Question for owners of sneakboxes

[bob Petritsch]

When you shoot open water out of your sneak box, sort of like a layout boat. Do you use a dodger. If not do you lie there with your eyebrows at combing height or sit higher.
I feel more comfortable siting higher. Usually keep my elbows on the side deck. My head is still much lower than the engine.
I leave the grass on the boat, and my grass is on a remove able elastic cover.
Was wondering about getting a dodger. Never had one before. Never had much problem going to windward in a chop. Combination of small motor and a lack of bravery.
I was shooting with a diver rig today, in the fog. Tried lying very low in the boat but my back was killing me. Sat up and felt much better. Not one bird was seen, for three hours! Could have stood up and done jumping jacks for all the birds that flew.
I can see why the dodger might make powering into a chop more enjoyable but don't think it would make much of a difference even when shooting on the shore. I usually put a burlap cover over myself and the cockpit, the boat itself is pretty well grassed.
Before I spend the money on a dodger I would like to hear the pros and cons on one.

 

[Paul Dobrosky]

Bob, If you want to be comfortable not put a strain on your back & out of bad weather As well as well hidden get some kind of dodger, Thier are 57 varieties of various ones out there .Look under duck boat sneak box rigs & you will see all the variations

 

[Kurt Hendricks]

I have used mine like a layout with varied success. I took the spray shield down every time. I think it was more a matter of how hard the birds had been gunned. I did not use grass (mine is on removable sections). I've had great success when there was ice on the bay and just using a sheet to cover myself and the boat. Lots of decoys is a plus.

 

[Dave Liddell]

I built my sneakbox and wanted to go "full traditional" with it. Got the basic tent spray dodger. It makes hearing and seeing birds much better but I would switch to a buggy style tomorrow if I had the time to do it.

 

[Dave Diefenderfer]

I have the baby buggy style dodger and hunt it up when I use it open water layout. I also cover it/myself in grass too. The boat does not blend like a layout, never will, so I think better to look like an island or debris. If the decoys are set right and the wind is right, what is behind me does not matter... sure some birds pass over going down wind, but then I am well hidden and they need to turn back to me to land anyway... at least usually! I too like to be semi seated. The invisilounge seat is very comfortable for me. I wish I had made my dodger about 2 or 3 inches higher though.

 

[Bill Clark]

When i lived on Long Islands north shore we hunted from a boat very similar to the Chuck Huff i now own. While not a layout boat it is a sneak boat used without a motor in place. Lying flat with just your head above the gunnel and a back board in place for comfort worked very well.
It was also used as a tender for our anchored bow and stern boatblind now with an outboard attached. The sneak boat no matter how used was painted either gray or brown,the color didn't seem to matter. No vegetation was used except in a marsh setting.

 

[Bill Clark]

I should have mentioned no dodger was used.

 

[gcs]

You need a properly angled back board to lay back enough to be comfortable. a dodger is nice, but not imperative. If your shipping green water over the hull, you should have stayed home, lol

 

[bob Petritsch]

Mehta is a baby buggy? And compared to a non-baby buggy?

 

[Charlie D]

The dodger is nice to duck behind and keep out of the cold when running the boat or tucked up against a sedge. Open water layout I would simply collapse my tent style dodger onto the deck. I use a piece of 1/2" plywood as back board and sit on a throw cushion. Very comfortable, enough to fall asleep literally. The plywood is easer to stow than invisalounge which is a pain in the neck if you have a traditional sneakbox with a normal size cockpit.

my head is always above the cockpit even open water

 

[Steve Sanford]

Good morning, Bob~

Instead of a Dodger or Spray Curtain, I use what I call a "cowling" on my layout boats. It can be foldable or fixed. It's just high enough to hide your head outline - and also keep the wind off your neck.

This is a converted Sunfish.

Note that I'm a big believer in a "lap canvas", too, to cover much of the cockpit when gunning - for both hide and warmth.

It is critical to have a comfortable rest for your head and shoulders. The "back-board" at about 50 degrees works for me. You want your head to be fully supported so that you can see the horizon when at rest.

Although I do not show it here, a bit of foam padding on the rest - and a half-inch foam pad on the floorboards - improves the experience.

The chock screwed to the floorboard ensures that the backboard does not move every time you sit up to shoot.

Note also the short strut to support the cowling. The lanyard keeps it from going astray.

Here is how I use the terms Spray Curtain, Dodger (Spray Dodger), and "Baby Carriage Hood" (a more elaborate form of Dodger).

