Time for a change of pace. I’ve sang the praises of the West Mersea duck punt before. Such a marvelously simple and honest craft, whether in its native West Mersea salt marshes of Essex, England or in the tropical waters of the Karamunjawa Islands of Indonesia or closer to my home in the tidal flats of Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina.
Maybe someday I’ll be messing about the Potomac River and lower Chesapeake Bay in such a craft. They seem a joy to both build and sail.
Just chill out and enjoy the videos.
TTG
Doesn’t look anything like the punts I’ve used in the far past for both duck hunting and fishing. Those had square bows and sterns, no keel, & completely flat bottoms, plus a short deck at the stern. You couldn’t run one aground in even the shallowest of water.
What are those fish he’s catching? They almost look like a striped bass but they have that cross-hatch pattern.
leith,
I know the punts you’re speaking about. They have those square bow and sterned punts in England, too. They seem narrower than ours. The Mersea duck punt is best described as a piroge here. They sail well and I’ve seen a video of one sailing over some West Mersea mud. The plans are free.
I don’t know what those fish are. I was hoping someone from the region might be able to tell us. The Mersea duck punt would be ideal for fishing for our invasive Snakeheads. Those things put up a fight and need to be seriously smacked in the head to subdue them once landed. I wouldn’t do it in my kayak. Damned things are surprisingly good eating.
TTG, the first fish was a stripey snapper. The Aussies are hip to those, they will bite on most anything and good eating.
No thats a wallagoot stripey.
**apologies if you have rx’ed this earlier.. might have been a mistake from my end**
Hi TTG..
Nice videos of what really is a ‘marvellously simple and honest craft’.
Maybe too simple with no rudder or centreboard but nevertheless seems quite sailable; pick your weather and don’t lose your oars!
The Karamunjawa Islands sailor must very confident sailing out over the reef and the SC location is quite pretty, especially with the dolphins lurking around residential jetties.
I appreciate your postings around sailing adventures and small craft from around the world and I can’t wait until your own ship is launched. Its great fun to build a boat from scratch, but in my experience there are tons of small boat available on the second-hand market. Many of these have been previously owned by old salts like me now aiming for a more luxurious sailing adventure. Good luck TTG!
On a similar vein, and close to your neck of the woods, I found this very watchable documentary about the inhabitants of Smith Island in Chesapeake Bay. It’s a good story with historical background, archeology and interesting characters. The local dialects are a study in themselves. I highly recommend (4k 1hr).
https://youtu.be/6-ojAez_BUc
Hi Rob,
Found your first comment in the spam file. Don’t know why some comments do that. My comments went there a few years ago and neither I nor Colonel Lang could explain it.
I thought you might enjoy these videos. I’m intrigued by the use of the hard chine on that punt as a centerboard and the oars as a rudder. I notice weight shifting, fore and aft as well as leeward and windward, can play a big part in steering them. I’m familiar with that from my windsurfing days. Because of your advice, I’ve become much more attuned to the second-hand boat market. I’ve spotted some beauties, but I still love these tiny things.
That was an informative video about Smith Island. I was more familiar with the plight of Tangiers Island. I sailed there one year in my sailing kayak. It was a long, lonely trip across Chesapeake Bay from the Potomac, but well worth it. I had a friend years back who retained his Tangier Island accent. It’s far stranger than the Smith Island accent. It intrigued me so much I made the trip.
TTG,
There is gun, a “punt gun”, that you could mount just in case you encounter pirates (or maybe want to be one yourself – The Terror of the Chesapeake).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punt_gun
Eric Newhill,
I believe that was the original purpose of the West Mersea punt. Here’s a video of those punt guns. There are others of them firing at various targets… a truly American experience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPowa-PgD9A
TTG..
Thats a fair workout in a sailing kayak from the Potomac to Tangiers. From the closest departure point that I can see, the delightfully named little Wicomico River mouth, its 13nm not counting deviation from fairly strong tidal currents. No wonder you are a tough bastard (thats a compliment in NZ-Aust lingo)..
Cheers Rob
Rob,
Had a long, long day down the Potomac from Quantico to Reedville. The next day from Reedville to Tangier taking advantage of the slack tide, stealth camped on Tangier and returned to Reedville the next day. Drove from Reedville back home to Stafford. Rigorous, but not exhausting. Not near as rough as the EC 300.
On the island, making a wild guess and relating “Yarney” to OE “Georne/Geornan”. Better warranted derivatives or cognates are our “yearn” and the very commonly used German “gerne”, roughly, you’re welcome.
Similar usages abound. ” Me duck” is routinely tacked on to remarks in every day speech in Derbyshire, “m’dear” or “Me lover” even to strangers at the supermarket check-out in the West Country, and I believe “Pet” is still current in Geordieland to round off or personalise a statement or question. Presumable “Y’all” in the US South also does that, though one can never be sure when one hears politicians use it whether it’s unselfconscious and natural or whether it’s deliberately folksy.
In normal life these are merely common forms of address that carry no message except sometimes, perhaps, an insistence on regional or local identity in the face of an encroaching and impersonal homogeneity. So “Yarney”, by the sound of it, fits in to the usual pattern of local forms of address and I reckon my amateur excursion into etymology gives as good a derivation as any. The remnants of the original settlers have been there a long time and could well have retained older usage yet in that once isolated community.
Only heard of punt guns. Never seen them used. They’d have to get the range right else they’d find themselves eating more lead than bird.
EO,
Here’s the accent from Tangier Island. Do you recognize the sound?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIZgw09CG9E
TTG – that was just like coming home. Got to be West Country!
EO,
That’s one of the things that enticed this amateur anthropologist to sail/paddle out to Tangier Island.