Crawford Melonseed History of the Crawford Melonseed

Melonseeds
Mike Wick

Ever since I moved to this area, twentysome years ago, I have been fascinated by the melonseed. My buddy, John, has one that is very light and fast. I was amazed how well it sailed, even in rough water. First thing I did was write to the Smithsonian for the Chapelle plans and imagine building my own version. It’s interesting that Chapelle says that it developed from the South Jersey Beach Skiff, only a little wider and flatter, with its tuckup keelson and the skeg added on. But it seems very modern and almost perfect for the way we use boats these days. Because it was developed for duckhunters and made to be dragged, paddled and portaged, the melonseed is easy to store at home, trailer, launch, and rig. I keep mine on a dolly at a local lake, and I use it often. Kind of like a wooden Laser. It takes only a matter of moments to get her ready for sailing. Melonseeds make a good choice for sailors who don’t go after ducks. They still want to explore the same waters and at least watch the ducks. At the same time, melonseeds are seaworthy with their fine entrance and sleek low hull; Adequate beam and form stability makes them stable and secure even in strong winds. I have cruised all over the area and have always felt secure. It may seem a paradox, but when the wind is gusty, I raise the daggerboard. That way, when a gust hits, the boat doesn’t heel over but skates to leeward, and I stay upright and dry.

And they are beautiful, not the saucer shape of a sneakbox. I spend lots of my building time just looking at my new boat from all different angles. That is very important to keep in mind as you spend your time building your boat. It is going to be “Yar”. That makes the building time worthwhile.

They are seaworthy with their fine entrance and sleek low hull. They are wider than other early hunting boats and have good form stability. I never have any thought of capsize; But rafted up to a catboat of the same length, the melonseed has only half the freeboard. This means that the sailor must expect to get wet in the afternoon Chesapeake slop where shallow water makes small but frequent waves. Once I am in deeper water, when the swells lengthen, I find the spray problem disappears, and I stay dryer. One trick is to find get a gullible crew to sit forward and keep some of the spray from the skipper. But, it is only spray. There is never danger of swamping. They aren’t ever that wet, and a few minutes of pumping empty the bilge .

It is the hunting origins that give melonseeds many of their peculiarities. The after deck is large to carry duck decoys, and it has toerails to tie them to. The boats are low to sneak up on the hunter’s prey. They have a high camber deck so the hunter can lie in the cockpit and conceal himself, and the deck keeps the boat from swamping. The simple, unstayed rig is quick to stow inside. The simitar daggerboard and the barndoor rudder allow for control even in the shallowest water. While sailing in Chincoteague Bay, I was zipping in and out of the shallow bays, Winter’s Quarters and Pope’s Bay on the western edge of Assateague Island, and a canoeist complained to me that I was sailing in places he couldn’t even paddle his canoe.

A survey of the other ‘seeds in this site shows that there are many modern techniques that can be applied to building these fine boats, stitch and glue, glued lap, strip plank, cold-molded, and traditional. Cedar or plywood planks make melonseeds a good choice for builders. I wish I had the time and the space to try them all, and keep them all. But my garage is full.

Reducks-Chapelle/ Smithsonian plans	Photo: Andy Slavinskas	John Guideras' w/extra strake	Photo: Andy Slavinskas
Gary Holmes' Bat-Wing Seed (Chapelle)	Photo: Andy Slavinskas
		Crawford Melonseeds	Photo: Barry Long

Michael Bogoger's Doryman Melonseed Blog