Jimmy / John
Thanks , just don't look too close , as I said before I can't use a brush to save my life
David
Thanks , just don't look too close , as I said before I can't use a brush to save my life
David
Ozarks float boat
- Thread starter dawallace45
- Start date
That's an interesting comment David. I reckon most of us that have built a boat would think the same. I spose if they were perfect we'd be proffesionals.
David.....
That is one good looking boat and it will be interesting to see what you think of it out on the water. I bet it handles like a dream.
Chuck.
That is one good looking boat and it will be interesting to see what you think of it out on the water. I bet it handles like a dream.
Chuck.
A few years ago ..... a krazy Cajun told me that if a boat looks good it will paddle good ..... so going by that , yours will be a dream on the water.
Chuck.
Chuck.
The phone rang and I picked it up and said ...Hello , coming back to me was ...... Hi Mate , what ya up to. 
It was David ( dawallace45 )
We had a nice chat last evening and he said his computer is acting up on him so if anyone was wondering why he has not been on here .... Now you know.
As normal I was fussing about the weather being hot and he said it is getting colder down under , offered to switch weather with him but neither of us could figure out how to do that.
He wanted to know how I was doing and I told him about my back being out of whack and the same thing has him layed up for a spell so I guess it does not matter where you are back problems are universal. I'm just glad mine is not as bad as his has been.
Even with all the problems David did manage to get the boat in the water and try it out. He had a mate with him and between the two of them he said it worked out pretty good with the two of them in it and using a trolling motor to run upstream. As normal he found some things that need a slight adjustment but that is normal when building a boat. On the up side they did catch some fish and added more fun to the trip.
When his computer is up and running David could provide more information on how the boat handled but I wanted you to know he did get it wet , it does float and will help to catch fish.
Chuck.
It was David ( dawallace45 )
We had a nice chat last evening and he said his computer is acting up on him so if anyone was wondering why he has not been on here .... Now you know.
As normal I was fussing about the weather being hot and he said it is getting colder down under , offered to switch weather with him but neither of us could figure out how to do that.
He wanted to know how I was doing and I told him about my back being out of whack and the same thing has him layed up for a spell so I guess it does not matter where you are back problems are universal. I'm just glad mine is not as bad as his has been.
Even with all the problems David did manage to get the boat in the water and try it out. He had a mate with him and between the two of them he said it worked out pretty good with the two of them in it and using a trolling motor to run upstream. As normal he found some things that need a slight adjustment but that is normal when building a boat. On the up side they did catch some fish and added more fun to the trip.
When his computer is up and running David could provide more information on how the boat handled but I wanted you to know he did get it wet , it does float and will help to catch fish.
Chuck.
Thanks for the update.
Let us know if there's anything we can do to help him get back on line.
Old Geezer mode:
When I went off to college, a long distance phone call was an event. An overseas call was a big event. My first week there I discovered something call "email", and marvelled that I could have conversations with people halfway around the world. 30 years later, and we worry that something is wrong if we don't hear from someone for a few days, even thought we've never met. What a fascinating modern age we live in!
Let us know if there's anything we can do to help him get back on line.
Old Geezer mode:
When I went off to college, a long distance phone call was an event. An overseas call was a big event. My first week there I discovered something call "email", and marvelled that I could have conversations with people halfway around the world. 30 years later, and we worry that something is wrong if we don't hear from someone for a few days, even thought we've never met. What a fascinating modern age we live in!
G'day , Back on line now , or at least for a while , our ISP has us slowed down to a crawl , for some reason they reckoned that we used 12 gig in less than 12 days the most of it in 1 day , they gave us another 5 gig and that went in a few hours , they then gave us another 5 gig and that got my wife through the day so she could continue working , she works from home most days , I've checked out all out computers throughly and can't find a problem our end , still don't know what the hell is going on , we normally don't use 5 gig in a month , we don't download music or movies
Can't post pictures at the moment as at my slow speed I can't access photobucket so I'll edit the post later and put them in
But as Chuck said the Float boat hit the water , on reflection it was probably a mistake to do so at that time , I screwed up my back big time about a month back and had to spend a few days just sitting before I could get back to just light duties , was coming good and went kayaking and crabbing down at my mate Ricks place at Boonooroo on the Great Sandy Straights , beautiful place but I screwed my back up again , laid up for a few days and then back on light duties , just coming good and out in the Float boat , 7 hours on the water was just a little too much for the back
We put in at low tide at Sandy creek , the track in was pretty good , this is one of the places I originally wanted to take John when he was here but like the rest of the places I wanted to show him the road was impassable because of the rain , the road is fine now and even better than before ,
We put the boat down just short of the water and put our gear into it , went to lift it into the water than decided that maybe putting the boat into the water then putting the gear in was a better idea , forgot how much weight a electric motor and large battery weighs along with cast net and large cooler , any way on the water and first thing I noticed was that I really should have put the seats lower , I was considering doing that during the building but then forgot about it , also I should have bought the seats I wanted for it before I started so I had a idea how much higher it would bring every thing , I figure at least two inches should be just enough for the rear seat and maybe a bit lower for the middle and front seat ,
