1982 Aeromarine Restoration

[David K]

Steve,

Lots of viruses going around from what I've heard. I'm fighting something off myself.

I don't have a bare photo of the motor cover, but here it is grassed up in the field. I bought it from https://customdecoybags.com/shop/ols/products/universal-size-motor-cover

It has two rows of grass loops on the sides and back and I believe 3 or 4 on top.

 

[Anthony Babich]

Dave boat looks great! I'd say by the time the ducks see it it's too late... but I would add some more salt-hay to that motor & take a look at the pull over canvas Diane makes from customdecoybags.com Diane makes a pull-over blanket style with loops to add grass too. Tanglefree also offers something similar to cover up the cockpit.
Here's the links:

Cockpit Cover Diane: https://customdecoybags.com/...lanket-cockpit-cover

Tanglefree Cover: https://tanglefree.com/.../flight-swag-blanket

Here's my TDB

Can Also Look At Different Cockpit Dodger Design..

 

[M. Schulz]

I should have never sold my areomarine sneakbox....but when I had one, I used a heavier garden fence material as a lap blanket with grass woven through it to nearly completely cover me in the cockpit while hunting. For transportation, it rolled up as described in previous posts like any canvas would. Very effective and field expedient, matched the rest of the boat without issue and could be cut to your desired shape without great expense of time or effort.

 

[David K]

Season preparations are in full swing...

Had to replace my trailer tongue that was kinked in the middle (11' galvanized tongues are hard to find), so I went through the trailer and replaced bearings, bearing buddies, wiring.

Not much to do except some fine tuning of my new flap boards and a new canvas dodger. As for the flap boards, I was toying with the idea of using friction hinges, but after some R&D on the fishing vessels, they seem to lose their stiffness after a year or two. I think I'll stick with what I have, but a friend is going to try them out.

DK

 

[Steve Sanford]

Good morning, David~


Will you be bringing your rig to the SSWA Duckboat Show at Cedar Beach on the 28th?


Hope to see you there!


SJS

 

[David K]

I hope to attend the duck boat show on the 28th. I am supposed to bring the boat to the canvas man on the 16th, so it should be ready for show time. In the mean time:

Last year I installed these door stops on the flaps boards to be able to adjust the board angle. It was helpful to play with, but I think long term these will rust out, so I'm making Mahogony stops where I am happy with the flap board angle. They are sealed with spar varnish and I'm not going to paint them. Need some bright work on the duck yacht. The flap boards are getting some supports by way of 1 1/4" dowels sealed with penetrating epoxy. When the boards are in the down position, the grass rail will rest on these, giving my dog, Georgie, a solid platform to launch from.

I was toying with the idea of rebuilding the dodger completely, but after some experimenting, I decided that the original frame was kind of perfect and in good shape. I am going to replace the rail mounts and then the boat is going to go in for fresh canvas. The combo of the dodger with slight overhead coverage and the flap boards should make the boat hide well. Especially my dogs white face. Last year I hunted the majority of the year with the dodger in the half down position and without any flap boards and we had some great shoots.

What do you think of the flap board gunning position?

DK

 

[David K]

Bill,

Let's get on the birds this year!

 

[Anthony Babich]

NIce work Dave, look forward to seeing you at the show!

 

[David K]

Haven't been on in a while and here is a much needed update on the project. It was great to see some of you at the SSWA show and meet some new faces.

The dowels as flap board rests were installed and have so far proven to be "dog proof." I also fabricated mahogany rests secured to the interior of the flap boards to keep them in their desired gunning position.

Finally, the new canvas dodger and cockpit cover are complete. The Dodger frame and canvas are super solid and provide great cover while running and gunning. Combined with the extra cover I'm getting from the flap boards, I almost don't know how I had ducks decoying last year. My two hunts in the first split weren't great, but I am still learning how to hunt the boat most effectively.

Question for the board: What to do about decoy storage? I can fit a dozen decoys in the forward area, but its kind of a pain to get on my knees and fish them out of there with the dog there as well. Small boat / big man problems. Would I be better off using a 12 slot decoy bag or maybe two of Diane's 6 slot gunnel bags? I purchased 6 classic H&H decoys at the October show that are being repainted, so I kind of want to transport them in a bag anyways.

