Steve Sanford
Well-known member
All~
I last used this vessel in December of 1994. I recall clearly rowing back across Moriches Bay to my launch site. My Johnson 9.9 – circa 1981? - had given up the ghost. It had worked hard for me for many seasons, but – as it turned out – had lost all compression and was now at the end of its useful life. The Sneakbox, however, remained my favorite gunning boat. Its sweet hull – a round bottom that kept me safe in any weather - rowed effortlessly. It was a pleasant mile home, in the lowering sunlight in a light westerly breeze.
As I have told previously – see http://stevenjaysanford.com/sneakbox/ - this was once Uncle Joe's Sneakbox. Sometime in the late 1980s, I had spied it while working – inspecting freshwater wetlands – in Lindenhurst. It was pretty busted up, laying forlornly next to a dumpster at an autobody shop. A quick visit with the mechanics, a call to Uncle Joe later that same evening, and a few days later it came home with me on my duckboat trailer. It was a poorly built "factory" boat – maybe built in the '60s? It needed lots of structural repair and also my usual customizing – the fun part of duckboats for me. And so, with some 'glass and resin and lumber, hardware and canvas, it became a very serviceable, safe and effective craft.
Nevertheless, it was 1994 when I took a promotion to Albany and left my native Long Island. Susan and I had always planned to live about halfway between our 2 families – in a rural landscape. The boat was hauled north by good friend "JR". There was no rush, though, and JR brought it to me by way of his in-laws' dairy farm in western Mass. As it happened, boat and trailer were turned out to pasture – literally - for about a year. It further happened that Holsteins have a taste for salt. Of course, all of the salt hay was "browsed" from the thatch rails. They did not stop there, however. Salt was everywhere and the canvas cockpit cover, too, proved irresistible. Perhaps I exaggerate: they did leave most of the hem and all of the brass grommets. Most of the canvas, though, ended its life as 2 per cent milk or fat-free cottage cheese....
Once back in my possession, Ol' Sneakbox was not pressed into immediate service. Thanks to excellent gunning in my new "upstate" haunts - that typically require at most a canoe and often just chest waders – and thanks to good Long Island friends who would take me gunning on tidal waters each January, I did not "need" the Sneakbox. It sat next to my old gaff sloop WILLET amongst the barns. Each got cursory attention. I made sure they were covered up, and I hauled them out of their terrestrial berths each year to cut the weeds and check the tires on the trailers. It was not until 2011 – once I had built my shop and no longer drove to our Capital each day – that I gave her serious attention. I made and installed a new motor board to replace the punky White Oak that had lasted more than 2 decades. I noted that the White Oak thatch rails also were showing their age. Their lower edges were soft in spots – so my 3/16-inch gap – that I had found to be optimal for holding just the right amount of Spartina patens – was wider in many spots. I sewed a new cockpit cover but only patched the spray dodger. I even paid for a fresh registration and put new numbers on her. All she needed was to replace the "bow eye" – a ring beneath the bow, about 2 feet aft. It had never been well-backed and had "worked" a bit. It let a little water in and needed serious attention. Unfortunately, it was hidden beneath a mass of urethane flotation foam I had poured in back on the Island.
I bought another Johnsion 9.9 a couple of years ago – maybe 2013? It was a 1999 and I cleaned it up, painted it with a Rustoleum Camouflage spray can or 2, and sewed a nice cover for it. I had always used just a burlap feed bag with bundles of salt hay lashed through the open weave. This time, I fitted the cover with Sunbrella and sewed nylon webbing to hold the hay. Once again, though, because I still did not "need" its use – and because of dozens of other intervening projects having to do with duckboats and decoys – the Sneakbox sat without my full attention. Until now.
On 9 March 2016, I hauled her out of the "Pencil Brook Marina" – the spot next to my woodshed that is the current home to 2 sailboats, 3 gunning boats, 5 or 6 canoes – I have several more canoes scattered and secreted hither and yon - and 4 trailers. Then – as has become my custom – I commenced the Intake process: Photodocumenting the current conditions with an eye toward problems. Everything gets close scrutiny and The List begins to grow in my head. This will be a renovation rather than a straightforward restoration. This is my opportunity to make the changes I have thought about for decades. In short, I will tear off the decks and re-create the Model Perfect – to steal Herter's famous designation – Sneakbox.
