Steve Sanford
Well-known member
All~
Susan and I left here yesterday morning at 4:00 AM - and got home just before 10 PM. Our mission was to deliver lots of duck hunting "stuff" to a variety of customers/friends along the South Shore - and to visit my Mom for the first time since early March. It was our first "down-and-back" - inspired by Hurricane Covid.
All of my customers were on time - at Paul McDuffie's house. One recipient crossed Great South Bay by boat. (But, none of my crew wore wetsuits. The Mighty Atlantic is just a few hundred yards to the South.)
[CLICK any image to enlarge]
View attachment 1 Scooter and Paul and Joe W and Bob M.jpg
In addition to delivering Paul's restored Scooter, I brought along some custom boat parts and a total of 44 rehabbed gunning decoys. I had hauled about half of these birds north in March.
From back to front: Homer Eiders, Bean's Canadas, Chesapeake Blacks and 1 Hen Mallard, Bean's Black Ducks
View attachment November 14 Deliveries - ALL.JPG
Paul fit in the re-conformed cockpit - and found himself very comfortable.
View attachment 2 Scooter and Paul reunited.JPG
The venerable Dodge & Krowl Scooter - built on Orowoc Creek in Islip in the 1920s or 30s - has now been inducted into The McDuffie Fleet.
View attachment 3 Scooter at rest.JPG
The colors of the Fall salt marsh - at any tide - exert a strong pull on this old soul.
View attachment 4 McDuffie backyard 02.jpg
My Mom (age 91) was her stellar self in the glorious sunshine - and within my grasp after a too-long hiatus.
View attachment 5 Grammy and SJ - 14 November 2020.JPG
We headed further East to pick up yet another duckboat - one that Mike Fishman and I had built in the mid-90s. Frank Zamp had provided it with safe harbor for the past few months. Plans to bring its trailer as well - piggy-back style - were abandoned in favor of rare sound judgment and the desire to not add to a long Life List of Trailering Travails. It'll come north on a future trip.
Needless to say, I could not continue without first including these wonderful White Ash tools-of-the-trade....
View attachment sm 4b Ash 7-footers.JPG
Susan and I both slept soundly all night. I rose early to watch some Wood Ducks fly into Home Pond at first light - then conducted a formal "intake" on my newest charge. She - the vessel, not Susan - is now buttoned up tight against the coming snows - and will rest patiently until Pencil Brook Boatworks stirs to life again in early '21.
View attachment sm 7 The Morning After.JPG
A truly fine day - well spent with good friends and family all along the South Shore.
All the best,
A Trailer Man from Way Back (theme of yet another tale to be written)
Susan and I left here yesterday morning at 4:00 AM - and got home just before 10 PM. Our mission was to deliver lots of duck hunting "stuff" to a variety of customers/friends along the South Shore - and to visit my Mom for the first time since early March. It was our first "down-and-back" - inspired by Hurricane Covid.
All of my customers were on time - at Paul McDuffie's house. One recipient crossed Great South Bay by boat. (But, none of my crew wore wetsuits. The Mighty Atlantic is just a few hundred yards to the South.)
[CLICK any image to enlarge]
View attachment 1 Scooter and Paul and Joe W and Bob M.jpg
In addition to delivering Paul's restored Scooter, I brought along some custom boat parts and a total of 44 rehabbed gunning decoys. I had hauled about half of these birds north in March.
From back to front: Homer Eiders, Bean's Canadas, Chesapeake Blacks and 1 Hen Mallard, Bean's Black Ducks
View attachment November 14 Deliveries - ALL.JPG
Paul fit in the re-conformed cockpit - and found himself very comfortable.
View attachment 2 Scooter and Paul reunited.JPG
The venerable Dodge & Krowl Scooter - built on Orowoc Creek in Islip in the 1920s or 30s - has now been inducted into The McDuffie Fleet.
View attachment 3 Scooter at rest.JPG
The colors of the Fall salt marsh - at any tide - exert a strong pull on this old soul.
View attachment 4 McDuffie backyard 02.jpg
My Mom (age 91) was her stellar self in the glorious sunshine - and within my grasp after a too-long hiatus.
View attachment 5 Grammy and SJ - 14 November 2020.JPG
We headed further East to pick up yet another duckboat - one that Mike Fishman and I had built in the mid-90s. Frank Zamp had provided it with safe harbor for the past few months. Plans to bring its trailer as well - piggy-back style - were abandoned in favor of rare sound judgment and the desire to not add to a long Life List of Trailering Travails. It'll come north on a future trip.
Needless to say, I could not continue without first including these wonderful White Ash tools-of-the-trade....
View attachment sm 4b Ash 7-footers.JPG
Susan and I both slept soundly all night. I rose early to watch some Wood Ducks fly into Home Pond at first light - then conducted a formal "intake" on my newest charge. She - the vessel, not Susan - is now buttoned up tight against the coming snows - and will rest patiently until Pencil Brook Boatworks stirs to life again in early '21.
View attachment sm 7 The Morning After.JPG
A truly fine day - well spent with good friends and family all along the South Shore.
All the best,
A Trailer Man from Way Back (theme of yet another tale to be written)
