Yolinda

New Jersey Gunning Skiffs were used before the turn of the 19th century along the Jersey shore by duck hunters who supplied the dining rooms of New York and Philadelphia with water fowl. Drafting only 4 inches with the centerboard hauled, she could sail into the marshes and paper-thin reaches of New Jersey’s Barnegat Bay, places to afford protection while the ducks flew nearby.

I started my build of Yolinda in 2021, and with the amazing support and encouragement from an on-line boat building ‘academy’ of like-minded small boat builders, all around the world, I’ve completed my build in about 4 years. This is the second Port Townsend Boat Festival that I’ve attended with Yolinda, (first time just on a trailer). My plans from The Wooden Boat Store were drawn in the 1990’s by Marc Bartow based on physical hulks, as I understand it. My ‘Melonseed’ is the 16 foot version of a design that is near 150 years old.