Duck hunters have a mentality warped by too many cold mornings and leaky boots. They start by paying (or spending) to do something that ordinary people would only do for pay--leave a warm bed after a racuous night with the boys to go out in dark wet cold environs and stand around waiting for ducks to fly by. Running small boats in the cold and dark is about the most dangerous thing you can do. They are often at the mercy of weather and tides and can't return home whenever--they just have to ride it out sometimes. They do not hesitate to put their gear through the paces up to a level of abuse--just as they do their bodies. (I often think about some of the boaters around here who fret about scratches on the hull and paint wearing off the skeg, and how they'd react if they saw a boat being used for duck hunting).
So why do they do this? Like the dog's trick, because they can? Or some other primordial pull to the swamps, to shoot guns and build forts?
I can't answer it, but I ask it to myself throughout the season--as I have since I started 40 years ago! But I know a lot about boats, what they do when they work and what to do when they don't. (Last week I woke up on an island, 17' boat, gale winds, 30 degrees, alone, dead battery and cranky motor. made it home. went back a few days latter for 4 more days of it. it's what we do.)
