

Rivets are super easy to replace, I thought it would be a lot more complicated to do at first as well. Riveted boats have their places, and thats just about everywhere if you know how to use it properly. Of course they are also usually made of thinner material, so you cant go racing through the stumps and rocks and expect everything to be ok. Welded boats dont give, where as riveted boats will flex and rebound. I have personally seen 3 welded jon type hulls split right down the seam, and have seen and heard of many cracked welds around the transom area and on the ribs. Most others are not of that quality and will develop loose and leaky, if not missing rivets. I would rather run a riveted boat, but only a lund or a starcraft. My personal boat has been on some very rough waters in its life, per the previous owner and is missing no rivets and has no loose rivets. They are also starcrafts, in the 1970's age range, that have been used and abused like that since new. In two summers of that, I have never seen these boats leaking at the rivets.

These boats get crashed into rocks, dragged over rocks and gravel bars, beat off of stumps, and pounded by 2-3' waves on a daily basis. In canada every summer we only run riveted boats. It sat in the water for two days at my parents' slip, and had maybe 1 gallon of water in the transom area. You remember that Starcraft I sent you a pic of? Wellll its a 1965 riveted hull, and the only leaks it has are around some of the seams where the origional epoxy sealer has split.
