Duck boat Project nearing completion

Ernie Roberts

Ernie Roberts

Member
Well, after almost 1 year of work, we have this ol girl just about ready to get some cattails rubbing against it. I purchased this boat from a friend on walpole Island here in Ontario, a few years ago. Tery knew where 2 of these hulls had laid buried under water for over 20yrs. After he acquired permission from someone at the St. clair Flats Shooting club, he dug them out of the sand and brought them home across the gunnels of his aluminum boat. He salvaged the wider of the 2 hulls for himself, and after I had hunted from his boat, I asked him about the other sitting up on stands back at his house.

No one seems to know the original builder of this hull, which I'd be interested to know. It's a well built hull, and whoever designed it knew what they were doing. It's 16' in length with a beam around 50". No floatation in it, which has me a bit concerned, but it's not intended for the big water.

It has been a labour of love, many hours of tedious work. The bottom was completely sanded down to bare glass, and recoated with another 3 layers and 4 on the bow area. We trued the bottom up with 2 coats of bubbles and resin, then after block sanding and priming, we sanded with a final 320 before spraying with Pettits Marsh Grass. The deck was first sprayed with Gravel Guard through a Shutz gun to help hide some minor imperfections and also to give the top deck and inside hull a non slip surface, before final paint coats.

The first 2 photos were upon picking it up from Terry, and the last one is after the long job of sanding the bottom down.

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Ernie

Take the spaces out of the file name and try uploading again. Then you will have to put in the script [inline filename.jpg] and you should be there, but where I just typed filenane, you will have to put your file name. Otherwise email to travelingdecoy@gmail.com and I'll post them up...I'm interested to see this boat, hopefully you have before and after shots.

Chuck
 
Hi John, thanks for the kind words, I'm really proud that as in life, the hard work has paid for itself in rewards. Just to sit and look at the old boat makes me smile, and I'm looking forward to getting Paul out in it as soon as it's ready. I'm gunning with Paul and your buddy from Ohio with the Duckwater rig this afternoon on Lk. St. Clair. i'm looking forward as much for a ride in that Duckwater as I am about shooting today..lol
 
Hi Chuck, thank you for the help with getting the photos posted. If it's not too late when i return home tonight or if I have enough steam left in me, I will try again to post the photos, if not, I will forward them to you..Thanks again...Ernie

This is my buddy Daryl shooting the first coat of paint over the Gravel Guard base coat (to give a bit of texture) to the inside and top deck
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Bottom of hull was given 2 coats of high build primer and sanded between coats with 320 grit paper, followed with 3 coats of Pettits Marsh Grass Enamel Paint.
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We made a new mud motor mounting plate and installed a screw in brass drain plug. No more sponging out the bottom of this boat
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Daniel,

The original porter explained in his first post about the fact that the photos did not load.
(Can't seem to get them posted, but hopefully I will get it figured out within the next few days and post for you to see)
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Another shot of the gravel guard undercoat
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My buddy Tim, who was good enough to let me use his facilities and knowledge to help get this project now near completion. He's a tough critic, and always quick to let me know, that nothing would be done half assed on his shift..
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That's a cool lil boat! Story is great also. How Stable is it and do you plan on putting a motor on it?

Gene
 
No floatation in it, which has me a bit concerned, but it's not intended for the big water.
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Ernie,

Great looking boat, and great job on the restoration. However, given the location your buddy found these two boats, I think I'd be looking at adding some floation unless you never plan to get out on water deeper than your waders. With the temperatures we deal with during duck season, it would be money well invested.

Again, great job and thanks for sharing the pictures!

Chuck
 
I have the same boat. It was built by Sun River Canoe, Sun Fiberglss Inc., Manistee MI. My boat was built in 1989 and is a Union Bay Model. It is 15'9'' in length and 52 wide. Rated for a 10 hp engine and a 1000lbs. max capacity. The boat I have has floatation built in the front and rear. I call it my "Marsh Barge".
 
Nice boat and great job on the restoration!
I would think about adding some floatation to the bow & stern, shouldnt be that hard to do.
 
I like this boat alot. It has nice lines. Are you putting a mud motor on the back, did I read that correct? What size?
 
I agree that I need flotation in it, as I would feel so much better. There isn't much room to add foam in that hull, as I wanted to install a battery box in the bow, and also to leave a place for dry storage, but I suppose if it sinks there won't be much dry areas anyhow..Terry had his parked in the reeds last fall on Goose Lk while out gunning, the wind switched 180, and sunk his boat, and two guys had an aweful time with the waves pounding into shore to get it floating again..

I'm not certain of how to install the foam up there, unless I used spray cans and filled the foward and rear cavities full. The hull doesn't weigh that much..I'm guessing 150lbs empty, but we built a custom 11hp long tail mud motor to drive it so that will add probably another 120-150lbs. roughly 300lbs that I would need to compensate for. I wonder how much foam that would require?

Thank you Bill for informing me of this boat. I have asked so many people if they knew the history of this manufacturer and no one seemed to know anything about it. Terry said his hull is about 6" wider than this one I have..How many models of this hull did they make. Is the company still in business? Any idea how many years the company made these or maybe I should ask how many years the company was in business?
 
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Ernie, try to stand the boat up and use the two part pour foam. Thats what I had to do for one of my skiffs. The girlfriend was little confused when she came home and skiff was standing up against the side of garage and she couldn't get in.
 
Keep in mind Pat, this is Canada I live in. Trying to find 2 part foam might be like finding the elusive needle in the haystack. In the US, you guys can likely purchase stuff like that from your local hardware store.

I wonder if rather then closing off/filling the bow and stern completely full, if I could partially fill them, to still have enough bouyancy (spelling)..There isn't much room in that hull to store items other than in those 2 areas.
 
Hi Paul, I will give them a call, thanks for the info. Thank you also for another enjoyable afternoon gunning yesterday. Your company is always appreciated. If I have time, Tim and I are hoping to install that self aligning bearing in the upper drive shaft of the mud motor this afternoon..
 
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