Hudson River Duck Skiff - RESTORATION - Floorboards, Cockpit Hatch, Decks...

Steve Sanford

Steve Sanford

Well-known member
Good morning, All~


The recent "spa treatment" patient - a South Bay Duckboat - gets hauled back home tomorrow. It's place in the shop was taken earlier this week by a real veteran. This will be another long post - spread out over a few weeks (Grandson Jacob visits next week - and will soak up most of my attention.)



View attachment sm A Portrait - Upright 01.JPG



I am calling this vessel a Hudson River Duck Skiff - until some historian comes along with better information.


View attachment sm B Portrait - Upright 02.JPG



It hails from the Lower Hudson Valley - near Poughkeepsie (poh-kip-see). The owner is not sure who built it but the previous owner probably hunted it in the early 1900s.


She has lots of deadrise (vee) and a long external keel. I'm sure she glides through the water effortlessly - but would never turn on a dime.


View attachment sm C Portrait - Bow on.JPG





It is traditionally built by a very skilled builder. It is White Cedar carvel planking over bent (steamed) White Oak Ribs, fastened with clenched copper nails. The decks are covered with canvas.


View attachment sm E Stern deck view.JPG


She was designed like many duckboats I know from Great South Bay in that the gunner probably lay on his back - with his head and neck on a padded rest.


View attachment sm D Portrait - cockpit.JPG



I fitted a pair of these chocks to keep her level on the saw horses during restoration.


View attachment sm F Hull Chock AFT AFT.JPG



The cleat stiffens the plywood and rests on the horse - where it gets screwed temporarily.


View attachment sm G Hull Chock stiffener.JPG



This curvaceous hull exhibits what are known as "slack bilges".


View attachment sm H Hull in chocks - round bottom.JPG



Here's the whole bottom.


View attachment sm I Bottom 01.JPG



continued in next post....



 
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Here's more of the bottom.


View attachment sm J Bottom - stbd stern quarter.JPG



Here you can appreciate her underwater profile. From amidships to her nose you can see a bit of "powder horn" in her keel.



View attachment sm K Bottom - full fwd quarter.JPG



All the fastenings appear sound - and I've found no rot.



View attachment sm L Transom.JPG



The canvas is in very good shape. Painted canvas is a very durable material. Because these decks were not strode upon with any regularity, I imagine they are original.


View attachment sm M Topsides from bow.JPG



The canvas on her stern deck shows a little buckling - but no deterioration.


View attachment sm N Canvas on stern deck.JPG



She measures 13-feet-11 inches LOA.


View attachment sm LOA 01.JPG



Her beam is 36 inches.


View attachment sm Beam 01.JPG



My chain hoist and deer scale let me measure her weight.


View attachment sm 112 Pounds - Scale 01.JPG



She "tips the Toledos" at about 112 - 113 pounds.


View attachment sm 112 Pounds 01.JPG



Plenty more to follow.


SJS

 
very nice little boat-

no rot and decent canvas- what are you planning to do as restoration?

and I wish some of the recipients of your craftsmanship would post some action photos of the boats back in the hunt
 
Rick~


I'll address the full To Do List in future posts. First - and most demanding - job is to make the bottom water-tight.


I will also make floorboards and a hard (wood and 'glass) cockpit cover. Lots of other details will emerge from an on-going collaboration with the owner.


All the best,


SJS

 
That's a lovely boat. The shape of her bottom reminds me of an old John McPhee book--"The Deltoid Pumpkinseed". Though McPhee's pumpkinseed was an esperimental aircraft, not a boat. I'm a sucker for boats made to row or paddle well.
 
Rich~


Yes, the keel is heavy. And,gets narrower amidships. Rocks? Gravel? Sand? A mystery for sure.


No rot that I can find. She's been taken care of for at least a century.


Here are some more details - and mysteries.


Beautiful bronze hardware on her nose. This will be removed but then replaced after the hull has a watertight skin.


View attachment sm 1 Bow - topside.JPG



Not sure if you call this a "plumb stem" when it's only a few inches.....


View attachment sm 2 Bow - underside.JPG



This brass clip on the middle of the foredeck may have secured some canvas.


View attachment sm 3 Foredeck clip.JPG



This little Oak pad is just ahead of the forward coaming.


View attachment sm 4 Foredeck pad.JPG



There is a brass screw eye on each forward corner of the coaming. Did they secure the rear corners of a canvas spray shield - with the brass clip holding the forward end and the Oak pad securing a post or strut? (None are robust enough to hold a punt gun in place!)



View attachment sm 5 Coaming corner and screw eye.JPG



Nice strong oarlock stanchions are bolted down through the deck. Not sure why each sits atop a half-inch softwood pad.


View attachment sm 6 Oarlock stanchion A.JPG



Inside both port and starboard coamings are these chocks. Did they hold a seat or backrest in place?



View attachment sm 7 Backrest slot lighter.JPG



The inside of the aft coaming is padded - with a skin of painted canvas tacked to the coaming.


View attachment sm 8 Aft coaming - padded rest.JPG



The "padding" itself is period-appropriate horsehair.


View attachment sm 9 Aft coaming - horse hair stuffing.JPG



This little bracket/knee was one of a pair. I am guessing a board was fastened across them - perhaps as a seat when not rowing?


View attachment sm 10 Aft coaming.JPG



Stay tuned.


