Southbay duckboat who owns them ?

B

Bill Ferrar

Well-known member
How many on this site own or have owned a Southbay Duckboat.???
When did you buy it?
Where do you use it?
What size engine powers your boat?

I'll Start

I bought my boat used it 1992
I use it - in the bays on Long Island, NY
I have used a 9.8HP, 15HP, 18HP, 25HP
 
Had an early one, around 1978, when Red and his partner still made them.I had a 15hp on it and in my opinion was minimum as a 9.9 was a little weak on it.
Used it several years on the S.Shore salt meadows. Finally sold it, They were, and are, a good looking boat, but had several design flaws that I couldn't tolerate anymore, so off it went.
Frankly, I'm surprised and rather perplexed that their short comings were never addressed and fixed, It could have been an almost perfect duckboat for the majority of hunters.
 
I acquired my SBDB in Dec from a friend who no longer had use for it and kept it in storage for most of the last 20 years. The hull is in great shape and I'm in the process of rebuilding/refitting it. As for many others, Steve's projects have been a tremendous source of information and inspiration for me. I hope to have it ready for a sea trial in the spring. Plan is for use in the greater Chesapeake region as I live in Baltimore. I've swapped out a 4.5hp 2 stroke for a newer Merc 15. David
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Hunted out of an original 80s model with my father growing up, we ran a 15 hp and later a 25 hp hunting coastal NJ. Still have plenty of friends that use them with great success on the NJ salt marshes.

My dad and I have since gone to schellinger high boxes, which I feel are a slightly better mousetrap than the southbay in certain aspects.
 
I was fortunate to live close to Red and have had many great conversations with him. I have a few of his showing poles and three of his BBMerganser decoys that are just the coolest things ever.
I scored my SBDB from a vacant lot that was overgrown while I was foraging firewood. I tracked down the owner and bought the boat for $800 with a few dozen McCormack BBills inside. I absolutely love it.

GCS; What do you consider it's short fallings? The only thing I consider a short falling is that you can't really hunt two men out of it. Me and my son, me and a dog, ok.....two regular men and gear....nope. But that would be like complaining that you can't fit two people on a chair. For it's compactness, comfort, hide ability, safety, shallow water ability.....it's as good as it can get. You adapt any one of those things, you loose something else.

I hunt mine on the South Shore of Long Island with a 15
 
Let me 'splain, lol

and not in any specific order,. It's heavy, once it touches bottom it sticks there, one man can't pull it very far till the tide comes up, it's too big for 1 man, too small for 2. It has no, or practically no rise in the bow, it doesn't lift to the waves but punches through at low speed thus shipping green water up over the bow, and without a full spray shield sometimes into the cockpit, but the worst thing was the motor well. A good concept but too narrow, you can't run the motor in the tilt position without the prop hitting the sides of the well. There was a few other niggling things that can be dealt with with some ingenuity so not a big deal.
If these things don't bother you great, it bothered me, I experienced every one of the things I mentioned, a few changes to the mold it could have been about perfect...

I spent my entire life on the water commercially and have owned and used a lot of different boats and have a tendency to be critical of what I feel could have been better or improved, that's me, YMMV... Cheers! [cool]
 
David~


Good for you! I can see lots of nice craftsmanship there.


And, I am glad to see those oarlock stanchions. They are the first I have seen on a South Bay. Were they on the boat when you got it?



I never leave a launch site without a way to get myself home. A good pair of oars and solid oarlocks are a must on coastal waters - in my book.



All the best,


SJS

 

I have an early SB I bought used in the 1990?s. Did a ?spa treatment? back then. Use a 15hp. Gun on Long Island, NY

Tom
 
Steve, I have the same oarlock stantions on mine ,wondering if that was an option when buying new.I cut mine down and rubber capped it to hold the grass door at a slight angle when retreiving decoys.
 
Where did the molds go? Somebody has to know. I've always liked them . Never been in one. Might not be applicat to my style of hunting. I still want one and I'll drive east to get it!!!
 
I love my south bay, but I agree with almost all the previous drawbacks listed. The motor well is the biggest thing.

1982 South Bay
15hp Johnson 2 stroke, sometimes a 9.9 because the 15 gives me shit.
View attachment sb.jpg
 
Good morning, Bob~


Tales of the whereabouts of the molds keep surfacing - at various spots around Long Island. A couple of years ago I was in touch with the current owner - but never heard back. And, I heard about a (different?) set last year from a friend.


