First Build-BBIII with Phil (Updated first hunt pics)

Picked up the 23hp Backwater on Wednesday. Installed the leveling plate on Thursday and hit the water for the first time today, she floats! The guys at Backwater were fabulous and answered all of my questions. I added accessories including a battery, battery box & motor cover with stubble straps for hunting while I was there.

I am impressed with how well the motor balances on the universal mount from Backwater and it was an easy install. I chose to install it on the inside of the transom both to simply have the weight on the inside of the boat rather than on the back and it moves the prop closer to the boat allowing the prop to spin in undisturbed water.
View attachment 20170511_105929.jpg


The first time out it was just me an the new pup Chief. I quickly learned it will take some time to get used to how a mud motor handles vs. an outboard and I cant wait to install a grab bar.

We topped out at 20mph and were able to hold that consistently in open water.

I went back to the ramp and added my 3 heaviest bags of decoys and still was able to get 18mph.

She rides great and I am impressed with the balance of the whole rig. I was able to stand on the grass on each side of the boat without the fear of flipping the boat or falling over. It cut great through the smaller parts of vegetation I was able to test it out in. I assume with a fully loaded hunting haul I should still be able to easily get 15mph.

View attachment 20170512_115548.jpg
 
Last edited:
What a sweetheart!!!!! Pics like that make me want to get better even faster. That motor sure looks like a good one for sure.
 
I went back and looked at a lot of your posts from the BBIII build. Gave me some good insight, thank you.

What are you building now?
 
Andrew, Was your last post a reply to me ?

I haven't built a BBIII, I'm planning on building a modified bluebill, just waiting on the doctor to say I'm good to go back to work when that happens I will start my build.
 
Lol, it's all good Andrew.

I will be running a 23 cooperhead on my boat when I get it built, it's a lil lighter in weight then your backwater, that's why I asked about the transom on your boat.
 
I think she will do fine, I have her on a 14x48 custom aluminum boat that I dropped some weight out of by removing the middle seat and all the heavy foam flotation and she does 26 in deep water with me and my normal hunting load, and that boat should be around 100 pounds heavier then the bluebill I'm going to build.

I have built a few models up and figured out how to build her with a flat bottom to work better with the copperhead motor.

That's enough of me jabbering bout my boat.
 
No more pictures to update since we hit the water at night but with a second person, pup & a yeti full of beer and food the boat still got on plane & we were able to hold steady at 15mph.

More updates to follow once I install a grab bar and the cockpit doors this summer.
 
Looking great man! Glad it's running so well! If you get a minute, could you take a photo the water coming off your transom and of where your cavitation plate sits when you're up on plane? It's been a few years since I sold my BB3 and I'm having a hard time remembering exactly how the water flow works.
 
Last edited:
Clinton, I would love to see how you're going to mod the hull of your Bluebill if you don't mind sharing. I'm going through the same thing right now with the Snow Goose, I'm not sure if it's worth trying to mod the hull to a flat transom or just design a new boat from the ground up. Thanks!
 
I have yet to hit the water again but progress was made on the blind before I took off for a vacation.

For the frame I used 3/4" conduit bent to shape. A 10' length was nearly perfect for each side. The frame is attached using aluminum U chanel that was screwed & epoxied to the combing. A lengthwise piece was welded as an outside anchoring point for the matting.
I plan to primarily layout hunt out of this boat so the frame was bent very similar to how a layout blinds frame is shaped. Props to a good electrician friend that day for the bending & welding.
View attachment 20170524_131726.jpg

For matting I used a stiff black plastic netting over the blind doors & traditional "army" netting for the front deck with the plastic brown, green & black netting removed from it.
View attachment 20170525_105559.jpg

I mostly used a brown rafia grass from Final Approach but experimented with a few other colors as well. The neon yellow you see is from Hardcore. Steer clear of that unless you plan on parking your boat in the middle of a fresh cut wheat field.
View attachment 20170525_170852.jpg

When the doors are open for traveling they do not stick outside of the boat which will be nice when traveling through vegetation.
View attachment 20170526_155130.jpg

I added 2 sets of bungees to each door for opening assistance. A stiff shrug of the shoulders and they pop right open. One end is tied to the grass rail and the other has a carabiner on it to release the tension when the boat is in travel or storage mode.
In the rare case of a second person hunting the doors can be propped up. We will need to sit on the floor to stay low enough and add grass mats to the front, back & top but it should work ok.
View attachment 20170526_154859.jpg

I still need to grass the motor cover & rear splash well area.

I would like to dampen the noise of the doors when they close and clang on the combing. Perhaps a rubber hose that is split and zip tied to the door framing? Any ideas?
 
Last edited:
Looking really good Andrew! How do you secure your longtail when you're travelling? On my smaller boat with a slat floor I have a rubber strap that loops around one of the planks and holds the tail down to the boat floor, but on my new build that will have a solid floor I'm kicking down a few different ideas.

I really like the ergonomics of your blind-you will be nice and low profile even with the blind open.
 
Very nice and exciting... Fun to see of great boats being built. That is going to hunt very nice for you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top