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THE MAGAZINE FOR WOODEN BOAT OWNERS, BUILDERS AND DESIGNERS
THE NORTHWEST SCHOOL OF WOODEN BOATBUILDING STEP-BY-STEP TRADITIONAL TEAK GRATES LAKE TAHOE'S ELEGANT CLASSICS THE FORWARD THINKING OF HENRY SCHEEL
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1985 NUMBER 62 $3.50 $4.25 in Canada £2.25 in U.K.
62/WoodenBoat
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I sometimes find myself torn between the urge to seek attention for wooden boats, and the wish to let them find it where they may. I am torn because the latter suggests a balanced temperament while the former implies an inclination toward fanaticism. I have never been adept at proselytizing, but I have always been able to recognize an opportunity to make a case for a current obsession. It may be said, in fact, that WoodenBoat itself was—and is—an opportunity recog nized and seized upon. And while we have been anything but activ ists we have been fortunate in our steady growth. So, I should be
quite content with the state of things and the prospects for the future.
Yet, as we begin our second decade I am somewhat uneasy with that approach. I have begun to feel the need to be more than passive advocates for wooden boats. I've begun to feel a different kind of responsibility for our part in the growth and health of this unique industry, and I feel as if we've done nowhere near enough to encourage that growth. In a sense, it is my past reluctance to appear
fanatical which has caused me to ignore, or even avoid, opportuni ties for greater recognition for wooden boats. I haven't been apolo getic about them, by any means; but I have been silent when a few words might have served the cause of wooden boats and the people who love them. I'm not suggesting that we're about to get on a bandwagon, or that we're going to become hype artists, or that anything about the magazine is going to change substantively. It's just that we're going
to pay more attention to opportunities to celebrate the beauty and versatility of wooden boats. And even if the industry and the people who make it up didn't deserve it, in these times we need it. As the advanced technologies which surround our lives come closer and closer to permeating them, we more and more need involvement with things elemental.
It is not to suggest that the clock should stop somewhere, but that we should have the opportunity to weave simpler elements into our evermorecomplex lives. Indeed, while I'm engaged by the ele mental beauty of my own wooden boats, I am also engaged by the
sophistication of the electronic instruments aboard FREE SPIRIT. (I am an admitted gadget freak.) I enjoy that balance, and so do many others who build or care for wooden boats. It has to do with qual
ity, not time. When you come to the article on the Caddo Lake bateau on page 44, you'll find a quote from a builder named Wyatt A. Moore. If you're the sort who enjoys, as I do, those who simplify complex issues, this may be a quote you'll want to keep close at hand. I know I will.
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WoodenBoat Number 62
The Caddo Lake bateau is capable of venturing where few others will go.
page 44.
January/February 1985
Henry Scheel/Jim Brown Innovation never goes out of style
36
The Caddo Lake Bateau
44
James H. Conrad and Thad Sitton A quick and perfect Texas canoe Traditional Teak Grates/Maynard Bray
53
How they're made at Hinckley's
Because they were always such a stirring sight, the Barnegat Bay Acats have sur vived for six decades, page 60.
Barnegat Bay's ACats/George Petty Racing for their next century
60
The Scottish Fishing Fleet/Jeremy Cresswell Rugged enough for the North Sea
68
Concours d'Elegance...and Hang the Expense! Peter H. Spectre The glittering scene at Lake Tahoe
74
Not Just Boats, But Craftsmen, Too/Kitty Reithel The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding
82
The Weather's Every CAPRICE/S.G.W. Benjamin
88
An epic cruise in a New York pilotschooner
Bob Prothero imparts the wisdom of a master boatbuilder in the Northwest.
Building the KINGFISHER, Part H/Graeme King A fast plywood single shell for the home builder
103
The Bandmill/Christian Becksvoort A sawityourself solution
110
Editorial Page
113 115 124 130 141 152
page 82.
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Letters Fo'c's'le
6 11
In My View On the Waterfront
13 17
Designs
96, 100
Wood Technology Book Review Boatbrokers Boatbuilders
Classified Index to Advertisers
Cover: THUNDERBIRD is the most impressive necktwister on the surface of Lake Tahoe, page 74. Photo by Benjamin Mendlowitz.
