Simmons Sea Skiff

M

marvin4239

New member
Just curious if anyone is familiar witht the Simmons Sea Skiff. They are no longer manufactured I think they stopped in 1974. The reason I ask is I new the man who developed this boat back in the 50's. I lived a few miles from him and my dad had several of his boats. The hull design that Mr Simmons came up with is very similiar to the C-Dory. They were beautiful boats and very sea worthy. Anyone interested in C-Dory's would probably enjoy reading the history to the Simmons Sea Skiff. They can be found at SimmonsSeaSkiff.com. One thing that made them unique is they had a motor well that the outboard mounted in allowing them to have a very high transom. They were developed for the seine net fishermen so they could be launched from the beach.
 
What a great piece of boating history. As I'm about to take delivery of a new 22' C-Dory that will stay at our home in Oriental, NC, this brings a wonderful connection to our new boat and her home waters.

Thank you for sharing!
 
You can buy the plans from the Cape Fear Musuem. I have a set here myself. The boat I'm most familiar with was the 18'. With a 40 horse motor it would make 30 MPH and only draughs 4 or 5 inches of water. With the high bow and transom you can go about anywhere. There's a builder in MA who makes some really nice reproductions with fiberglass bottoms. They use to sell for about $10,000. When my dad bought his 18' 50 years ago he paid $300 for it unpainted. It sat in the back yard with a tarp over it for a month before he had the nerve to put the paint on the beautiful woodwork. Old man Simmons didn't use glue anywhere in the boat the joints were that good that they didn't leak. I watched him build many of them and he never even used a ruler he had templates for everything and many of the parts were cut by hand. The coast guard even used a few of his boats around Moore Head City NC. He use to put a little brass plaque on the bow with his name and the owners name.
 
T. N. Simmons' granddaughter was a student of mine at UNC-Wilmington many years ago. Her father had recently died in a boating accident and that was when the elder Mr. Simmons quit making boats. I never met him but remember passing his shop on Myrtle Grove Sound Loop Road. I wish I had gotten up the nerve to stop and visit. Thanx, Bill
 
Most interesting. From that web site is the quote: " Simmons later introduced a modified v-shaped bottom and eliminated the rocker aft. The modified bottom shape eased pounding Ð unless the boat was driven too hard for sea conditions. The straighter run reduced drag at speed. As more powerful outboard motors became available, he built the boats longer and wider." Which fits right into the other discussion about rocker in the aft sections--and its effect.

I suspect that there were parallel developements. I had seem some West Coast boats which were semi dories, with outboards in a well which were developed in the same time frame. One has to remember that glue in wooden boats is actually a fairly recent developement. Although there were various forms of hot glues, the first really good water proof cold glue was Resorcinol .
 
Readers of this thread will find of great interest a 30 MAR thread, very rich in info and links, in the General Saltwater Forum at the NC Waterman site <ncwaterman.com>
Bill W.
 
Glue... as I was touring a very nice Krogen in Miami... the owner used the phrase "chemically bonded".... but...it was a $800,000 vessel.... and just saying ya glue the sucker together would have been in conflict with the price.

Neat, very neat histroy here. Ya just gotta love some of this stuff... and there is something to be said for little, simple boats to spend time up the creek...with or without a paddle.
 
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