Visions of duck boats danced in my head

G

Gary Tanner

Active member
Likely some members of this forum wonder what I'm doing here...haven't duck hunted in more than five years, don't own a duck boat (but I do have a nice Lund 14 footer), but do appreciate all the flank feathers friends gift me. But I USED to think about duck boats a lot.
I started thinking about building some kind of duck boat when I started grad school at the Univ. of Tenn./Knoxville. Saw something about pirogues that I thought maybe I could afford to build in Sports Afield. I saved the article, and like every thing in the photos in this thread, I still have it.
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Sent away for the plans coming out of Metairre, LA. 1982.



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Didn't care about the Go-devil. Wonder what they cost today?


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A nifty set of plans...looked very buildable. I was only 32, but had the skill sets for it.


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Well, suffice it to say, I never built that boat. In later life (2004; 22 years later) I was still looking at similar plans:



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In 1985, I started my PhD program at SUNY ESF in Syracuse, NY, and was STILL dreaming about building a duck boat. I saw something somewhere about the Broadbill. Loved the way it looked, sent for brochures:
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I had been to Dunn's several times while counting quail on the Ames Plantation in west Tennessee and was still getting the catalog in 1988 at the end of grad school.



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Fresh out of grad school, no way I was going to be able to afford a finished boat:



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But I could afford the plans!



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So I sent for more info!

That's as many pics at they'll let me post at one time, it would appear, so this will have to be continued!
Gary

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Got more info right from Arthur Armstrong:


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So I broke the bank and sent for the plans:



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Lemme tell ya, them's some BIG plans:



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Well, I never built the boat, and very likely never will. I'll be 71 on Valentine's Day, and if they ever open the border again, I have a camp to build on the banks of the Miramichi. Maybe I'll look around for some square stern canoe plans! Nah, better stick to tying flies with everybody else's feathers.
Now, what to do with all these plans and such? Maybe I'll see if that guy at Pencil Brook Boatworks wants 'em. BTW, you guys have me to thank for turning Steve on to Duckboats.net!
Gary
 
Gary

We lusted after the same boats about the same time. I kept some of the literature as well. As for getting Steve here on the community maybe I had a hand in it as well. I had seen his work from the South Shore Waterfowler's website and sent him an email inviting him to come join our community. Seems we have similar tastes in boats and boat builders! Thank you for sharing and keep us updated on your Miramichi build.

Eric
 
Good story Gary!
I've talked about building a Devlin Broadbill or Bluebill since Eric started the site.
Still haven't even ordered plans!
But I did browse craigslist for used Sunfish sailboats over the weekend.....
 
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I built one from those plans, around 1984-85. Pretty easy, you just lay them over the wood and poke holes with an ice pick (or similar). The most difficult part for me was getting the plywood to make the curve around the bow. Mine was Phillipine Mahogany frames, AC plywood covered with glass. Used a buttload of bronze nails, I think I'd use screws if I built another. Ran well with a Johnson 9.9. We shot a lot of divers out of it, broadbill, scoters, eiders. A friend still has it, it lives up on the Cape now. I think the plans are still laying around somewhere.
 
I , like yourself looked at a lot of that literature and dreamed of those duck boats till I finally broke down and bought a brand new AA Blackjack back in the 80,s. At the time they were being produced in Kentucky and struck a great deal where cockpit cover , blind and shipping was free if I waited till it was piggybacked on a load coming to Norfolk , Virginia. Loved that little boat till youngest boys got old enough to come along than sadly it was sold for a progression of other aluminum & fiberglass boats better able to hunt multiple gunners. Actually bought same boat back about 9 years ago and built layout blind and upright blind for it and hunted it till needs changed again. Sold it to a forum member from N.Y. looking to create something a little special for his particular needs. Although I have the skill sets to build so far i,ve stuck to modifying existing factory hulls to meet my needs and time constraints, but continue to droll over the fine work many on this forum produce and find time to document via their posts.
 
Before the internet I also collected a binder of designs and plans and blueprints. The pirogue design was one that i built 3 of for decoy boats and gave them away to friends. That pirogue is an excellent example of that type of boat. A good book in everybodys library in those days was the dory book by John Gardner . Most of the answers on skiff building could be found there. I built the Canadian light batteau from that book and a Herreshoff lapstrake rowing boat from another. When Steve Sanford was looking for research materials for the Southbay Duckboat I had some brochures and letters that shed some light on its history. Its like cracking open a time capsule.
 
Young Man~


Great post! Boat plans are like topo maps and bay charts - inspire lots of dreaming!


Looking at your Pirogue tale.... I don't think you ever saw mine. I built it, hunted it - then had it "took" all within a month.


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The tale is here -- The Lost & Found Boat - https://stevenjaysanford.com/the-lost-and-found-boat-the-tale-of-an-errant-pirogue/


and more images here: https://stevenjaysanford.com/lost-found-boat-a-15-foot-pirogue/


I, too, was always a fan of Zack Taylor. In fact, I just got my 3rd copy of his Successful Waterfowling. He treated his readers as capable craftsmen - not mere possessors of a credit card like nowadays.....


And - you are indeed the one that pushed me onto this site - after a couple of years of "retirement" and some facility with a digital camera.


BTW: A bag of "fedders" - mostly from drake Mallids - hangs in my shop awaiting your visit. You can deposit all those plans here when you come by.....



All the best,


SJS



 
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