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Dear Mr. Wilson, As president of the Hudson River Fishermen's Association, I was pleased to see the cover story by Andre Mele about our boat, R I V E R K E E P E R , in the November/December issue, but the intro ductory article by Marianna Knowles contains a number of errors that require
correction. The riverkeepers on English and Scottish rivers at the turn of the century were men, not boats. Our boat happens to be named RIVERKEEPER because it is used on the Hudson by John Cronin, who was appointed to the post of river keeper by the HRFA before we even thought about a boat. (Between 1973 and 1976, Thomas Whyatt also served as riverkeeper. He had no boat.) Although the Hudson has pollu tion problems (as does every major river in the country), it is not "in danger of losing what fish remain in it." Indeed, the river is extraordinarily productive. It is not correct to say that Cronin's "work primarily involves taking water samples from certain parts of the river each day." When needed, he takes sam ples from discharge outlets suspected of releasing pollutants. It is not correct to say that "a depth recorder allows the boat to come as close as 4' to the shore.'' The boat can go all the way to shore if the depth of the river permits. Pipewatch was a pollution detec tion project set up by the Clearwater organization, not Clearwater the suc cessor to Pipewatch. Pipewatch was not the first Hudson River ecological project. The HRFA began a "BagA Polluter" program upon founding of the HRFA in 'l966. It was in 1966,'not 1982, t h a t the HRFA decided "some thing had to be done" to stop pollution of the Hudson. It is not correct to say that "for 17 years now" the HRFA has been fight ing legal battles against Consolidated Edison. We did fight Con Ed for H years, starting in 1966, but we settled our legal battles with the company and other utilities using river water for cooling in 1980. The HRFA did not
Dear Jon,
Regarding CHEROKEE in WB No. 61,
when I began my career on West Coast vessels back in the late '30s, "steam schooners" were still seen along the coast underway. The CHEROKEE evokes much interest on my part, as we saw many such boats in our runs from San Pedro to Puget Sound and Alaska. That curvedfront pilothouse has William Garden w r i t t e n all over it, so to speak. Under the photo on page 103, i t says, "That could be CHEROKEE hanging from davits at the after end of the boat deck." Not so! Those are standard doubleended steel lifeboats (with their standard covers—how well I know those @#%¢& bs!) required per A N N I E CHRISTENSON's Inspection Cer tificate by Steamboat Inspection Ser
would probably have been built more on the order of our design. Furthermore, we would concur that a deep rudder would be at a disadvan tage for shoalwater use. However, any specialist in smallboat design should realize that kickup rudders are readily available and/or easily made by the builder if shoal waters are a factor. In fact, we have this option listed as a f i t t i n g in the hardware kit that we have available for this boat. As most designers would confirm, the use of a rudder of highaspect ratio airfoil form is far superior both in drag and handling compared to the more traditional type of the past. And when the kickup option is incorporated, there is no prob lem with shoalwater use.
Glen L. Witt, N.A.
vice (later, Coast Guard). CHEROKEE would have been out on deck or on top of the deck cargo, but not in those davits. Capt. Bob Harris Berkeley, MI 48072
Dear Mr. Wilson, We reviewed with interest the article in WB No. 61 on the Barnegat Bay sneakbox. We also appreciated the review of our Sneak Box design in par ticular by Steve Redmond. We were surprised, however, regard ing his comment that "the weight and complexity of framing (of our design) is close to a boat constructed by other methods." Experienced amateurs as well as professional builders would agree that fitting longitudinal mem bers, such as the chine, sheer, and planking members at the stem, and the fairing of these members is one of the more difficult boatbuilding tasks. Our Sneak Box design eliminates most of these problems by having these members prebeveled and by fastening them initially to a fullsized contour of the side planking f u r n i s h e d in the
Bellflower, CA
Dear Mr. Wilson, I'm writing to tell you about a small nonprofit corporation located in Buf falo, New York, named Excalibur Lei sure Skills Center. We get no outside funding and haven't had a dime in the bank for a long time. What we do have is a temporary use permit for a small strip of state land on the Buffalo waterfront, a 1962 30' Pace maker Sea Skiff, and a very ugly plastic structure covering it. We got this badly rotted boat for free with the intention of repairing it and making it completely accessible for wheelchairbound peo
pie.... There are at least five guys that are
pretty steady workers and help out two days a week. We meet on Tuesdays and Saturdays and work about 10 or 12 hours. We've just about finished most of the structural repairs to the hull, and there's a lot left to do. But we're all very persistent and expect to have the boat in the water and operating in a cruising and fishing program for handicapped people as soon as the ice clears from
agree "not to interfere with Con Edi son's building of cooling towers at
plans as a fullsize pattern. This sim Lake Erie in the spring. ple, but effective method makes build All the materials and help we've had
