The Delaware ducker is a deceptively simple boat. It’s 15' long, has a 4' beam, and is low sided with side decks so that structurally there is no need for thwarts. There is a choice of rigs, depending on the crew’s intentions and abilities; they range from a 56-sq-ft gunning sail (as its name implies, the boat was developed for duck hunting) set with a sprit and a boom, to a 115-sq-ft gaff-headed racing rig.The ducker is like a canoe: You need to step pretty close to the centerline when you board from the side. You need to have your hands on the coaming when you push off from the beach. And, if the wind is gusty, you must move from sitting or kneeling in the middle of the boat to the rail, where it seems you spend a goodly amount of time sitting on the low coaming. In short, it’s a sensitive boat that makes you move around. The Delaware Ducker evolved as a bird-hunting boat on the tributaries of Delaware Bay. A study in simplicity and performance, it deserves close attention as a recreational boat.
Maynard Bray
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Thanks to Ben Fuller for letting me sail and row the Joseph F on my tour of the East Coast many years ago when I was racing my International Canoe. I bought plans and built the Elijah Harper in the 1990s and still use her for outings on the Salish Sea. She is one of my favorite boats and has seen a lot of use in the last 33 years. Ben’s comments on the boat ring true, a lovely design.
Good to see that you are using yours; your sketch of the day you sailed JOSEF at Mystic hangs prominently on the wall.
As a resident of the Garden State that lives semi-close to the bay, I am surprised I have not heard of this boat before. The Delaware is a capricious body of water at the best of times, any small vessel that is designed to navigate the Bay must be very seaworthy.
When the time comes for another small boat in my life, I may have to succumb to the traditions of my home state. Do I go Delaware Ducker or Swan Point Garvey? Two boats designed for the same purpose, but coming from opposite sides of the question.
These are very different boats of course. Think a larger more stable canoe for the ducker, especially adept at sliding up the creeks and inlets of the Jersey shore marshes.
Nice to see this article resurrected. JOSEF W. is slated to get her rivets tightened up this winter as it takes a bit of time with boat blankets to get tight. Might give her paint on the inside, something that hasn’t happened in 47 years. Then we see how spry I am. I’d like to be sailing her when I turn 80 next year.