I was able to bring home something I have dreamt about for years

Dani

Dani

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I love sneakboats but I recognize that in my current boat storage situation, a wooden boat is not a good idea. I have wanted a fiberglass or even aluminum sneakboat for a long time. Finally, I have added one to my little fleet.

This is a Hellbender Bull with a 6.5hp Blackwater mud motor. It won't be as good for big open water like BBSBs but it will certainly be great for the lakes and creeks and rivers in FL filled up with hydrilla and water lilies and hyacinth.

I can't wait to get it out on the water


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Dani will you hunt from the side or out of the stern like a BBSB? If you hunt out of the stern I wonder if the motor will get in the way.
 
That is something I will have to figure out. The gentleman I bought it from fabricated flappers for shooting from it laying down, over the bow and space behind him for his dog. They could be moved out of the way much like a layout field blind. He said on occasion he hunted two people out of it and he would prop the flappers up and they would each shoot sitting on a milk crate.

The second picture you can see the overall shape of the flappers. The first shot is from his ad and I think you can better see how he fabricated the flappers using tubing he bent to get the desired shape. Then he just used bimini hardware to attach everything.




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Good morning, Dani~


Congratulations on a sweet little vessel - a nice addition to any gunning fleet.


I had stumbled across them on-line a while back - but have never encountered one in the flesh.


http://www.gotohellbender.com/bull.html


I imagine that her smooth bottom and spacious cockpit will provide you with many fine adventures in those weedy southern marshes.



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Since I can always be relied upon to fuss over terminology - especially when it comes to boats - I would call this not a sneakboat but simply a duckboat. It reminds me of some Midwestern gunning boats that were sometimes called duck skiffs.



In my experience, a sneakboat is a very specialized fowling craft made for sneaking up on birds that are resting on the water. This is usually done by sculling (a specialized oar run through a port in the transom) from downwind. Such craft are typically long and skinny and can be built for one or two men (or women). They are sometimes known as sculling boats or scull boats - but not to be confused with NDR rowing sculls. I have one in my shop right now.


View attachment Intake 01A - parked outside.JPG



To my (admittedly narrow) mind, a Sneakbox is a vessel indigenous to coastal New Jersey - hence the full moniker Barnegat Bay Sneakbox (BBSB). It enjoys a long and well-documented history - rare amongst traditional gunning boats - dating to 1836 and Hazelton Seaman. The Tuckerton Show celebrates them every year. A true Sneakbox has a rounded (arc of a circle) bottom, a spoon bow (no stem), and a square transom. They are decked over with a small cockpit. They usually sport a canvas spray curtain up forward and are set up for rowing. The traditional oarlocks (stanchions) fold down when not in use. Early Sneakboxes usually were built for sailing and had a small trunk for a daggerboard. Such 'boxes frequently had transom-hung rudders that were controlled by lines (rather than by a tiller). Many Sneakboxes had a pair of metal-shod (steel or brass) ice runners on their bottoms; most had skegs (a small keel-like fin just ahead of the transom).


This is a VanSant Sneakbox - built in/near Atlantic City in the 1950s or 60s. The removable stool rack on the stern deck is another classic Sneakbox feature.



View attachment VanSant 01.JPG



Here's to many memorable hunts!


SJS







 
Thanks y'all!

I guess you are correct Steve, on my boat vs sneakbox and sneakboat. I guess I will just have to add them back to my wish list for "someday". Though, I fully recognized that this boat wouldn't be as big water safe as a BBSB (that boat would be really nice along the edges of the Gulf for divers.

However, this little boat will kinda scratch that itch that I have and maybe I will run across a more accurate representation of each boat in the future.

I have seen only a few Bulls made by Derek. I am not sure if he is making boats anymore. I know he used to post here from time to time.
 
Dani

That has a ton of possibilities and Derek's boats have a great reputation. I think you will find all kinds of places you can safely reach from that rig. I've had the conversation many times with my son and his friends about the utility of smaller boats and their advantage over the bigger boats that so many duck hunters go for these days. I've long contended three guys in three small dedicated duck boats will be more successful than three guys in one big boat, assuming the small boats are safe for the body of water. In this day of 18' 1200 lb. aluminum tanks with 35+ hp motors it's nice to see something unique like your new rig. Congrats and I look forward to reports this coming duck season.

Eric
 
COOL!!!!

I see they are located somewhere down this way, I may have to see if I can find a used one.
 
Carl, I think there is another boat available from the guy I got mine from. It is on the UWF classifieds. You would likely want a different trailer.

He is in Vero so you could have a nice little car ride. Plus his boat house....well, lets just say I have boat house envy. Majorly.
 
Shoot me a PM with what he is asking!
I dropped my UFW membership and the forum, way too much politics, way too little helpfulness.
 
Looks to be the perfect size.... for a 6-10' gator to crawl up on.... [whistle]
 
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like Steve said, sometimes here in the midwest we call them duck skiffs but the more common names are pumpkin seed or many are just calling them "layout boats" a lot of people have gone to these small, low profile boats with a mud motor on them. they are using them like a layout out blind with the flip doors. a good seat to use in them is the MoMarsh layout seat. you lay down with the doors closed and set up to shoot. shooting over the bow. with the low profile and tucked back into the cover; most shots are measured in feet not yards and a lot of guys are shooting sub gauges out of these rigs. and they are going to the "Boss" shells in the sub gauges. it really makes duck hunting "fun"
 
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