Indian Point." Con Ed did not want to build cooling towers, and as part of the 1980 settlement the HRFA dropped its insistence that the towers be built. Robert H. Boyle President, HRFA Cold Spring, NY
ing easier and lightens the structure. There are no bent frames necessary, no rabbets need be cut, and best of all, no building jig is required. Indeed, had the builders of the past generations had
so far has been donated to us by local businesses and individuals. Getting all these materials is not easy, and we leave that up to a fellow named Jim Cata lano, who is the originator of this idea access to modern glues and plywood and the founder of the organization. suitable for boat use, their sneakboxes Jim's contribution and involvement in 62/WoodenBoat 7
this project has been phenomenal, and his persistence, coupled with overflow ing optimism, has kept it afloat.... Our u l t i m a t e goal is to obtain a long lease on our property and develop
GOOD NEWS! You can still get premiumquality handmade sails! Almost alone in today's sailmaking industry, we are still making sails with many of t he
fine features that used to he found in all sails. Details such as hand sewn rings and cringles throughout the whole sail, not just in a few
an accessible facility dedicated to the building and repair of wooden boats by
places. Handsewn boltropes, and lots of leather wherever chafe
might occur. Narrow cloth. Ratrails. Cut tablings. Yes, we still de care enough about quality to include details most other sailmakers
handicapped children and adults, along with brief seminars for the general pub lic. We see this as a very unique and selfrespecting way for physically and mentally disabled people to learn voca
have sacrificed to "high tech."
If you care about details, call on us.
tional skills in a very easygoing and enjoyable atmosphere. Getting back to our more short range goals, our next major hurdle is designing and installing some sort of mechanical lift going from the main afterdeck down into the cabin so a per
son in a wheelchair can use the head ...and an even more difficult problem is figuring out how to safely get a wheel
chair from the dock to the boat. We've
THOMAS CLARK & CO., INC. S
A
I
L
M
A
K
E
37 PRATT STREET ESSEX, CT 06426 (203)7678278
R
S
got a number of ideas on that, but none
of them seem very feasible. If you've got any ideas of your own, or know of any organization or individuals who had similar problems, please let us know so we can correspond with them. Well, I've tried not to go into great detail about this project, but let me say one more thing. We've never had any
thing handed to us and we've had to work very hard to get where we are now. We ran into a lot of skeptics along the way, and sometimes I feel very sorry for
these people. But to take nothing and make it into something beneficial to underprivileged people is an experi ence only a true optimist can savor. Leo McCarthy 209 Cazenovia St.
Buffalo, NY 14210
Dear Maynard,
...In the article in WB No. 59 on sardine carriers, the author quoted Mr. Roy Wallace as mentioning the carrier EDWARD M as being built in the shop of Newbert & Wallace in Thomaston. However, the EDWARD M was built for Mr. Glenn Lawrence in the old Gray Boat Shop in South Warren. I worked there in 1938'41 on her, as well as on the ROYAL, another carrier built on the same molds for the Royal River Pack ing Company of Yarmouth, Maine. The ROYAL was somewhat more heav ily built, as it was said she would be used for dragging in the wintertime. As I remember, the EDWARD M was south ern pine over massive steambent oak frames and was built as cheaply as pos sible. She was towed out of the river for engine installation elsewhere (probably 8
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Belfast, as that was where the Lawrence packing plant was). It was said that her power plant was to be a converted eightcylinder Buick car engine, a used one at that. As I recall, the propeller was also used, coming originally from Capt. I.E. Archibald's bay ferry, GOV. DOUGLAS.
It may interest you to know that the EDWARD M hung up on the ways at her launching. Mr. Lawrence's nephew, also named Edward M. Lawrence, and myself were pressed into service during
low tide with big heavy "army" jacks working her cradle off into deeper water where she floated on the next tide. This would have been an unlucky launch by an oldtimer's standards, but I would call her a lucky vessel as she is still going strong. She must be 44 or 45 years old and, in spite of her light and cheap construction, must have been well built! I hope this clears up any confusion regarding the birthplace of the ED WARD M. Charles Stackpole Rockland, ME
Editor, WoodenBoat: The article on the sardine boats by Michael Crowley in the May/June issue was w i t h o u t doubt one of the best ever written, with one exception. Having been born and raised in the eastern area of Passamaquoddy Bay, I
had never heard the term "carryaway boats." The first time I heard of the term was in the middle of April of this year when I stopped at Mystic Seaport Museum and saw the outrage done to the pinky REGINA M. She has been rigged as a schooner and would not be
recognized by anyone who knew her when she was an authentic sardine car rier. A placard alongside stated that she was a Passamaquoddy carryaway boat. The second time I saw the term was when I read the article in WoodenBoat.