Here are some – most? - of what I plan:
1. New deck with more crown
2. Move cockpit forward about a foot
3. Narrow the cockpit from about 34 inches to about 30 inches, I.D.
4. Provide flotation chambers fore and aft to float the 'box "level" if swamped.
5. Move oarlock stanchions outboard – maybe tying them into the new thatch rails – to optimize rowing.
6. New bow eye – beneath hull – for trailering.
Other thoughts – in no particular order:
~ Remove twist from hull by virtue of new bulkheads and decks.
~ Reverse oars when stored so blades are forward. This will give me more room for aft flotation chambers.
~ Install temporary nav lights as I did on Bill Abbate's South Bay.
~ Add thatch rails on centerline – at least on the bow .
~ Build new coaming with forward section rounded (in plan view).
~ Fabricate new spray dodger and lap canvas. Dodger could fasten to separate toe rail on foredeck – forward and outboard of the new coaming.
~ Fabricate a separate "cowling" on head of cockpit – that folds down inside of coaming.
~ Keep storage shelves on either side of cockpit.
~ Keep anchor chock – but move forward as needed with new cockpit location.
~ Patch mouse holes in new – never used! - motor cover.
~ Consider installing a small battery for electric start.
~ Take the lines off that sweet hull shape.
~ Make rigid – wood and 'glass – cockpit cover for off-season storage.
~ Put mothballs in boat during off-season.
So – here begins the Intake at Pencil Brook Boatworks:
The thin 'glass bow was vulnerable to breakage - so I had reinforced it previously with wood and firehose.
The Turk's Head and the flemished painter tell the seasoned reader that this is Old Fussbudget Sanford's vessel.....
Another telling detail: the White arrow on the cockpit cover - to help get this right in low light.
On a thatched up boat - with grass that shrinks and swells throughout the season, lashings are better than snaps or other hardware to keep the canvas taut. I got this idea when I first saw the dozens of Scooters and Punties berthed season-long at the Pattersquash Gunners Association - in Bellport in the early 80s. I used a slipped square knot in decoy line that is "permanently" secured to the thatch rails.
I doubled the canvas over the oarlock stanchions to prevent chafe.
The small (4-inch) cleats amidships are used to secure the boat to my "bog spikes". The bog spikes (aka stakes, staubs, etc) are used instead of anchors to hold the boat against the saltmarsh bog. The spike and its quarter-inch manila line stay in the bog when I leave to pick up birds or tend the rig.
The White Oak thatch rails have lived outside for almost 30 years - time for replacement. I installed them "on edge" - rather than the conventional flat - to help stiffen the weak decks. They were fastened with quarter-inch carriage bolts.
This bail holds the forward (upper) end of my pushpole when gunning or under way. I used heavy galvanized wire wrapped with tarred decoy line.
This chock holds the aft (lower) end of my pushpole. The lashing was just a quick-and-dirty repair. It needs replacement.
This is the new motor board - with the shallow borings to hold the clamp pads on my 9.9.
I like the duckbill because of the variety of bottom types on Great South Bay.
My drain plug is always attached to the boat - another hard-learned lesson....
I love this hull. Her round, displacement bottom is not fast - but gives a soft and safe ride in any sea. She rows and poles beautifully as well.
She tapers to a narrow transom - to give that clean run so necessary for good rowing manners.
Into the Operating Theatre.....you can see how her rocker forward brings her nose up into - and over - a head sea.
My chain hoists ease lifting the boat off the trailer. A few wraps of light cord are enough to lift it. I will weigh the boat both before and after the renovation - IF my deer scale is sufficient.
Here is that rounded bottom - NOT a planing hull! But that skeg keeps her on track under way - with motor, oars or pole.
She is nominally 13-foot LOA by 5-foot beam. Which is A LOT more boat than the standard 12x4 'box.
The deck needs more crown - for more storage, shedding seas and hiding.
I will make a whole new spray dodger from scratch. I never hunt with it up - it's strictly to make crossing the bays safer and more comfortable.
