Ahoy!!

[Skypirate]

New to the forum , ready to go fishing
12'long 6'10" wide mini pontoon, has built in trailer, flip a switch and wheels retract completely above water line, hitch retracts under deck, built for shallow river fishing, drafts 3" tried to post pic, no luck

 

[Skypirate]

Ahaaar , says I must make 3 posts prior to photo uplaod

 

[Skypirate]

Well , i will make another attempt

 

[Skypirate]

Maybe... It will work this time, nope invalid file data

 

[HotTommy]

I have a strong hunch its this one:

 

[lncoop]

Ahoy and welcome aboard! Sounds (and looks if that's the one) like a neat little rig! Slime 'er up good and don't be a stranger.

 

[Skypirate]

Aya aye admiral that be the one!

 

[Skypirate]

That be the plan this coming week end, got the firt mate and the cooky all legal and ready to get some lines wet!

 

[GaryO]

Now that is a cool looking rig!

 

[Skypirate]

A little story behind the "River Pirate"

I use to use a Jon boat to escape the perils of dry land, well it got to the point I couldnt manhandle the 12' jon boat in and out of the truck by me self any longer, so after sippin some rum spiked joe, I dreamt this little wave beater up,. With the help of some friends ( and 8 months later) she was christened the " RiverPirate" and we took her to the state for inspection, turns out the inspector was in a quandary, couldnt make up his mind wether I would have to register is as a boat or a trailer,.. After some serious thought, and some deliberation, it was announced to be a boat with tail lights! Har har
Anyways ,.. We rejoiced! And commenced to creating memories.
Along the way,. A Bass Pro rep got wind of this strange little boat with tail lights, and requested an audience,.. So with the flip of a switch the land transport devices protruded from its withers and it stuck its tongue out, we hooked her to the truck for a road trip to Bass Pro head quarters , met up with "Steve"
Steve was impressed and requested photo's , I declined on the photo op and rather offered him the title for a nominal fee, he declined with a statement " if you get a patent, we might.... Consider" that " might" kin to " if" rung in my ears,
So i checked into the patent process, checked with me lawyer and well long story shortened, I'm still the proud owner of the " RiverPirate"

 

[Cat nip]

Ahoy! Thats a cool looking rig. Any pictures of the landing gear? Sounds interesting and awesome.

 

[Skypirate]

No photos of the landing gear, but I can tell you it travels 30.5" and can pick up a truck

 

[Cat nip]

That sounds awesome! Did you make the logs yourself?

 

[Skypirate]

Yes sir, full length keel on a 3 degree hull with a skag on the bottom for running up on the beach, bottom is 5052 T-3 top of log is 6061 T-3 , 4 bays in each log, charged with 15lbs of air ( has a valve stem mid way under deck) why? .. Why not?

 

[Skypirate]

The goal was minimal displacement for shallow river fishing, if I come to a shoal, i drop the wheels and roll over the shoal then retract the wheels, with myself 220 lbs the wife and daughter 200 lbs combined, she drafts about 3 inches

 

[Skypirate]

If I were to do anything different, i would get 2 pumps off of a couple small jet ski's and incorperated them Into the logs

 

[Cat nip]

Thats very cool! I hope to some day have the skill and equipment to be able to do that. I have been told of a guy up here in mn that has done just that. Supposed to go like hell and turn like a barge. Yours looks like it will get on plane just off idle. If ya wanna build more I could use a couple 20 footers hahaha! Let us know how the wet test goes. It would make a sweet catfishing rig.

 

[Skypirate]

Wet test was ... 2010? Maybe 09 she has a few miles on her been towed at 100 mph to test tow stability, passed that test Even had a deer try to run between truck and boat in tow(60 mph) and survived the deer test , wasnt so good for the deer

 

[HotTommy]

I like the inverted U shaped of the logs. Like the builder said, it displaces more water at less depth than a round bottom log. The front could also provide some planing action on a boat intended for higher speeds. ... Nice job.

 

[Skypirate]

Thank you sir for the praise This was my first boat build ( if I don't count the 20' oil barrel pontoon built at age 13 out of 2x4's and bailing wire to hold the 55 gal. Drums lol ) built 15 airplanes though, and allot of trailers, trucks, etc in a previous life I was a certified welder/fabricator/mechanical engineer