Since then, I have asked several persons who would know, and in the Quoddy Bay area, no one had ever heard the term used. I found through one of Howard I. Chapelle's books that the bureaucrats in the U.S. Fish Commis sion called the sardine carriers carry away boats and, as far as I can deter mine, that is as far as the name went. It was never used locally. To go back to the R E G I N A M: Sixty
or so years ago, I and other boys played around and aboard her when she was owned by William Mitchell of Lubec. She was then as she was built. Capt. Glen Leland Calais, ME 62/WoodenBoat
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to commit to memory. For reference
iving aboard an old gaffer in a busy boatyard has a lot of advan tages (although I can't think of any right now), but there are certain prob lems that you'd never dream of unless someone warned you about them—a
purposes, to be stored with your light list and deviation card, I here set it forth: De dum dum dee da do da dec, do dah, do dah,
De dum dum dee da do da dee, dum da
favor that I am about to do for you, whether you like it or not. Some prob lems have been adequately treated in magazine articles. There are articles on cooking aboard, pets aboard, guests, etc. But I'll bet no one ever mentioned such problems as getting a shower from one of the public bathrooms ashore or f i n d i n g a parking space out of the way of the Travelift. Taking a shower at River Bend Marine is complicated by several obsta cles, the first of which is insurmount able because it is a fundamental law of physics (you know, like if bronze and galvanized fastenings are close together and immersed in salt water, the galvan ized will decay first—unless the bronze is on your boat and the galvanized is on the other bastard's, in which case the bronze will go like pralines in Mardi Gras). The Law of River Bend Marine Showers is that of the four existing showers, no more than three shall be operational at any given time. There may sometimes be fewer than three, but if the fourth were to be put into opera tion, one of the others would instantly cease to operate, maintaining the fun damental constant, three. As River Bend is an extremely busy boatyard, those three showers are in great d emand d uring t he e vening h ours. One can wait until after the rush hours, however, and be assured of plenty of hot water. Then the problem becomes one of, "Is there anyone in there?" Per haps I am overly persnickety, but I am mildly embarrassed when my shower is interrupted by that question. I am even more put off by having to ask it, so I don't. Instead, I have this really cute trick. You can try it at your marina, but only if the shower doors have little slats or louvers that point in the right direc tion. At River Bend the louvers are
dum da dee. Dum da dum da dee, dum da dum da dee, De dum dum de da do da dee, dum duddy um dum dee.
(Tricky, there at the end.) If that doesn't let 'em know you're
in there, you can always try "Sweet Adeline," but that has the drawback
sounds, because it's not always possible to distinguish between a shower run ning in one room from the noise of one running in the next room. So, I always cop a gander down those old louvers, just to double check. U n f o r t u n a t e l y , this procedure is itself a tad embarrassing. I mean, it's OK to listen, but there's something just a mite sleazy about peeking through those little slats. So, I have perfected a kind of sideways skulk as I slowly pass by. I put my ear to the door and check for shadows and feet with my peri pheral vision, while pretending to look straight ahead. Gee, come to think of it, that sounds even sleazier. Once inside the shower, a new crisis arises. How do I telegraph my presence to those outside, who may not know about sleazy slat peeking? I don't want to run the water because, as I've ex plained, outsiders can't always tell that's coming from my shower. Getting undressed doesn't make enough noise. Yet, I do want to forestall that poten tial, "Is anyone in there?" I j u s t plain don't like talking to strangers when I'm in the shower. The solution is obvious. One must hum or whistle. I have found that "De
that one must remember the words; it's not dumdummable the way "De Camp town Races" is, so you really have to know what you're doing. Now that you're clean, you can tod dle off to the boat and get a good night's sleep, unless of course the car is in the way of the Travelift, in which case you'll have to get up early in the morn ing to move it. Another law of physics: Any randomly chosen parking spot will be in the way of the Travelift or
