Odd skeg on derelict boat

[JerryW]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/75439007@N06/11636688615/

So, this old derelict boat was in the front yard of an antique shop on the Manteo, NC waterfront. Given that Manteo is on the Albermarle Sound which has very "thin water", is this skeg an outgrowth of those conditions?

Oh yeah, in the Manteo Maritime Museum is the most beautiful "Martin Skiff"!

Jerry
Sailing a home-made Bolger Nymph
and an Montgomery M-23 Cutter out of Port Kinsale, VA

[Breakaway]

Those are known as squat boards and installed after boats were converted to power. Helped get more speed and/ or a better running angle under power.

Kevin

[Oysterhouse]

Jerry;

Look at some of the round stern Chesapeake Deadrise workboats in the Kinsale area. Most will have some version a squat board. Those in the picture are the largest that I have ever seen!

[Tom@NC]

Good afternoon, Jerry.

I live on Roanoke Island where Manteo is locate and know that boat well.

Those skegs are known locally as hobbles and were indeed an effort to prevent squatting that was a result of adding gasoline engines to hull forms designed for sail.

This was happening in the early 1900's through the 1930's or so, many boats were built for sail and as fortunes improved engines could be bought or bartered for. It must have been interesting for the folks involved to learn the dynamics without test tanks and computers.

Some of the local boat builders can still tell you who built the hobbles just by looking at them.


My nineteen month old grandson has been given an old shad boat with hobbles on it. Probably built in the early 1930's but we are trying to track a firm date and builder down. Many people in this area just built a boat in the side yard if they wanted one, some still do. It was used to pull crab pots until about six years ago. My son and I are going to get her going again, lots of work ahead. She had been glassed on the outside some time in the past so we will have to deal with that.

The Martin skiff was built as a project to keep some youngsters busy and has only been in the water a few times. They built the topsides carvel, with no caulking, and the bottom with plywood. The plans call for lapstrake and planked bottom. You are right, she is a pretty skiff.

Send me a PM if you are in the area again, this is for anyone visiting this area, if I can I will get together with you.

Thanks,
Tom

[JerryW]

Tom (and others) - thanks for the responses. I can sorta look at a "hobble" and envision how it might keep a stern from squatting under power. And, I can almost envision a bunch of old salts sitting in the coffee shop pondering this squatting issue!

Looking at modern equivalents to the Martin Skiff, it looks like Redmond's "Whisp" comes close. Golly that skiff was eye-catching, especially considering it's a simple, slab-sided boat. I am very taken with that skiff!
Jerry

[nedL]

yep, and also called 'squatt boards' in N.J. where they were used on pound boats in the first half of the 1900's. They would help turn a "displacement hull" into a "semi-displacement hull" and allow it to get up on top & plane.

[davebrown]

How about a photo of "Martin"?

[JerryW]

Here's a photo of the "Martin Skiff"!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/75439007@N06/11751372174/

Jerry