing.

I've only used one drift boat, about 15 years ago (rented an aluminum one on the Bighorn), so I don't have much of a frame of reference.

I'll post after my first use and convey any feedback from Andy.

One of my old friends who is a veteran drift boat user and guide says the "Boulder Boat Works" is his first choice.

https://www.boulderboatworks.com/

He says they are the lightest.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Boulder Boat Works Drift Boat:


My old friend Bruce Porter, who grew up on the Lower American, is retired now from a job in motorsports.

He has taken up guiding again, mostly on the Lower American River.

He has had a Boulder Boat Works drift boat for a while now and believes it is the best one he has rowed.

Bruce believes they are the easiest drift boat to row which is a big deal, especially as we get older.

[Jeff C.]

I’ve rowed Bruce’s Boulder Creek drift boat and I would get one if I needed a bigger boat. I’m still waiting for Bruce to sell me his Metalhead jet sled!