As I understand it, Red Magnus had the hull molded by Eli Fibreglass in Oakdale - then he and partner(s) assembled and added the appurtenances at his home in West Sayville. I spoke to Red maybe 2 years ago; he lives (?) in western NYS.


I'm pretty certain you sent me this brochure!



View attachment South Bay 1.jpg



I also hear about and occasionally see modified versions - which try to address some of the traits mentioned.



I have no interest in building any from scratch - but thoroughly enjoy the rehab and customizing that I do. Also, as much as I prefer my Sneakbox RED~LEG - the fact of the matter is that I hunt from canoes - or just waders - almost exclusively up here in dairy country. My trips to the coast have been as a boatless guest in recent years. I do plan to trail RED~LEG down next year - after Hurricane Covid has passed.


All the best,


SJS





 
One thing I haven't tackled yet is the canvas cover. I have it and the canvas is in good shape, the support/frame is not, appears to be made out of heavy wire and connectors. I need to figure out how to mount it again, when I tried rough fitment it was almost impossible to snap down, maybe the canvas shrank?
 
Good morning, Ross~


Any of the original canvas I have encountered has shown its years. As you have seen, the "bow" was just heavy cable (Red worked for the phone company, I believe) with what look like battery terminals at each end. Of course, the snaps show lots of corrosion from the decades of salt.


I would imagine any good canvas shop could make a fine replacement. I made this one - with a true dodger that allows the helmsman to stand when under way.


View attachment Dgr 23.JPG



Here it is buttoned up against the weather. (Port flap board has been removed for this photo - and those forward flaps serve as a stool rack.)



View attachment Z 01.JPG



All the best,


SJS
 
Steve, I confess I removed the stanchions. I didn't like the angle of the flapper boards when resting against them in the open position. Something about them also seems to detract from the aesthetic of the hull, at least to my eyes. I was considering installing smaller SS oarlock sockets on the inside of the cockpit rails so long as I can back them properly -- that seems like a less conspicuous option. I'll post more pictures as the work progresses!

David
 
Hey Bill,

South Bay Duck Boats have been in my family for many many years. It was actually the first boat I tagged along with my father on the Great South Bay at the age of 5. Good boats for sure and as with any also has a few drawbacks but the pros outweigh all that for sure. Right now as of 2021 Joe Hauswirth owns the company based out of Amityville, NY. I believe there were plans for a revamp of the company but they have yet to be fulfilled. My uncle Steve knows more on this I?ll have to find the updates if any.
My father Mike and his brother Steve actually made a few custom models back in the early 80?s they would cut the standard southbay boat down the beam and widen the entire boat 18?. They nicknamed these the double wide southbay custom built behind my grandfathers deli in Massapequa NY. I?ll try and get some images of the builds. Very popular and the hunters who had them made loved the extra cockpit space. My father actually sold the last one they made back in 2018 but we currently have 4 hulls within the family still hunted with. It?s quite a fleet.


When I was about 14 years old I got my first hull from Copiague, NY an old waterfowler who passed away. It was actually one of the grey layout models my father and I converted back to the standard marsh model. That was powered by a 15hp. I sold that in 2013 and switched over to a 14? TDB. My uncle actually runs a 30hp off his southbay currently as he?s about 6?8? hence the nickname ?Meat?

I?ll try and get some updates on where the company direction is going and some old photos of the builds as well.

-Anthony
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David~


Mounting through the coamings should be easy enough. Just 3/4-inch plywood or 2x4 treated - shaped to fit in both cases - should work. I would run long machine screwsdown through and back them up with fender washers. Obviously, as the coamings are only 31 inches apart, rowing will be challenging. If truly for emergencies only, that could be OK.


42 inches between centers would offer much better balance and leverage to 6- or 7-foot oars.


If I had your pipe stanchions - a style used for many decades on many different gunning boats - I might simply bore an over-size hole through the flapboards so they would lay where you want them.


Here is a pair on the first boat I built - circa 1982. They were through-bolted to knees below decks.



View attachment Grassboat # 1 - from stern.jpg



Pipe stanchions are very handy as a way to lash your vessel quickly to bog spikes. A half-hitch holds you in place until you need to head out to retrieve downed birds.



View attachment MSF Sneakbox - oarlock stanchion and staub.jpg



All the best,


SJS


 
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