Now that the season us upon us here in NJ and the Tuckerton show is over I figured I would share a few pictures of my dad's new rig.

He wanted to have a two man boat built that could handle bigger water crossings but still have the ability to hide well as we are puddle duck hunters.

He settled on having Dave Clark build him one of his Estuary II hulls (a Carl Adams sneakbox design) with a cockpit enlarged for extra room. We based the cockpit dimensions off my high box and melded the flapper board and front dodger designs off the high box and a southbay boat. Ultimately we ended up with a 13ft garvey/sneakbox design rated for a 25hp outboard and two people. He will be running a F25 yamaha on it.

Dave included his traditional dodger design for full canvas, but the boat will predominantly used for side shooting without the canvas. Dave also designed a cockpit cover as well as a rear flapper board that can either be used with the full length cockpit, or used to enclose part of the cockpit while hunting solo.

Looking forward to seeing how it performs this season. I'm not getting rid of my high box any time soon, but this will be a nice alternative to hunt with my dad at times.








________
Coastal NJ

That is a beautiful rig

Looks great, you and your dad are going to have some good times in that boat.

Beautiful rig. Looking forward to a report on this garvey. Enjoy.

Dave builds a quality boat, have fun.

Another view?

I liked the look of the 15ft Garvey he had there!

That's a great looking boat!


Great South Bay
West Sayville, N Y

Craig, your dad will love that boat!! I have owned an estuary and now have the 15? Garvey and absolutely love it !! Dave builds a fantastic boat with exceptional plan to detail. Best of luck to you and your dad on the upcoming season.

Nice rig, color me jealous.

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Take care, Huntindave McCann SHELL ROCK IA. ,,,,,, "As sailors grow older, the wiser ones move to smaller boats." Thomas Firth Jones, Multihull Voyaging

The 13 Garvey looks great. I like it with the flapper board on and grassed up.
Great rig for sure! Is the Garvey a planing hull?
Good luck this season!





Oxford, CT

Very very nice. If that's not the perfect duckboat it sure comes close. Another vote for Dave builds a great boat super talented. Enjoy and be safe. Jim B1

Good morning, Craig~


Gorgeous rig all around! Nice combination of the sit-up blind with a garvey hull - the latter hard to beat in my opinion when shoal draft is important.


All the best,


SJS

Steven Jay Sanford
Pencil Brook Farm
South Cambridge, NY
http://www.stevenjaysanford.com

Wow that came out nice.
Phil

Great looking rig !

That will be a good vessel!

---------------------------------------------------------------------
***Phil (Chesapeake Boy) Nowack***


Nothing like the north wind pushing snow at your back, a bird in your hand, and chessie with ice on his coat at your side.

Birds brought to you courtesy of Nikon, Benelli, Kodi, and Otter

Yes it gets up and goes with the 25 on the back. My dad is really pleased with the performance. I believe the original estuary II hulls were set up to run 15hp but Dave had them re-certified for up to 25.
________
Coastal NJ

Finally got around to editing a walk through of the Estuary II for those that are interested.

https://youtu.be/j-OW4TLvajQ
________
Coastal NJ

Sweet boat but @ $25,000 for the pkg it's gonna be "When l win the lottery boat" lol


Great job Craig

Good morning, Craig~


Great job on the walk-around. I especially appreciated your discussion of the Garvey and Sneakbox traits that this vessel blends. I've always thought that the Garvey hull with a gentle arc-bottom would be ideal for coastal gunning waters.


Just one though about the thatching. I noted that the hay was installed butt-end in near the cockpit, but butt-end out up forward and aft of the cockpit. (And I see your Dad added some Cordgrass on the foredeck whilst gunning.) What I usually do is to alternate, with most hay with the leaf-end out, but put every third or 4th bundle with the leaf end in. It covers both the coamings and gunwales.







One other idea as you continue to enjoy this fine vessel - and perfect your gunning practices. The sit-up blind on my sneakbox used an open framework for the shooting side (port side in my case). My Dad and I would sit - and scan the bay - with the shooting side down.



Once we spotted birds, we would slowly raise the frame - and then peek thought the bundles of grass as we got ready to shoot.






The most important benefit is that looking through the frame/grass - instead of over it - is that it keeps gunners' heads down and out of sight.


BTW: I'm all signed up for Tuckerton - hope to see you there!



All the best,


SJS







Steven Jay Sanford
Pencil Brook Farm
South Cambridge, NY
http://www.stevenjaysanford.com

I leave the pricing and options for those talking to Dave, I wasn't privy to all the details as it isn't my rig.

I just wish I had more hunting footage to splice in but I can't give all the secrets away ;-)
________
Coastal NJ

,
,
,
,
As long as your dad is happy with the boat Craig that's all that matters. The boat came out beautiful and your dad feels safe in it , which is probably the most important thing as he is getting up in age like the rest of us.

Best
Bob

Hey Phil
My point is that the price on everything is nuts right now. I can't afford $25K for Craig's dad's boat without winning the lottery.
I've had 2 of Dave's Estuary and his craftsmanship is second to none.Still the BEST big water box I've ever seen. I hope he can keep the cost down on his all glass boat so I can get another of his boats.

Best
Bob