Turning a Parker 1801 into a sea duck boat?

CGeminski

CGeminski

Well-known member
I just purchased a Parker 1801 this past spring from another member here, great fishing boat! I would love to find a way to modify the boat for use in sea duck hunting... specifically I want to find a way to camouflage it without painting the boat.
My only idea right now is to construct some sort of internal frame made of PVC tubes or something like that which can be laid inside the boat. Then I would cover the frame and the entire boat with some sort of water resistant canvas painted in an open water camo scheme. The whole thing would be removable and when running the canvas would be tied up on the frame... drop it down and cover the boat once hunting.
This is an odd project, so any ideas you guys out there might have would be appreciated. I want it to be lightweight, removable, functional, somewhat economical and it cant mar the boat in any way...

Ideas anyone?
 
I hunted on a Duckwater Bomber last year and the blind was a system of poles that installed into vertical tubes. I think the solution would borrow from that idea.

I have been toying with the idea of using rod holders to accept the poles to hold such a blind. I am not sure how that would work on your Parker but the idea is to have the fishing function become part of the hunting setup.
 
I have two rod holders on each gunwale port & starboard but not enough to support a frame in the bow... maybe I could those rod holders.
 
I use my 1801 to sea duck hunt occasionally. I use three anti-fatigue mats on the deck (two forward of console and one behing the leaning post. 40 feet of burlap clamped to the gunwales with three multi-packs of clamps from Home Depot (drape over the motor and work your way around). Leaning post and console covered with two additional pieces of burlap. Sit on dove stools, be STILL, and kill birds. I've killed them off the back of 40' white headboats so I wouldn't over think this... but here's an option similar to your original post:

In NC, I saw a Privateer Retriever (18' very similar to 1801 with narrower beam) with a scissors blind mounted to gunwales using bimini hardware. I've done the same on a Carolina Skiff.
 
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Thanks Chris... I know you can kill birds out of a white boat, I have done it before. However, I would bet you can kill more birds out of a camouflaged boat.... hence my reason for doing this. It might be a bit of a project, but thats the fun of it!
 
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