Ozark Float boat build-along

[Stickbow Hunter]

It's great when a project comes together as it is supposed to do. Good job Dave.

Jeff

[Brett Finger]

looking fantastic mate.
Bretto

[dawallace45]

Bret thanks

Well I finished it some weeks back but my wife has been on holidays so we've been out and about a bit , not much time home and definitely not much time on the computer so here are some finished pics





Haven't had a chance to try it out yet , maybe next week

David

[Gringa Bows]

looks real good Davo,something to be proud of

[dawallace45]

Rod
Thanks , just waiting to try it out , thinking of going fishing and crabbing in it next week down Sandy creek , crabs still seem to be on , was down the Sandy straights on the weekend , had to deliver a bow to a mate and do a little crabbing , we got our limit no problem

David

[Steven J]

Looks great. Can't wait to see it on the water.

Steve

[Gringa Bows]

So wheres my crabs

[otis.drum]

i'll second what steve said. looks great, and love to see some pics of it floating and loaded up. awesome job.

[dawallace45]

Thanks guy's

Rod, I only took about 6 or so for my self as my wife doesn't eat them , sorry they are all gone now , any way you mustn't eat them as you are always telling me about how much you dislike crabbing and fishing . LOL

David

[GrahameA]

Morning Dave.

Looks Sweet and will look even better as the fish come over the side.

Are you going to fit an Electric to it?

[Gringa Bows]

Davo,i dont like catching them anymore,but i have no problem eatin them.

[dawallace45]

Grahame
Yeah , I have a small electric to fit to the back short term but intend to fit a electric with remote control to the front eventually , electrics pull better than they push and it's easier to hold position in the water when casting to a snag when the motor is pulling rather than pushing also there is the difilculty of controlling a rear mounted motor from the seating position , I have a swivel extention handle to fix the problem short term


Rod , if you want the crabs you got to do the work , been trying to get you go come to Middle creek for some time , think about it for next year

David

[dawallace45]

Well the Float boat has hit the water .

We put in at low tide at Sandy creek , the track in was pretty good , not long back the track was impassable because of the rain , the track 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 some how 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 lower 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 .


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 as it can get quite fast ,

We got back to the put in and I went on past to just beyond where two 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 general area but the bloody sand flies made that a really bad idea , we just couldn't get the boat back on the trailer and the gear stowed quick enough ,
David

[Stickbow Hunter]

Glad it worked well Dave. Not for me though; I nearly get sea sick looking at the photos.

Jeff

[longbow steve]

Looks fantastic Dave, Yeah the seats are up very high. Thanks again for taking the time to show the build and finished product it is fantastic. Cheers Steve

[dawallace45]

Thanks guys

David

[Nephew]

That is wicked!!! It would be just fantastic for pottering around near this island, even for mainland crossings on calm days! I really love it!

[perry]

Great Build along, thanks for posting

regards Jacko