# Noob, w/a red-headed stepchild...



## CapnK (Jul 6, 2011)

_Hi all - glad to be here! First things first - many Thanks to the owners and Admins of this site. It is a great resource, and as a fellow website/forum running geek by profession, I really appreciate the community y'all have put together and how you are running it.  Now, on to the good stuff.  ;D_

I picked up this boat a few weeks back, not knowing much about it at all, except for thinking that my Suzuki 2.5hp 4strk dinghy motor might push it pretty good. Turns out I was right about that - she'll do 10+ in flat water, even with me, my 2 dogs, and some gear aboard. I'm real pleased with her, but as most of you have done, I'm already figuring out what I can do to make her better.  As for the "red headed stepchild" part...

It ain't a Gheenoe. It's a Riverhawk, 15' Original.

 :-/



Now knowing what I know after/from several weeks of reading many many posts on this site, I hope that '_trueGh'noe_' owners won't look down on us.   I didn't know what she was, or her origins, but I'll say this - tho' she's a copy, she's a copy of a fine boat, and so does pretty well in her own right.  Here are a couple of pics of her as she sits right now. 'Scuse the dirty topsides - she's a working boat, right? 



















I took the 2.5 off this weekend _(you can see it lying right behind the front seat)_ and mounted my 6hp 4strk Merc, which is my sailboat auxiliary engine. The boat is just very wet with the 2.5 - you cannot outrun spray in a chop, which we have a lot of here in Winyah Bay, SC. The 6hp has a 25" shaft which makes her a bit touchy  on the steering at speed, but I wanted to see how she'd handle more horses. With the 6hp, she scoots along between 12 and 15mph, depending on whether or not we are going against the tide, and the bow wave moves back to midships, making for a much better and drier ride. I think with a 15" shaft we'd be seeing another couple of knots. I have a line on an older 9.9hp 2strk _(boat's rated for 4-10hp)_ that will be her eventual powerplant, it's a short shaft hanging on the back of a 12' v-bow aluminum skiff at the moment.

Good fishing grounds here are 6-10 miles away down-Bay, and it can get pretty nasty between here and there over the course of a few hours, so I'm planning on making her suitable and safe enough for that trip to be made on almost any given day.

I plan on fitting her out and beefing her up in the process. Running in 1-3' chop this weekend with the 6hp on there, she handled it pretty well but I think I would break her up if I did it too often in her current, unmodified state.  All I've done so far is to get some bottom paint on her - I live aboard my sailboat so she lives in the water at my slip. I am sure that doing all the work on her at the dock will bring on some challenges, but nothing too onerous.

Plans are to remove the current seats and livewell, deck her over front and back, fill in the reverse-slanted hull sides with foam glassed over, stiffen and strengthen the floor/sole, and put a small console/livewell/seat in the 'well' that these other mods will create. Much like many of the boats here.

Glad to be aboard, and many Thanks to all of you who have posted your mods and builds that inspire the rest of us.


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## JimCameron (Jan 3, 2010)

Welcome, the Riverhawk with the 6hp should be a great boat for fishing, etc. without a pile of money into it. 

It sounds like you have some great ideas for a transformation, I am always thinking about what I would do to my old boat. I'm into mine for only $500 for the skiff and don't want to put too much money into it as you can easily get to a point where you'd be better off with a new boat.

Photos are great, keep them coming, especially if you do a lot of work to the RH.

Enjoy.


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## redfish5 (Jun 28, 2011)

Good looking boat, I used to have one and loved it. Eventually upgraded to the B-52. Post some pics if you remove the center seat, thinking about doing the same.


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## captd (Feb 8, 2011)

cool lookin.


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## AfterHours2 (Aug 2, 2010)

Unlike many other's on the forum, keep the two outboards on board so that you never get stranded... ;D
Just kidding. Good luck with the build and as long as it fits your needs then it is considered a full on microskiff!


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

Don't worry about the Gheenoe Mafia. As long as you admit that the Riverhawk is a Gheenoe knock-off, which you have, no one gets fussy. Just don't say "it is built the same" etc. When it comes to buying a boat on a budget, you take what works when you can afford it without quibbling over names. We've all been there.

