A nod to the past with an eye to the future

This past weekend we were at Shipwreck Adventures' demo day in Two Rivers, WI.  We met some great people and had a great opportunity to showcase Meskousing Boats' Backwater skiff.  Thank you, Greg Such.  On Sunday, Shelley and I visited the Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, WI.  What a trove of maritime information about the Great Lakes!  DO NOT miss the opportunity to tour the Cobia submarine.  To think 80-some sailors lived in that steel tube for 3+ months.

Of special interest to waterfowl hunters was a display of Wisconsin made wooden duck hunting skiffs and blocks (decoys.)  People familiar with Meskousing Boats will recognize some similarities between the Backwater and the past skiffs.  Meskousing Boats' Backwater is built upon the traditions of waterfowl hunting in Wisconsin and the Mississippi flyway.  The Backwater's design improves upon these time-tested designs, but equally important is the construction materials and processes that bring us to the modern day.

Instead of using wood, we use a high-grade fiberglass that flexes in all the right ways without sacrificing structural integrity.  We keep the weight down by eliminating excess resin.  After all, if resin was the key of a strong hull, we'd just build the boat with resin and skip the 'glass.  Our skiffs link us to preceding generations of waterfowl hunters before surface drive motors and spinning wing decoys with the advantages of modern materials.

Marsh skis and a skiff. 

Probably a good thing we don't use punt guns anymore.

Have a great spring.........  into summer!

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Spring Cleaning

Today I ventured out into the duck marsh to do some spring cleaning of the wood duck boxes I built.  There's a property owner that lets me hunt on his land and as a token of appreciation I've installed a few boxes.  One of them is in front of his house, which he seems to enjoy.

The marsh is a flowage, but there was still ice.  Northern Wisconsin has been in a deep freeze since about Halloween and we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  At least the walk in was mostly devoid of snow.  The dogs got some running on grass and also got to roll around in the last snow of the year.  There was enough ice for me to stand on at the first box.  There were a few feathers from a woodie inside.

Due to some open water, I had to take the scenic route to the second box.  This also had some duck feathers.  Two for two!  The geese nearby kept honking at us trying to keep us from their claim.  A few mallards even flushed.  The sandhill cranes sang an ancient chorus.  Ah, spring is here.  It may not always feel like spring, but it sounded like spring today.

I felt a bit lazy and tried to take a shortcut back to the truck.  I'm fairly convinced Olive is a very simple and a bit on the slow side, but she was the smarter of the two of us today.  While I worked on the wood duck box, she stayed safely on shore watching the birds.  When I called her, she begrudgingly followed my beckon.  About 15 feet from the wood duck box, the ice gave way.  I'm not sure if the water is chest deep or if my elbows caught the ice.  I got out quickly only to break through a second time.  This time I remembered about the importance of rolling or climbing across the ice.  It worked.

Once on shore, I emptied my hip boots and began the walk back to the truck.  The air temperature was warm enough that I wasn't worried about hypothermia and even stayed fairly warm.  Lesson learned.  When the swimming-fool chocolate Lab won't go on the ice, don't go.