Herloom 14' Arkansas Traveler Mod

[Piomarine]

Had a productive weekend on the boat! Still haven't gotten the carpet down and I'm kicking myself for that cause with a small spitting of rain this week, I think my floor may have warped a little. I should be able to force it back down into place, but I will just have to see. In terms of actual productivity I have gotten the long sticks of the gunwales fully attached. I may yet give them some reinforcement from the inside, but for the time being they are quite solid. Touch up paint will be coming soon. Pictures below

 

[Piomarine]

I managed to find a little more free time tonight and just bit the bullet and pulled up the floor and glued down the carpet. in the next week I will formally instal the floor in the boat in prep for framing the foredeck, rear seat, and side lockers. As per usual, pic below!

 

[Piomarine]

This has been a very productive week for boat work. The last few weeks have seen me starting back up at school, and all of my time has been spent on school. That said, I have managed to be very productive with the time I did get. I got the gunwales install finished, routed flush, sanded, and sealed, the floor secured down, and the base framing for the benches laid. The coming days/weeks will see continuing on the framing and touch-up paint. On to the photos. More to come in the next couple days!

 

[Piomarine]

Had the afternoon free so I came home and knocked out a little more framing on the traveler today. I am far from complete, but here is where I'm at. All comments welcome.

 

[JFortner5]

Just read through this whole thing. That thing looks great and it's nice to see it being built.

I'm looking forward to seeing the the finished product.

 

[Piomarine]

Got a little work done today, still chugging along with the framing and there will be more support to come, but I am pleased with my progress thus far. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to secure some vertical support for the casting deck?

 

[Piomarine]

I got the framing done today for the benches. I still need to finish the casting deck and hatches in the bow, but that will be quick work. I am beginning to think about seats and adding a pedestal. My thought is that I would like to have a pedestal base in the floor for riding, and then when we stop to fish be able to move it up to the casting deck. Is this even feasible, and what products do I need to look at in order to make this a reality? Also, it would be ideal to make it so the seat cant swivel when riding but does when stopped. Does anyone make any sort of locking swivel that will do this?

 

[Piomarine]

Finally finished the framing!!! Next up, paint, foam, and wiring.

 

[Piomarine]

Got a little painting done today, though I would post the results...I couldn't be happier with how it came out!!! Before and after pics below

 

[Piomarine]

I almost forgot about my new toy!!! Picked up this Raymarine Dragonfly 5 DVS from a guy who was parting out a kayak, got a great deal on it...it was too good to pass up!

 

[ajr2820]

I am going to try to do some wood gunwales like yours. Did you make them yourself or were they on the boat when you got it? They appear to be 1/2" thick pieces. How did you go about bending them?

 

[Piomarine]

There were originally oak gunwales when I acquired the boat, however they were beyond 30 years rotted. I replaced them front to back with 1/2" white oak. I Could only get them in 12' lengths so I scarfed the long and short sticks together on the boat (I would probably do it different if I had it to do again). I cut a 1/16" grove on the back of each piece to compensate for the thickness of the hull (again in the future I would probably cut that a little narrower). To bend them I just used a crap ton of clamps spaced about every 6" (you could easily make a cheap steam bender with some PVC pipe w/ end caps, rubber hose, a hot plate, and a tea kettle). The cold bending method worked for me but it is not perfect, and I did get a couple gaps at the bow twist. Everything is fastened with countersunk #10x1" stainless wood screws every 4", but they could be riveted. I highly recommend rubbing the threads with ivory bar soap before attempting to install. Before I started lubing the threats I torqued off about every 4th head. Hope that helps.

 

[ajr2820]

Awesome! Thanks! I was questioning if the 1/2" would bend without steam. Nice boat BTW, Very similar to my StarCraft.

 

[Piomarine]

So I had the afternoon off and got some real tangible work done on the Traveler and finally got the recess walls put in and the inside walls painted. Tomorrow I will rout them flush and make the patterns for my benches, if I get to it I may foam in the benches. I'm getting so close I can taste it!

 

[Piomarine]

So the semester has been crazy but I have found a few extra minutes to get a few little things done. I got half of the foredeck cut and fitted and some foam in the benches. Still have a ways to go but I should be wiring soon, before I deck everything permanently.

 

[Piomarine]

Had a Friday free for the first time in a month and set to work early this afternoon. Got the hatch cut for the battery/storage access, cut a "firewall" to go in front of the battery, and got the part of the foredeck I have cut, plus the hatch, carpeted. I also installed the socket for the anchor/white nav light.

 

[Piomarine]

Had another rare afternoon free and got the rest of my front deck cut fitted and carpeted.

 

[sdavis]

Nice work!

I notice you plan to have your seat on the port side, while most setups have the driver's seat on the starboard side. I bought a new (to me) 1998 14ft princecraft yesterday and considering moving the seat from starboard to port like you plan on doing, because of the tiller handle being on port side and angled toward port side it seems like it would be an uncomfortable lean forward to make a hard right turn if seat remains on starboard side.... however downside is tiller handle might be uncomfortably behind me on a right hand turn if the seat is on the port side.

I'm so undecided!

Just wondering your logic?

Here is my current boat layout:

 

[Piomarine]

Thanks! I actually decided against putting the drive seat on the port side. With the tiller handle on the port side the seat would have been too far over and would throw off the balance so I'm going to put it as close to center-line as possible.

Great looking boat btw...at least you can use yours right now :?

 

[Piomarine]

Had the whole afternoon free and decided to get a little boat work done. I got all of the benches cut and fitted. Tomorrow I will slap a coat of sealer on everything that doesn't have it and try to get all of the benches carpeted. Once I finish with foam and wiring, I will be able to put everything together. Really excited for everything to come together!