The Cortez Melonseed

Max told you of the Melonseed Nancy Lee from Indiana. There is a development of this diminutive 13 foot duck boat in Florida designed by Roger Allen. It is called the 16 footer, but is actually 15.5 feet long, over-all.







Mick Wick, who is the publisher of the quarterly journal of the Traditional Small Craft Association and an avid Melonseed fan, sent me some photos of himself defeating all comers in a recent race celebrating the sixth Great Florida Gulf Coast Small Craft Festival in a borrowed Melonseed, YeeHaw.



Mike is busy building his own Melonseed, so weve invited him to check in when hes done.



The next set of photos are of the Marshcat Comfort belonging to Doug Oeller, a friend of Mikes, also entered in the same "race".

A bit larger, it is another modern adaptation of the traditional shallow draft hunting and fishing designs from the Delaware River Basin, just south of New York City.














If youd like to know more about these historic gaff rigged "duck boats" please visit the Traditional Small Craft of New Jersey and the Delaware River Basin.

Greek fishing boat in Skopelos Town Harbour

This is just what 1001 Boats is all about, Graham of Port -Na-Storm blog send me an email with a couple of pictures of a small fishing boat hes spotted while on holiday in Greece.

In Grahams own words

" I saw this little Greek fishing boat in Skopelos Town Harbour last year and fell in love.

I don’t know how typical she is or what the type is called.

She seemed different from all the other local boats because instead of the usual double end shape which look almost Nordic, she has this plumb stem flared midships and counter stern, really lovely. I reckon she must have been around 18-20 feet in length.

I’m guessing the rig is Lateen judging by the length of that yard, I’d love to see her sailing."

She certainly is lovely, we have some followers who are much more familiar with traditional Mediterranean boats than Graham and I, so maybe they might be able to comment on the design?

And as a final thought if you have a favorite boat or just one that you like, please send us some details, 1001 Boats dont have to be historic, or expensive, just boats that you like - dont be shy.

Were expecting to feature Grahams beautiful Coot dinghy very soon.