under the boat that is to be moved. There is no way around this; one must simply move one's car with style and dignity. No groveling, no snivel ing excuses. A poised "Sorry," will do very nicely. The yard employees are well aware that cars expand in the heat of the tropics and that cars parked properly in the evening will expand so much that they will be in the way of the Travelift by several feet come mid morning. When that public address system blares, "Will the owner of the blue Chevy Malibu please move it, it's block ing the Travelift," walk quickly to your blue Chevy Malibu and move it. If you're far from your car when you hear the request, it's OK to run part of the way, but don't let the lift operator see you running. Walk the last few yards, and don't appear to be out of breath. Remember—style, dignity. You're sorry your car was blocking the way, but mysterious forces beyond your control
oriented so that if you stand very close Camptown Races" makes excellent have been responsible. You may even
to the door, you can see the first three or four feet of the floor. If there's anyone moving around in there, you can see a shadow or even—gosh—feet. Of course, if someone is in the shower stall itself, you won't see anything, but getting that close to the door allows you to hear the water running. That's not as easy as it
humming material. If you hear foot steps approaching, you can instantly do that "do dah, do dah" part; if you hear a bunch of people talking outside the door, so that you must produce more longterm evidence of your pres ence, you can do the whole stanza, which it behooves the prudent seaman
register surprise (not too much, though) that your car is blocking the lift. If the crane operator gives you any lip, don't get mad, get even. Next time you catch him in the shower, yell, "Is anybody in there?" no matter how loud he's hum ming "do dah, do dah." —David Kasanof 62/WoodenBoat
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O
ver the past 10 years, the pages of this magazine have resounded w i t h the opinions and passions of numerous maritime preservationists. The lofty issues have been debated, fre quently with heat, and, if my recent review of the literature is correct, there have been no winners.
Fortunately, most of these debators have been activists—historians, crafts men, sailors, teachers, and entrepre neurs who have translated their opin ions and passions into museums, resto rations, sea education programs, and myriad other manifestations of a shared compulsion for the preservation of our nation's valuable maritime heritage. For me to join their ranks is pre sumptuous and risky. On the other hand, I like to think I've learned from them all, apprenticed, and gleaned from their teachings the bits and pieces that have formed my own opinions and pas sions. The invitation to appear here comes, I suppose, from my recent appointment as Director of the Mari time Program for the National Trust for Historic Preservation; I would like to think that it is offered as well as a result of my involvement as director of Schooner, Inc., an environmental edu cation program on Long Island Sound, or with The Sound School, the nation's only f u l l y accredited, fouryear public high school that uses the marine envi ronment as the focus of its entire cur riculum. The impetus to help found that school—250 students, inner city, 70% minority—reveals a lot about my compulsion. Such credentials may di lute the presumption, but they won't do much to lessen the risk. That there have been no winners in the Great Maritime Preservation Debate should come as no surprise. The field is just too large and too dynamic to be controlled by a single hand or to be contained by a single mind. Indeed, such is its strength—in diversity and decentralization. If there has been a maritime preservation "movement" in
the United States, it has been a grass roots one, pushing up from the bottom rather than reflecting some autocratic mandate from on high. It is primarily the result of the efforts of countless volunteers who cared for the vessels, struggled with the young musuems, gave their energy and their time to pre vent our heritage from drifting away on a tide of indifference.
A PAST IN SEARCH OF A FUTURE by Peter Neill
operate, maintain, or restore, fell into decline. Some replication projects failed to meet expectations. Indeed, as we came of age, we discovered that neither volunteer energies nor emerging pro fessionalism were quite able to keep
pace with the omnipresent demands of our dreams.
