A Crossover Skiff can seamlessly move from the job of technical poling skiff to river skiff. It can be rowed, poled or powered by prop, jet or surface drive and is constructed from a lightweight, tough material that will survive in both environments. It can do all of these jobs reasonably well.
Towee Boats invented the Crossover Skiff. We coined the term in 2010 and the Calusa Pro is still the only skiff that can claim title to being a true "Crossover Skiff".
Recently, it seems that every other builder of small skiffs (and even some canoe/boat hybrids) has decided that they can cash in on this hard work by wildly throwing around the term "cross over skiff". We've seen some really ridiculous claims recently.
When you are evaluating a "crossover skiff", ask yourself; could this skiff be poled in the lower Keys chasing super shallow fish after a 10 mile run to get there this week then be running a shallow, rocky river chasing smallies up North or trout out West the next without worrying about tearing the bottom out? Does it track straight and true when poled? How does it handle an outboard jet? Is it rough enough to survive jet boat life? How does it row? How does i perform as a waterfowl skiff? How does it perform with surface drive? Can the person selling this skiff really back up those claims?
Once you have ran through the questions above, you usually find that what you are looking at is actually, a. a flats only skiff with a set of oar locks stuck on it that cant be effectively rowed or, b., a river only skiff with a poling platform bolted on that sucks as a poling skiff or c. simply nice sounding words from a marketing person. Sorry if the truth hurts guys but words do have meaning.
If you are looking for a true crossover skiff, we invite you to have a look at Towee. We have been hand building true crossover skiffs for our customers for over 15 years. Give us a call and let's have a conversation about where your Towee can take you.
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