15'6" Jericho Bay Lobster Skiff
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Join to view PDF Purchase Jericho Bay Lobster Skiff PlansNowadays Maine lobstermen work from boats that are industrial-scale fishing platforms: they are long, wide, and powered with many hundreds of diesel-fueled horsepower. Many tend some 800 traps apiece. But there was a time when the typical lobster fleet was in large part made up of vessels similar to this able workboat. Joel White’s Jericho Bay Lobster Skiff is intended to serve as an efficient tool to get out on the water to work. At nearly 16' long, she would have served an entry-level lobsterman or high-school student tending a smaller number of traps and learning the ropes. However, she is equally well-suited to recreational pursuits—trolling for mackerel, casting for stripers, or just buzzing about. 15'6" Jericho Bay Lobster Skiff Particulars
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A nice 2-stroke would be better than a 4-joke. More acceleration, more speed, way lighter, way less cost. When production costs, crankcase oil disposal, 4-jokes in the shop more often with expensive shop costs, and the small number of 2-stroke outboards compared to cars, the environmental and social costs of 2-strokes rapidly declines. Upper Midwest still has many 2-strokes, and the water is cleaner than ever, and the fish are abundant.
‘Crankcase oil disposal’ on a 4-stroke? At least it’s going somewhere under control. The 2-stroke I use at work is factory spec’d to pump a quart of oil into the water or air with every 10 gal of fuel she burns. Even when I use the boat for only 10-15 minutes. I can taste the oil on my tongue for days.
Loud too. If I want to talk to anyone off the boat I have to shut her down.
Edit- My boss told me a quart per 10gal, but jug says quart per 12gal. After I changed to 12gal, the smoke hasn’t noticeably lessened.
It really is phenomenal when considered. A full quart of oil smoked into air and water per good day on the water.
My only disagreement would be with the statement “But there was a time when the typical lobster fleet was in large part made up of vessels similar to this able workboat”
The lobster fleet started as sailboats and progressed to what we see today. At no point were a large group of fisherman using 16′ boats. I think William Frost’s early boats like Red Wing and Thoroughbred would be the closest at 33×7 with 24hp. Still a different animal. Jericho has a L/B ratio of 2.98 Red Wing is at 4.71.
Nonetheless Jericho is a beautiful boat.