Looks like a fun boat. I have a soft spot for simple boats that don't need TLC.

Nate


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## CapnK (Jul 6, 2011)

Thanks for the welcome!  I'll post pictures when I get to the 'working on' part. 

Unfortunately...  

We got *hammered* by a huge, extremely unusual and unexpected, thunderstorm yesterday. Winds were well in excess of 50 kts  - almost couldn't breathe when I put my head out into it, it was so strong - and the marina got battered by waves in the 2'-3', and maybe occasionally 4' range. To the point that it literally broke up one of the floating docks, among other assorted damage to boats and docks. I've lived here ~8 years, and this was the 2nd worst storm in all that time, including TS's and hurricanes, and all the worse because it literally came out of nowhere...

I saw it building on radar, so left my office and had gotten back to my big boat just in time to batten down hatches. The lil boat was tied to the dock in her usual spot next to me, a place that normally remains flat calm even in our usual strong wind direction, SW. Yesterdays storm blew from the SE though, and that direction lets waves in through a sort of open slot in the docks. After about 20 minutes of the hardcore storm, I looked out and saw the lil boat had about 4" of rain in her, and though she was riding OK, I started to go out with the intention of bailing her. Poking halfway out of the big boat, though, I realized that that would be a) foolhardy, and b) almost impossible, with rain falling so hard, docks slick-wet and bucking like a horse, and 'knock-you-down' wind blowing like it was...

Next I looked, less than 5 minutes later, she was submerged, stern under water, just the powerhead of the outboard at her stern showing, and the hull from forward of the middle seat to the bow. My guess is that with a bunch of water in her, a wave made her fill the rest of the way...

After the storm, an hour or so later, it took me about 30 minutes to get her up onto the dock - pull a bit, wait for some water to drain, repeat, repeat. So today is _'try and keep the engine from being ruined'_ day...  :

Lesson learned: she comes out of the water in big storms. Not that anyone could have known or expected what happened yesterday...

I am lucky in that I had taken the 'spare' motor out of her, and it remained safe up on the dock throughout the storm.

Boats - ain't they fun! Always something to do...


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## JimCameron (Jan 3, 2010)

Sorry for your pain. Hope things work out with the engine.


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## CapnK (Jul 6, 2011)

Thanks, Jim! After a few hours of working on the motor yesterday, it's running again. Whew! What worked for me:

Pulled spark plug, coated w/WD-40. Shot WD-40 into cylinder, hand-cranked motor a few turns forward and reverse. Coated down entire motor w/WD-40, especially any electrical. Drained engine oil; replaced with a quart of 100% mineral spirits paint thinner. Hand cranked engine backwards and forwards a few times, moved engine around to 'slosh' it, then drained mineral spirits, shot WD-40 into crankcase. Removed fuel lines from o/b intake to carburetor, removed fuel pump. Shot carb, lines and pump and crankcase (through pump opening) with WD-40. Removed carb bowl drain screw; shot WD-40 in through that hole and drain hole, as well as carb air intake. Turned engine over some more. Cleaned fuel lines and filter, applied WD-40. Repeat until no more evidence of water comes from any of the things worked on. Sprayed engine down with Corrosion Block, esp electrical parts. Poured contaminated fuel into a open container and carefully siphoned the good fuel off of the top of the water and bad stuff. Added oil and some Sea Foam to crankcase, dried off spark plug & installed it, coating it and wires w/Corrosion Block, pumped up fuel bulb, pulled 3 times and she cranked.  

Ran the motor for about 1.5 hours last night. There is a slight problem with the idle speed _(seems to have dropped; engine will cut off at dead low idle)_, but other than that it is working at least as good as before.

All's well that ends well, I reckon... 

Disclaimer: I have no interest in promoting WD-40, but I went through a whole can of it, as well as a quart of mineral spirits, some Sea Foam, and some Corrosion Block... ;D


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## CapnK (Jul 6, 2011)

Shot a video last night on the run upriver, it's here for the viewing. Nothing fancy, am new to video-making.

_At-work caution: audio track contains loud guitars..._


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