Is it a pirogue or a bateau ??

[Steve Sanford]

Roy~

No, I never did post the plans. I have rough sketches with "as built" dimensions. I would share them - but with no warranties expressed or implied!

Just let me know.

SJS

 

[Rick Pierce]

And the original pirogue were dugout from cypress...later they were from planks. If you're on Facebook, look up Dale Bordelon; he made a dugout pirogue from a cypress log, still hunts with a model 97 Winchester pump gun, makes cajun style calls, and is all about "old ways".

 

[greg setter]

Neat stuff Steve, I'm going to watch that you tube video about the river crossing.

 

[Richard Lathrop]

Good morning, Griggs~

If for nothing else, I am generally known as an insufferable stickler for correct terminology when it comes to boats - or at least small gunning craft. The good news is you really cannot go astray with "bateau". It is French for "boat". I've never studied that particular Romance language but have gathered that - as a rule - one pronounces almost none of the letters. Thus the plural of bateau is bateaux - but pronounced with no regard for the "x"....

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They have a long history up here where I live. The Hudson Crossing link below shows lots of 18th century bateaux - and the site is not far west of us.

https://www.hudsoncrossingpark.org/bridge-of-boats

But, a quick visit to the interwebs finds plenty of square-ended vessels called bateaux. (ba-TOW)

A pirogue, on the other hand, is a specific type that is indigenous to your lowlands - even if all the Cajuns trace their roots to Acadia up here in the Northeast (I've "borrowed" the Canadian Maritimes for the purposes of my argument....). This pirogue (do not pronounce the last 3 letters!) is pointed at both ends, is intended for one or two people, and has a flat bottom. It probably has a bit more beam and a bit more freeboard than a true pirogue from down your way. Of course, to confuse matters thoroughly, I call her "Battenkill Bateau" in my files.......

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Her story is at: https://stevenjaysanford.com/lost-found-boat-a-15-foot-pirogue/

I do have a new friend locally who grew up in your state - and still has the pirogue he had for himself when he was 14. I need to discuss this matter with Ken.

In any event: Congratulations on a sweet vessel!

All the best,

SJS

What about the skiff? Put deck on front and back of your pirogue and it looks like a railbird skiff. I think terms can be used interchangeably for the same item.


Rick Lathrop

 

[Eric Patterson]

Rick, there are some really interesting videos out there of Dale Bordelon. He really is a throw-back to duck hunting a century ago.

Steve, if you do decide to make the plans public I'd be thrilled to add them to the Resources section with the other boat plans.

 

[jode hillman]

Hello all,

I have been making these small duck boats for hunting on a small marsh pond in eastern North Carolina. Is it a pirogue or a bateau? After trying several different propulsion options I have also learned with a little balance a capped 10' pvc pipe with a little sand is hard to beat, real quiet too.

Best,

Harbinger Boatworks (Lea Griggs)

Those are interesting small craft.

Definitely not a piro, or a bateau . I would put them more along the lines of a pram or a small Garvey.

 

[Rick Pierce]

Rick, there are some really interesting videos out there of Dale Bordelon. He really is a throw-back to duck hunting a century ago.

Steve, if you do decide to make the plans public I'd be thrilled to add them to the Resources section with the other boat plans.

Yes he is. What I'm sure a lot of people would disagree with is that he "skillet shoots" a lot of his ducks on the water....but he says it's how it was done, and no meat gets in the breast that way.

He made a series of his cane calls with reeds made from old hard rubber combs, which was the traditional way back in the early to mid 1900's.

 

[Eric Patterson]

Rick

I'm posting the below so others who haven't seen Dale can get a look at him.

 

[Joe Friday]

Your boats look great, no matter what you call them. Well done!

Your boatworks name,...Griggs/Harbinger .... Currituck County? I'm in Pitt County.

Welcome to the best forum on the World Wide Web, btw!

 

[Paul Taylor]

Rick

I'm posting the below so others who haven't seen Dale can get a look at him.

Dale is doing an incredible job teaching others about traditional Louisiana waterfowling from homemade decoys, calls, dugout pirogue, duck storage barrel, lanyards, etc. Very cool stuff. I fell in love with Louisiana 24 years ago. I gave up my mud motor several years ago and now hunt almost exclusively from a pirogue, occasionally from a marsh boat paddling and poling.

 

[Dale Wilcox]

In Louisiana every jon boat seems to be called a bateau. Great looking little rig you got there regardless!!!

Thats what I was thinking too.

 

[Dale Wilcox]

When I hunted down around Morgan City LA the locals called these two peerows [ pirogue] and the jonboat type a Bateau.

 

[Eric Patterson]

In Louisiana every jon boat seems to be called a bateau. Great looking little rig you got there regardless!!!

How is it pronounced in Louisiana? Reason I ask is when I lived in Mobile I hunted two bays in the Mobile Delta, Big Bateau and Little Bateau. Everyone pronounced them "batty." I figure that pronunciation is a local is local to Mobile.

 

[roy brewington]

Roy~

No, I never did post the plans. I have rough sketches with "as built" dimensions. I would share them - but with no warranties expressed or implied!

Just let me know.

SJS

Steve I would love to have a set of your plans/ as builds for your pirogue. I like what i'm seeing in your pics of the higher sides compared to what i've seen in past.

 

[Griggs HarbingerBoatworks]

Your boats look great, no matter what you call them. Well done!

Your boatworks name,...Griggs/Harbinger .... Currituck County? I'm in Pitt County.

Welcome to the best forum on the World Wide Web, btw!

Currituck County is correct. Harbinger is pretty much right before the bridge to Kitty Hawk.

 

[Rick Pierce]

Rick

I'm posting the below so others who haven't seen Dale can get a look at him.

I've been thinking about driving down there to meet him, but shaking loose and devoting a weekend to it is harder and harder these days.

 

[Paul Taylor]

Here's the pirogue pronunciations I've heard. It seems to be based on whether you were raised North of I-10 or South of it. Most of my buddies have webbed toes from being raised South of I-10. LOL
Pee Rog
Pee Row
Pee Rogue
Peer Rog
Peer Row
Peer Rogue

 

[Eric Patterson]

That's a lot of variations. Them Cajuns are batty!

 

[Griggs HarbingerBoatworks]

When I hunted down around Morgan City LA the locals called these two peerows [ pirogue] and the jonboat type a Bateau.

How tall are the sides on these little guys?

Higher sides and being able to sit up straight is something I wanted to incorporate into my design. It seems like more often than not the peerows have very low sides... Did you paddle around on your knees?

 

[Paul Taylor]

How tall are the sides on these little guys?

Higher sides and being able to sit up straight is something I wanted to incorporate into my design. It seems like more often than not the peerows have very low sides... Did you paddle around on your knees?

We sit or stand. I added spud holes to mine last summer and spud into the mud to stabilize the pirogue due to some deep water hunts and hunting an 80 lb chocolate lab. My boys have been raised in these boats. We push pole across mud flats and paddle deep water. These little boats are incredible tools for hunting the shallow marsh.