Skulldugery

"This is a boat that is moved slowly and smoothly through the water towards raft of waterfowl with the hunter lying in prone position in the bottom of the boat. Propulsion is a single oar that extends out through the stern (transom) of the boat and thru a waggling motion the boat moves silently and smoothly forward. When the raft of ducks is closed to a shooting distance, the hunter then sits upright in the boat, ostensibly at this time the ducks take off in flight and with some fine shooting a limit of ducks can be paddled or sculled out to and picked up." (Excerpt from Skulldugery write-up)

Skulldugery in it's Designed Environment and 'Dress'

“Wait…” you’re thinking…  “I thought this blog was about cruising in oar powered boats, not about gunning skiffs.”

It is.

And Skulldugery would make a really nice oar cruiser for protected waters.

Why?

Because it has VERY low windage, easy to row with its V-bottom, roomy enough for comfortable sleeping on the (padded) floorboards, lots of  storage space for supplies, stable enough to stand up.

The modifications I would make in order to provide a sleep-aboard oar cruiser would be:

• Rather than double layer of 1/4 inch plywood bottom, use just one layer (this MAY decrease the number of sheets of 1/4" plywood needed).
• Eliminate the cutout in the transom
• Add a rear deck
• Move the 6' 3" cockpit opening forward to enable a 2' (610 mm) rear deck  to provide storage.
• Increase the height of the coaming
• Provide for a 4 foot span to the oarlocks using one of the designs shown here: 
• For a shelter from rain/bugs, the ‘PDR Tube Tent’ pictured below would be one solution.

The "PDR Tube Tent"

 Lines of Skulldugery

Construction Detail: Requires 4 Sheets of 6 mm/ ¼ inch plywood

Specifications:

• Length: 15' 6" (4.7 m)
• Beam: 38" (965 mm)
• Water Line Length: 15' 3" (4.65 m)
• Water Line Width: 26" (671 mm)
• WLL/WLW Ratio: 6.9:1
• Hull  Speed: 5.2 knots, 9.6 kph, 6.0 mph

Summary-Pros:

• High WLL:WLW ratio (6.9:1), V-bottom and very low windage all maker her fast for her length.
• The very low profile assures she will be little affected by crosswinds.
• Storage space for supplies in multiple waterproof storage bags under the decks.
• The added high coaming, splash guard and after-deck provides added protection from boat wakes and storm waves.

Summary-Cons:

• The foredeck, as designed does not provide enough room for sleeping (thus the recommendation for longer cockpit and/or higher crown to the decks.)