And so began Phase Three. It was
brief and resulted from a sudden, unex pected infusion of capital, the $5 mil If they made hasty decisions, if they lion federal appropriation that was made outright mistakes, no matter. intended to atone for the prior exclu Rather than carp, secondguess, teapot sion of maritime heritage from the debate, posture, sandbag, blindside, or preservation agenda. The National indulge in the other behaviorial dis T r u s t c o n t r i b u t e d an a d d i t i o n a l plays of a bickering crew, we ought to $500,000 and supervised the distribu be grateful that they were able to save tion of the total through a multiyear what they could, with no money, no grants program. From 1978 through public support, no secure organization. 1982, then, maritime preservation pro I have heard too many of my contem jects in 35 states, Puerto Rico, the Vir poraries derogate their accomplish gin and Northern Mariana Islands ments; smug judgments these, facile received grant awards to be matched and uninformed. one for one, thus contributing in excess If this First Phase of maritime pres of $11 million toward the gratification ervation was to save, and to save at any of our collective fancies. cost, then Phase Two was to grow, and This phenomenon of dollars, as to grow at modest cost. The l i t t l e always, created consternation and con museums began to establish themselves, troversy. I have tried to evaluate the with some professional staff, budgets, success of those grants as best I can. and fundraising plans based on an Many excellent projects were funded. evolving mix of membership and phi Some projects were not, because they lanthropy. Buildings were adapted to could not meet the minimum require house artifacts and exhibits. Small ments of accountability or the match. craft collections were formed. Appren Some were funded and did not perform; ticeshops and educational programs some were not, and should have been. were organized. Support, albeit local, The largest percentage of funds went to was expanded as the value of the arti big ship restoration projects—some facts as metaphors for an important $500,000 each to JEREMIAH O'BRIEN in formative aspect of regional culture San Francisco, CONSTELLATION in became more widely understood. Wood- Baltimore, and ELISSA in Galveston. enBoat magazine was first published. This is not to say, however, that other Op Sail '76 surprised us all. The Maine concerns or constituencies were ignored. windjammer fleet launched handsome Grants were awarded to restore numer new schooners and began to advertise ous other craft, large and small; to in The New York Times. organizations on three coasts and along Hesitantly, maritime preservation lake shores and rivers; to museums and began to work. Some vessels found mis library projects; to skills and educa sions to keep them usefully at sea. The tional programs. Not every application apprentice programs b u i l t boats and was funded, nor should they have been, met the growing need of young people but 155 of the approximately 400 non in search of the satisfactions of quality p r o f i t organizations in the United and skill. The museums responded to States that claim some interest in mari the public, and felt public response in time preservation received support. I return. Some restorations were under submit that that is a very high ratio of taken with new concern for materials, awards to application pool (36%, and craftsmanship, and standards. Slowly, not all applied) when compared to sim we learned—and earned—our way. ilar grant programs in other areas of There were successes, and there were interest. In my view, then (and please failures. Many larger vessels, those remember I had nothing to do with the demanding the greatest expenditures to process whatsoever, nor am I so loyal 62/WoodenBoat
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an employee of the National Trust that the Third National Maritime Heritage I will defend it without reason), the Conference in Baltimore last October. distribution of that financial windfall (A detailed s u m m a r y of the Final appears for the most part equitable and Report will be circulated in a National successful overall. Maritime Newsletter to be inaugurated Beyond that, what other simplistic by the Trust in April.) conclusions have I drawn from this The work of the Task Force repre investigation? sents, then, the outline of Phase Four, * That this $11 million onetime the agenda for maritime preservation as investment in maritime preservation defined and recommended by those was both too much and not enough to actively involved. It suggests that the
do the needful.
Maritime Office of the National Trust
* That smaller investment in annual maintenance is preferable to larger occasional investment in major restora tion. * That a projectspecific grants program is a useful contribution to maritime preservation and must be continued. * That maritime preservation tran scends the specific needs of artifacts and m u s t include the specific needs of his torical interpretation, the teaching of skills, and the communication of values inherent in the heritage to the broadest audience possible. * That, despite its disparate and independent nature, the maritime com m u n i t y must become more unified and involved in the evolution of a national cultural policy for maritime preserva tion to include definition of objectives and standards. When WoodenBoat's executive edi tor Peter Spectre solicited this contribu tion, he wrote: "What I have in mind is an essay in which you lay out your posi tion for the role in maritime preserva tion to be played by the National Trust. What do you want to do? Why do you want to do it? Why do you think it is necessary?" The personal conclusions above may be relevant, but what / think or want to do is not so important as what those involved determine needs to be done. To that end, over the last two years, a 17member National Maritime Task Force has met to establish priori ties for maritime preservation over the next decade. The Task Force was chair
be established as a center for communi cation and service to the maritime pre servation community, a role which we have already begun to play by imple menting Task Force recommendations as follows: We have recently published a Directory of Maritime Resources, the first edition of a compendium of all organi zations in the United States involved with maritime preservation. In addition, in collaboration with White Elephant Management, Inc., we have circulated a National Maritime Heritage Survey, a comprehensive in ventory of the historic vessels, small craft, and underwater artifacts which constitute the tangible remains of our maritime patrimony. The results will become the core of a computerized data base maintained by the Trust for the maritime community. This attempt to define the breadth of our interest and to quantify the extent of our work is, I believe, a necessary first step toward the creation of that important cultural pol
ed by Revell Carr, Director of Mystic Seaport Museum, and included, among others, such representatives of the mari time community as Maynard Bray, WoodenBoat's technical editor; David Brink of the ELISSA restoration; Ralph Eshelman, director of the Calvert Marine Museum; the late Gory Cramer of the Sea Education Association; Nancy Rich ardson of the Girl Scouts of America; and Lance Lee of the Rockport Appren ticeshop. Although I served as staff to the Task Force, it was not otherwise a National Trust project. A draft report was presented for review and revision to 14
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icy. It will demonstrate our successes, our professionalism, our responsibili ties, and our strengths as a political constituency able to justify our needs against competing demands for limited funding available for historic preser vation.
