Steve Sanford
Well-known member
[font=Arial, sans-serif]All~[/font]
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[font=Arial, sans-serif]Please bear with me on this.....[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]Anyone who knows me well knows that my OCD is not at all restricted to decoys and duckboats and is clearly present in the world of words, too. My siblings and I grew up around a dinner table where the 2-volume dictionary was within arm's reach – and frequently consulted during many a meal. So, please excuse my pedantic thoughts below. Put another way, please give me a bit of leeway....[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]My concern stems (pun intended) from the fact that – having looked carefully at hundreds of duckboats over my lifetime, I have yet to see one with a keelson. In fact, I expect that I never will. And yet...I see the term applied to duckboats and other small craft frequently. Just as each feather on a duck has its own function and a unique name to identify it, so it has been – for centuries – with wooden boats. The comparison between waterfowl and watercraft founders, though, when one considers construction methods. Whereas the single method for building ducks has not changed over a very long time, there are now many ways to build boats. The newer methods have provided many wonderful improvements - some especially valuable to a duck hunter who relies on an outboard-powered craft that lives mostly on a trailer – and the requisite workmanship is no less exacting than the earlier "traditional" methods. However, the terminology has sometimes been applied less rigorously. [/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]"Keelson" is the term I most frequently find misapplied. Most surprising to me is that I find it used incorrectly by designers, not just occasional DIY builders. So, many now encounter the term written on a set of plans. Here is the formal definition:[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]keelson ~ a centerline structure running the length of a ship and fastening the transverse members of the floor to the keel below.[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]Keels, keelsons, strakes, runners and skegs each enjoy their own definitions. Each of these parts runs lengthwise on the hull. Keels, strakes, runners and skegs are on the bottom – on the outside of the boat – but keelsons are on the inside, above the frames. Keelsons are mostly only used on large vessels (although some canvas and cedar canoes use them). Generally, think "ships" rather than "duckboats".[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]In this drawing, # 17 is the Keelson:
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[font=Arial, sans-serif]I more readily accept some latitude in the use of the term "keel". A true keel is the principal longitudinal framing member in a boat or ship. Whereas almost every large vessel lays the keel on edge, many small craft lay the keel flat or – as in canoes, for example, dispense with it altogether. Duckboats like Barnegat Bay Sneakboxes or Great South Bay Scooters use the flat keel approach but Seaford Skiffs, for example, use a vertical keel. The former enjoy less draft and can travel over ice much more readily. Many small boats install light "keels" along their centerlines, over the planking, to help with tracking. Most 'glass and aluminum canoes have keels to stiffen the hull, too.[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]Here is the molded keel on one of my canoes:[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]I see the word "keelson" misapplied most frequently to strakes. Strakes are longitudinals – fastened to the bottom of a wooden or aluminum boat and often molded into 'glass boats. They are outboard of the keel/centerline and serve two purposes. They add longitudinal stiffness to the hull but also reduce the tendency of a hull to slide sideways, especially in a turn. 'Glass boats often have more than one set of molded strakes for this purpose.[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]This tin boat has both strakes and a keel riveted onto the hull:[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]Many small boats – and Scooters jump to mind for me – have a pair of longitudinals outboard of the centerline with an entirely different purpose. Runners – commonly shod in brass, steel or aluminum – are intended to support the boat on ice. They keep it level and up off the ice itself. Runners are also handy on any flat-bottomed boat that is launched over the beach on rollers. (Some boats that come ashore onto rocks or concrete ramps also have a set of longitudinals – rubbing strips – to protect the hull itself.)[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]Here are the runners on my GSB Scooter:[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]Skegs are mostly found on displacement hulls. They are smallish "fins" beneath the stern, usually just a fraction of the length of the hull. Their purpose is to help tracking, especially when rowing. Most traditional Sneakboxes (and Delaware Duckers and Seaford Skiffs) have skegs.[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]These Sneakbox plans by John Gardiner show the skeg:[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]As always, I hope this is helpful. Now out to the shop to anguish over some scapulars and upper tail coverts....[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]SJS
