Shovin' Oar from "up West" on Long Island

Steve Sanford

Steve Sanford

Well-known member
John Sheaff came by today to leave me with this nice old shovin' oar. John is a former teacher from Baldwin, LI, and was once President of the South Shore Waterfowlers Association. He was the long-time emcee of the old U S National Decoy Show. By coincidence, we are neighbors here in dairy country.

John and his brother Dave got the oar back in 1959 or so with a duckboat that might have been built by Frank Carman or Frank Abel (Able?) - both boatbuilders from the south shore of Long Island. John hunted in Merrick; Carman was probably somewhere between Seaford and Amityville, and Abel was probably from Oceanside (any better information is always welcome). The boat was stolen the week before the 1961 duck season opened - but the shovin' oar has been around ever since. John brought it to me for a "good home".

JohnSheaffwithShovinOar_zps9134e35c.jpg


The oar is beautifully crafted - to fairly light scantlings. She is 9'6" LOA. I have not yet weighed it - but the wood looks like Ash to my eye.

ShovinOar-fulllength_zpsfdfc28cf.jpg


The handle is finished like paddle - a detail I have not seen before on such oars.

ShovinOarhandle_zps8b9536c0.jpg


The blade is slim and tapered. Useful for shoving on a hard bottom and with just enough blade to serve as a rudder once you had some headway,

ShovinOarblade_zpsac3bfebf.jpg


I am not sure what to do. My instinct is always to put gear back into serviceable condition - which would involve a quick sanding with 80-grit, a couple of saturating coats of linseed oil on the starved wood, and then a coat or 2 of duckboat paint. On the other hand, I have always used a duck-billed (Herters) head on my pushpole - which is mostly just to maneuver my Sneakbox into deep water or around the launch. And, perhaps I should regard it as an antique and just clean off some of the surface mildew and put her up in the rafters for posterity.

Any thoughts on the maker - and how I should proceed - are welcome.

All the best,

SJS
 
i'd agree -- preserve it and display it

put a label or tag some where on it so the future knows what it is and how it was used
 
Steve - They use a similar tool in Wisconsin called a "skiff paddle", a historic paddle hand crafted by locals made from white ash. Shown here is Lake Winneconne local Bill Haese with 2 eight footers Tim and I ordered. Bill gets them in 8, 10 and 12 footers still hand made by locals. There is an amazing amount of flex in those paddles and, they are tough as nails.

View attachment haese21.jpg

I agree with Rick and Capt. Rich, leave is alone but, capture the history of it to stay with the paddle for future generations understand a lost art...
 
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Steve,

I understand the "leave it alone for posterity" thinking but why not get in serviceable shape and use it the one day of the year when you can go out and feel the history of that paddle. I'm thinking it could tell you volumes. It's not done yet, that's why you have it.
 
A few years before Al McCormick died I won a pair of his cork broadbills at the decoy show and took them over to him to sign for me.His words to me were "Dont put 'em on the mantle..they were made for gunning the bay..USE 'EM"
 
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Steve, just yesterday I was speaking tom Ronnie Bauer from Baldwin, who used to have the fuel/bait station at Hudson Point, Freeport. He was giving me instruction on how to make a shovin stick...great see a pic. I was raised on Bedell Creek in Oceanside. Is the Carman fella's nick name Wink Carman?
 
John~

I will check in with John Sheaff re Carman's nickname.

Next time you speak with Ronnie: What does he call the stake used to hold a boat up against the bog? (Stake is pushed into the bog then boat is cleated to it with a short line.) I have heard them called "staubs" - and John had another term - but I forgot it and I keep forgetting to ask him - then write it down.

All the best,

SJS
 
I'll throw in a vote for "leave it be".


Seems like a right smart thing to hang up on a wall somewhere in your shop. Will bring back different memories when you look at her as is, as opposed to if you were to rebuild it...


Just my thoughts.


Jon
 
I'd put it up as an antique, but I might put the linseed oil to it first.

How about some measurements? I love that--looks like about the perfect push pole for what I need. Long enough, a slim blade, and I love the paddle "handle".

I use a canoe pole to "push the grass" for rails or ducks, but this would be better.
 
Or could be a good template for a reproduction to be used on the bay and the original hung in the shop
 
I also would make a copy to use and hang up the original. I bought a sneak float that came with two great old oars that were well shaped. Made copies of both to use the originals are hanging up in the shop.
 
Jeff~

Here are the measurements. John's younger brother David made it when he was a teenager. John told me he started with a 2x4 - so it's probably Doug fir. Turns out David now lives up your way.

SheaffOar_zps9bf6f792.jpg


And, I have "caved" to all of the pressure - and will make a pair of brackets to hang it up in my shop. I will clean it up without changing it's character and I will maintain its patina.

BTW: The stakes John used to hold his grassboat next to the bog he calls "bank pins". (I will be doing a separate post on those later this year.)

All the best,

SJS
 
I always called the the stake to hold the boat to the marsh a meadow/marsh spike.

My brother finished doing a little restoration work on a BBSB last year, being from Amityville I think making a replica push poll of this style seems like a good summer project.

Thanks for posting such a cool piece of history.
 
Rob~

Thanks for the info regarding the Meadow/Marsh Spike. I wonder whether these are used elsewhere - or whether they work so well on Great South Bay because of the tide regime ? There were problems using them on high tides when I gunned Stony Brook Harbor, for example. They are certainly handier than an anchor. I have small cleats amidships on my Sneakbox - because I usually snug the boat alongside the bog.

Viz. the Sheaff Shovin' Oar - as beautiful as its proportions are, I wonder if the pointed tip would "grab" too much on anything but a hard sandy bottom. Others I've seen/used had a square end (3 - 4" wide) and was often blunt. I'd like to hear field reports from anyone who makes one.

All the best,

SJS
 
Great thread! I use just such a "paddle" in the back waters of Great Bay to sneak around the corners at low tide when I'm bored and have that urge to see were all the ducks are landing.
 
I like the push pole with the herters head so much I would not use the shoving oar therefore I would hang it as is.
It would be nice to get a letter written from John to go along with the shoving oar.
As for what holds the boat on the bog. I call them marsh stakes. Mine are made from the metal eye stake that holds the cable for telephone pole support cable. What makes them better than wood is you throw them and the will stick in the marsh.
 
Bill~

I have the same kind of Marsh Stakes as you - could it be our mutual friend????

They are better than wood, too, because you can get them into semi-frozen bog.

SJS
 
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