SNEAK Boats VS SCULL Boats

[MikeE]

I have never brought to mind that a Sneak Boat was a Scull Boat?
I have been reading these sites and came across many times about Sneak Boats and, as one indicated that they were made and originated in the Barnegat Bay for sneaking up on birds and killing the birds you're sneaking on.
Not only the Barnegat Bay Boats but many with the same design features with a few detail changes somewhat like the west coast original Scull Boats.
On the east Coast I believe much like the west Coast these boats were used in the Market days.
The west coast sculls were downsized a great deal as time moved through the century. Today these scull boats are very low profile and very deadly on Duck s and Geese.
Then I come to the East Coast Sneak Boats which are much larger in styles. These sneak Boats have motors where our Scull boats are used in the rear of the Boats for forward propelling the boat forward as you lay down and Scull into the Birds.
These Sneak boats with the size which I brought up in post I thought were used for running to a spot setting out decoys then pulling your sneak boat in and covering with Grasses/Tules from terrain.
I had no idea these boats were sculled into Ducks as we do Sculling. I need a simple explanation on how these boats are actually used the sneak boats.
They are very much unlike the Scull boats not only in size but the use in which they perform.
Scull boats are primarily used for sculling on the ducks you wish to shoot. IC the Barnegat sneak boats used for setting decoys to be very proficient for which they are used shooting over decoys. But sculling on Birds being a different ordeal on the way the two boats are used.
We on the west coast call a sneak boat as a scull boat and used specifically for sculling on your birds.
There is a great deal of difference between the two boats. One used with an oar the other used with a motor. A motor can be used to take you where you'd like then must be shut off for hunting.
I have mentioned the size of the sneak boats of the east coast and when brought to my attention some were used to scull into birds, but I thought simply because of the size of the east coast sneak boats was because the open water they use them in is a huge body of water and boats were large for safety reasons.
As large as they are they would be difficult to sneak on birds on the west coast. With all the conditions being perfect it would be difficult to scull on ducks in my opinion only. I hope to hear more on how they are used and why are they built so large.
I always thought for packing decoys and used as a lay down Blind sort of speak. True or False.

 

[Steve Sanford]

Mike-

I am well-known as a fussbudget when it comes to terminology - especially as it relates to gunning vessels. The topic is fraught, however, because there is no - and never has been - a "governing body" to establish rules. Quite the opposite - just as with names of the various ducks - many boat-type names are of localized origin and use. However, in my view, you cover 3 distinct types:

Sneakbox (as in Barnegat Bay Sneakbox) This term relates to one particluar type og gunning vessel - attributed to Hazelton Seaman circa 1836, if I recall correctly. Initially they were designed for rowing and sailing and were typically 12- LOA with a 4' beam. They were used both for hunting in marshes for Black Ducks and other puddlers - with salt hay or wrack tossed on the decks to hide - or in the open bay - as for Broadbill and Brant. Later in the season, ice might be placed on the decks to improve the hide. While traditional Sneakboxes did not have thatch rails, most did have toe rails at the perimeter of the deck to keep the wrack or ice onboard, at least for the duration of the hunt.

As time marched on, outboards were hung on the stern - usually on a motor mount. The displacement hulls were fine for rowing, sailing and low-speed motoring. However, as outboards became larger, Sneakbox hull shape changed to semi-displacement or full planing to allow greater speed over the water.

Many different variations arose over the years - especially with the advent of fibreglass. Nevertheless, a Sneakbox remains an identifiable type, roughly 12x4, with a smallish cockpit for one gunner and a spray curtain forward of the cockpit. Many still retain, too, the stool rack on the stern deck for carrying decoys.

As always, I - being an interloper from Long Island -defer to the Jersey Boys on this site - esp. Hillman, Keeney, Setter, et cetera.

This Barnegat Bay Sneakbox was built by VanSant in Atlantic City, probably in the 1950s.

Similar vessels built elsewhere have some of the same features. Most are known simply as gunning skiffs or grassboats.



Sculling Boat (not to be confused with a Scull - which is for recreational/competition rowing) I think this is the boat you are most familiar with. It is a very specialized craft, made for sneaking up on roosting birds with the use of a special sculling oar that projects through the transom. It is low to the water and both long and narrow - the latter to minimize the apparent mass of the vessel when approaching fowl resting on the water. Such craft were built for use by a single gunner or two. In the 2-man version, the shooter would have the forward position; the sculler would be aft.

The vessel below was built in Massachusetts in the early 20th century (by Pert Lowell/family) and is known as a Joppa Flats Gunning Float ("float" being a term used in New England but not further South as far as I know). That's lead ballast in a special well just behind the bow.



This block is not moveable - as I have seen in other Sculling Boats which use a pullley system to adjust trim.



Here is the specially curved oar:



It passes through the transom - from the outside.



A softwood plug keeps the sea out when not sculling up - or down - on birds.



As I understand it, these vessels were used most frequently along the coast of New England and in the Pacific Northwest. I believe they were also used on the Delaware River in concert with the well-painted Delaware River decoys which live birds had joined. I do not have a photo of a Delaware River vessel.

Sneak Boat. In the traditional sense, Sneak Boats were used to sneak up on resting birds with small paddles - including hand paddles. (I am traveling and do not have access to the few images I have.) The forward end of the cockpit hid the gunner(s) with either canvas or brush. I believe they were used widely over many years but were never especially common. I met one young man from the Hudson River valley who used one with his father; they termed the method "creeping". I have not yet had a Sneak Boat in my shop....

This photo is from the interwebs. It is presented as a 15-footer from the Adirondacks. I am guessing that the hoops on each end are for carrying. The bracket would no doubt support a small outboard.



"Sneak Boat" is the most problematic term, in my experience. An internet search on the term today yields just about any type of duckboat - although they tend not to include the largest factory vessels. Also, many gunners conflate Sneakbox and Sneakboat - just as many use Scooter and Scoter interchangeably.....

Hope this helps!

SJS

 

[bob welsh]

And a layout boat is a boat used in open water. The name has been adopted to include a marsh boat that is grassed and used in skinny water