Sometimes you change your mind

I built this boat about three years ago. I've been insulting it ever since. The original idea was to build a relatively flat bottomed boat so I could use it with a motor. On Lakes. But still have enough rocker to use it as a drift boat on the rivers too. I didn't want a Rapid Robert. I wanted a drift boat with pointed end downstream. So I didn't have to cock the front of the boat so you hit each new wave with the front left or front right corner, the way you do with a Rapid Robert--or with the Buffalo Boat too for that matter. I called this boat the Boattail because it is so wide at the transom. Wide in the middle too. It's 56" inches wide across the bottom, even though it's made from 4'x16' side panels (about 15' feet long).

Jeremy Christensen rowed this boat on the Yellowstone once and acted surprised. He said it rowed better than he expected after all the bad things I'd said about it. Actually the Boattail slows down and holds better than any boat I've ever rowed. It's just a bit too slow to turn for me. All "flat spot in the middle" boats are like that. Stable but not nimble.

Then I bought a 14' aluminum V-bottom with a 20hp motor and started using that on the lakes. So the Boattail remained a good but slightly slow river boat for three years. But the tin boat was too small for the 20hp and it was a bit scary at full power on a windy day. So I sold the tin boat and recently put the 20hp on the Boattail, now three years later. The Boattail motors like a charm. At full throttle with the 20hp Merc it's still stable and safe (unlike the little 14' tin boat). And you can put a trolling motor on the front too. And still have oars in the middle.

I used to insult this boat because it is a little slow to turn when using it in tricky water on the river. For difficult water I much prefer the Honky Dory. But the Boattail sure is a nice all around boat. Sure does do well on the lakes. The HD with a motor is not a good idea. Beavertail sort of takes a motor. But not really. The Boattail zooms around like it was born that way.

Everything is a tradeoff. And I'm now liking this tradeoff a lot more than I did before I put the 20hp motor on it. The trolling motor up front is mounted to a seat swivel. So I can twist it out of the way when tilted up. The seat swivel has a latch for locking it in place when under power. So the trolling motor turns the boat instead of the seat swivel. Works like a charm. I've been using this rig for fishing. But also for sneaking up close on birds.

Motor over to the far side of the reservoir. Tilt up the 20hp. Tilt down the trolling motor and sneak up on the shore birds in total quiet.

I think it's an awesome boat! just think fishing a lake by yourself standing and casting while the electric slowly move you along the shore. Or better yet, trolling a wooly bugger while sipping a cool one..... =)

I'll bet it rows pretty nice on flat water too.

PS Love the umbrella!!!!

I had a conversation with Dave yesterday. He and Mike just got a 5 HP Honda. Dave is getting Mike's raft frame setup for it. I think he said they around 1600. He also said Honda make a 2.3 HP 4 stroke also but, it does have a plastic prop which might be okay and the 2.3 is only about 30 pounds. The 2.3 has a 1 liter tank and has a 2.5 hour run time at full power. The Honda 5 also has optional alternator for power output, not sure what the voltage is but if it's 12V which is likely with an inverter it would be useful. We could bring a CD player and LCD and watch moves on Deso next time. Suzuki make a 2.5 and I think Yamaha has small ones also.

5 seems like it would be the limit for my decked boat because of the rocker. The 2.3 might be better.

Seems like 20 HP on your boat would make it fly! The new 4 stroke motors put out amazing power for how small they are.

Af few year back on an Oct low water Deso trip, Pearl brought his 8 HP 2 stroke. We barged up 10 boat and that motor pushed 15000 pounds all of the first 16 miles of flat water. Cocktails were served for hours that day and we got to camp early for more cocktails and dinner. I am definitely not and anti-motor person.

I would get one but, the regulations for getting a boat legal are such a PITA I think I will just keep rowing the flat water. I have so much junk which needs to be licensed one more thing might push me over the edge.

Getting my boat licensed for a motor was a giant pain the butt. One trip each To Fish Wildlife and Parks, Highway Patrol and County Court House. But once it's done its done. I was able to buy a "lifetime" license for both the boat and the trailer.

They require it here even for trolling motors. Which I already bought (not knowing about licensing). So I had little choice.

I hope the Utah folks are not reading my email, they might get ideas. We don't have to license Txxxxers here yet. As soon as they figure out they can get another 50 bucks it will be in the works for sure.

Dave was telling me any motor over 50HP now has to have a title assigned to it. All kinds of extra regs for if your boat (like a raft of dory) won't have permanent numbers on it. Here too even a .25 electric motor requires the license. If I get a raft one day I will need a license for the raft, fishing dory, white water dory, square back canoe. This is out of hand for sure.

Lets see

permit to get into the parks and/or federal land
permit for the river launch
license to catch the fish even though I put the back
license for dog number 1
license for dog number 2
license for the wife up front
license for the truck
license to drive the truck to the river
license for the boat
license for the motor cycle used for the river shuttle.

I think I need to increase my estimate of what I will need for retirement. 1.5 million won't even come close.

That's the one thing WA State hasn't jumped on. We can have an electric all day long and no license required but, one piston and you get to jump through the hoops for the WN number. Don't forget the dry bag with the first aid kit (good idea anyway), the flare gun, the horn, emergency lights....... Makes for quite a kit. The trailer go with out saying for licensing. It's pretty easy, a run through the line at the State Patrol safety check and to the DOL. Home made boat, a Coasty has to have a look and show all the safety gear and enough PFD's for all seats and it's off to the DOL.

Licenses for all that stuff and any moron can make children. How about a parental license?

wyboat Wrote:
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> Licenses for all that stuff and any moron can make
> children. How about a parental license?

Like in China??? As much as I agree that some people just shouldn't breed I'm not sure I'd want to head down that road.

It has been over twenty years but I remember visiting with a boat builder somewhere near Heise, ID who had built a similar boat using some sort of foam core encased in fiberglass. This was the fellow who built the guide boats for the Teton Valley Lodge guides. Those guides would show up at the boat ramps on the South Fork of the Snake with 2 and 3 boats stacked on a trailer. I do not remember them being very gentle when they unloaded them. Tough and light, or at least that is what I think I remember.

Anyway, the builder had kept the transom wide and had little rocker towards the back of the boat. I only saw it on the lawn and not on the water but every time you post about your boat I think of that one. I thought it would have been a good boat for the South Fork where sometimes it is nice to run a motor.

Does your boat plane with the 20hp? I am currently running a Might Mac 16 which is very similar to a Rapid Robert. Just a bit longer. I like the extra room especially when we are camping. I have a 15 hp Honda on it and it does OK under power but not great.

I live on the Snake in Burley, ID and the boat is rigged similar to your's with a trolling motor up front. We catch a lot of smallmouth here and the boat fishes well. It also goes to the South Fork a few times each year. Good boat and it get a lot of compliments at the boat ramp.

I appreciate what you do with this site and the ideas that get tossed around. Good stuff. Thanks for doing it!

I need an umbrella...