Dad's 12' Springbok reborn - "Dad's Buoy"

[great white]

Those are some great trailer mods and I will definitely be stealing them. I've busted one too many tail light covers to go through that again!

These lights are inside metal casings. Basically, armored lights!

You would have to back directly into the end of a pole or similar to break them.

The casings can usually be bought at trailer stores and added to trailers without them if desired.

 

[great white]

Working on the Boat cover brought up some problems. I needed to store the boat outside and cover it while towing.

While a flat cover would work fine for towing, it would quickly turn into a swimming pool when used for storage.

I was planning to use aluminum bows in a slot already in the gunnels to make a "pop up" style cover to shed water while in storage. , but it became obvious I'd need lots of them (IE: $$$$$) to keep the cover from flapping and collapsing if I used it for towing.

I knew I didn't want some big complex thing with poles and tie down's all over the place. I wanted something light, easily to take up/down and easily stowed.

Then I hit upon an idea from a web search:

Great idea to keep the cover up.

So I got out and old ratchet strap, some webbing material and the sewing machine and adapted it a bit for better trailering manners:

Just what I'm looking for. The ratchet strap pulls taught and loads the bows under compression, making them even stiffer. It will keep the cover up and shedding water when stationary and will support it while trailering down the road. When ready, release the ratchet mechanism and it goes loose, slip the bows out of their slots and it all folds up to a straight flat piece.

Now to start on the cover.

Fortunately, we are encouraged at work to use materials to practice our skills on projects when things are slow. I'm using some rip stop material that is water proof. Light and flexible, sheds water like a duck and you can't tear it if you tried, even if it's got a cut in it.

Mil spec stuff, love it!

 

[muffin]

The first thing that came to mind when i saw the very first picture you posted of the boat - "that is Awesome". You have really done an outstanding job making it look like a fine boat. I have no doubt that your father would be extremely proud!

 

[great white]

Boat cover is underway:

I've got the shape right and you can see the first hem is done.

Next I'll stitch on the rear panel and fit it to the boat and have a special bit to pop up and around/over the outboard.

When that's done, the hem that you see gets rolled up over a large piece of bungee that will go around the perimeter of the gunnel and stitched into a pocket. I'll add somewhere around 6 tabs loops of webbing to each side to bungee down to the trailer.

Finally, I'll stitch up a "bra" to cover the front and "wing" out to cover the lower bow from stones. It will also help to keep air sneaking up under the cover from the front.

 

[Pweisbrod]

Wow, awesome work on the cover.

 

[great white]

Cover is coming along nicely:

Slow and steady but it's getting there....

 

[bigwave]

Your homemade cover looks better than on purchased in the stores. That rip-stop stuff is super strong if I remember right.......we had stuff like that when I was in the Navy.

 

[great white]

Your homemade cover looks better than on purchased in the stores. That rip-stop stuff is super strong if I remember right.......we had stuff like that when I was in the Navy.

That would be the stuff.

Super thin and light but still super strong and waterproof.

I can stand on it between a couple benches and it doesn't give in.

I purposely made a cut in a piece and tried to make it rip further.

Not a chance in heck.



I am going to make a few fleece covers for the deck cleats and such, just so they don't abrade the rip stop material....

 

[great white]

Man, that's a lot of bungee cord......

 

[Pweisbrod]

Wow that's awesome! I'll drop mine off Friday.

 

[great white]

Cover is done for now:

So now it's back to the trailer welding and prep for paint work:

Couple more days of work, a touch more woodworking and it will be done and ready for the season.

 

[Pweisbrod]

Looks really great

 

[Andyg]

Awesome boat! hands down your hatches are a million times better than mine. I stink at wood working. (should have paid more attention in shop class) . Shes a first class micro bass boat!

 

[great white]

Did a bit more metal burnin' today and added a small walkway:

I added the walkway because some of the sites I launch at is very shallow and you end up walking in waste/thigh high water a lot.

This way, I can pull on the regular rubber boots and walk out the trailer to launch and recover instead of getting wet or having to wear hip waders. Much better than trying to balance on the rails while trying to manhandle the boat. That never seems to end well.....

Tomorrow should see a final clean up and into primer.

Getting close now!

 

[great white]

Primed and into the very first coat of black:

There are some missing u bolts I have on order and still have to flip it over for the first coat on the bottom surfaces, but it's nice to see final assembly beginning...

 

[sgt tee]

Nice looking job, may I ask what kind of paint you are working with as I need to do mine

 

[great white]

Nice looking job, may I ask what kind of paint you are working with as I need to do mine

Tremclad primer over the galvanized parts and Tremclad gloss black as a top coat.

It's going on with a brush since the galvanized rails aren't smooth anyways. A few brush marks isn't going to make much diff....

 

[sgt tee]

Thanks I will goggle that name and see who sells it by me, Thanks.......Pete

 

[sgt tee]

I see Home depot carrys it but not Lowes, is this the primer you bought, there are different types, as this one is the most expensive
https://www.homedepot.ca/product/rust-primer-grey-378l/980030
I may be able to get away with just re-painting my trailer as its not rusted, just needs a face lift

 

[sgt tee]

You brushing that on, you would never know it from the picture, looks great. I have new LED tail lights for my rig. I did notice that my small 12 is not sitting on the front bunk, just the 2 back ones. I am thinking its account of the strap as it pulls the boat up some. I dont know if I should shim that or leave it