REPAIRING MY RIVER BOAT AND TRAILER
BY JOHN BERRY
[email protected]www.berrybrothersguides.comLike all river guides, I spend a lot of time in my boat. The last three years have been high water years and during that time I spent more time than usual in it. I must say that my river boat like all guide boats is subject to the abuse of a hostile environment and some tough weather. Last year my White River Jon boat developed a problem.
The rear deck where my rear seat is attached was beginning to deteriorate. Water had seeped into the screw holes and the wood was beginning to rot. The screws were not holding. I drilled out the screw holes and attached the seat with stainless steel bolts. That worked for a while but the wood continued to deteriorate. The deck was beginning to fail.
I thought fiberglass repair has to be easy. I will repair the deck myself. I had a few days of down time and I thought that I could knock it out quickly and save some money. I went to the hardware store and bought a sheet of fiberglass cloth and a quart of resin. I went home and began the job. I sanded the paint off from the affected area carefully put on the fiberglass cloth and applied the resin. I built up a few layers and let it set to harden. I then feathered the edges with sand paper. I reattached the seat and I was ready to go. It turned out to b a lot more work than I had bargained for and the results were questionable.
That repair lasted for about two weeks. My seat was sinking into the new fiberglass and was listing to the left. I was looking for a quick cure because by then I was in the middle of busy season and I could not put my boat in for repairs. Someone suggested putting a wood brace below the seat to provide some stability. I made a brace from some scrap lumber that I had in my garage. It was crude at best. It just didn’t work as well as I had hoped. It deteriorated further and I was listing radically to the left. It caused a pinched nerve which gave me some pain. I feared that I would soon be sitting on the gas tank. I had to do something and quick.
I was working a large corporate group and noticed that one of my fellow guides, Davy Wotton, had the exact same problem. He had made a temporary repair by attaching a stout piece of plywood over the seat deck and the attaching the seat to the plywood. This was simpler and much more effective than any repair I had previously done. In addition, it was a cheap and quick. I went home that night and found a perfect piece of plywood in the garage. I quickly attached it. It worked like a charm. I was able to finish the year in comfort.
Once the busy season was over, I talked to my fellow guide, Don Adams, about boat repairs. He said that J&S Boats had recently done some work for him and he was pleased with it. I took his suggestion and drove over. I was not the only guide with this idea as there were several boats ahead of me. Keith inspected the boat and said that the rear deck would need to be replaced. We also found no less than eight dings from various rocks and docks that needed to be addressed.
He asked if there were any more problems that I would like to address. I immediately thought about my trailer. I have had a trailer problem since I bought it. Though I have a good heavy duty trailer, it had a poorly designed winch post. The winch was located too close to the front pad and I busted my knuckles every time I loaded the boat. To secure the boat I had to attach the hook from the winch to the ring on front of the boat and lift the front of the boat as I winched it in, so that the hook and ring would end up on the top of the front pad. This was difficult at best and was particularly difficult to do by myself.
Keith suggested replacing the winch post with a much better designed one from a local manufacturer. I eagerly agreed. On the new one the winch is located back from the front pad so that I can crank the boat up with ease and comfort. There is an arm and a pad on the boat side of the winch post that lifts the front of the boat as you winch it up allowing me to load the boat by myself.
It took a bit of time, but my boat was now ready. The new deck looked great. I noted that all of the dings were repaired. The thing that impressed me most was the new winch post on the trailer. When they installed it they moved it forward from its previous position about three feet. That moves more weight over the wheels, which makes the boat easier to haul and makes it more stable on the road.
To finish off the project, I took my boat over to Outback Signs and had my business name, phone number and web address put on both sides of the boat. While I was at it I also had new boat registration numbers attached. The hard part of the process was removing the old boat registration numbers. I later learned that if you heat the letters up with a hair dryer they are easier to remove. The residual adhesive can easily be removed with Goo-Gone. We had to wait for a warm day to attach the vinyl letters so they would adhere properly.
The results of all of these changes are remarkable. My boat is structurally sound, and my trailer is much easier to use. In addition the whole rig looks better and people can tell who I am. I am now ready for the season to begin!
