New member from Brooklyn

Jim Cricket

Jim Cricket

Member
Hi folks,
I come here a lookin from time to time and finally joined. Right up front, I'll tell you I'm not a duck hunter, but I'm here for the boats. I've been a part time boat builder for many years, worked in a boatyard down on the Rappahannock, in Deltaville, back in the '70's. My most recent boat was a 23' Point Comfort deadrise skiff, built in our boat club shop on Jamaica Bay, but I've been eyeballing Devlin's Honker for quite a while. I am retiring soon, back down on the Chesapeake, and think the Honker would make a great river skiff, and bay skiff on easy days. I'm attracted by the light weight, yet pretty large volume, and low(ish) power requirements. Probably what lent weight to the Honker fixation was Paul Markantes' boat I saw published in Small Boats. Also the many great Devlin Cacklers, BB3's, Scaups, etc. built and hunted from by all of you guys. Devlin's duck boats are not what a purist would call "pretty", but are handsome in a very purposefull way, like a Searunner 31 is to trimarans.

I bought the Honker plans from Sam, and have been redrawing some arrangement ideas in cad- strictly 2-D. It's a great way, I find, to get my head thoroughly in the boat, building it from the inside out. I'll attach images of my Honker ideas, and will continue to play around with it, until I can get moved and set up again down south. The Covid has really screwed up my house sale plans. It was pretty bleak here in NYC, I can tell you. But I'm optimistic.
My layout in this version is a tiller steered utility, fishing, crabbing, beach camping, skiff.
honker20%20v2012.jpg


I realized my color scheme would not interest most of you, so I made one with a duck boat palette, sans camo (working on that idea in cad).

honker20%20v2012_duckboat_portrait.jpg

honker20%20v2012_interior.jpg



One thing I haven't shown that I would include is a chicken post, for standing and driving. I'll work on that next, but will also work on a CC version, too. Ergonomics need to be mocked up full size in the boat to get right. An inch here and there can make big differences in usability.

honker20%20v2012_sections.jpg


That's where I am so far. I'd welcome any comments, and appreciate everyone's posts about their own rigs, and carving (which I do a little of), etc. I also enjoy reading about things like your wood duck boxes, and conservattion efforts. Never more important than it is now with diminishing resources. I'll post one last pic of the Point Comfort, and a link to the building log. It's not a duck boat, but a good wooden skiff.

run2



Thanks very much,
Jim
 
Welcome aboard!!! That is some incredible work you've done on those plans! Thank you for joining and I look forward to seeing your build!

You say your retiring and moving South? Whereabouts are you headed?
 
If that deadrise skiff is the one pictured it would make a great bay, creek boat in the Chesapeake bay area. Doesn,t look like it draws a lot of water and that hull design, similar to the commercial Seaway hull, is hard to beat for good ride and seaworthiness. The cackler in your cad drawings is a great garvey style hull as well but won,t ride as nice in rougher water as other. I ran an 18' Fiberglass Chinoteague Scow for several years with a 60 merc 2 stroke on it. Always wished it had a 90 for carrying a load. Scow was very similar to your Cackler drawings but center console. Can be a wet ride in rough seas especially throwing spray over rear corners to inside . If your going to venture into rougher waters in that hull design a tiller motor might not be the most comfortable/driest ride.
 
Thanks for the comments everyone. I appreciate the feedback. Paul, I'll be moving back to Va. somewhere in the Deltaville to Mathews County area, if I can get the house in Brooklyn on the market and sold. I should be gone by now, but it might be next spring before things calm down. I can't quit working until I move, unfortunately.

Rick, the Point Comfort is a planing hull, but rides level at low speeds also, with no big bow wave to climb over. She runs about 25 mph WOT with a medium load, cruises nicely around 18 at 4,000.

sprayrailport.jpg


rolltipprime1


This pic gives an idea of the scale of this hull.

Roy, yes the pic is of the Point Comfort, and it's a great riding boat. At 23', with a steep deadrise fwd, it would be a great Chesapeake boat. Bare hull is around 1500#, and is a handful to move around in close quarters. The reason Honker appeals is smaller size, and relative light weight. I can probably tow Honker with my Subaru Forrester. Also, I tend to prefer gunkholing over bigger water passage making, so it might fit the bill. I've also been seriously considering A Tolman Widebody CC, which would be in between Honker and Point Comfort, but with a lot of capability. Guys run those boats 60 miles offshore to fish. I wouldn't rule out having two boats, and if that were the case, a stretched Cackler with a 30 or 40 might be nice, alongside the Tolman Widebody, or another deadrise skiff.

Phil, that grey Honker is nice. Looks like a bit of added freeboard. For a CC boat, I might add freeboard and beam, but the beam could be added in the form of level chine flats, like the Tolmans use. That preserves the original underbody geometry, but adds 6" beam, and functional splash rails to boot. I'm messing with that idea, so more later in a separate thread.

Again, thanks for the feedback. I'm busy reading through some Cackler builds.
Jim
 
Welcome, Jim!


I am excited to see you here - and look forward to your build. I grew up on Great South Bay and still think Garveys are beautiful vessels - in the same form-follows-function way of WW II Jeeps and Winchester Model 12s. My tastes run toward work boats more so than yachts but each has its own aesthetic. If I still lived on Long Island I would have built one by now - probably one of Devlin's designs.


I appreciate, too, your taking time with the design process. As my Dad always said about any building project, the "doping it out is the fun of it". The "chicken post" is a great feature - maybe should be renamed to reflect it common sense utility?



Your Point Comfort is a sweet vessel - and I love her name! My years with NYSDEC occasionally took us into Jamaica Bay - and Canarsie Pol immediately leapt to mind.


All the best,


SJS









 
Hi Steve,
Nice to meet you and everyone. I've been looking at your sneakbox refurb from a few years ago. That's a sweet boat! In my pic of Canarsian underway in the above post, Canarsie Pol is the island you see in the background. We're out of Paerdegat Basin. My wife and I have taught a yearly basic sailing course for years (canceled this year for Covid), and we often stage our "on the water" portion off of the beach on that island, just west of the old pier that's on the east end. I have spent nearly 30 years in that bay, and outside.

Like you, my taste runs to work boats, power and sail. I think the Devlin garveys are pretty capable for their size. I wish I were building right now. I can't stand not having a big project going. I am building a 1:8 scale model of a Chesapeake double ended crab skiff, from Chapelle. Nice fussy work, but not quite the same thing. Below is a pic of my full size cab skiff from the marsh on the back side of C. Pol. That boat was built on the 3rd floor of my Brooklyn Navy Yard shop. Came down the freight elevator. Sold her a while back and she's down in Georgia now.

crickmarsh2-web


Again, thanks for posting!
Jim
 
Welcome to the forum Jim!

Your Point Comfort skiff is a great looking boat and I look forward to reading about your Honker build when you get to it.

Dani
 
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