Garveys of NJ... Now with pics

The wood one road better was was terrible wet, and even delaminated the bottom in the ice one season. My new one is a 1984 hull is all glass with a little less beam, pounds a little more but is much dryer and quicker. I am running a 60hp tiller and it will do an honest 35mph, breaks ice great I beat the hell out of it in the winter towing my southbay and Baur boats.
 
If you south shore Long Island guys want to see some garveys, tong boats too. Google "Life of a clamdigger" or go the woodenboat forum. There is a thread entitled "Life of a clamdigger, Long Island 1972".There is a lot of Great South Bay history here, a lot of pictures too. If anyone has some old pictures to add to this thread, they will be appreciated. Rich
 
I've always wondered why the Long Island boats were decked over. Yard boat I get, tonging makes sense. As a tender not so sure. Is there alot of storage under the deck to store decoys ect? Having not ever seen the inside layout is there good use of space?

Thanks<Phil
 
Phil~

Funny you should mention the decked over and storage issues. Many (most?) were decked over simply because they were tong boats doing double duty as the tender for a big Broadbill rig.

Here is the "storage" process on Brud Skidmore's 30-foot Broadbill - which was built expressly as a tender. The decoys were actually set and picked up from the 18-foot stool boat - which was towed to the gunning grounds. Most stool boats were open, though, so the decoys were out of the ice and snow (and secure) when stored below decks. With my 2 artificial knees - and with rigs of as many as 1590 stool - this is not a chore I would want. I am guessing that the heat from the inboard may have kept them ice-free when in the hold.

storageaftertheshoot_zps214432b4.jpg


But here is another reason to have closed decks - the Scooter was not towed but sat on the deck:

JoeyampMerrittEDITED_zps8fcc98b7.jpg



The tender we are "building" right now (adding a pilothouse to a 25-foot T-Craft and a few other practical modifications) will have a nice big - 7' wide x 9' long - cockpit aft of the pilothouse. We will store the stool - all long-liners - in leaf barrels AND the cockpit will have a full canvas awning cover to keep the snow out when not in use. The Scooter (White-Wing that I built last fall) was made for towing in just about any sea.

All the best,

SJS
 
Steve, I would imagine these shots were taken sometime in the late sixties or early seventies. I was working the bay for a living then. One year in the early seventies, there was a raft of Broadbill that was said to go from Bayberry point in Bayshore to Howells point in Bellport. It was estimated to number in the millions. Rich
 
Remember the 70's there were hundred's of clam boats around. There is a lady at the decoy show that had pics of hundreds of tong boats side by side tonging for clams. Great pics of a by gone era. Remember buyers waiting at the docks in trucks allover the south shore.
Alot of the clammers were gunners and guides.
As for breaking ice with wood boats, some of the baymen that dredged eels in the winter nailed roof flashing to the boat to protect the hull.
 
Here's a picture from last season towed my grass boat 2 miles through the ice to get to this open marsh hole, had a hell of a shoot that afternoon. Notice all my bottom paint is gone.

 
I'm trilled to see the traffic on this thread. I check this site multiple times a day now, when I certainly should be doing other chores. Please keep the history lessons coming, as well as all the great photos. Thanks!! Scott
 
Tim~

Great photo of a sweet rig! Had I stayed on Long Island, an 18-foot Chincoteague was on my list.

All the best,

SJS
 
Thanks Steve, My knees and back would be screaming at me getting those decoys out of the hold. All boats are compromises or else we'd have 50. I'm thinking decoy racks.

Phil
 
Rich~

I first went afield with my Dad in the late 50s and started shooting in '65. We mostly gunned Nicoll's Cove (east side of Heckscher State Park) and the mouth of the Connetquot. The "cloud" of Broadbill - usually on the Fire Island side of the Bay - was a daily phenomenon. I still saw flocks and rafts in the tens of thousands as recently as the late 80s, but now a bunch of several hundred is a sight to behold. I sure wish I could re-visit those times.

All the best,

SJS
 
Rich~

I first went afield with my Dad in the late 50s and started shooting in '65. We mostly gunned Nicoll's Cove (east side of Heckscher State Park) and the mouth of the Connetquot. The "cloud" of Broadbill - usually on the Fire Island side of the Bay - was a daily phenomenon. I still saw flocks and rafts in the tens of thousands as recently as the late 80s, but now a bunch of several hundred is a sight to behold. I sure wish I could re-visit those times.

All the best,

SJS


Last year i was working a job in New Rochelle right on the sound (around March i believe.) For the two weeks at the house there was a raft of broadbills about 50 yards from the house, that had to be about 2000. It was quite the sight, i could only image what 10,000 would be like.
Click to expand...
 
Great topic, as I have been meaning to ask a few questions here about a garvey I recently acquired. It is a 14ft glass over cedar. The glass on the bottom half was badly delaminated and has been peeled off to expose the water logged wood. It sat for a few weeks drying in the garage and I just finished the exciting task of sanding the remaining glass off the boat.

I was able to salvage most of the hull, but some needs to be replaced and I am replacing the entire deck. I just picked up some white cedar from the saw mill a couple days ago, so I am finally making progress.

I have a few questions at this point:[font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]

1. Does anyone have pictures of a garvey's hull? This boat had a small 2"x3"x42" keel which tapered forward. I don't believe this is original as it was bolted through the fiber glass (source of glass delaminating).

2. Could I put two ice runners and a center keel on which would run the length of the boat without affecting its handling? I plan on running the boat up on the marsh and want all the protection I can get.

3. The boat had one bench across the center of the boat which I removed. I wanted to make it an open floor plan, but worry that the bench tightened the boat up and it could flex/twist without it there. Any thoughts?

I did some research and think it may be modeled after a Russ Adams garvey, but has had some previous repairs and changes. The gentleman I got the boat from told me the boat was 15ft, but was cut down when he replaced the transom.

I don't have any good pics of it since I just changed phones, but it looks similar to this boat.



http://duckboats.net/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=137588;page=1;mh=-1;;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC

Thanks
Jay
[/font]
 
Rich... Yes it is a clam rake. What better way to enjoy father - daughter time when she is home from college. She is great at fishing too!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top