BloodStone
Well-known member
Been hanging around awhile looking at all the awesome (& I mean that literally) jon boat & V-boat conversions some of you have posted here. =D> I live in GranholmLand ( #-o I mean Michigan) better known as The land of the economically lost.
And I have messed around with a couple boats here & there. My last project was converting a 12' fiberglass rowboat into a complete fishing machine. If anyone is looking for a boat to buy give a shout out (complete with trailer just PM me if interested).
Anyways, that's not why I'm here now, two summers ago, I rescued a 12' lightweight aluminum Jon Boat (the kind a guy can load into a pickup bed by himself without getting a major hernia doing it). My 275lbs numb-skull brother-in-law & my wife's foster brother got in it, & the boat said "not today boys" & it proceeded to sink-rapidly. The ribs were broke & some rivets popped. :idea: He tried to fix it using just JB Weld & you can guess the outcome of that little endeavor.. #-o . So he was going to take it to the scrap yard, before I rescued it & fixed it right. Anyway, I drove up to his REMOTE cabin & retrieved it. On the way out, I stopped at the end of the very long driveway to talk to this old timer who happened to be the only resident around literally for miles. The place was so far off the beaten path, the guy didn't even have electric lines running out to his house. He used a 10,000 watt propane generator. Anyway to wrap this yarn up, I stopped to let the old timer know who I was & that he knows I didn't steal the thing. He says to me "Boats!" "You like boats? I got one for ya, a car topper-$50.00". I'm thinking to myself, "ok, yeah right it'll be a real beauty some homemade, leaky plywood, carpenter ant infested piece of crap". Boy was I ever wrong! :shock: There, sitting upside down was a 14' aluminum V-hull Sea King in excellent shape (not a loose rivet anywhere). Needless to say, I didn't heisitate to return to grab up that sucker. I will post pics later on if interested. I just recently picked up a trailer for it in decent shape for another $50.00. Anyways, the purpose to this rather lengthy story is; 1) Hopefully I am going to learn from this site the do's & don'ts of converting this boat into a fishing machine. 2) On the way up to get it, I went through a town called Oscoda, MI, & there on the side of a road for sale was a aluminum(?) boat literally shaped like a banana with a small outboard on the back & a small CENTER CONSOLE slightly right of center. This boat couldn't have been longer than 12' & no wider than 4'.
Unfortunately, I was pressed for time & didn't get to stop to take a closer look at it. What I'd like to know is, is that a "river boat" (The Ausable & Rifle Rivers are somewhat nearby that particular area)? If not, what kind of boat is it then? And where would one get one of those types of center consoles from (It didn't look homemade)? Any help would be appreciated & not to worry, I'm not usually this long winded. :lol: Thanks!
And I have messed around with a couple boats here & there. My last project was converting a 12' fiberglass rowboat into a complete fishing machine. If anyone is looking for a boat to buy give a shout out (complete with trailer just PM me if interested).
Anyways, that's not why I'm here now, two summers ago, I rescued a 12' lightweight aluminum Jon Boat (the kind a guy can load into a pickup bed by himself without getting a major hernia doing it). My 275lbs numb-skull brother-in-law & my wife's foster brother got in it, & the boat said "not today boys" & it proceeded to sink-rapidly. The ribs were broke & some rivets popped. :idea: He tried to fix it using just JB Weld & you can guess the outcome of that little endeavor.. #-o . So he was going to take it to the scrap yard, before I rescued it & fixed it right. Anyway, I drove up to his REMOTE cabin & retrieved it. On the way out, I stopped at the end of the very long driveway to talk to this old timer who happened to be the only resident around literally for miles. The place was so far off the beaten path, the guy didn't even have electric lines running out to his house. He used a 10,000 watt propane generator. Anyway to wrap this yarn up, I stopped to let the old timer know who I was & that he knows I didn't steal the thing. He says to me "Boats!" "You like boats? I got one for ya, a car topper-$50.00". I'm thinking to myself, "ok, yeah right it'll be a real beauty some homemade, leaky plywood, carpenter ant infested piece of crap". Boy was I ever wrong! :shock: There, sitting upside down was a 14' aluminum V-hull Sea King in excellent shape (not a loose rivet anywhere). Needless to say, I didn't heisitate to return to grab up that sucker. I will post pics later on if interested. I just recently picked up a trailer for it in decent shape for another $50.00. Anyways, the purpose to this rather lengthy story is; 1) Hopefully I am going to learn from this site the do's & don'ts of converting this boat into a fishing machine. 2) On the way up to get it, I went through a town called Oscoda, MI, & there on the side of a road for sale was a aluminum(?) boat literally shaped like a banana with a small outboard on the back & a small CENTER CONSOLE slightly right of center. This boat couldn't have been longer than 12' & no wider than 4'.
Unfortunately, I was pressed for time & didn't get to stop to take a closer look at it. What I'd like to know is, is that a "river boat" (The Ausable & Rifle Rivers are somewhat nearby that particular area)? If not, what kind of boat is it then? And where would one get one of those types of center consoles from (It didn't look homemade)? Any help would be appreciated & not to worry, I'm not usually this long winded. :lol: Thanks!