I had the motor mounted on the rear but off set some what and controlled by a extension handle with universal , I actually used a universal from a socket set for the job , worked OK but with the height of the motor the control handle come down at a uncomfortable angle and with the motor off set it meant I was for ever correcting my steering ,
I originally made this boat with the idea of eventually mounting a front mounted remote control motor but as of yet I just don't have the funds for it but in the mean time I'll front mount the one I have and use a very long control arm
The boat paddles pretty well , even better when my mate Mick doesn't help , takes ages for most people to be able to paddle well together . This is not Hairy Mick I'm talking about here , this is another completely different Mick , I actually have about a dozen mates names Mick , it gets confusing some times
With the motor the boat gets along really well , actually better than I had expected , It's too unstable for me to stand up in but I'm a bit top heavy , probably Mick would have been able to stand up okay but the only time he tried the wind was whipping down the creek and there was a bit of chop so he had to hold onto a mangrove branch to steady him self [ he was trying to have a pee ] ,
Forecast for the day was fine with light to moderate winds form the south and south west , when we put in it was just a breeze from the south west , the water as coming in and was crystal clear , could still see some Mangrove Jacks on some of the snags , a bit late for them now but in the summer the snags and rock bars in this section of creek are black with them , first off we just went for a bit of a explore as it was Micks first time here ,
We went up some of the side creeks and mangrove channels , the place is beautiful if you like mangroves and I do , I've been up there a few dozen times and haven't seen a quarter of it , any way we made our way up through to seven mile creek but turned back there because the chop was getting too bad the wind was now coming from the north or north west and blowing us straight back down the creek , we just drifted with the wind and tide while trailing some bait , half way back to the put in the wind changed to south west and the fish came on the bite , we caught a few nice size flat head each , some decent summer whiting and a pile of under size bream that had to be thrown back , we were on one good spot when the tide turned and I decided that we should get back to the put in and fish around there rather than run against the out going tide with the electric and it can get quite fast ,
We got back to the put in and I went on past to just beyond where three creeks join up and there are some nice sand bars and I have picked up some nice flat head in the past , fishing was good and we got a few more flathead and some more whiting and a pile more under size bream , we decided to call it a day just after 4.00 in the after noon , while I'd taken one picture at the put in and a few more on the water I'd intended taking a lot more when back on land , I wanted pictures of the fish and the general area to show you all but the bloody sand flies made that idea a really bad idea , we just couldn't get the boat back on the trailer and the gear stowed quick enough , was too dark by the time we got home to take pictures then so I'll just have to get back there a week or so and do it them
David
Can't post pictures at the moment as at my slow speed I can't access photobucket so I'll edit the post later and put them in
But as Chuck said the Float boat hit the water , on reflection it was probably a mistake to do so at that time , I screwed up my back big time about a month back and had to spend a few days just sitting before I could get back to just light duties , was coming good and went kayaking and crabbing down at my mate Ricks place at Boonooroo on the Great Sandy Straights , beautiful place but I screwed my back up again , laid up for a few days and then back on light duties , just coming good and out in the Float boat , 7 hours on the water was just a little too much for the back
We put in at low tide at Sandy creek , the track in was pretty good , this is one of the places I originally wanted to take John when he was here but like the rest of the places I wanted to show him the road was impassable because of the rain , the road is fine now and even better than before ,
We put the boat down just short of the water and put our gear into it , went to lift it into the water than decided that maybe putting the boat into the water then putting the gear in was a better idea , forgot how much weight a electric motor and large battery weighs along with cast net and large cooler , any way on the water and first thing I noticed was that I really should have put the seats lower , I was considering doing that during the building but then forgot about it , also I should have bought the seats I wanted for it before I started so I had a idea how much higher it would bring every thing , I figure at least two inches should be just enough for the rear seat and maybe a bit lower for the middle and front seat ,
I had the motor mounted on the rear but off set some what and controlled by a extension handle with universal , I actually used a universal from a socket set for the job , worked OK but with the height of the motor the control handle come down at a uncomfortable angle and with the motor off set it meant I was for ever correcting my steering ,
I originally made this boat with the idea of eventually mounting a front mounted remote control motor but as of yet I just don't have the funds for it but in the mean time I'll front mount the one I have and use a very long control arm
The boat paddles pretty well , even better when my mate Mick doesn't help , takes ages for most people to be able to paddle well together . This is not Hairy Mick I'm talking about here , this is another completely different Mick , I actually have about a dozen mates names Mick , it gets confusing some times
