Boats, Ice and weather

D

dan w

Member
Well....the boat building bug has been biting at me. I think it would be a fun project and very satisfying to hunt a boat that I built.

And of course, I have a few questions.

I mainly hunt Gunpowder River, Susquehanna River and a few trips to Blackwater. With that said, I am worried about ice (up to 1 inch) and having to break ice with the boat. Because of that, I thought a welded jon would be the best choice. But after reading the Scaup build, I'm not sure since it looks like a solid boat.

So.... I'm thinking of a BB3 and was wondering what your thoughts/experience with ice and a Devlin boat.

Does the width of the motor well restrict the turning of the motor?

What kind of seas have you had your BB3's in and how did it perform?

Thanks.
 
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Dan,

I've had my BB3 out in solid 3 footers and found it to be a very stable and solid platform. Much more so than my old Jon boat. I have broken ice with it though not sure if it was 1" or not. I have 3 aluminum clad keels that I am sure help with the ice breaking chores. I just take it slow and the boat does the rest.

With regard to the motor well, I widened mine about 2" on each side to accomodate the motor I'm using (30 hp Evinrude). It will turn to the stops and not hit the sides of the motor well - even on tilt.

You are correct, the Black Brandts and the Scaup are both very solid boats. I am not at all uncomfortable running in just about any weather that is fit to be out in.

Pete
 
Pete,

Thanks for the feedback!

The BB3 looks like it would go through the ice fairly well with the v bow, but it's nice to hear from someone who has done it.

Three footers?! That is more than I want to deal while in a duck boat. (My white water canoe is different story..:)

I like the idea of the flotation pods on the stern to help reduce draft, but don't want them to interfere with the turning motor.

Sorry about the name folks, there are a few reasons for not wanting to put my full name up. I had some trouble with identity theft and don't want to deal with that again.

The other reason..... my wife was stalked years ago. At the time, she was still working on her bachelors degree and had to take exams in the police station. A few dragged out court cases later, the stalker got a slap on the wrist. The officer she worked with told her that the stalker was the type of person who would show up 10 years later. So with that, we didn't put our engagement or wedding announcement in the local paper. We don't use myspace, or use e-mails with real names.

I hope you will understand. Thanks for the help!
 
Dan,

It is a necessity when building one of these boats with a motor well to know what the operational envelop is of the motor you will be using. Once I did that I realized that without modifying the motor well the motor would be hitting the sides of the well when in the tilt position. I ended up adding almost 2" per side to the well width dimension to accomodate my motor.

Building one of these boats is a fluid process it seems as the variations in wood, tolerance stack up, and our own personal skill and desires all effect the final product. You will enjoy the process almost as much as the boat inself.

No problem with your screen name from my end.

Pete
 
I've broken 1" clear fresh water HARD ice with my BB2. I have also gotten up on it and not have it break. I don't like sliding backwards off ice so I got up where the boat sat on it and jumped up and down to break it. It's exciting. Weight has more to do ..probably...than hull shape when ice breaking and these are pretty light boats. It works better with two guys and a dog.
 
Building one of these boats is a fluid process it seems as the variations in wood, tolerance stack up, and our own personal skill and desires all effect the final product. You will enjoy the process almost as much as the boat inself.

Pete
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That's what I was expecting! And that is one of the reasons I like a DIY project. Of course "the minister of domestic affairs" doesn't understand that aspect....yet.

Thanks again,
Dan
 
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Harker,

Maybe I don't get out enough... What is HARD ice? Do you guys in the midwest get SOFT ice? The stuff over here in VT seems to be the hard variety, unless it is in a margarita.

Anyone ever put inverted aluminum angle on the bottoms of these things where the keelsons go? Seems like a knife edge like that would work slick for breaking up thin ice.

I know not so many here love aluminum, but I've broken a lot of ice in aluminum v-hull boats and they work well for the purpose.

Charlie
 
I've broken 1" clear fresh water HARD ice with my BB2. I have also gotten up on it and not have it break. I don't like sliding backwards off ice so I got up where the boat sat on it and jumped up and down to break it. It's exciting. Weight has more to do ..probably...than hull shape when ice breaking and these are pretty light boats. It works better with two guys and a dog.
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1" is all that want to deal with! A few years ago, I was talked into hunting the Gunpowder River in late December after a really cold front came through. Low tide, long shaft motor on a 14' v-hull (with a 1" thick plywood floor) and 2 inches of ice. The boat drafted about 9-10" with just the boat, decoys and motor up. With the motor down, and us in the boat, it drafted about 2.5 feet. It was too shallow to use the motor as we cut over from the channel. We ended up jumping out of the boat, breaking the ice and pulling the boat by hand.

