Brockway Type Pictures

Bob B

Bob B

Well-known member
here are two old photos of the Plywood dory type New England Skiff.
The first is of four models. Three of the type and the last more of a glass hull knock off that I never built. The scow is similar to Earls but he brought the rocker up more in the bow and kept the width at the chine wider. These boats were used by commercial fisherman and construction outfits all over CT and NY.
The middle hull was not as shapely as I wanted, but caught a lot of fish and was built in three days.
The Left hull was the one that I followed the lines of John Gardners Clam Skiff (Plan is in "Building Classic Small Craft" McGraw Hill, pg 470) but built it with the Tolman center stringers. These worked great and really made a stiff hull. This boat with the bow flair and wide Dory profile could cary an awful lot of hunting gear for a 15 footer and it was not wet once I added the spray rails, again from Tolmans book.



The second photo is one of my favorites and it always reminds me how much fun porgy fishing is with a helper.
These boats are not meant to compete with the likes of the finely crafted stitch and glue Devlins, or others, but to be economical (Both in money and time) and hard working for the builder.


 
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the sides were 3\8 AC and the bottom was 1\2
The rest was fir 2x or spruce ledger rough sawn. I used epoxy for the joints but no cloth.
The 2x provides plenty of glue surface.

The smile says it all.
I never spent more than $300 building one back in the early 90s. Wood is more now.
But I always tried to keep the cost below a used tin boat and liked the 24 to 26 inch high sides much better than the shallower metal boats my friends used.


 
Hey Bob... that's a great looking boat. Obviously built with detail in mind. You sound apologetic, but that took a ton of skill to build so well.

Is it your design? Do you still have it?

Thanks, A>
 
Thanks Andrew.
I dont have it and that is a long story I will tell you if we can pull off a hunt this christmas break.
I didnt mean to sound apologetic, just realistic. No boat that is built in a weekend with 3 to 400 dollars of stuff, all up, is going to compare to one that took 200 hours and 1500 dollars to build. Same is true for a 10 G welded aluminum hull.
But each has its place and if used within its design limitations will give good service to the owner.
I put the pictures up for info as much as anything, to show how the NE style skiffs were built. I missed getting pictures of the Brockway Scow in town as it was covered for the snow thats on the way.
I think I have some shots of a Point Judith Skiff on my wifes computer that I will post for the same reason.
Are you guys hunting after the big day next week?
 
Sadly... I'm at the inlaws for the Holiday... no hunting of any kind... I have to sit with my new cardigan sweater (most likely) all weekend and be a good son in law. I used to go hunting down in Tuckerton with my bro-in law, but he married someone from England, so... he's off to England.

His lab died today and that is sad, his lab was a great retriever.

I still love that boat. Can't believe you built it over a weekend... outstanding.
 
Bob,
That is a cool looking boat! Not something you normally see here on the inland lakes of the south. I agree on the longevity of the plywood boats. I have been out on Tampa Bay on a couple of occasions in a boat my wifes cousin built when he was in high school. He is 50+ now and it is still going strong. I think he repaints it every couple of years, so we may be riding on an inch of paint for all I know. Shawn
 
A high school bud of mine bought a "Bully" boat (pointed bow)that had very similar lines. Later on Privateer/Beaver boats built one like it. The Beaver didnt have enough beam to suit me or I would have bought one. Those are really salty looking boats that you have modeled.

Merry Christmas,

Harry
 
Thats what I'm talking about Bob.

I have Gardners book but it's on loan at the moment. I'm going to have to run it down and
check on those hulls.

Thanks
 
By the way, any opinion on the Seahawk skiff I gave the link to a little way back?
I love that big flared front and the svelte profile, but I am kind of wooried about the stability versus the Diablo type.
Love those Brockway lines but I think I can do better with a little care.
The whole mass produced versus " made for me" issue.

Was the hull on the left of the models based on Gardners design?
Did you increase the height of the shear?
 
Hey Bob,

Thanks for posting these photos. This gives me some more food for thought. When I was a kid, the lady who took care of summer cottages down the hill from my folks used to have two Amesbury Skiffs. I would take those out flounder and mackerel fishing all the time. I think I spent most of my summers in those little boats. Great photo of your boy there. Man, he has grown right up, eh? That porgy fishing looks fun. Do you get sheepshead down that way too? How about fluke?

I will have to get Gardner's book now.

Have an awesome Christmas.

Best,
Nate
 
Hello Guys,

I was on graigslist/maine found this.. thought you might like to see it if you haven't already.. check it out they had several pictures also.. Let's do three of them as a team?? Nate, Geoff, ?? hahaha..

Lady Bug Boats is offering our Plans for our Commercial Plywood Skiffs Our skiffs are 18 ft and are along the lines of a Brockway Style very low draft and very Stable. An excellent mooring service boat or Seaweed or mossing skiff needs very little horspower to plane very economical to run. Build your own or have us build it for you. visit our website to order paper plans or get them downloaded right away just visit us at ladybugboats.com or e-mail me thru here. As an added bonus we will include the drawings for our smaller version the Ellisville 14 Skiff and the Center console drawings this has been a very popular skiff and very easy to build great winter project.

Merry X- Mas !! Ed
 
Nice boats. I love those seaskiffs. There was an article in Wooden Boat on the building of an 18' model a couple
of years ago. I think the authors name was Ellis Rowe.

Am I the only one who wonders in they could built with a solid sheet instead of 3 strakes? I dont know if a
leftover of the bygone era when everything was straked, or to ease bends? or why?
 
This is an old thread. But I wanted to post these pictures of a skiff I built a model of quite a few years ago. I always liked the Scows that Earl Brockway built and this one is right in town. I finally got a chance to take some pictures of it.

These are A\C plywood and paint. Some Glue and galvanized nails. There are many still working that are over 25 years old.

Lots of rocker in the bottom makes for slow going, but good in a sea and can carry a wicked load. Before the Carolina Skiff these were the choice of construction work on bridge and waterfront jobs and the clam and oyster fishery. He built them up to over 20 feet long.

This is 16 foot. The flare makes it different from a Jersey Boat. He also built the dory bow type.

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Hello Bob...Thanks for posting the pics of the Brockway. I must admit I am unfamiliar with him or the boats, but I like it. Seeing the under deck details was nice too.

Having grown up around crabbing and oyster boats on the Cheasapeake, I have a soft spot for working boats. Thanks,
John
 
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