Another quick-and-dirty repair - hand-stitched so I did not need to remove the canvas.
BUT - those Industrious Mice beat me once again......
My "big" - 10 pound Navy - anchor with~ 50 feet of rode. It is rarely used - but the chocks and the lashings keep it organized for when I do.
No, the Sta-Puff Marshmallow Man has not taken up residence under my foredeck. I had poured in enough foam so the boat would not go completely down - but it was not designed to ensure level flotation if swamped or holed. This renovation will take a better approach.
The padded backrest is chocked but not fastened.
I had mounted my oarlock sockets on the existing coamings - because rowing was just for emergencies. However, I will be keeping this boat up on Champlain during the summer - with oars as the principal means of propulsion. The distance between the oarlock sockets is now only 35.5 inches....
....so, I will be mounting oarlock stanchions out toward the gunwales - maybe tying them into the line of the new thatch rails.
Here is part of my burnt cork Black Duck rig - circa 1988. They all need re-burning - and I need to replace the 10th bird that drifted off to leeward back in '94.
This shows: the "hinge" for the dodger, the oarlock pads, chock for the lap cover, shelf, oar storage and turnbutton - to secure the floorboards.
The long shelves hold all the usual - gloves, shells, binoculars, water bottle - and my Pickup Stick and Bog Spikes.
When gunning by myself, I find a relatively short - about 42 inches - Pickup Stick is handier than a long one. And, I can always use my 10-foot pushpole if needed.
The Bog Spikes began life as anchors for guy wires on power poles....
The lap cover is well-chewed by many mice over many years. I roll it up on the stern deck when not gunning.
The chocks hold an old broom handle which runs through a pocket sewn into the lap cover.
It wedges in under very slight tension - so pops right up and out when I sit up to shoot.
Back in the day - the lap cover was fully thatched.
Before removing the rails - and the decks themselves - I recorded a few key measurements.
Amidships.
Stern.
Those Pesky Varmints chewed up my sponge and my cherished canvas bailing bucket!!!!
Ready for Demolition.............
Stay tuned,
SJS
I last used this vessel in December of 1994. I recall clearly rowing back across Moriches Bay to my launch site. My Johnson 9.9 – circa 1981? - had given up the ghost. It had worked hard for me for many seasons, but – as it turned out – had lost all compression and was now at the end of its useful life. The Sneakbox, however, remained my favorite gunning boat. Its sweet hull – a round bottom that kept me safe in any weather - rowed effortlessly. It was a pleasant mile home, in the lowering sunlight in a light westerly breeze.
As I have told previously – see http://stevenjaysanford.com/sneakbox/ - this was once Uncle Joe's Sneakbox. Sometime in the late 1980s, I had spied it while working – inspecting freshwater wetlands – in Lindenhurst. It was pretty busted up, laying forlornly next to a dumpster at an autobody shop. A quick visit with the mechanics, a call to Uncle Joe later that same evening, and a few days later it came home with me on my duckboat trailer. It was a poorly built "factory" boat – maybe built in the '60s? It needed lots of structural repair and also my usual customizing – the fun part of duckboats for me. And so, with some 'glass and resin and lumber, hardware and canvas, it became a very serviceable, safe and effective craft.
Nevertheless, it was 1994 when I took a promotion to Albany and left my native Long Island. Susan and I had always planned to live about halfway between our 2 families – in a rural landscape. The boat was hauled north by good friend "JR". There was no rush, though, and JR brought it to me by way of his in-laws' dairy farm in western Mass. As it happened, boat and trailer were turned out to pasture – literally - for about a year. It further happened that Holsteins have a taste for salt. Of course, all of the salt hay was "browsed" from the thatch rails. They did not stop there, however. Salt was everywhere and the canvas cockpit cover, too, proved irresistible. Perhaps I exaggerate: they did leave most of the hem and all of the brass grommets. Most of the canvas, though, ended its life as 2 per cent milk or fat-free cottage cheese....
