I wanted a dryer more utilitarian toy and daydreamed for several more years before stumbling onto another Aqua Cycle CK found for sale in Flint.

The owner had ingeniously converted it from a sternwheeler to a prop drive using the transmission from a snow blower! It worked flawlessly for years until it was vandalized letting me pursue my dusty old idea guilt free.

I by fate I found another battered old Aqua Cycle at a small marina near my boat. A hundred dollars later it was mine and the project was green lighted finally. The youtube clip here tells the rest of the story

It was built as a prototype out of chipboard and aluminum.

I designed an airboat style stick steering and a throttle linkage. We were a common sight tooling around the beaches of Anchor Bay on Lake St. Clair relaxing under the boat's large umbrella. After many fun years the cheap wood rotted away and the poor thing sat for over a year crumbling at the dock while I pursued other adventures.

The redesign of the craft will make it more of a bare bones cruising rig and fishing platform. I am scrapping the steering linkage even though it worked great in order to manually tiller steer the motor and lose the throttle linkage that never really worked as well as I would have liked. The new rig is being done top to bottom with treated lumber for years of fun in the sun.

This page is dedicated to the rebirth of the new and improved Riff Raft! The refit starts on June 1st and the progress will be live on the Ziggycam up to and including the maiden launch and test drive if all goes well.

Test Launch 1

I put the registration numbers on and added the boat name across the front.

We loaded her up and hauled her to the boat ramp. She got a lot of attention the whole 4 block trip.

We put her in and found her to be a little nose heavy. This wasn't a real surprise. The motor being repositioned so far forward caused for a steering issue when coupled to the bow weight.

The motor ran flawlessly! We pulled her back out onto the trailer and headed her home.

I have moved the box back a little over a foot and rearranged the battery and fuel tank mounting. I now have to rework the transom support. I cut the mount down about an inch lowering the prop into the water deeper.

Hoping for another sea trial this coming weekend.

Test Launch 2

I spent Saturday redesigning the transom and reconnecting the wiring from the box being moved back. I forgot to get pics of the fresh work but will update the page with some next week.

Jane and I were optimistic and packed a cooler of beer confident in my recalculations after the first test.

The bright red barge gets attention like a parade on the short trailer ride to the launch. The launch was empty so we had plenty of time to get her ready for the water.

Everything went well and the raft steered just fine this time. We motored out of the small channel and out into the lake loud and proud!

The raft likes to cruise around 4 1/2 MPH with 2 adults aboard and topped off around 6 MPH. Not a speed demon but the old battered prop didn't help. I will be replacing it soon! I haven't tried a solo run yet and I'm sure it will be more lively.

We circled the lake before anchoring at the top of the lake and lounging under the shade of the umbrella for a while.

All went so well we pulled anchor and motored over to Ziggyland North and hit the dock. Jane made some kick ass sandwiches While I fixed tghe light in our neighbor's 7ft high lighthouse so we can find our way home in the dark!

While Jane packed the picnic bag I dug out my long forgotten fishing gear. Once we finished loading the raft we were off.

We putted around and wet a few rusty old lures for the rest of the day getting a few hits but no fish in the boat.

The umbrella self destructed early into the evening and is now on the short list to be upgraded.