Recently published in Outdoor Life, this is an updated and lightweight version of a market-hunter design. The prototype was built for a friends father, a retired Air Force Colonel and avid sportsman, who clipped an old hunting magazine describing the boat and brought it to our shop. The Colonel was a past president of the local Ducks Unlimited, and when we built this boat for him he was almost 80 years old.

This type of boat was known variously as a scullboat, sneakboat, a poke boat, and a layout boat when reclining or crouching to put "the sneak" on the birds. The shape is similar to the bateau design popular in the south, although this hull has slightly more rocker which adds stability when standing and makes it easier to "park" the boat against the shore or to nestle down in reeds and cattails.

We built the Colonel a simplified version in hardwood ply and epoxy. He could haul this lightweight in back of his truck, cartop it, or even let it hang out his station wagon. The boat also has a tough slippery graphite bottom so he could drag the hull like a sled across parking lots, up and down launch ramps and over logs--no lifting required.

With a bulkhead cut-out the boat will support two adults but only on calm and sheltered water. The cut-out allows one adult to extend legs into the bow section providing more room aft for a second person. Its ideal for a single hunter and a dog, an adult and a kid, or a hunter with a load of decoys. Getting comfortable in the boat for long periods requires a folding air mattress seat with a backrest. Rain gear is useful and also maybe a camo poncho to clamp over the cockpit coamings, and a hot thermos of coffee completes the package.

Row, paddle or scull? Traditional rowing with two oars is probably the most efficient muscle powered method for covering distance. Oars as short as four feet will work, but for getting there faster 6 foot oars are best and can still be stowed inside the boat. A double bladed paddle also works well and requires no oarlocks, and the boat may also be "sculled" with a single oar nestled in a transom notch or extended through a hole in the transom. The long keel provides directional stability when sculling,rowing or motoring and the smallest of electric motors will also push the hull right along.
In close to the birds, hunters would crouch or lay down and disguise the boat with netting, limbs and branches, and drifting close to a raft of ducks these boats are sometimes propelled with ping-pong paddles to prevent spooking the birds. Crafty hunters brag of sculling right through a raft of ducks.

The cockpit can be made smaller for more weather protection or larger for easy access, and the cockpit coamings can be enlarged to suit or eliminated completely. Hinged or screw-out hatches may be added as required and sealed flotation compartments can be used for dry storage and to provide emergency flotation should the boat be accidently swamped.

Building the boat is straightforward using epoxy and plywood, and the hull can be as light as 50 pounds, which makes it an easy cartopper. The plans are written for amateurs and first-timers and contain sketches, photos, materials sources, builders tips and a discussion of options to modify and customize the boat.