She looked so lonely

[tx river rat]

I have been walking by the T-V and she just looks sad, since I built the Northwind she has been replaced for my tripping boat.
This year I am going to do some deer hunting that I need to get to by yak and gar fishing and bowfishing has one draw back out of a yak. (how would you transport a 9 ft fish in a yak)
So out comes the saw and the T-V is under the knife.
More to come later.
Ron

 

[tx river rat]

My camera died but another one is on the way. I have been working on the T-V decided to take her all the way down to the wood and start over.
This boat has seen some rough usage,been blown down a sand bar for a hundred yards flipping,been dropped of off the top of my jeep,got way over a couple thousand miles under her. She was built from some bad plywood 1/8 inch thick and built with poly ,held up pretty well.
I will try to get some pics posted before long.
Ron

 

[tx river rat]

Here is what she use to look like.

Took the T-V down to raw wood reapplied cloth. Looking at the bottom after a couple thousand miles of pretty rough treatment I had a good ideal of the wear points. so here is how I did it. put the cloth on in two pieces letting it overlap in the center 3 inches then put a piece of 3 inch tape on top of that. I also put a piece of 3 inch tape on each edge of the hull. After sealing the hull I went back and put on my external stems ,with the hull being separated and sealed and then putting on the stems I never have to worry about water as long as the stems are in place.
A pic of the front stem

Decided to put in pretty long seat rails and a thwart set up for my rods and to brace the hull.

I cut the top off and rebuilt the hull with two short decks and strips on the side.

I used grey rustolem oil base on the inside the hull ,I hope that color will be cool but not so bright it blinds you

I ran out of epoxy so the brite work will get a couple more coats and at least to more graphite coats, it should be a fishing machine
Ron

 

[oldsparkey]

Ron....

It's just me but what you have done to the TV I really like it.
As I said it is just me but I prefer an open boat since it is easy to get in and out of , plus packing it for a trip is really easy. When you get to a campsite you do not have to empty it all the way to find something and if what you are looking for is not to be found it is a simple matter to check the boat for it. No digging around under the decks.

If you have it loaded a little off balance you can move forward or back to balance it without a cockpit in the way.