392 
Forest and Stream 
BOATING AND BOAT - BUILDING 
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAFTS, PUNTS AND ' 
OTHER CRAFT USED BY FISHERMEN AND GUNNERS— THE SHACKBOAT , 
By DWIGHT S. SIMPSON * 
T here is no question that almost 
every American family has an 
overpowering ambition to own 
and occupy a summer camp away 
from the maddening throng — which is 
never more throngy or maddening than 
in the usual summer resort. However, 
land, even in the wilderness, or at least 
the approachable part of it, costs money; 
and a house, no matter how simple, costs 
more. Eor most of us plain living takes 
all we have and the income tax gets 
what we can borrow ; so we stay at 
home — or go to Coney Island. 
Does it mean nothing to us that there 
are thousands of miles of rivers, streams 
and lakes, some within reach of every 
community, that are owned by the State 
or Eederal Government? We can, if we 
wish, make it mean a good deal because 
with simple and proper equipment, these 
placid locations are there for the tak- 
ing, and if the first one doesn’t suit or 
gets monotonous there is always another 
one “just around the next bend.” 
With a little houseboat we have, in- 
deed, a great advantage over the owner 
of the palatial camp ashore. Once _ 
chosen, his camp site is fixed for many 
years while ours is limited only by the 
length of the river and the time at our 
disposal. We have, moreover, no ser- 
vants, guides nor chauffeurs to order 
our ways and consume our food. Our 
ways are the river’s and we can buy 
our food where we will and consume 
it when the spirit moves us. 
The word “houseboat” in our case is 
really a misnomer as the average reader 
will turn away with a sigh as pictures 
of handsome and expensive floating ho- 
tels come before his vision. So let me 
hasten to say that what I am really talk- 
ing about is a “shackboat” — a word I 
never heard before, but which sounds 
well and seems to describe the thing 
we’re going to build this month. It is 
based on a craft I built and used one 
hunting season some years ago and 
which was so satisfactory I have always 
longed for a chance to do it again. 
W E recently tried our skill on a lit- 
tle twelve-foot fishing punt and 
probably found it not such a terrible job 
to build a boat. With a little more lum- 
ber, a few more nails and a little more 
work of the same sort we can fit our- 
selves out with a floating camp that will 
accommodate the whole family, camp 
fashion of course, and provide a place 
to sleep, cook, eat and sit on a rainy 
day. The water supply and the fishing j 
is always at hand and with an outboard I 
motor attached we can move camp and 
family without effort at the rate of : 
thirty to fifty miles a day. No speed I 
demon, certainly, but neither is the au- 
tomobile camper, and we’ve got a lot 
of things on him. We can cook and eat , 
under way. We do not have to pack i 
everything away in little bags and boxes ! 
every time we move and we have only i 
to tie to a tree and we are in perma- j 
nent camp without further effort. 
The boat, itself, while similar to the 
punt last described is quite different in , 
many respects. A longer rise to the bot- | 
tom forward and more overhang pro- 
vide for beaching and an easy means . 
of getting ashord. The stern is kept 
deep and flat to carry the motor and 
weight of the crew w'ho are usually 
near the stern when travelling. The 
sternboard is heavy so as to absorb the 
wibration of the motor. 
The detail and procedure of construc- 
tion are about the same as in the punt. 
All dimentions and information are 
given in the drawing. Note that there 
is an inwale or stringer notched into the 
upper ends of the frames and that a cap ; 
(^Continued on page 4081 j 
Plans for the construction of the shackboat — an ideal craft for gunners to live on during their fall duck hunts 
