John Fraser
Well-known member
Finally got the new blind done on the Alaskan and took it out for a trial run on Tuesday. It was bright and sunny and the only good decoying opportunities we had were when a few flocks of goldeneye decided to land in the decoys while we were repositioning the boat. Hunted with three guys, two dogs, and 68 decoys. Everything worked out well, boat got up on plane and rode well in some pretty good chop. Just a few things I need to tweak with the dog ladder and with the canvas curtain I place across the stern.
Below are some pics of the blind in progress, but first I’ll explain what was done. It’s framed with 1/8" thick aluminum angle and covered with 0.032" aluminum sheeting. I made patterns for each piece of sheeting with Tyvek stretched across the frame. Most of the vertical seams in the sheeting, as well as the top edge, were folded in with a siding break to increase rigidity and avoid sharp edges. I ripped a 5/4 decking plank in half for a top rail. The blind has a 22 degree angle into the boat. Almost all of the hardware used (except for five coated decking screws) was stainless steel and 3/16" aluminum rivets. There are 2 stainless bolts fastening the blind to the plywood bow deck and 2 bolts holding it to each of the plywood seats on either side. The aluminum angle is also clamped onto the boat rail using pickup truck cap clamps (no holes were drilled in the rail). The blind comes off in three pieces; two 5-1/2 foot straight pieces by the stern and the rest is a larger U-shaped piece around the bow. While lifting it on and off I was quite pleased with the light weight. If we take the layout boat out I can just remove the one 5-1/2' port side section (opposite the console) to load and unload hunters from the layout boat while keeping the guys in the tender out of the wind. The dog doors and fuel fill door are just the aluminum sheeting sliding in an aluminum track. I hope freezing doesn’t become too much of an issue with these, but I really didn’t want to mess with hinges. Since the boat was against one wall in my garage, I built the bow and one side first and then turned the boat around and completed the other side. I painted it with #31 FME and stenciled it with the Krylon camo spray (khaki and brown).
I’m planning on taking the boys out Saturday and Sunday. Hope the birds cooperate!
Below are some pics of the blind in progress, but first I’ll explain what was done. It’s framed with 1/8" thick aluminum angle and covered with 0.032" aluminum sheeting. I made patterns for each piece of sheeting with Tyvek stretched across the frame. Most of the vertical seams in the sheeting, as well as the top edge, were folded in with a siding break to increase rigidity and avoid sharp edges. I ripped a 5/4 decking plank in half for a top rail. The blind has a 22 degree angle into the boat. Almost all of the hardware used (except for five coated decking screws) was stainless steel and 3/16" aluminum rivets. There are 2 stainless bolts fastening the blind to the plywood bow deck and 2 bolts holding it to each of the plywood seats on either side. The aluminum angle is also clamped onto the boat rail using pickup truck cap clamps (no holes were drilled in the rail). The blind comes off in three pieces; two 5-1/2 foot straight pieces by the stern and the rest is a larger U-shaped piece around the bow. While lifting it on and off I was quite pleased with the light weight. If we take the layout boat out I can just remove the one 5-1/2' port side section (opposite the console) to load and unload hunters from the layout boat while keeping the guys in the tender out of the wind. The dog doors and fuel fill door are just the aluminum sheeting sliding in an aluminum track. I hope freezing doesn’t become too much of an issue with these, but I really didn’t want to mess with hinges. Since the boat was against one wall in my garage, I built the bow and one side first and then turned the boat around and completed the other side. I painted it with #31 FME and stenciled it with the Krylon camo spray (khaki and brown).
I’m planning on taking the boys out Saturday and Sunday. Hope the birds cooperate!
