Stripper Troutboat Update - Part 2
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by Larry Pullon - Little Rock, Arkansas - USA

(click HERE for Part 1)

I have been waffling a little on naming this boat. Thought about Hawbuck for a while – but that name has been taken, and anyway, I call my operation Hawbuck Marine. I used up LonjJon last year on a plywood prototype. So, after giving it very little thought, I decided to stay with previous naming conventions and simply call it "Trout Boat”. Not glamorous - but it will be a fine name nonetheless.

I used to wonder why people took on boat projects in the winter. The cold wet weather can really be a challenge if you don’t have a heated shop. The fact is there are too many distractions in spring, summer, and fall that conspire to take you away from boat building.

Things are going a little slower with this boat and I am well behind my imaginary schedule. Fortunately I have excuses at the ready! First, there was a whole three days down in Texas crappie fishing on Houston County Lake (extend that with pre-trip preparation and post-trip bragging). Then, there was all the spring honey do’s like yard stuff, and cleaning stuff, and fixing broke stuff (some of which is still in progress). I also spent days deployed to several Arkansas towns when tornadoes caused frightful damage. And let’s not forget that wooden boats don’t pay the bills in the south – so I restored and sold TWO johnboats to pay for stuff.

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These are the two Jonboats I had to restore to pay for stuff.

(click images for larger views)

I also went back added a second layer of fiberglass to the outside of Trout Boat. A second layer is just as much work as the first layer only you don’t get credit for it! Well, that about does it on excuses, there are more, but I am not ready to commit the reserves until I know which way the wind is going to blow.

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Longjon, the prototype.

Like I said, the prototype for Trout Boat was LongJon. It proved that a folding boat was doable as a home project but also highlighted how important weight would be. Had I messed around with car toppers I would have known this (or maybe if I was reasonably intelligent?) but I completely overlooked the weight factor and it proved too much for me to fold and unfold LongJon without help.

Now, this is what a Troutboat ought to look like!

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After fiberglassing the front section, I decided to rein in my desire to make rapid progress and add another layer of 12oz fiberglass to the outside. If Trout Boat were to be a Sunday afternoon leisure boat, one layer would have been fine. But, this is going to be a rock mashing, stump grinding, go to the fish kind of boat that is likely to come into frequent contact with hard stuff – I will trade a dent or scratch for a good fish every time! I also had in mind that my brother and I are planing a 100 mile river trip down the Buffalo and White rivers this fall – and we will be making that trip in Trout Boat!

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The White River - is this worth building a boat for or what?

You may know – more fiberglass equals more sanding. Hours of sanding, no I mean, hours and hours of sanding. And then there is the sanding dust. Fiberglass sanding dust gets into everything – inside tool boxes, storage cabinets – anything that is not completely sealed, there was even dust on the ceiling.

Bulletpruff but light!

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So, once I decided to stop sanding it was time to spend a day dedusting the place. Dawning my trusty gas mask I got out the 100mph blower and proceeded to dedust the shop. Never mind that I blew the dust onto my nearby house, the cars and other stuff within a half a mile. It took a whole day, but eventually I prevailed.

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Here is a sneak preview of the color combination.

Now I can get on to the second half of this project. The part that most people are going to see.

Larry Pullon

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