With the motor the boat gets along really well , actually better than I had expected , It's too unstable for me to stand up in but I'm a bit top heavy , probably Mick would have been able to stand up okay but the only time he tried the wind was whipping down the creek and there was a bit of chop so he had to hold onto a mangrove branch to steady him self [ he was trying to have a pee ] ,
Forecast for the day was fine with light to moderate winds form the south and south west , when we put in it was just a breeze from the south west , the water as coming in and was crystal clear , could still see some Mangrove Jacks on some of the snags , a bit late for them now but in the summer the snags and rock bars in this section of creek are black with them , first off we just went for a bit of a explore as it was Micks first time here ,
We went up some of the side creeks and mangrove channels , the place is beautiful if you like mangroves and I do , I've been up there a few dozen times and haven't seen a quarter of it , any way we made our way up through to seven mile creek but turned back there because the chop was getting too bad the wind was now coming from the north or north west and blowing us straight back down the creek , we just drifted with the wind and tide while trailing some bait , half way back to the put in the wind changed to south west and the fish came on the bite , we caught a few nice size flat head each , some decent summer whiting and a pile of under size bream that had to be thrown back , we were on one good spot when the tide turned and I decided that we should get back to the put in and fish around there rather than run against the out going tide with the electric and it can get quite fast ,
We got back to the put in and I went on past to just beyond where three creeks join up and there are some nice sand bars and I have picked up some nice flat head in the past , fishing was good and we got a few more flathead and some more whiting and a pile more under size bream , we decided to call it a day just after 4.00 in the after noon , while I'd taken one picture at the put in and a few more on the water I'd intended taking a lot more when back on land , I wanted pictures of the fish and the general area to show you all but the bloody sand flies made that idea a really bad idea , we just couldn't get the boat back on the trailer and the gear stowed quick enough , was too dark by the time we got home to take pictures then so I'll just have to get back there a week or so and do it them
David
That area you were fishing in could be duplicated ( Pictures ) down in the Everglades section of the 10,000 Islands. It looks like that area in every respect , a carbon copy. Even including the Sand Flies and I know what you are saying about them , they are all teeth.
Not sure how far you were from the mangroves but we have some that are really tall , especially before Hurricane Andrew came threw and topped a lot of the big , Black, Mangrove trees in the 10,000 Islands section.
There are still some areas to paddle where they form a canopy over the water and it makes you think you are going threw a tunnel. Nightmare Creek in the glades ( between Broad River and Broad Creek) is one of those areas but you better hit it at high tide. If you are in there when the low tide arrives you are stuck in the mud ( No Water ) till the tide comes back in.
Chuck.
Not sure how far you were from the mangroves but we have some that are really tall , especially before Hurricane Andrew came threw and topped a lot of the big , Black, Mangrove trees in the 10,000 Islands section.
There are still some areas to paddle where they form a canopy over the water and it makes you think you are going threw a tunnel. Nightmare Creek in the glades ( between Broad River and Broad Creek) is one of those areas but you better hit it at high tide. If you are in there when the low tide arrives you are stuck in the mud ( No Water ) till the tide comes back in.
Chuck.
Chuck
I noticed some time back the similarities between our two areas , I think our climates are very similar as well , for the most part if you want to paddle along this stretch of coast then it means your paddling in salt water because the number of navigable fresh water creeks or rivers is extremely low
Yep , lots of mangrove tunnels and mud , some of the areas are sandy and the bottom hard and others are so soft that you will go down to your armpits , we also saw a hell of a lot of large sea turtles , they seemed to be every where , one thing I also noticed was that the place has changed since I was there last year as to be almost unrecognizable , sand bars and creek mouths shifted , channels through the mangroves silted up and new ones formed , where I once thought that I had no problem finding my way through them I started to realize that I was going to need a edge so I bought my self a pocket GPS , come through a mangrove tunnel last trip that was obvious from the entry side , it wound around and twisted through the mangroves to come out into a open area with more mangrove tunnels leading off , unfortunately even though I'd broken a small branch to mark it we still took about half a hour to find the way out and it was more luck than good judgement at that
David
I noticed some time back the similarities between our two areas , I think our climates are very similar as well , for the most part if you want to paddle along this stretch of coast then it means your paddling in salt water because the number of navigable fresh water creeks or rivers is extremely low
Yep , lots of mangrove tunnels and mud , some of the areas are sandy and the bottom hard and others are so soft that you will go down to your armpits , we also saw a hell of a lot of large sea turtles , they seemed to be every where , one thing I also noticed was that the place has changed since I was there last year as to be almost unrecognizable , sand bars and creek mouths shifted , channels through the mangroves silted up and new ones formed , where I once thought that I had no problem finding my way through them I started to realize that I was going to need a edge so I bought my self a pocket GPS , come through a mangrove tunnel last trip that was obvious from the entry side , it wound around and twisted through the mangroves to come out into a open area with more mangrove tunnels leading off , unfortunately even though I'd broken a small branch to mark it we still took about half a hour to find the way out and it was more luck than good judgement at that
David