After that I wanted a shallow draft boat that could hide well, be stable, but could still be sea-worthy.

Thanks, I think my mind is made up to which boat I want.

Besides widening the well, and changing the knees to bulkheads, adding internal keel, any other mods to think about?

Eric, I really like the way you did the Scaup's drainage and fuel line under the floor.

Thanks again for the help,

Dan
 
Charlie, Charlie,Charlie.....take 1" of crystal clear ice...and 1" of cloudy ice and you will see the difference in "hard" vs "soft" ice. "Hard" ice will let you break a channel that is barely wider than your hull and you bounce back and forth in it. I have broken up to about an inch and a half through it with my old 1750 MV alum. jon and also ran it up on top..pretty scary when the boat slides back into the water with the bow way up in the air and the transom looking like it is about to go under."Hard" ice will ruin a prop pretty quick too.
 
Sometimes you don't get a choice. More than once I've hunted as the ice formed around the boat in the water we were hunting, or formed in the sheltered area back near the launch while you are out in the open water with nary an ice cube in site.

Ask Eddie Gagne about our diver hunt last season. It was liquid water on the way out and ice was forming around us all morning. It was well less than an inch by the time we had to head out, but if we'd stuck around, we could've had to deal with a lot more just to get back to the launch. If the boat couldn't deal with the ice, I'm not sure what plan B would be for getting the boat out.

Sure, sometimes you launch into it and take your chances with breaking ice on the way out (I know I do and will continue to) but other times, you just have to deal with the cards your given. In that case, it is nice to have a setup that can handle it.

Charlie
 
Harker,

I stand corrected. I'll have to pay more attention to the ice conditions to notice the difference.

It must be kind of be like snow - I guess the Inuit people have a zillion words for snow. To most people, snow is snow. You spend enough time in and around it and you can see why there are so many words to describe "the same thing".

Separated by a common language again. That's twice in two weeks.

Charlie
 
Ice breaking - Dan, make sure that you face the angled fronts of the keel and/or keelsons with metal. Any metal (flat aluminium or half round brass) will hold up better than the raw wood.

Up here in the great white north when it starts to freeze up we have one day where it is 1/4 inch thick ice and then the next day it is 3 inches thick, so I never planned on taking my BB3 out for ice breaking. However, now that our weather patterns have changed I can get in two or three weekends of hunting with less than 1/2 inch of patchy ice. I did not face my keel or keelsons with metal. I did coat them with about 1/4 inch of thickened epoxy and shaped them to cut the water better. They were tore up pretty bad this last season all the way through the epoxy and into the wood. It is one of my projects this summer is to clean up the damaged faces and trim them up with aluminium.
 
Thanks for the help!

I don't plan on using the boat to break really thick ice. (If it is that thick, I'll either sit in a tree, stay home, or make my buddy bring his war eagle). But, rather I wanted to know what the safety limitations are and how the boat handled in real world situations.

Dan
 
I use to gun deal island ,md and broke 1" ice with my fiberglass BBSB, a boat should ride up on the ice and the weight of the boat bracks the ice,thats how ice bracker work they ride up on the ice. bill
 
Our salt ice is soft especially when the sun is out. It bends like hard taffy. Boat rides up, weight pushes it down and breaks. Lou's paint holds up brilliantly thank God.

Or if that fails, I send Morton out with a shovel and I drink hot coffee until he's done clearing a path.
 
All this "ICE STUFF" makes me glad I don't have to deal with it.I recall books I've read on ice boating where they were racing BBSB ,sail,body english and pike pole to steer.That would be a hoot.
 
We usually have some great hunts when it gets cold enough for the swamps and small creeks to freeze over . Unfortunately it doesn't happen every season. In the odd years when we get a lot of ice many stake blinds get carried away by the ice. I've personlly broken tail lights of my boat trailer on ice and lost a transducer or two. Other than the occasional good hunt you guys can keep the stuff.
best,
harry
 
I've broken 1" clear fresh water HARD ice with my BB2. I have also gotten up on it and not have it break. I don't like sliding backwards off ice so I got up where the boat sat on it and jumped up and down to break it. It's exciting. Weight has more to do ..probably...than hull shape when ice breaking and these are pretty light boats. It works better with two guys and a dog.
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The canadian coast gaurd is looking for a few good men to work on there ice breakers.....lol dad was on them buggers for 17 years he went all the way around 2 times..
 
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