DRIFT

Ray Heater of Ray’s River Dories is renowned in the drift boats he constructed. I presumed Ray and Roger Fletcher had a long friendship with Roger recording and writing the history of drift boats while Ray primarily built them. This version was a historical design that tended to be used by trappers during the winter. The boat was light and maneuverable and carried a sufficient payload. Further design changes resulted on the more common design where both ends of the ends were pointy, the more common double ender.

As a builder, Ray was keen to find the best materials. When Ray heard there a plywood being made from old growth douglas fir (circa 1990) Ray bought as much plywood as he could manage. The notable difference with the old growth plywood was there was little need to use football shaped inserts to fill the knot holes.

The boat is a pleasure to row in rivers, since it is capable of easily turning 360 degrees on a single standing wave in the river. Since the plywood can not be duplicated if damaged, the local use in the Kern River Valley and Kern River avoids the heavily boulder strewn sections enjoyed by the plastic kayaks. The boat makes a stable platform for fly fishing a d simply having fun on the water. The boat has floated lakes in the High Sierra up to an elevation of 9,000 feet.