Once back in my possession, Ol' Sneakbox was not pressed into immediate service. Thanks to excellent gunning in my new "upstate" haunts - that typically require at most a canoe and often just chest waders – and thanks to good Long Island friends who would take me gunning on tidal waters each January, I did not "need" the Sneakbox. It sat next to my old gaff sloop WILLET amongst the barns. Each got cursory attention. I made sure they were covered up, and I hauled them out of their terrestrial berths each year to cut the weeds and check the tires on the trailers. It was not until 2011 – once I had built my shop and no longer drove to our Capital each day – that I gave her serious attention. I made and installed a new motor board to replace the punky White Oak that had lasted more than 2 decades. I noted that the White Oak thatch rails also were showing their age. Their lower edges were soft in spots – so my 3/16-inch gap – that I had found to be optimal for holding just the right amount of Spartina patens – was wider in many spots. I sewed a new cockpit cover but only patched the spray dodger. I even paid for a fresh registration and put new numbers on her. All she needed was to replace the "bow eye" – a ring beneath the bow, about 2 feet aft. It had never been well-backed and had "worked" a bit. It let a little water in and needed serious attention. Unfortunately, it was hidden beneath a mass of urethane flotation foam I had poured in back on the Island.
I bought another Johnsion 9.9 a couple of years ago – maybe 2013? It was a 1999 and I cleaned it up, painted it with a Rustoleum Camouflage spray can or 2, and sewed a nice cover for it. I had always used just a burlap feed bag with bundles of salt hay lashed through the open weave. This time, I fitted the cover with Sunbrella and sewed nylon webbing to hold the hay. Once again, though, because I still did not "need" its use – and because of dozens of other intervening projects having to do with duckboats and decoys – the Sneakbox sat without my full attention. Until now.
On 9 March 2016, I hauled her out of the "Pencil Brook Marina" – the spot next to my woodshed that is the current home to 2 sailboats, 3 gunning boats, 5 or 6 canoes – I have several more canoes scattered and secreted hither and yon - and 4 trailers. Then – as has become my custom – I commenced the Intake process: Photodocumenting the current conditions with an eye toward problems. Everything gets close scrutiny and The List begins to grow in my head. This will be a renovation rather than a straightforward restoration. This is my opportunity to make the changes I have thought about for decades. In short, I will tear off the decks and re-create the Model Perfect – to steal Herter's famous designation – Sneakbox.
Here are some – most? - of what I plan:
1. New deck with more crown
2. Move cockpit forward about a foot
3. Narrow the cockpit from about 34 inches to about 30 inches, I.D.
4. Provide flotation chambers fore and aft to float the 'box "level" if swamped.
5. Move oarlock stanchions outboard – maybe tying them into the new thatch rails – to optimize rowing.
6. New bow eye – beneath hull – for trailering.
Other thoughts – in no particular order:
~ Remove twist from hull by virtue of new bulkheads and decks.
~ Reverse oars when stored so blades are forward. This will give me more room for aft flotation chambers.
~ Install temporary nav lights as I did on Bill Abbate's South Bay.
~ Add thatch rails on centerline – at least on the bow .
~ Build new coaming with forward section rounded (in plan view).
~ Fabricate new spray dodger and lap canvas. Dodger could fasten to separate toe rail on foredeck – forward and outboard of the new coaming.
~ Fabricate a separate "cowling" on head of cockpit – that folds down inside of coaming.
~ Keep storage shelves on either side of cockpit.
~ Keep anchor chock – but move forward as needed with new cockpit location.
~ Patch mouse holes in new – never used! - motor cover.
~ Consider installing a small battery for electric start.
~ Take the lines off that sweet hull shape.
~ Make rigid – wood and 'glass – cockpit cover for off-season storage.
~ Put mothballs in boat during off-season.
So – here begins the Intake at Pencil Brook Boatworks:
The thin 'glass bow was vulnerable to breakage - so I had reinforced it previously with wood and firehose.
The Turk's Head and the flemished painter tell the seasoned reader that this is Old Fussbudget Sanford's vessel.....
Another telling detail: the White arrow on the cockpit cover - to help get this right in low light.
