Duck Hunter II Rehad

J

John D.

Active member
Greetings gentlemen. I haven't been around here in awhile but my latest project brings my attention back to the best duck hunting related site on the internet. So....I built a modified Duck Hunter II 8 years ago. It's been a great boat but unfortunately time has taken its toll. The transom is rotting and the aft most bulkhead is totally rotten. It's been a source of much sorry for the last year or so. Was seriously considering letting it rot and moving on with my life. But every time I walk by it I remember all the great times I've spent in her....I've really used this boat. Ducks, girlfriends, fish, beer, friends etc... Been a real part of my life for awhile now. And I've always loved the fact that I built the thing myself.

So I'm going to fix it! I finally made up my mind. Don't really have it all figured out yet but I know what I'm going to do first. I'm about to just cut the whole transom off. Then I'll asses the situation and come up with whatever the next step will be. Will take some pictures and post them up here for you guys to critique. Hopefully ya'll can get a bit of enjoyment out of my project too.

Background info: I built this thing out of cheap exterior grade BC plywood and (unfortunately) Advantech. The Advantech is whats rotting. All the "real" plywood has held up well. I've had to work on her here and there through the years but not really a big deal. The advantech just gets water logged and then turns to mush. Oh and, I also put 10 gallons of West Systems into this boat too. Along with a bunch of 10oz cloth and some 1708. I glassed the @#$%^& out of it.

There you go guys. Look forward to hearing from ya'll.
 
well,,,,,I cut the transom off my boat. Was rather unpleasant. It's way more rotten than I'd hoped for. Kept on cutting looking for dry wood and ended up cutting about two feet of the port side of the boat off. Lots of rot. The bottom wasn't rotten though. I ripped up the inside glass skin to see what was going on in there and discovered my 7/16 plywood was soaking wet but not rotten. Still sturdy. Cut out the aft bulkhead. the only thing of any substance left was the glass on either side.

It looks like everything above the gunnels is dry.....except the rubrail...it's rotting. Don't really have any idea what to do next. Guess I'll just leave it alone for awhile and think about it. Maybe I should quit while I'm ahead and just cut the whole boat up? I don't know.
 
John,

Sometimes a guys first project can be correctly called a "prototype". Sometimes these prototypes end up hitting the scrap pile well before they are even launched. Yours did not, and you have many fond memories.

One thing you might consider is a new build. Choose a model that will meet your current needs and lifestyle. Build upon what you learned during your first build and use of that boat. Maybe you will choose the same exact boat, maybe a different model but you have the opportunity to begin to make new memories.

If you go this route, I would encourage you to salvage a board, a piece of a board or a section from your first project. Either keep it as a memento OR incorporate that piece into your next boat somewhere in the build process. That way it will still be with you and a constant reminder of past times while you sit in the new boat making new, or should I say, additional memories.

Good luck in whatever you choose going forward.
 
Steve,

I enjoyed that thread. Thanks. I suppose all things must come to pass. When I built my boat I really never expected it to last as long as it has...Actually I was a little surprised it even floated. Then more surprised how it popped up on plane and tracked well and was sturdy and ended up being a great boat. For the first year or so I used it I was constantly worried the transom would fall off or the whole boat would just break in half in rough water. I finally got used to the fact that it was actually a legitimate boat.

I've never stopped day dreaming about building more boats. The only reason I haven't given it another go is just the time and money involved. I'd love to build another boat! It would be fun to see how much better work I could do now. Think I could really do a decent job at this point.

Even if I cut my old boat up and send it off to that great boatyard in the sky....I still got a 25hp Mercury that runs good and a decent trailer. Just need a boat.

I still can't wrap my brain around how I would even go about fixing it in the condition it's in? I'm not ready to completely give up yet. Will let it sit in my shop for awhile longer. It isn't hurting anything and I'm too busy with work in the summer to use it anyway.

One thing about this whole situation that really gets me is.....I feel old! I wore out a boat. Doesn't seem that long ago that I was building it.
 
