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The pirogue's design is just right for angler in skinny water.
By MIKE SCARANTINO
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 12, 2003
Pirogues have been plying backwater bayous and swamplands along the southeastern coast for hundreds of years.
Born of the dugout canoe used for centuries by Indians, the boats are simply built, efficiently paddled or poled and extremely shallow in draft. Small in stature, pirogues can carry large loads.
Remember the movie and book Cross Creek? Pirogues (pronounced PIER-rows) were the main mode of transportation.
Pirogue designs haven't changed much over time. In parts of the Caribbean and elsewhere in the world, the vessels are used for travel and fishing. Many of today's models are built to handle motors and nets on their transoms.
Some of the boats have taken their design beginnings from Hawaiian outrigger canoes. Their efficiency and simplicity are the most attractive characteristics.
Pirogues are so simple, in fact, that craftsman Dan Hoefly of Belleview decided to build one of his own. He has been sharing his expertise with a group of outdoors writers in preparation for a boat-building event in July.
I got to know Hoefly as a passionate wood crafter while working on a 12-foot Bevin's skiff. True to his craft, he feels the grain in the wood and knows the methods needed to mold and manipulate it. He operates quietly and methodically, never saying much but thinking volumes.
After demonstrating instructions for gluing and setting the ribs, Hoefly asked what I thought about the skiff we were building.
"It's a great skiff for two people, but I'd love a model built for one," I said, "something I could pole around the mangroves with."
Hoefly nodded and went about his work. A while later, he asked for my opinion on pirogues.
I said they taste great fried in a little butter. He laughed, and explained that a pirogue is a small Cajun skiff. The little light went off in my head.
When I arrived at our second kit-building event last month, Hoefly had a surprise for me: two little pirogues. One was 11 feet long and the other 14. Both were simple, elegant-looking craft.
"I made the little one first," Hoefly said. "When I floated it for the first time, I realized I'd put the seat too far back for a guy my size, but it floated extremely shallow anyway.
"After watching a few of my friends give it a try, I decided to build the bigger model, and it is a pleasure to paddle around, though I think I'm going to leave the seats movable to accommodate different sized loads," he said.
They were beautiful skiffs. I could see how a single angler with a fly rod could have a great day in the skinniest of waters.
Built using the same methods we employed assembling the 12-foot Bevin's, the pirogues were -- by Hoefly's estimation -- easier to build but not made for two people.
"The Bevin's skiff is perfect for our community project, but these little boats are really fun for one," Hoefly said.
He had sketched the plans on scrap paper then used the "if at first you don't succeed try again" method of building.
"There were times the process frustrated me, but I kept after it," Hoefly said. "My 12-year-old seeing progress in the building at one point would come out to the garage an hour later and ask, 'Dad, what happened to the boat?' It would change that quickly." Hoefly fashioned these little skiffs using the same scarph joints for joining the marine plywood sides and bottom of the Bevin's vessels. Then he attached the main rib, and from there raced toward completion.
After making sure all the copper nails and glued seams were tight, then staining and sealing the wood numerous times for waterproofing, the skiffs were ready.
If you have a question or comment, call Capt. Mike Scarantino, (352) 683-4868.