Railboat plans

Hey, Hey, Hey. Those better not be "my" birds that the frost we had last night chased out of here!!!!!!!!!! We are headed out tomorrow afternoon, hoping for a good time.

That is a great pile of birds, thanks for sharing those pics!!!!!
 
tod osier said:
Hey, Hey, Hey. Those better not be "my" birds that the frost we had last night chased out of here!!!!!!!!!! We are headed out tomorrow afternoon, hoping for a good time.

That is a great pile of birds, thanks for sharing those pics!!!!!
Click to expand...

They definitely are pushing down early, that's for sure. If this keeps up we may have a real duck season.
 
Todd,
Those are beautiful, functional craft in your drawings and the subsequent pictures on this thread.

I know that the classical style of seeking rails is with two people, one paddling/pushing while the other shoots. And subsequently, the two trade off after so many shots.

In the marshes of SC, that didn't really work. The water was too deep and shore often a fair piece away. Thus, each person in their own kayak or canoe worked best.

I admit it involved some fumbling upon a flush in dropping the paddle, grabbing your gun, aiming and then firing, but that gave these dangly critters a better chance. Furthermore, we discovered that we could not count on the tides being as high as forecasted. Paddling even a kayak through spartina that was still thick proved a significant cardio work out. I would not want to do it in a wider, two person craft.

Here is a photo of the kayak I used:

View attachment 9B9EA77E-55CE-4E1B-9F26-F14B1EF1F566.jpeg

And here is a photo of the Old Town 119 that I ended up preferring. One of the things I loved about rail hunting was that even when the water was high and you could see the birds, that suspense of waiting for the flush was addicting.

View attachment 97FA7BE2-6B43-4FF6-8060-28CBD8397B80.jpeg

In my nine years in SC, I never saw another rail hunter except my buddy and myself. On occasion we pulled the small boats behind my Whaler to areas too far to paddle. As long as the tide was high, we did well. It was a great way to get "up" for the coming duck season.

View attachment E387E5B3-5857-44B3-A57A-CE1A85B30A3C.jpeg

Thanks for your wonderful posts with your son.

Larry
 
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Jode,
Appreciate the PDF link on railbird hunting. Pete Dunne is a fantastic author. For folks who've experienced the Delaware Bayshore, he has a short book called "Bayshore Summer" and will tickle your memories and imagination. For those who've not visited "down Jersey", this will give you a different look at a state mostly remembered by images in the Sopranos.
Really, any of his short pieces are great reads focusing on birds but expands to nature (both human and non- ) .
 
Rich Blaine said:
Jode,
Appreciate the PDF link on railbird hunting. Pete Dunne is a fantastic author. For folks who've experienced the Delaware Bayshore, he has a short book called "Bayshore Summer" and will tickle your memories and imagination. For those who've not visited "down Jersey", this will give you a different look at a state mostly remembered by images in the Sopranos.
Really, any of his short pieces are great reads focusing on birds but expands to nature (both human and non- ) .
Click to expand...


Rich, you are exactly right. I have met Pete on many occasions. And although he is not a hunter, he does realize the role hunting plays in conservation. And I think he gives us a fair shake in his writings.
Another good read on the historic nature of chasing rails.

https://books.google.com/books?id=H...shooting on the maurice river marshes&f=false
 
Todd, I don't see any detail on construction or plans, but you could contact these folks: http://traditionalsmallcraft.com/Railbird.html

I'm curious about the two piece construction? Why? A friend built a stitch and glue "Railbird Skiff". I know he modified a set of plans for stitch and glue, but he moved away a long time ago and I no longer have contact info. I'll try and track him down for you.

But his boat was light enough to cartop. The one time I hunted from it with him I was recovering from a car accident and couldn't help, and he loaded and unloaded it solo for us. We launched down a pretty steep bank at a carry-in site. As I recall, it was lighter than a canoe--though probably not lighter than your Kevlar Wenonah.
 
Jeff Reardon said:
Todd, I don't see any detail on construction or plans, but you could contact these folks: http://traditionalsmallcraft.com/Railbird.html

I'm curious about the two piece construction? Why? A friend built a stitch and glue "Railbird Skiff". I know he modified a set of plans for stitch and glue, but he moved away a long time ago and I no longer have contact info. I'll try and track him down for you.

But his boat was light enough to cartop. The one time I hunted from it with him I was recovering from a car accident and couldn't help, and he loaded and unloaded it solo for us. We launched down a pretty steep bank at a carry-in site. As I recall, it was lighter than a canoe--though probably not lighter than your Kevlar Wenonah.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jeff, I have seen a lot of photos of that guy and his boat in my search, but not that particular article. As far as the 2 piece, mainly because it seems like a neat way to have the boat and a fun challenge. I don't want to trailer it and I don't want to be trying to put an 80-100 pound boat on the roof of an F250 with a raised cap. I dislike putting any boat on a roof and especially heavy ones.
 
Understood, though if carrying 80 pound canoes on truck caps and racks was a problem, every cap in Maine would be collapsed. Getting them up there--especially on larger trucks with taller caps, is another story.
As I got older, and graduated from cartopping on Subarus to doing it on small trucks, loading a canoe solo has gotten harder and harder.