I'm not sure that you actually wore a boat out, so much as you build it with inferior materials and now we see what happens when that you do that. I would be very hesitant to try to save this boat from what you described simply because if theres that much ride back in the transom area what is to stay there is not more that you haven't seen throughout the entire rest of them hull.
 
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John~

Glad you enjoyed the tale. Note that I did not cut it up right away - I let it "age" over the winter in case I changed my mind.

Also, I'm not sure I ever closed the loop on that boat. By sheer coincidence, while collecting photos for our When the Broadbill was King on Great South Bay documentary, an old friend of my Dad's sent me this photo from Florida. The boat on the left is the one I sent to The Other Side. We still do not know who built it but we know who gunned it during the 60s.


B28%20Wally%20with%20rumplik%20amp%20Dufek%20CROPPED_zpsk4kfpqoy.jpg



The boat on the right is the Brud Skidmore that I restored last summer:

http://stevenjaysanford.com/skidmore-scooter-a-plywood-whaleback/

All the best,

SJS
 
That's a fine looking boat John. Where in NC are you? My family is from Beaufort and New Bern, we still have a place on the Neuse river. I would love to get back there and hunt it some day.
 
Cody,

I live in Oriental. The Neuse River is my home turf. Spend a lot of time in upper Broad Creek and Goose Creek duck hunting. There's been a bunch of Blue Bills the last couple of seasons. I actually didn't go a single time last season. With my boat falling apart and no friends willing to make any investment in hunting I just couldn't swing it.

You get down here much?
 
I don't get back as much as I'd like John, but we're able to make the trip every few years. Funny that you're from Oriental-my Grandma grew up in Arapaho, and our place is just across the river from you up Clubfoot Creek. My grandpa was a shrimper and I grew up working summers with him on his boat, shrimping on the Neuse and Clubfoot. That's great that we know the same neck of the woods!
 
Cody,

Good to hear from a fellow North Carolinian! It seems that NC has virtually no representation on this forum. Which is a shame since some serious duck hunting has been going on down here for a long time. I guess you just don't see any traditional style boats, (Yankee traditional that is), around these parts. There is a really strong carving scene around here though. Lot's of hand carved decoys going around.

Seems like someone from Ocracoke, Cedar Island, or Harkers Island would be all over this board?

You know...the only wooden sneakbox type boat I've ever actually seen with my own eyes is the one I built. Never run across anyone with a Barnegat Bay style boat before. I did used to see some boys in Lowland with a Big Pontoon boat they'd built a cabin in and covered with about $10,000 worth of Fast Grass. Also seen some massive shrimp net rigs that could be seen from outer space....and flock upon flock of Mojo decoys.......but I've never run across any good looking classic duck boats.
 
John~

I really like that hull! I can see why you would hate to let it go.

And, just so you don't feel so lonely in the Tarheel State....

My Dad spent some time during WW II (USMC) on the barrier beach south of you - I cannot recall the name of the facility right now. I hope to visit it within the next few years.

My Grandfather moved to the Mattamuskeet area in the 50s - living in Fairfield and Swanquarter. For a while, he worked at the old Forest Manor - which my family visited around 1962.

I grew up gunning with William R. "Dick" Simmons on Long Island - but he retired to Oriental during the 70s. I believe he passed away quite a few years ago.

A few of us from Upstate NY dairy country are planning to drive down to hunt Pamlico Sound and Ocracoke next January.

All the best,

SJS
 
John-I hear you, there is such a rich history of decoys and gunning in that area. I know that my dad's dad spent many hours in his youth hunting all around Beaufort and Core Sound, and there was at one time a rig of decoys in my family that went back at least 3 generations. Unfortunately my Great-Grandma sold my Great Grandpa's hunting rig and LC Smith waterfowling guns when he passed away in the early '60s. I would sure love to have some of those decoys now. I really miss that area, our family roots go very deep there. My grandparents on my Mom's side owned the Dairy Queen in Havelock for 35 years before they retired, I would spend the summers with them when I was a kid working for my Grandpa around his house and property and as a deckhand on his shrimp boat. Lots of great memories!

Steve-was your dad at Cherry Point or Fort Macon perhaps? He could also have been farther south at Fort Fisher near Wilmington.
 
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