Southbay Duckboat

Photos of my uncle's Southbay Duckboat restoration project are now online in a new post at:

http://duckboats.net/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=204148;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread
 
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The boat I am restoring is hull# 176. It is a early model. Spoke to Red years ago and they put the number under the rear deck. He used telephone pole numbers in epoxy. Anyone have one similar? Have to fill out forms to get new hull number. Are there any old boats like mine out there? Mine has a 3/4" hole in the bow, any idea what for?
 
The grass is held on by thatch rails similar to John Lovoti's boat on the early posts. Tim R and Craig F use the same system. John, is your bow and stern filled with foam? Mine are hollow. Should I look into a foam kit? Got the grass rails bent and installed. Couldn't steam them, found a 2" pipe and filled it with water and soaked the mahogany for three days.
Pulled the bearings on the trailer, picking up new one's today. Bunks are on and ready to adjust. New lights and roller guides ready.
Alot more work than I thought. Chris coming out today to give a hand. Checked out one of my primary spots and found out they open scallop season there today. Loaded with scallops also. Gonna have to do some scouting around or shoot evening flights.
 
Rich,

While your boat does not have foam from the factory it's a good idea to add the floatation for your own safety.
 
As mentioned above you grass the boat primarily with salt hay using the grass rails. A bit time consuming, but once you get the hang of it, it's not so bad.

On the southbay we'd usually grass it every couple years as the salt hay would hold up pretty well. The flapper boards and front dodger board would need to be grassed a bit more often since they get beat up more. On my sneakbox decoy racks I re-grass every two seasons usually. I don't mind grassing the boat, it's the pulling the grass that I could do without!
 
I don't mind grassing the boat, it's the pulling the grass that I could do without!
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We do it as a two man job. One guy holds the clumps of grass the other guy uses the old hedge clippers to cut. Then load into pails for grassing later. It goes fast. You just have to trust the guy with the shears...
 
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The guys that built the old boats worked for the telephone company.
Seriel number was numbers from the telephone poles.
I have seen them fiberglassed in place mid ship on the inside.
When I asked Red about the age of my boat and gave him the number.
His answer was we did not keep good records.
I told him my number was 108 then asked if that was the 108 boat built.
He said, all that ment was they had a number 1,0,8
As for the age the older boats did not have the bulk heads in the bow or stern.
 
I don't mind grassing the boat, it's the pulling the grass that I could do without!
Click to expand...

We do it as a two man job. One guy holds the clumps of grass the other guy uses the old hedge clippers to cut. Then load into pails for grassing later. It goes fast. You just have to trust the guy with the shears...
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John... we dont use salt hay, instead we use marsh grass (not sure of the true scientific name), but it is more prevalent here on the east end. We actually cut it with a gas powered brush cutter... think a weed wacker on steriods with a circular saw blade. You definately have to trust the guy running the cutter!
Since we have two duckboats and a blind to grass, we bring along a 14ft johnboat and cut at waters edge at the right tide. We usually have to fill the boat with grass in order to have enough, sometimes we even have to run back for a little bit more.
 
Chris,

I don't use salt hay either. I use Spartina. It's taller, easier and faster grassing the boat with than salt hay. Plus it grows in most of the areas I hunt so the boats blend in well. I just add a little here and there as the season goes on to keep it looking good.
 
It's probably what we call "marsh grass", I have seen your boat and the grass looks the same. We like it because sometime you can find it up to 4ft long, which is great for grassing blinds.

BTW, thanks for the phone call today. We were actually talking about how to add foam without over-expansion problems earlier in the afternoon. The next time we get a good west wind with some weather you will have to come join us in the blind.
 
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John good talking to you today. My boat has compartments in the bow and stern [empty, air]. Guess it was not that old. Will take your advice about foaming the compartments. Will speak to you about what kind and how. The grass we use is marsh grass. We shoot tidal marsh with mosquito drains mainly, hope to try other types now that we have two boats.
Good luck with the scallops.
 
Chris & Rich
I'll check on the price of the foam when I go back to the office on Tuesday. Talk to you soon
 
the older boats had air pockets for floatation. the foam was not required. the hole in bow deck might be for sail rigging mast. have a friend with that option in his older southbay .if you look under deck down on floor there is a female receiving block for mast if chris still has his hawk pull mold off his flaps they can be made from glass. to shape grass rails put wood in water till wood is real wet then clamp them to outer rub rail to get shape leave wood to get dry,this lets you work contour without splits.
 
Well, finally got the boat and trailer sea worthy. Lights work too. Grass rails are on, cleats, plugged all the extra holes and motor mounted. DU tonight and gun auction tomorrow [business]. Maybe sunday sea trial and cut grass. Saga to continue.
John will call about the foam next week. Need your expertise. How is the bird population around you?
 
the older boats had air pockets for floatation. the foam was not required. the hole in bow deck might be for sail rigging mast. have a friend with that option in his older southbay .if you look under deck down on floor there is a female receiving block for mast if chris still has his hawk pull mold off his flaps they can be made from glass. to shape grass rails put wood in water till wood is real wet then clamp them to outer rub rail to get shape leave wood to get dry,this lets you work contour without splits.
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Hi Rick.... yes I still have my marsh hawk and I am loving it. I thought about moving up to a bigger boat, but glad I changed my mind. I am running a 25hp on it now and it planes beautifully. I had a 15hp on it, but it plowed water with that hull, so it's now going on my uncle's Southbay.

That hole in the bow of the Southbay was only the size of a nickel and was within a few inches of the bow. It's been plugged up to make it seaworthy.
 
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