My daughter and I were driving down Highway 231 through Cropwell returning from a hunting trip in North Alabama with a brief stop off at Lock 4. I had been keeping my eyes open for a small fishing/hunting/exploring boat for several months. In a small front yard I saw just what I was looking for: a beat up old Gheenoe.
I am not talking about a wildebeest. It is a small canoe-inspired fiberglass boat with a square stern and a hard chined hull. This particular craft was about 13' long, had a 15 hp Evinrude outboard, a trailer, and a need for some serious TLC.
They wanted $800.00. I offered $500.00. They took it!
I did not take a picture of the boat in its state as purchased because, well, it was just too ugly. The previous owner had done some fiberglass work to repair damage to the leading edge of the bow and had rebuilt and reinforced the transom to better handle the torque of the 15 hp outboard. He had also painted it sky blue, the absolutely wrong color for my purposes.
As best I can tell, the boat was originally a 15'4" model. The transom repair resulted in a boat 2' shorter than the original. I did not realise this, of course, until I got home and did some research. As yet I have discovered no issues with this modification other than the rear seat is so close to the transom it makes steering with the tiller a bit uncomfortable. The owner had built a seat extension supported by a metal bracket but the plywood was rotted away and I had to remove it.
After calling my wife and explaining to her I just had to buy the boat (our three year old daughter was for it from the beginning and was quite enthusiastic), I started dreaming of what I was going to do to make the boat safe, fun and useful.
The Gheenoe has the advantage of being paddle friendly, so a broken-down motor, gas shortage or skinny water will be no problem. My intention had been to find a 14-16' aluminium jon boat but this craft is actually better suited for weaving in and out of the winding, shallow creeks in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta where I plan to use it.
My guiding principle with this boat is keep it simple. Other boats of mine got so complicated with electronics, gadgets and useless add-ons I got sick of fooling with them. This boat is going to be the one I can ignore until I need it, then hook up the trailer and launch. It is too small, in my opinion, to fill with all the usual junk (a look at some of the tricked-out Gheenoes on www.customgheenoe.com will have you questioning this assertion).
My first project was to clean up the boat and paint it flat duck boat green. This improved the look of it in my eyes and set the tone for the rest of the work.
I used Krylon Ultra Flat Camo Green Spray paint available just about anywhere. I also used Rustoleum's version which appears to be the same color. The great thing about painting a duck boat is you do not have to bother with precision or making it pretty. Just spray everything. I lost count of how many cans it took to get good coverage, but I would guess 8 cans. I also will keep a can on hand for touch ups.
After getting good coverage on the boat inside and out I started on the outboard. Engines are more difficult because grease and paint do not get along, so I had to clean the motor with a degreaser and let it dry thoroughly. I taped off the water intakes and any other area I thought did not need paint, like the tiller grip, the pull handle and the gas fitting.
I was hoping the can of Zinc Chromate Primer I purchased on the recommendation of the guy at the boat store would suffice for camo purposes, but it was too bright green. I had to repaint with more ultra-flat green. Unfortunately I must not have removed all the grease from the foot of the motor because some of the paint came off after my first wet run. No big deal, just have to spray it some more.
It was about 15 degrees outside when I bought the boat so I made only a cursory inspection of the boat's trailer while freezing in the seller's front yard. I checked it again when we stopped for a break but I did not notice the missing lug bolts until we got all the way home. Both wheels were missing one lug bolt. Luckily the other three lugs were snug, the Gheenoe is a very light load and I guess I was just lucky.
In other respects the trailer was in decent shape besides rust. I used a Scotchbrite wheel to knock off the rust then coated all the metal surfaces I could reach with Rustoleum trailer paint. It now looks much better. I also bought some remnant carpet for the bunks which I attached with some old roofing nails.
I had to buy a gas tank for the outboard, a gas line, a bow light, some boat numbers, and a few small electrical connections. I had to retrofit a kill switch onto the outboard and added a Doelfin hydrofoil. I have spent less than $200 on the renovation, most of it on spray paint!