With the demise of Royalex, "heavy ones" will be more and more the norm, even for canoes in the 15-17' foot range. Materials have gotten heavier, and more and more canoes now come with rotomolded seats, deck plates, cup holders and other plastic gew-gaws that add a lot of weight. The 100 pound canoe is now common at 16', where Royalex boats used to be in the 60-70 pound range. When the market for used Royalex boats dries up--and that's happening now--I think we will see the demise of the canoe as a lightweight and easily transportable utility vehicle for sportsmen and river trippers--which is really all it was ever ideal for. I'm hoping for development of new materials that are more affordable than Kevlar and more durable than glass, but I only see that coming from companies in Canada. Even Old Town and Mad River seem to have gone all-in on the rotomolded canoe as their future.
 
Todd,
I built the Independence Seaport Rail Skiff (Maurice River Style) 15 years ago. You can read about this boat in the September/October 1994 issue if Wooden Boat magazine for more details than the plans give. The lines of this boat are very nice, It looks good just sitting on the water. Jode?s Boat is very similar. Actually a friend and I each built a boat side by side using the same mold. We used 3/8 white cedar for the side and bottom planks and 1/2 for the deck. It is light enough for my wife and I to lift on my car top. As we were building the boats we discussed the possibility of cranking out some quick and cheap versions. We said we would use very thin plywood (3/16?). This would be plenty strong due to the decked construction and quite light. Of course we never got around to doing this and I eventually burned the form.

I don?t know about stitch and glue but I bet you could make full size patterns from my boat or another and make bottom and sides from scarfed together plywood. Attach with stem pieces and insert some bulkheads. and then deck. I have patterns for these or you could loft them from the plans. Easy, right? I think you could keep this under 70 pounds easily.

As far as making this in two half?s, don?t do it. Forces on any joining method would be very high and it would make the boat heavier and strange.

Eric
 
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Eric,

I think I rowed one of your railbird skiffs. Tom Shepard has a railbird he mentioned was made at the Seaport museum. It had a sliding rowing seat installed. I rowed it on Union Lake.

Rick
 
Rick,
Not my boat but back in 2006 or 2007 there was a rail skiff race at the Tuckerton Decoy and Gunning Show. On of my competitors mentioned the small craft meetup at the Union Lake Sailing Club. I was not there but did spent the summers of my youth on Union Lake.
Eric
 
Eric Baisch said:
Todd,
I built the Independence Seaport Rail Skiff (Maurice River Style) 15 years ago. You can read about this boat in the September/October 1994 issue if Wooden Boat magazine for more details than the plans give. The lines of this boat are very nice, It looks good just sitting on the water. Jode?s Boat is very similar. Actually a friend and I each built a boat side by side using the same mold. We used 3/8 white cedar for the side and bottom planks and 1/2 for the deck. It is light enough for my wife and I to lift on my car top. As we were building the boats we discussed the possibility of cranking out some quick and cheap versions. We said we would use very thin plywood (3/16?). This would be plenty strong due to the decked construction and quite light. Of course we never got around to doing this and I eventually burned the form.

I don?t know about stitch and glue but I bet you could make full size patterns from my boat or another and make bottom and sides from scarfed together plywood. Attach with stem pieces and insert some bulkheads. and then deck. I have patterns for these or you could loft them from the plans. Easy, right? I think you could keep this under 70 pounds easily.

As far as making this in two half?s, don?t do it. Forces on any joining method would be very high and it would make the boat heavier and strange.

Eric
Click to expand...
I missed this post when it came in Eric, sorry and thanks. When I was reading your post, I was thinking, I bet he doesn't have the form :). Anyway, do you have any pictures? Jode posted up the plans for the Maurice River rail skiff above.
 
Jeff Reardon said:
Understood, though if carrying 80 pound canoes on truck caps and racks was a problem, every cap in Maine would be collapsed. Getting them up there--especially on larger trucks with taller caps, is another story.
As I got older, and graduated from cartopping on Subarus to doing it on small trucks, loading a canoe solo has gotten harder and harder.

With the demise of Royalex, "heavy ones" will be more and more the norm, even for canoes in the 15-17' foot range. Materials have gotten heavier, and more and more canoes now come with rotomolded seats, deck plates, cup holders and other plastic gew-gaws that add a lot of weight. The 100 pound canoe is now common at 16', where Royalex boats used to be in the 60-70 pound range. When the market for used Royalex boats dries up--and that's happening now--I think we will see the demise of the canoe as a lightweight and easily transportable utility vehicle for sportsmen and river trippers--which is really all it was ever ideal for. I'm hoping for development of new materials that are more affordable than Kevlar and more durable than glass, but I only see that coming from companies in Canada. Even Old Town and Mad River seem to have gone all-in on the rotomolded canoe as their future.
Click to expand...

Amen Jeff. Trucks getting taller and canoes getting heavier are not a good combination for ageing folks. I restored a 20' Old Town Guides's Special a few years ago. It is wonderful with a motor and and carries a lot of gear. But, my wife and I getting it up on the racks is a process involving saw horses etc.

Speaking of canoe weight, look what a friend just gave me. A glass Old Town Pack built in 1976.

Matt
View attachment 1976 Old Town Pack.jpg
 
Todd,
I?ll post some pictures of the build and finished boat tomorrow. If you are serious about trying to build this out of plywood I could make some full scale tracings from my boat on a roll of paper.
Eric
 
The bottom is rounded on yours, right? If that is the case, I don't think that is something I have the will/time to take on. I still love pics.
 
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