Raft Frame and Adventure Gear Looking for New Adventurer
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Adventure Raft and Gear Looking for a New Adventurer
When I was in my early 40’s, I quit my job, rented my house, moved into a fifth wheel trailer and set out with my wife to on a four year adventure to fly fish and float the great rivers of the western US, Canada and Alaska. That was now almost 25 years ago and now I’m in my mid-60’s and it’s time to find a new adventurer that wants to use some of my gear as a starting point for their adventure.
One of the things I needed for this adventure was a boat that I could haul around with my fifth wheel, that could be taken apart and flown out on float planes, provided a great platform for fishing and could haul enough gear to support us for a week.
I had Downriver Equipment build me the raft that you see in the pictures. But those are pictures from 25 years ago. The raft and all my gear have seen some wear and tear and some years of use. But it would still be a great starting point for somebody with similar aspirations. For those of you who are interested, you should look at this as a set of parts and pieces that can be re-assembled into an adventure boat to meet your needs.
The main item I have to sell is the raft frame, floors and decks. I have the tubes also, but they are going to need some restoration work. Most all of the seam tape has come loose. I do have a set of Aire tube bags for storing the tubes that are in good condition.
The frame is in excellent condition and is great pipe work. Its match marked so that it comes apart and goes back together in about an hour. There are bags for the pipes that makes it easy to pack them up into bundles and move them around. There’s a motor mount on the back and a casting brace up front.
The floors and decks were custom built for the raft using NidaCore plastic honeycomb material coated with fiberglass cloth and resin. Very high strength, low weight and won’t ever rot. Built in section that allows you to stack them up and strap them together as a package for transport. There’s a full set of floors for running the boat as a floating raft and an additional bow section that’s angled for when you run it under motor power. They need a new coat of paint but otherwise are in perfect condition.
The tubes that were put on this boat were pretty unique. Made by Colorado Headwaters back in the 90’s when they made tubes for recreational boats. They are wide and low, which made this boat float a little slower than boats with big round tubes. That provided benefits when using this as a fishing boat. Baffled down the center so that if you did puncture, you’d still have flotation on the whole side of the boat. I never punctured the tubes in all of the places I took the raft.
This boat has been everywhere. The list of great western fly fishing and whitewater rivers is too long to list. It was flown out to remote areas of Alaska and then floated into the Bering Sea. Pulled upstream into the Grand Canyon from Lee’s Ferry and floated out. Floated the great steelhead rivers in British Columbia. Caught redfish and snook out of it in Florida. The manatees were fascinated with it. We’ve caught bass on lakes and rivers in Texas. It was designed to be a very versatile craft for a lot of fishing and adventures.
Along with the raft I have a bunch of other adventure stuff that will go to the new owner of my stuff. Some oar shafts, ammo boxes, camping stove, camp kitchen, camp chairs, cooler, cook tent, ropes, straps, etc. Lots of stuff that I won’t ever use anymore but would get a new adventurer off to a good start.
I’m going to ask $1,000 for all of my stuff. Which, if you know what you’re looking at and planning some remote adventures that you need a boat for, is a bargain. Like I said, a lot of my stuff is old and will need some rebuild. But, it’s great stuff to get you started. And, I’m looking for an adventurer to take this stuff from me and put it to great use, more than I’m looking for money. Inspire me with your ambitions and promise me you’ll share some stories and you’ll get a good deal on some gear.
I’ve got pictures and more info. E-mail me and I’ll send it to you
There’s some pictures and some additional information on the boat on the following pages. You can read more about the adventures this stuff has been on at
http://www.justtakinabreak.com
Jeff Schmitt
Austin, TX
512-422-9842
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