Spray Curtain ~ This is the traditional canvas on a Barnegat Bay Sneakbox. It has no framework (bow) in the canvas. The lower edge is tacked or snapped to the deck in an arc or V. It is held up when is use with a simple pole/strut. Many times, the after corners are tied to the oarlock stanchions to hold them higher. They were mostly used for safety - keeping errant seas out of the cockpit - when crossing big water.

Here is a Spray Curtain on a VanSant Sneakbox.

Dodger/Spray Dodger ~ A single bow is added to hold the upper edge of the canvas further outboard - to protect the cockpit and helmsman from more spray. Usually fastened or snapped to a curved toe rail on the forward deck. Supported when in use by a simple pole/strut. Gunning on Long Island waters - where the cover is low - I hunt with the Dodger down, lying on my back, with a comfortable "backboard" (which is really just for head and shoulders). Recently, I have been adding webbing to my canvas so that thatch could be added on-site IF I decided to hunt with the Dodger up.

This is the first Dodger I made - in the 1980s - on my 2-man Sneakbox.

"Baby Carriage Hood" Spray Dodger ~ This is a more elaborate Spray Dodger with 2 "sections" and so 2 bows. It provides more protection from above. It is supported by straps or canvas flaps that run aft.

This Spray Dodger is on Dave Clark's Estuary Sneakbox. His is supported with canvas flaps aft.

Here is the framing and strapping on Bill Abbate's Dodger I made earlier this year.

Finally, another approach for a layout boat would be a rigid cowling made of 'glass or wood. If I ever made a fully-molded layout boat, I would mold a cowling right into the forward end of the cockpit coaming.

This is a Spray Shield on a South Bay Scooter.

Hope this helps!

SJS

 

[Paul Mc]

I like that Sunfish.....

 

[Fred McIntire]

Once again that Sanford guys steals the show !

Thanks for sharing all of that great information Steve. I really appreciate it !.

I would hunt my Higbee style boat with the dodger up. It is almost imperative to have some type of insulation on the floor between you and the cold hull if you hunt in a cold weather state.

 

[Paul Dobrosky]

Nice job Steve on your explanation of all various types Steve You missed the Marty Kristiansen method As well as mine set up the same way. Should help the guy a lot in his decision. Thanks PAUL

 

[Steve Sanford]

Fred~

You are certainly correct about a pad for warmth. I use a 1/2-inch GI pad BUT, growing up, my Dad had a 2-inch foam mattress - covered with cotton duck - in our ice scooter. With a wool blanket on top, more than one gunner dozed off with the morning sun in his face.

To the contrary, I recall all too well one January morning on Long Island in my sneakbox. Without any pad at all, I decided to pick up "early". When I actually looked at my watch, I had lain there - in the single-digit cold - for only about 20 minutes.....

All the best,

SJS

 

[Steve Sanford]

Paul~

As it turns out, I do have a couple of photos (from the Tuckerton Show) of Marty's "over-the-bow" and "over-the-stern" dodgers:

All the best,

SJS

 

[Paul Dobrosky]

Steve, Thanks for posting Marty's boat & cockpit canvas arrangement. as you saw at my house mine is the same .Believe the design has a lot more flexibility for rough water as well get out of bad weather Rain Or Snow. Yours work very well as well. Hope you are having a good season , Happy New Year. Paul

 

[Fred McIntire]

Fred~

You are certainly correct about a pad for warmth. I use a 1/2-inch GI pad BUT, growing up, my Dad had a 2-inch foam mattress - covered with cotton duck - in our ice scooter. With a wool blanket on top, more than one gunner dozed off with the morning sun in his face.

To the contrary, I recall all too well one January morning on Long Island in my sneakbox. Without any pad at all, I decided to pick up "early". When I actually looked at my watch, I had lain there - in the single-digit cold - for only about 20 minutes.....

All the best,

SJS

I bought an outdoor patio lounger cushion just for this purpose; however, I sold my MLB boat a few months ago in favor of a Triton 1650 Duck Special. I'm afraid I may regret selling the small boat. It was so easy to pull in, unhitch the small boat, and wheel her back into her parking space. I can't do that with the BIG boat.

 

[perry]

I love classic sneakboxes and double barrel SxS. there is a picture of my boat in a article in
the shooting sportsman by John M Taylor "Down Barnegat Way" Still carving but getting to old
for duck hunting. best Bill

 

[Steve Sanford]

Perry~

Gorgeous looking vessel in your avatar - but you look lots younger than your note suggested....

All the best,

SJS