The Sea Bright Beach Skiff

reverse chine at on what little information I had at the the after end and time, it was thought that this was one of TThhee SSeeaa BBrriigghhtt a planked-up the more rare sailing versions of the Sea skeg. The wide Bright that Hankins built in his shop. It BBeeaacchh SSkkiiffff bottom plank with had a centerboard, a rudder and tiller, bbyy DDaammiiaann SSiieekkoonniicc tapered ends and was rigged in the traditional provided a resting manner. I bought the boat, and several surface when years later I came to learn that this boat beached, while its was really a surf boat built for the Ocean rocker made Beach & Bay Club, and after it was turning easy.” retired from service someone fitted it out as a sailing skiff. But that didn’t make it The boats were any less fun - it was quick to respond originally fitted A photo from Peter Guthorn’s book The Sea Bright Skiff and Other and was a fast sailer. Jersey Shore Boats .The original caption reads “William A. Isaac, and with a center- Walter A. Seaman in the Lizzie at Nauvoo. Note the spritsail rig, board or In the fall of 2004, I came across an balanced jib club [and] steering oar. From a tintype made in 1872. daggerboard so eBay auction for what was advertised as Courtesy of Harold A. Seaman.” they could be a Hankins Skiff, a standard 16’ surf boat Anyone who has vacationed on the sailed, with the typical rig being a single- in need of complete restoration. I masted sprit-rigged mainsail and a jib. purchased the boat, then resold it in shores of the mid-Atlantic region of the Early photographs, like the one above 2005 to a colleague in Virginia, where United States has undoubtedly seen the lifeguard boats that populate the left, show the boat being steered with an he’s just about finished with the over- oar set in a notch in the transom rather haul. beaches. Today they are made of fiber- than with a rudder and tiller. Wooden glass, but up until some twenty years ago We were unclear about the boat’s exact thole pins were used for the oars, and in they were still made of wood with a hull origin — there was a four-digit serial later boats a unique bronze oarlock was shape that was basically unchanged number engraved on the inside of the used. By the early 20th century small since the early 19th century. stempost instead of in the transom, as is motors were installed as boats typical of the Hankins boats. The hull The history of this type of boat began as transitioned from sail to engine power. shape, however, was almost identical to a small and practical fishing boat With the advancement of technology, my 18’ Hankins. Based on the construc- capable of being launched through the boats became bigger and were in turn tion details, we were pretty sure that surf by just a couple of men. Earlier powered by larger engines. Hankins had built it. Correspondence names for the boat were the sea dory, My experience with the Sea Brights with the Toms River Seaport Society & the surf boat and the New Jersey sea skiff, but today it’s known almost- involved four boats over the last eight Maritime Museum confirmed that it was years. The first was an 18’ hull built in built by Hankins for the town of Deal, NJ universally as the Sea Bright Skiff. 1981 by Charles Hankins of Lavallette, in 1972. In Peter Guthorn’s book, The Sea Bright NJ. I found the boat advertised in a local The “holy grail” of Sea Brights appeared Skiff and Other Jersey Shore Boat,s he “Boat Shopper” magazine, and based in June of 2008 — a genuine Hankins described the beach boat in detail: sailing skiff built for the original owner in “The early beach skiffs were about 15 1985. The owner had contacted me feet in length and 5 feet beam. They had through my company website, seeing round bilges, a sloping transom, slightly that we represented a number of rockered plank keel and a marked sheer historical boats for film and production to the topsides. The hull was lapstraked work, and asked if we were interested in with white cedar over sawn frames. buying it. My wife and I drove the two Fastenings were copper rivets or clinch hours to Cape May, NJ to look at the nails. Each plank was fastened to its boat, and we found it buried under piles mate at short intervals to make a flexible, water-tight skin. The U-shaped transom At left, the author’s 1981 Hankins skiff at was raked about 30 degrees. Garboards Lake Nockamixon, PA, now restored with were fastened vertically to the sternpost, canvas sails, hemp rigging and wooden thole below the transom. This produced a pins. Photo by Damian Siekonic. 14 The Ash Breeze, Summer 2009.

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