 

[David K]

Haven't been on in a while and here is a much needed update on the project. It was great to see some of you at the SSWA show and meet some new faces.

The dowels as flap board rests were installed and have so far proven to be "dog proof." I also fabricated mahogany rests secured to the interior of the flap boards to keep them in their desired gunning position.

Finally, the new canvas dodger and cockpit cover are complete. The Dodger frame and canvas are super solid and provide great cover while running and gunning. Combined with the extra cover I'm getting from the flap boards, I almost don't know how I had ducks decoying last year. My two hunts in the first split weren't great, but I am still learning how to hunt the boat most effectively.

Question for the board: What to do about decoy storage? I can fit a dozen decoys in the forward area, but its kind of a pain to get on my knees and fish them out of there with the dog there as well. Small boat / big man problems. Would I be better off using a 12 slot decoy bag or maybe two of Diane's 6 slot gunnel bags? I purchased 6 classic H&H decoys at the October show that are being repainted, so I kind of want to transport them in a bag anyways.



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A few hunts in and the new setup is working out really well. The canvas work was done by Tommy at Doramar Canvas in Sayville, NY. He's a great guy. Also thanks to Kenneth Deckman for tuning up my new to me decoys. They worked this morning.

 

[Eric Patterson]

David

That is one sweet rig. As for the decoy storage question the typical configuration is placing them tail down on the rear deck with decoy racks to keep them from spilling out. You probably saw them at the show. One other solution I've seen was a dodger with two rows of half funnel shaped pockets that the decoys slipped into. I've been thinking about having one made for the hard dodger on my sneakbox. Seems like it would work.

 

[Dave Diefenderfer]

Haven't been on in a while and here is a much needed update on the project. It was great to see some of you at the SSWA show and meet some new faces.

The dowels as flap board rests were installed and have so far proven to be "dog proof." I also fabricated mahogany rests secured to the interior of the flap boards to keep them in their desired gunning position.

Finally, the new canvas dodger and cockpit cover are complete. The Dodger frame and canvas are super solid and provide great cover while running and gunning. Combined with the extra cover I'm getting from the flap boards, I almost don't know how I had ducks decoying last year. My two hunts in the first split weren't great, but I am still learning how to hunt the boat most effectively.

Question for the board: What to do about decoy storage? I can fit a dozen decoys in the forward area, but its kind of a pain to get on my knees and fish them out of there with the dog there as well. Small boat / big man problems. Would I be better off using a 12 slot decoy bag or maybe two of Diane's 6 slot gunnel bags? I purchased 6 classic H&H decoys at the October show that are being repainted, so I kind of want to transport them in a bag anyways.



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Dave, I have decoy boards on my BBSB and vertical grass on them to add to my concealment. I use slotted bags for my decoys and can fit 2 6 slots on the bow, and 2 9 slots stacked in the cockpit with me while I run the rig standing. If I get crazy for decoys, I have also placed 2 12 slots on the rear deck, but usually only carry 18 to hunt the salt. The more decoys are for open water layout.

 

[David K]

Dave, I have decoy boards on my BBSB and vertical grass on them to add to my concealment. I use slotted bags for my decoys and can fit 2 6 slots on the bow, and 2 9 slots stacked in the cockpit with me while I run the rig standing. If I get crazy for decoys, I have also placed 2 12 slots on the rear deck, but usually only carry 18 to hunt the salt. The more decoys are for open water layout.

I've just started using a single 12 slot bag for my decoys. I usually hunt with less than 12 decoys, so no issue there. I'm using the bow storage area for safety gear and put the 12 slot bag just behind that. Still plenty of room for the dog and I while running and zero risk of anything flying out.

The boat hunts so much better this year with the flap boards although, I could use slightly longer salt hay on them.

 

[David K]

Enjoying the cold weather and birds decoying at 15 yards. Cheers.

 

[Carl]

Nothing quite like a mouthful of quackers.

 

[Anthony Babich]

Nice job! That's what it's all about