wegcagle's GV-15

[wegcagle]

If you first set the tent up in the front yard, she'll probably feel a lot better about it being in the back.

Great idea (and if it doesn't work out I'll send you the hospital bill )

I'm in Augusta, so it's always a 30min-45min trek wherever I go. Depending on the time of year and where I've been scouting the most I've put in anywhere from Keg Creek to Fishing Creek. It seems like if all else fails you can always spot a few scattered big ducks near the coves around Double branches. When I'm striper fishing I alway put in on S.C. side; somewhere between Parksville and Plum branch. S.C. always has the best herring, and the guys at the Herring Hut have always treated me well.

Will [/quote]

[Cracker Larry]

It's a beautiful area. I've spent all my time on the Carolina side of the lake, used to stay for weeks at a time when I was a kid. Now I go about twice a year for family gatherings. I'll be up the weekend before Christmas, and we always have a big gathering in July, so I'll probably bring my boat up then, if there's any water.

[Dog Fish]

Wow, that sucks from 20' deep to 100' away. One of my old charter boat customers lives on a lake some where in North or South Dakota ( my mind is going ). He said the lakes edge used to be 350' away and now its 50' away from the back of the house. They had to put up a small sea wall. They need to share a little of that water with you guys and us here in FL.

[TomW]

wegcagle and Larry this drought has got to break sometime the lakes in N. Georgia and W. NC are just as bad off as SC. Have not had any real rain since we got back in Sept from our trip to Iowa. The soil is so dry it is rediculous. I get the 2 SC news channels so can follow there drought reports. Saw a reposrt from SC Wildlife Resouce boating division couple of weeks ago asking boaters to run slower due to uncharted hazards in the lower water.

Tom

[Murry]

Good luck with the build Wegcagle.

Your layout appears to be well thought out.

Daniel

[wegcagle]

Tom and Larry,

I don't know if the problem is the rain.....or the corp? My yard and azaleas never looked so good as they did this spring. and we've had a ton of rain recently, CL can probably vouch for that. Either way this low lake makes for tougher duck hunting, but easier striper fishing. Hell if the water level drops far enough I may not even need a boat

Larry,

Shoot me an email if you want to go after a few striper over the break. With this cold weather I'm sure they're deep, and VERY inactive. I am working at the hospital, so my time is scarce. But as long as I've been drooling over your build I'd sure like to see No Excuse in person.

Daniel,
Thanks for the complement on the layout, I've spent many nights on call at the hospital and many more at the kitchen table belaboring the tiny details until I feel like I've got the right layout for me.

Will

[wegcagle]

Currently I'm in waiting mode...I'm ready for the plywood to get here It's scheduled to get here tomorrow. In the mean time I made the ever sexy tarp canopy purchase and have set it up. Got it at Autozone on clearance for $149 with the sides. Also I have built the jig, leveled and squared it off....Well at least as level and square as a nonengineer can do . Pictures to come if and when my camera starts working.

[ks8]

Thinking you'll probably finish within a year, if you keep it simple, otherwise, I'd suggest you see if you can get a few spare sides for that tent in case the build goes a couple years. If you never use the spares before the GV is complete, you could always use them as general purpose tarps. But if autozone has the right sides now, at a good price, it is not a bad idea to get a spare set of sides. My tent was up about six years, ( ) ) and I had to replace the sides two or three times, depending on which side the prevailing winds and storms went through. It was annoying to try and fit general tarps to the dimensions. If I had it to do again, I would have bought a spare set up front, and built a plywood end with a door on *the open end*.

Looking forward to your progress when the wood arrives.

[wegcagle]

Good point on the sides. I did add a second tarp to the top. I figure double the roof thickness can only help.

Probably won't sleep well in anticipation of incoming plywood

Will

[ks8]

I'm not sure which enclosure you have, but a thought... If you double the roof thickness, it may actually chafe and not last as long. Might be better to use one layer, but hang on to that spare in case the first blows out.

When hurricanes were expected while I was building in the tent, I would also wrap the boat in another tarp, in the tent, in case the tent failed...

Here it was a very steep gradient high that blew in with violent gusts from the west (60 to 70 mph gusts), that blew out the second roof (cheap polytarp) that was then maybe one year old (the original roof lasted about four or five years with that sort of wind possible once every couple of weeks in the fall, winter and spring), and the boat was already in the inner *cathedral*. The original roof also held about two feet of heavy wet snow a couple of times! I had to sweep and rake that off very carefully. The stock roof, depending on manufacturer, can be very tough stuff, but you need to duct tape any small holes or splits immediately before they grow quickly.



The sides fail much sooner because of all their flapping. Be sure to use the bungies to secure the roof if that is what came with your tent, as they help vent, ease and distribute loads and greatly increase the life of the roof.

Earlier, before the cathedral was built, I just wrapped the hull well with a second set of tarps... and secured it to the cradle, and weighed that down with buckets of rocks and sand and other weights. Begin well, build well, finish soon and well.