We have reviewed all extant stand ards for preservation of historic arti facts, and we have initiated a procedure whereby relevant standards can be adapted or modified to maritime needs. We have commissioned a manual on documentation methods which will be published in 1985. Other volumes on stabilization, restoration, and replica tion are planned. In each case, skills preservation and ethnography are in cluded as part of the methodology. We have been actively involved in lobbying for maritime legislation, par ticularly with regard to the protection of historic shipwrecks. We have been working closely with the Sailing Schools Vessels Council toward the creation of accreditation standards and US Coast Guard regulations applicable to sail training vessels and sea education pro grams. We are exploring ways by which
historic preservation tax incentives can be extended to maritime artifacts. We have contracted to produce a large fourcolor volume celebrating the present vitality of "maritime America." We are seeking funds for a companion film project, and two additional films
on maritime folk arts and skills. In addition to material in WoodenBoat, Sea History, and Soundings, we are contributing articles to numerous other publications in an effort to increase
public awareness of maritime preserva tion issues. We offer a specialized group insur ance program for maritime organiza tions to include coverage of all vessels, piers and buildings, training programs, restoration projects, and complete lia bility. The program has been adopted by South Street Seaport Museum, the USS CONSTITUTION, and the battle ship MASSACHUSETTS, among 14 oth ers. The program is presently being expanded to become more competitive
and to broaden its group benefits. We
financial support of maritime preserva tion evinced by the Europeans, who have invested more government funds in single museums than we have invest ed in our entire maritime heritage collections. In his letter, Peter Spectre continued: "What are the benefits? What are the losses? What I am looking for is a statement of opinion backed by facts and a logical argument." Logic? You judge. Facts? I think so. Opinion? You better believe it. But it's more than that, because like the other preservationists who have contributed to these pages, I, too, am an activist and I intend to do my part to transform these words to deeds. Acti vists all, then, we must join our skill, energy, and imagination in a spirit of collaboration and good will. Should we fail in this regard, the losses will be measured in continued frustration and weethinking. Should we succeed, the successes will be measured in increased program, financial stability, and pub lic understanding of the value of our work. Heritage is but a reflection of the past; its preservation must have a pur pose in the present and in the future. W h a t we preserve of our maritime tradition—the ships, small craft, and other historic artifacts—must be per ceived as the corporal remains of a way of l i f e r e l e v a n t to us and to our children. Maritime heritage can also be char acterized by the values which it affirms: the meaning of work and competence, of individualism and selfreliance, of cooperation, of teaching and learning, of appreciation for function and beauty, of reverence for nature. These are values too frequently mourned in our society,
are convinced that major reductions in premiums and/or major increases in coverage can occur if we can insure as an "industry." We are entering into a series of "cooperative agreements" with major underwater archaeology and education projects as a means to establish tested models and processes for use by other organizations and communities. Among these is a recently concluded partner ship with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration for the Civil War ironclad USS MONITOR. We are initiating a consulting ser vice for waterfront revitalization pro jects, collaborating with planners, arch itects, and maritime organizations in an attempt to assure that maritime preservation will be included in and supported by economic development. and yet they are inherent in maritime We are analyzing several case studies to culture, demonstrable today in the demonstrate the i n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p museums and boatbuilding projects between maritime resources, commerce, across the country, alive through indi viduals, old and young, who derive tax base, employment, and profit. We are identifying funding sources their living or their recreation from the and strategies for the substantial invest sea. It is this continuity of tradition— ment required to restore and maintain past joined to future through artifacts, America's endangered maritime patri skills, and values—that is the meaning mony. of maritime preservation. In my view, such meaning tran These are all Task Force recom mendations. These are the things the scends petty rivalries and organizational Trust is doing with—and for—the mari time community now.
