Baron
Active member
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2020
- Messages
- 1,548
I got issues, can you believe it? Not very old but plenty of arthritis and other issues. My Canoe is a 18' Tripper canoe, heavy and unstable and long. To get in and out of the Kayak meant creative collapsing on my part......worse to get out. However I wasn't ready to give up watersports yet. I live 1/4 mile off the Delaware just above Easton and daily it beckons me to be on it.
I began looking for plans to build a row boat to drift from Sandt's Eddy to Easton (5miles) and in the process I found Montana-Riverboats.com. You send Sandy $25 and he sends you an internet key to unlock the plans for three boats of your choice. You can build one or all three. Then you have his active forum to assist you in the building process.
I knew what I wanted and I've built ply boats before. I wanted a minimalist boat that was made from local materials. I wanted plans that were simple enough to cheat on and no one would know it. This little buffalo boat is a double transom boat.......the same as his 15 footer but with both ends cut off. This leaves you with a 12' boat with the same waterline length and initial buoyancy of the bigger boat but without all the length. Using free pieces of 3/4 inch ply for the transoms and 3 sheets of $15 - 3/8 ply for the sides and floor I came up with this pleasing minimalist Fly-fishermens dreamboat. Two men can easily fly fish from it. Usually its me and the Dog. Sometimes I use spinning gear with two lite friends and we collect fish for the freezer. The boat is very, very minimalist and one can easily build it to any level of finish they think is appropriate. All of the lumber came off my 32" Bandsaw mill except the gunnels which are dark western cedar. All seems are rounded epoxy and the whole boat is covered with fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin to protect from water damage. I built it and learned the basics of fly fishing during the same 5 week period (very quickly) where my hand was in a cast from a bone removal in the right wrist. I could push with the cast but I couldn't grasp anything. I learned from scratch to cast with the left hand and now I'm ambidextrous.
The exterior paint system I used is very technical :-D, whatever is on sale at Home Depot. It dries more slowly than epoxy paint but tears don't well up when bang-clanging around in the stump field or when scraping my way down the Delaware during low water events.
I had a naval architect do an appraisal on it and with his stamp of approval he ran it into Harrisburg and they promptly issued a title and registration. Placed on an old trailer I can take it to any state in the union. Its around 300 pounds loaded.
Wherever I go people complement it and I must say I like it allot as well. Its made for rivers and turns on a dime so don't expect a rowing and tracking wonder like some old New England Whitehall. It does exactly what it was intended to do and at 65" wide is very nice to stand and fish from.
Many family member have used the boat and I hope to add auxiliary power and a fish finder this year. Below are a few photos for your enjoyment. It has taken me to places that are special in both salt and fresh water.
My name is Don Tyson. See the build on Montana-Riverboats.com last summer.
Moderator I forgot to place this in the Gear section. sorry.
I began looking for plans to build a row boat to drift from Sandt's Eddy to Easton (5miles) and in the process I found Montana-Riverboats.com. You send Sandy $25 and he sends you an internet key to unlock the plans for three boats of your choice. You can build one or all three. Then you have his active forum to assist you in the building process.
I knew what I wanted and I've built ply boats before. I wanted a minimalist boat that was made from local materials. I wanted plans that were simple enough to cheat on and no one would know it. This little buffalo boat is a double transom boat.......the same as his 15 footer but with both ends cut off. This leaves you with a 12' boat with the same waterline length and initial buoyancy of the bigger boat but without all the length. Using free pieces of 3/4 inch ply for the transoms and 3 sheets of $15 - 3/8 ply for the sides and floor I came up with this pleasing minimalist Fly-fishermens dreamboat. Two men can easily fly fish from it. Usually its me and the Dog. Sometimes I use spinning gear with two lite friends and we collect fish for the freezer. The boat is very, very minimalist and one can easily build it to any level of finish they think is appropriate. All of the lumber came off my 32" Bandsaw mill except the gunnels which are dark western cedar. All seems are rounded epoxy and the whole boat is covered with fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin to protect from water damage. I built it and learned the basics of fly fishing during the same 5 week period (very quickly) where my hand was in a cast from a bone removal in the right wrist. I could push with the cast but I couldn't grasp anything. I learned from scratch to cast with the left hand and now I'm ambidextrous.
The exterior paint system I used is very technical :-D, whatever is on sale at Home Depot. It dries more slowly than epoxy paint but tears don't well up when bang-clanging around in the stump field or when scraping my way down the Delaware during low water events.
I had a naval architect do an appraisal on it and with his stamp of approval he ran it into Harrisburg and they promptly issued a title and registration. Placed on an old trailer I can take it to any state in the union. Its around 300 pounds loaded.
Wherever I go people complement it and I must say I like it allot as well. Its made for rivers and turns on a dime so don't expect a rowing and tracking wonder like some old New England Whitehall. It does exactly what it was intended to do and at 65" wide is very nice to stand and fish from.
Many family member have used the boat and I hope to add auxiliary power and a fish finder this year. Below are a few photos for your enjoyment. It has taken me to places that are special in both salt and fresh water.
My name is Don Tyson. See the build on Montana-Riverboats.com last summer.
Moderator I forgot to place this in the Gear section. sorry.