[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]
[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]Please bear with me on this.....[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]Anyone who knows me well knows that my OCD is not at all restricted to decoys and duckboats and is clearly present in the world of words, too. My siblings and I grew up around a dinner table where the 2-volume dictionary was within arm's reach – and frequently consulted during many a meal. So, please excuse my pedantic thoughts below. Put another way, please give me a bit of leeway....[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]My concern stems (pun intended) from the fact that – having looked carefully at hundreds of duckboats over my lifetime, I have yet to see one with a keelson. In fact, I expect that I never will. And yet...I see the term applied to duckboats and other small craft frequently. Just as each feather on a duck has its own function and a unique name to identify it, so it has been – for centuries – with wooden boats. The comparison between waterfowl and watercraft founders, though, when one considers construction methods. Whereas the single method for building ducks has not changed over a very long time, there are now many ways to build boats. The newer methods have provided many wonderful improvements - some especially valuable to a duck hunter who relies on an outboard-powered craft that lives mostly on a trailer – and the requisite workmanship is no less exacting than the earlier "traditional" methods. However, the terminology has sometimes been applied less rigorously. [/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]"Keelson" is the term I most frequently find misapplied. Most surprising to me is that I find it used incorrectly by designers, not just occasional DIY builders. So, many now encounter the term written on a set of plans. Here is the formal definition:[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]keelson ~ a centerline structure running the length of a ship and fastening the transverse members of the floor to the keel below.[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]Keels, keelsons, strakes, runners and skegs each enjoy their own definitions. Each of these parts runs lengthwise on the hull. Keels, strakes, runners and skegs are on the bottom – on the outside of the boat – but keelsons are on the inside, above the frames. Keelsons are mostly only used on large vessels (although some canvas and cedar canoes use them). Generally, think "ships" rather than "duckboats".[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]In this drawing, # 17 is the Keelson:
[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]
[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]I more readily accept some latitude in the use of the term "keel". A true keel is the principal longitudinal framing member in a boat or ship. Whereas almost every large vessel lays the keel on edge, many small craft lay the keel flat or – as in canoes, for example, dispense with it altogether. Duckboats like Barnegat Bay Sneakboxes or Great South Bay Scooters use the flat keel approach but Seaford Skiffs, for example, use a vertical keel. The former enjoy less draft and can travel over ice much more readily. Many small boats install light "keels" along their centerlines, over the planking, to help with tracking. Most 'glass and aluminum canoes have keels to stiffen the hull, too.[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]Here is the molded keel on one of my canoes:[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]I see the word "keelson" misapplied most frequently to strakes. Strakes are longitudinals – fastened to the bottom of a wooden or aluminum boat and often molded into 'glass boats. They are outboard of the keel/centerline and serve two purposes. They add longitudinal stiffness to the hull but also reduce the tendency of a hull to slide sideways, especially in a turn. 'Glass boats often have more than one set of molded strakes for this purpose.[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]This tin boat has both strakes and a keel riveted onto the hull:[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]Many small boats – and Scooters jump to mind for me – have a pair of longitudinals outboard of the centerline with an entirely different purpose. Runners – commonly shod in brass, steel or aluminum – are intended to support the boat on ice. They keep it level and up off the ice itself. Runners are also handy on any flat-bottomed boat that is launched over the beach on rollers. (Some boats that come ashore onto rocks or concrete ramps also have a set of longitudinals – rubbing strips – to protect the hull itself.)[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]Here are the runners on my GSB Scooter:[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]Skegs are mostly found on displacement hulls. They are smallish "fins" beneath the stern, usually just a fraction of the length of the hull. Their purpose is to help tracking, especially when rowing. Most traditional Sneakboxes (and Delaware Duckers and Seaford Skiffs) have skegs.[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]These Sneakbox plans by John Gardiner show the skeg:[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]As always, I hope this is helpful. Now out to the shop to anguish over some scapulars and upper tail coverts....[/font]
[font=Arial, sans-serif]SJS
[/font]