SJS







 
Jeff~


I was sorry I missed you in Manchester last weekend - would have driven up for sure had I known!


Here is more on the hull. All the seams are wide open and bone dry.


View attachment sm 01 Hull - stbd bottom.JPG



Here is the garboard seam against the keel.


View attachment sm 02 Keel - garboard seam.JPG



Here is the seam up against the chine.


View attachment sm 03 Chine seam.JPG



A glance from below shows plenty of daylight.


View attachment sm 04 Seams looking upward.JPG



Only a single frame is broken.


View attachment sm 05 Interior - framing.JPG



I'm not sure what purpose this blocking atop the keel serves. Unlike a true keelson, it is not continuous and so cannot stiffen the keel/hull.


View attachment sm 06 Interior - Keel blocking.JPG



The copper rivets peened over the copper roves inside the hull.


View attachment sm 07 Interior - rivets.JPG



The forward framing looks sound - as does the stern. One frame is solid sawn lumber up toward the bow. It may serve the function of a breast hook - tying the keel and sides together.


View attachment sm 08 Forward framing.JPG



In the time-honored way, I heated and bent the tang on an old file to serve as a "reefing hook" - to clean out the seams of old caulking and paint.


View attachment sm 09 Reefing Hook 01.JPG



Here 'tis at work.


View attachment sm 10 Reefing Hook 02.JPG



All the best,


SJS

 
Steve

The skiff reeks of waterfowling lore, and gunning adventure.

A top of the line duck hunting craft during it's time.

Seems as if the owner spared no expense in it's creation to suit his taste and purpose. Suitable care and storage was also in the mix.


Can't wait for further restoration, info and updates.

Makes me want to grab some old decoys, gunning box, the 16ga. Model 12, and go.
 
Great little boat and project. I will be following this one with much interest as I have lived in or around Poughkeepsie all my life. Great little piece of history.
 
Sorry I missed you, Steve. James said you were too busy with boats and decoys to come over--and it looks like you were! I did enjoy the Shang Wheeler salmon carving in the museum, but not nearly so much as all the flies.

Still need to get up to the Shelburne Museum. I'm hoping I get assigned to referee a Middlebury tournament this fall, and if so, I'll come a day early or stay until Monday. Maybe we can arrange a visit.
 
Good morning, Zane~


Any leads or insights you have on local builders or fowling vessels will be more than welcome!


All the best,


SJS

 
Steve, you east coast guys find/acquire all the cool boats to do restores on. It would be a dream to find old boats such as the ones you restore here in central Missouri. But that never happens. I always enjoy seeing and living vicariously through your great detailed boat restoration progress posts. Love learning from your experiences all your restoration techniques and custom made tools. As others have said, keep up the great work and posts. One of these days I may have to head east to do a little searching for boats to bring back to the Midwest to restore and use.
 
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This is a handsome sleek little vessel, very excited to be the caretaker of this historical piece. It was used around Newburgh in the various swamps and potholes, along with the remaining fleet of B. Maynard Higginson, from whose estate I acquired it and others.
 
What a beautiful boat. Love those lines. Will be fun to watch this come back to life. You going to use horse hair again for the padding? Would add a nice touch.

Mark
 
Mark~


Yes - I will save and re-use the horsehair. If I need more, there are plenty of equines hereabouts - including at least 3 neighbors (who own the horses) right on my road - which only has 8 houses....


Ultimately, I will re-cover the horsehair with new canvas, tacked down with copper and painted with oils.


All the best,


SJS





 
Good morning, All~


After a year of diversions - family, LI Decoy Collectors, Fort Edward Grassland Birds, septic system at camp, driveway re-build.... - I FINALLY got back to work in earnest on this interesting bit of history.


Back in her chocks in the shop's "boat bay", I completed the task of reefing out the seams. And - after persuading the owner to retain the 100-year-old deck canvas - I found too many hardware holes and wear spots. So, I set about removing the rubrails along the gunwales.....



View attachment sm TD 14 Removing rubrail.JPG



and the shoe molding around the cockpit.


View attachment sm TD 07 Shoe molding on cockpit coaming.jpg



Most of the Mahogany rubrail came off intact - and can be reinstalled later in the process. The Pine toe rail broke at most fasteners - which were long finishing nails.


View attachment sm TD 14 Removing rubrail.JPG



I also removed the canvas+horsehair back rest from the aft coaming.



View attachment sm TD 06B Forward coaming and headrest.jpg



I had salvaged a supply of perfectly good horsehair for the restoration - but the owner prefers a more modern padding material.


View attachment sm TD 09 Heasdrest horsehair.jpg



A surprising color revealed....


View attachment sm TD 11 - Aft coaming - clean.JPG



The deck canvas came up intact - a testament to the durability of this venerable technology: painted cotton canvas.


View attachment sm TD 05 Canvas off decks.JPG



I scraped the entire vessel - leaving some light sanding as a final step in preparing for epoxy and cloth.


View attachment sm TD 15 Scraping borrom and sides.JPG



I filled the seams and fastener holes on both the decks and the hull. I thickened the epoxy with fairing compound (both from U S Composites).



View attachment sm TD 01 Filler on bottom.JPG



I could not complete the bottom filling, though, until I repaired a broken frame.


More to come.....


SJS








View attachment sm TD 14 Removing rubrail.JPG
 
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