The Floating Feather: 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.