eelgrass
Long Time Member
- Messages
- 31,494
Back in 1968 or 69 I decided I wanted a scull boat for hunting ducks and geese. I had seen a few and was amazed at how effective they were but had never been in one. Back then there was no such thing as going out and buying one as that was almost unheard of. There just weren't that many around. So I decided to build one. I also decide I could build one lighter and better than any I had seen. I'd never built a boat before, but I jumped in head first. It became my passion at the time.
I didn't have a garage at that time, but we had a dining room with a sliding glass door. If you want to test your marriage, ask permission to build a 14' boat inside your house. Luckily there was a door that separated the kitchen from the dining room.
I quickly figured out there is nothing square on a scull boat and that was just as well, as about the only tools I had, or could afford, were a hand saw, jig saw, a block plane, a belt sander, and a power drill.
First I had to build a wood hull to use as a jig. That took about a month. I actually did most of that in the yard and then moved it into the house, where I laid several layers of fiberglass (cloth and matting) to the inside of the jig with mold release applied so the new, all glass hull would pop off.It took several more months to finish the deck, transom, cowling, oar locks, etc. The scull oar had to be hand made too. I was working full time and always short of money back then, but I got it finished finally, just before duck season. I ended up spending about $165 total.
It turned out to be a great boat. It more than met my expectations as a fast stealthy waterfowl killer. It glides through the water without leaving a wake. I believe at the time it was the fastest scull boat around. It only weighs about 100 lbs. It turned out to be very sea worthy too. I had it out on the bay a few times in 40 knot winds without too much worry. She always brought me home safe.
Over the years I used this boat all over northern and central California. Just about any lake, bay, or reservoir that allowed waterfowl hunting. I have no idea how many birds I've taken over the years but probably around two thousand. The one year I did keep track was 217 ducks and geese. That's a lot of time filled with great memories.
The last 15 years or so I only used it a few times a year. My desire to limit out every day has waned, and the older I got the more I realized that sculling is a young man's game, as it is very demanding physically. It will push you to the limit routinely.
Awhile back a friend of mine told me he knew a kid who was looking for a scull boat and wanted to know if mine was for sale? It kind of took me back a little. A couple weeks go by and he mentioned it again, so I agreed to let him come over and at least look at it. I wasn't serious about selling it. Are you kidding me?
When I met the young man (about 20) and he saw my boat, I could tell right off I was looking at myself 50 years ago. I tried to down play my boat and explain how hard sculling really was and how dangerous rough water can be. He wasn't buying any of it. He asked me a hundred questions, and they were all the right questions. I was pretty impressed. Finally after a couple hours, the inevitable question came up. I told him it would probably cost around $800 to build a boat these days. The price of fiberglass and resin is outrageous. He said he was prepared to offer $1500. I told him to give me his phone number and I would think about it. He thanked me and left.
After talking to my wife and telling her how impressed I was with this young man, I called him up the next day and told him to bring $1200 and the boat was his. I gave my wife half the money for letting me build it in the house all those years ago.
Now there's a hole in the garage and I'm not sure I like it. I think the hole goes deeper than that.