I modified an old, short stern light I had left over from a previous project. To make it long enough to meet regulations (the stern light is supposed to be one meter higher than the bow lights) I used a piece of 3/4" PVC pipe, some wire and a two-wire connector from Radio Shack. When in use the light pole sits in a PVC rod holder screwed into the transom and the wire plugs into the power wire with the two-prong connector. When not in use the light pole can be removed and stored on the floor. I ran the wiring through the rub rail and into the middle bench seat.
The lights are powered by a nifty 12-volt power pack I found at Home Depot. It holds eight D-cell batteries and connects to the light wires via a cigarette-lighter type connection. I am not sure how this arrangement is going to work. It seems preferable to a large marine battery solely for lights. I will be able to carry an extra set of batteries and easily replace them. However, I am not crazy about throwing batteries away, so I will have to get some rechargables.
I took her out for a wet test last Sunday, a beautiful warm and sunny day for February on the Gulf Coast. It was the easiest launch from a trailer I have ever made. Pulling her out was easy too. It makes a big difference to have a craft light enough to lift onto the bunks.
I was impressed with the stability of the Gheenoe. I can stand and walk around in the boat without any of the wobbly feel I get in a canoe. This is going to be a big plus when hunting and fishing.
I did have a few issues during my first Gheenoeing trip. The outboard is a 1982 15 hp Evinrude. I knew the previous owner used the boat recently but I have no idea whether the outboard received regular maintenance. It does not take long to ruin a motor if the cooling system does not work so I was very mindful of the indicator stream at the back of the motor.
The outboard was an electric start originally but the starter was removed, which is fine with me. I was pleased when it started up on the first pull of the starter rope. Unfortunately the indicator stream was just dripping. I was concerned there may be some water pump issues, maybe a worn out impeller or worse. But I was prepared with a short length of wire which I threaded up into the indicator hole. After a few pushes I dislodged a big blob of sand blocking the discharge port and I was back in business with a nice strong stream.
I watched the motor for a while to be sure the stream continued and to listen for any trouble, then idled out into the Magnolia River. I took it slow at first, not really sure how this little boat was going to handle. As I got out into the main channel and had a clear path I slowly twisted the tiller handle to accelerate to planing speed.
I had my GPS on the floor set to monitor speed. During acceleration the bow rose up, as all boats tend to do, but it was not excessive. (I had to add the cooler full of window weights in the bow which made a big difference in keeping the bow down!) At about 10 mph the boat came out of the hole and began to level to plane. Once I got to 14 mph I was flying!
It did take a while to get used to the boat's handling characteristics. At planing speed it did not take much movement of the tiller to turn the boat. I was happy to find the boat was stable and solid on turns. As with all boats, there is some reduction in speed during a turn but the Gheenoe popped back into plane easily upon straightening out of a turn.
Crossing large wakes was a little scary at first but eventually I got used to it. Large wakes did require me to slow down however.
When the boat reached about 17 mph the bow began porpoising. I have encountered this problem with other boats and kind of expected it with this one. I did have about fifty pounds of weight in a cooler in the bow to combat this issue. The extra weight probably did help and even more weight, like another adult up front, probably would have helped considerably.
I have since added the Doelfin, which is said to resolve at least some of this problem. I have not had an opportunity to test it. Nevertheless, 16.5 mph is much faster than I was going using paddle power, so I have no complaints. If it gets much faster it will not be as fun anyway. I'll just have to go easy on the gas!
I still have some modifications in mind. I am going to add a back deck to allow me to sit farther toward the bow and thus more comfortably handle the tiller. I will also be able to stand on it and will have a little storage under the deck. There may be a few other things, but I am trying to stick to the keep it simple principle.
All things considered, I am very pleased with my new boat. It is stable, simple and fun to operate. I am looking forward to poking around in the Delta, on the Magnolia and Fish Rivers, and maybe even into the bay on calm days. It is not what I consider a big water boat, but I am confident with careful handling it can handle the chop and currents sometimes encountered around here.
I'll keep you posted . . .