On a thatched up boat - with grass that shrinks and swells throughout the season, lashings are better than snaps or other hardware to keep the canvas taut. I got this idea when I first saw the dozens of Scooters and Punties berthed season-long at the Pattersquash Gunners Association - in Bellport in the early 80s. I used a slipped square knot in decoy line that is "permanently" secured to the thatch rails.
I doubled the canvas over the oarlock stanchions to prevent chafe.
The small (4-inch) cleats amidships are used to secure the boat to my "bog spikes". The bog spikes (aka stakes, staubs, etc) are used instead of anchors to hold the boat against the saltmarsh bog. The spike and its quarter-inch manila line stay in the bog when I leave to pick up birds or tend the rig.
The White Oak thatch rails have lived outside for almost 30 years - time for replacement. I installed them "on edge" - rather than the conventional flat - to help stiffen the weak decks. They were fastened with quarter-inch carriage bolts.
This bail holds the forward (upper) end of my pushpole when gunning or under way. I used heavy galvanized wire wrapped with tarred decoy line.
This chock holds the aft (lower) end of my pushpole. The lashing was just a quick-and-dirty repair. It needs replacement.
This is the new motor board - with the shallow borings to hold the clamp pads on my 9.9.
I like the duckbill because of the variety of bottom types on Great South Bay.
My drain plug is always attached to the boat - another hard-learned lesson....
I love this hull. Her round, displacement bottom is not fast - but gives a soft and safe ride in any sea. She rows and poles beautifully as well.
She tapers to a narrow transom - to give that clean run so necessary for good rowing manners.
Into the Operating Theatre.....you can see how her rocker forward brings her nose up into - and over - a head sea.
My chain hoists ease lifting the boat off the trailer. A few wraps of light cord are enough to lift it. I will weigh the boat both before and after the renovation - IF my deer scale is sufficient.
Here is that rounded bottom - NOT a planing hull! But that skeg keeps her on track under way - with motor, oars or pole.
She is nominally 13-foot LOA by 5-foot beam. Which is A LOT more boat than the standard 12x4 'box.
The deck needs more crown - for more storage, shedding seas and hiding.
I will make a whole new spray dodger from scratch. I never hunt with it up - it's strictly to make crossing the bays safer and more comfortable.
Another quick-and-dirty repair - hand-stitched so I did not need to remove the canvas.
BUT - those Industrious Mice beat me once again......
My "big" - 10 pound Navy - anchor with~ 50 feet of rode. It is rarely used - but the chocks and the lashings keep it organized for when I do.
No, the Sta-Puff Marshmallow Man has not taken up residence under my foredeck. I had poured in enough foam so the boat would not go completely down - but it was not designed to ensure level flotation if swamped or holed. This renovation will take a better approach.
The padded backrest is chocked but not fastened.
I had mounted my oarlock sockets on the existing coamings - because rowing was just for emergencies. However, I will be keeping this boat up on Champlain during the summer - with oars as the principal means of propulsion. The distance between the oarlock sockets is now only 35.5 inches....
....so, I will be mounting oarlock stanchions out toward the gunwales - maybe tying them into the line of the new thatch rails.
Here is part of my burnt cork Black Duck rig - circa 1988. They all need re-burning - and I need to replace the 10th bird that drifted off to leeward back in '94.
This shows: the "hinge" for the dodger, the oarlock pads, chock for the lap cover, shelf, oar storage and turnbutton - to secure the floorboards.
The long shelves hold all the usual - gloves, shells, binoculars, water bottle - and my Pickup Stick and Bog Spikes.
When gunning by myself, I find a relatively short - about 42 inches - Pickup Stick is handier than a long one. And, I can always use my 10-foot pushpole if needed.
The Bog Spikes began life as anchors for guy wires on power poles....
The lap cover is well-chewed by many mice over many years. I roll it up on the stern deck when not gunning.
The chocks hold an old broom handle which runs through a pocket sewn into the lap cover.
It wedges in under very slight tension - so pops right up and out when I sit up to shoot.
Back in the day - the lap cover was fully thatched.
Before removing the rails - and the decks themselves - I recorded a few key measurements.
Amidships.
Stern.
Those Pesky Varmints chewed up my sponge and my cherished canvas bailing bucket!!!!
Ready for Demolition.............
Stay tuned,
SJS
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