Lawdog's Alumacraft 1648 first duck boat project

[dyeguy1212]

Looking awesome! 8)

 

[caveman]

Keep us posted as to how well it holds up. as i like it and would not mind it on my boat.just not sure?

 

[Nevillizer]

I impressed. Looks pretty darn good.

 

[gsxraddict]

post a pic from the side that shows the whole boat.

looks nice man....

was your dog wearing a camo vest?

 

[Lawdog]

Howdy guys. I am pleased with how it turned out. I was too busy tonight to get it out into the driveway for a pic. If the weather holds tomorrow night, I'll get that done.

My faithful companion.

 

[Lawdog]

Alright. The weather gave me a break and I was able to get a few quick pics.

The splash rail really looks sweet. You can see the rivets toward the stern. This pic also shows the depth in the camo pattern. I'll need better light to really show it, but the dimensionality of the cladding was striking as we put it on. Very nice print quality.

Up close, the protruding rivets make it look like it's paint.

 

[Lawdog]

This has always bugged me: The eye cleat mashes up against the guide for the winch strap. (I'll be moving the anchor cord out of the eye cleat soon enough).

This came set up this way from the dealer. Does it look normal?

 

[wyodeputy]

Sorry can't comment on the eye and winch problem (my experience is with other setups) but KUDOS on the camo clad, you did a great job. I never disliked mine except for the problems I had (which you are aware of). But when it came time to pull that stuff off .... WOW what a pain in the arse ! Just didn't adhere well near the bottom but everywhere else.

I think you'll be happy with it and it'll give many years of duck hunting service. BTW, we need to trade a few hunts ... Idaho for Montana ! Take care

 

[Lawdog]

Roger that, Wyo! I need to get the bow done, but it's sleet/snowing here this week. Feels like duck weather doggone it!

 

[russ010]

just drop your winch post down .... that will put the stop just under your eye

 

[Lawdog]

just drop your winch post down .... that will put the stop just under your eye

Should the strap then run over the top or underneath of the stop/guide? I'm very new to all of this. Thanks.

 

[irishfan]

just drop your winch post down .... that will put the stop just under your eye

Should the strap then run over the top or underneath of the stop/guide? I'm very new to all of this. Thanks.

My boat does the same thing. I leave it like that. That way the front of the boat doesn't go anywhere when you secure the rear of the boat, it can't roll up and over the top. Pretty solid that way. You don't really need a bow tie down with that.

 

[Lawdog]

I think I've got the issue resolved with the simple changing of the roller guide to a 'Y-stop' which is better suited to mate with the flat front. I'll get it installed and get the anchor rope moved and that should fix it.

 

[Lawdog]

Weather has me a little bored and I can't actually work on the boat for a few more days. Maybe I can have the good folks at Iguana Grafix help me out. What do you all think? Cool? Not so much? :|

 

[Doug]

Looks 8).

 

[dyeguy1212]

Pretty cool

 

[Lawdog]

Well, weather permitting, I'm taking her out on the river for the day tomorrow with my wife. I discovered an issue with my trailer tires and replaced them today and am adding a spare to boot. I think that was a smart $110. I've got the boat almost all cladded too, but the transom will have to wait thanks to the early demise of one of my trailer tries. I hope to have some good pics tomorrow night.

 

[dyeguy1212]

bring your camera 8)

 

[Froggy]

Looking good, I lke to see a picture of your new winch set up, I kind of have the same problem.

 

[Lawdog]

Well, today I burned some vacation and took my wife for a day on the water in some of my favorite country. I'm pleased to say that everything went great, except the 16-22 mph wind that pushed us around a bit when we tried to float. Water levels in my part of the world are mighty shallow right now, so we ran in some thin stuff. Ran a good part of the day in 8-12 inches of water. Trick here is you gotta keep her on plane when it gets shallow. I'm learning to grit my teeth, brace for the worst and drive right over stuff. When you're on the throttle, it's surprising what you can go through. Anyway, time for some pics.

Here it is in a back channel we drove into.

Nice place for a picnic spot, don't you think?

You need to come in here slowly. Dog is looking for ducks.