dimensionstoU.S. Composites. The
company calculated the amount of
epoxy and fiberglass cloth required
and shipped the materials. He was
pleasantly surprised when the repre-
sentative asked if he was building a
KARA Hummer.
Since it was winter, he was fortu-
nate to have a large attached garage
with a heat duct connected to the
house available for keeping the tem-
perature warm enough to cure epoxy.
He also set up a dehumidifier.
He painted the boat with a base
layer of brown deck paint. Then, he
cut a cardboard template and used
aerosol cans of flat black, green and
tan paint to create a grass pattern.
A lightweight lithium-ion battery
powers LED light strips that illumi-
nate the interior. Two bilge pumps
keep the interior dry. The boat has
no drain plug.
In the original design, the bow was
identical to the stern, more or less
pointed at both ends like a traditional
punt that is poled or rowed. Fussell
widened and flattened the stern and
added a one-foot high transom to
accommodate a mud motor.
The motor is a 6.5 horsepower
PPF Mud Motor purchased for about
$1,200. He bought a $100 kit to
upgrade it to 9 horsepower. The kit
included upgrades to the air intake,
exhaust system, carburetor and fly-
wheel. It has an integral fuel tank, and
he stows a one-gallon can to refuel
the engine.
When operating the engine, Fussell
sits on a 1”x6” board laid across the
combing. When he is hunting, he sits
on a stadium seat.
Working an hour or two at a time,
it took him a year to build the boat.
However, the project only required
about 80 hours, all told.
The boat weighs about 130 pounds.
To transport it, Fussell slides it into
the bed of his pickup truck. He fash-
ioned a receiver hitch extension with
a top roller to aid in loading the boat.
Nevertheless, the runners were scuff-
ing,sohesaidhewillreplacethem
withplasticrunnersor addplastic
stripstothem.
Theboatis sucha workofartthat
evenbeforeitsfirsthuntingseason,
peoplehavebeenstoppinghimon
the water when he is fishing and at
gas stations to ask questions and offer
compliments.
The plans cost $35 and Fussell
built the boat for $500, so it met his
goalofsavingmoney.Whileit was
notfinishedintimeforthe2018-19
huntingseason,hehaswater-tested
it extensively.
“It’sverystable,”hesaid.“Ican
standupinit,butI wouldn’tuseitin more than a foot of chop. It’s per-
fect for getting back into the shallow
marshes where there will be little
competition from other hunters and
plenty of ducks.”If you have a boat or blind you would
like to see featured in Boats and Blinds,
please send some photos, a description and
your telephone number to Mike Marsh at
[email protected]38 WILDFOWL Magazine | September 2019 wildfowlmag.com
Boats & Blinds