Botswana 2072 160HP Outback

[okavango]

Next step center console, controls, deck and seats

 

[okavango]

No cabellas in Maun town, very few options for boat chairs. Found this fantastic hand made square tube bender and decided to fabricate my own chairs, herewith progress to date

 

[riverrat717]

Awesome build.

 

[RiverBottomOutdoors]

The chair alone deserves a toast. :beer:

Cool thread.

 

[lovedr79]

That is awesome

 

[okavango]

Thanks guys, it's been fun, but need to get finished now.
Plan to flip the boat next week and apply wetlander, then put everything together, install the console and start fitting the controls.

 

[user 20022]

This post rocks! I feel like I'm watching national geographic!

Sent from the dust in front of you!

 

[Prowelder]

Wow this chairs are really cool. Are you fishing with The Partridge Family? That's a lot of seats

Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk

 

[okavango]

:LOL2: Trying to make the boat as versatile as possible, seats will stay at home when fishing, but we often go out for a slow cruise game viewing with friends and family.

 

[okavango]

Got the hull cleaned up and flipped today wetlander goes on tomorrow

 

[okavango]

Started early morning when nice and cool, tried with a spray gun for 5 minutes and then reached for a roller, more than happy with the results.
Second pic shows the hull baking in the African sun

 

[jethro]

You could almost powder coat with those temps!

What a great project, thank you for sharing it.

 

[okavango]

Turned the boat right way up yesterday, very happy with the wetlander application, very slick, and simple to apply with a roller. Trust it will perform as advertised.
I have kept busy with other small projects, the captains chair will be mounted on the dog house, I wanted it to swivel, and have adjustment for standing or sitting, in addition I also wanted it to slide back a full meter so I can fish off the back of the boat.
This is the rail, the chair has a matching round disc with center bearing allowing it to swivel.

 

[okavango]

The donor ski was a 2006 model, discovered that later models have a much improved reverse bucket, ordered one and adapted it to fit without too much difficulty. I have never been satisfied with the effectiveness of the reverse, so can't wait to get this on the water and see if This is an improvement.

 

[okavango]

Speaking of testing the boat, our river dried up completely this year for the first time in about 8 yrs due to a prolonged drought, the bulk of our water however comes from the Angolan highlands over 2000 km away, that flow reached us today, cannot express how wonderful it is to have fresh water arriving in this desert in the middle of our dry season.

 

[okavango]

This is the matching disk attached to the bottom of the captains chair, the whole arrangement then connects to the slider which fits into the rail.

 

[okavango]

Flotation going in, Botswana has no requirement for flotation, but this is the only product that will get you the required permits to boat in South Africa.

 

[okavango]

At last all the bits and pieces start fitting together, Teleflex jet Helm and single lever control, still ironing out the linkages, but am optimistic these parts will all work. Have had to turn extended tailpieces on the lathe to reach the nozzle and reverse gate,but should get that finished this weekend.
As much as I have enjoyed the manufacturing I have no particular aptitude or patience for painting and laying carpets, hope to get some mates in to assist w itch these tasks.

 

[okavango]

Have the boat resting on old tires while working on it, found this barn owl resting in one of the tires during the day, I'm sure all the banging and grinding will convince him to move on.

 

[okavango]

Finished all the pedestal seat bases, 40 mm pipe bushed with acetal turned on the lathe.