turf. It doesn't matter who does it, as
long as we get it done. But, of course, it These are the things which are does matter. The future, as always, imperative if maritime preservation is remains in the hands of those individ to reach the level of accomplishment of uals with the commitment to serve it. architectural, cultural, or environmen tal conservation in our country. These Peter Neill is director of the Maritime Proare the things which are necessary if we gram for the National Trust for Historic are to attain the level of interest in and Preservation. 62/WoodenBoat
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BE A PART OF YACHTING HISTORY
The Museum of Yachting has finished phase one of its building renovation program, and is planning its opening display for the Spring of 1985. The Theme is
THE GOLDEN AGE OF YACHTING -1885 -1914 This was a period rich in yachting activity and development, resplendent with great steam yachts, enormous schooners, ever larger America's Cup defenders, and the beginning of
small onedesigns. We are interested in acquiring all kinds of yachting memorabilia of the period, including photographs, paintings, models, logs, trophies, costumes, books, periodicals, naviga tion equipment, wheels, binnacles, colors, etc. In small craft, we are collecting significant one design sailboats, such as Her reshoff 12 1/2's, 15's, S boats, and early regional types such as
Stars, Sakonnets, Alden O boats, Wianno Seniors, Man chester 17's, early cats, and distinctive small launches. The museum is a nonprofit tax exempt foundation, and your gift or donation is, of course, a tax deduction, but we are also interested in material on loan.
Help the Museum of Yachting launch its opening season. For a progress report, or to discuss a special contribution, call or
write Tom Benson at the Museum of Yachting, P.O. Box 129, Newport, RI 02840, phone 4018471018. And while you're at it, why not join the Museum?
AU Members receive the Newsletter, a decal and membership card. Please make
checks payable to The Museum of Yachting, Inc., Fort Adams, Newport, R. I. 02840. Contributions are taxdeductible.
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T h i s past September, Pete Greenfield took in Britain's Southampton Boat
Show, an openair a f f a i r with enough space and low enough rates to attract a
few smalltime boatbuilders; that is to say, wooden boat builders. Here's Pete's report:
"Ironically, the wooden boat easiest to find—center stage on the main pontoon— was not for sale. HUFF OF ARKLOW was
built in 1950 and is a light finandskeg cruiser/racer designed by the late U f f a Fox as a 'Flying Thirty' enlargement of the famous 'Flying Fifteen' sailing din
ghy. This radical vessel made some pro digious cruises and recorded 23 knots once, planing to Iceland. It was bought
for a mere £800 as a 'firedamaged scrap' in 1977 by the present owner, Chris Allen. Alien's painstaking restoration is immacu late. The yacht is now used as a sail
trainer for underprivileged young peo ple, a worthwhile activity financed by charter cruises amongst the beautiful islands of the west coast of Scotland ( f u r t h e r details from: Chris Allen, 102 Wisaston Green Rd., Wisaston, Crewe, Cheshire, England). "Since to a Briton a 'dinghy' is either something you row ashore to the pub or something you sail when you want your ears washed, it was curious that the four
with mahogany planking, oak ribs, and iroko backbone, offered at £3,000. At a similar price, Richardson still builds the traditional Orkney yawl, a 20' interisland carrier, doubleended and with obvious Norse origins, yet built Britishfashion w i t h lighter larch planking and closely ribbed in slimsection oak. "In contrast again was the SPRITE, a 15' by 3' leisure lowing skiff by Chippen dale Craft Limited (Wroxham Barns, Hoveton, Norwich, England), a company whose reputation for the very f i n e s t wooden boat building stretches back to the British racing dinghy boom of the 1950s. Designed as the sort of pulling skiff where you get exercise by propelling her along and not in keeping her upright ( ! ) , SPRITE'S 55lb h u l l is multichined marine ply over three permanent frames, using 'stitchandtape' and WEST SYS TEM epoxy construction. Her shape is a delight. She is available in precut kit form from £265, exshop. "Yacht designer Colin Silvester, one time member of the prestigious Illing worth & Primrose team, had an unusual
Boat Yard (Sandbanks Rd., Parkstone,
Poole, Dorset, England). Her construc tion is stripplanked Douglasfir over laminated frames. The launch is the yard's first production wooden boat to be built by the yard for some time, though they have continued building highqual ity wooden oneoffs throughout the fiber glass heyday. Their most recent project is a 45' masthead cutter built for the Batten family to replace the famous DYARCHY. "And f i n a l l y my own choice for the wooden boat of the show, the boat that embodies the most hope for wooden boat building in Britain: in an intelligent, craftsmanlike combination of modern and traditional methods in a new design that is unmistakably British. (Such is the i n f l u e n c e of WoodenBoat magazine among British wooden boat builders that there is a tendency for designers to ape American designs these days, mostly unsuccessfully.) The Blackwater sailing canoe, designed and built by Fabian Bush, is a classic Victorian sailing dayboat thought through afresh for modern seamedplywoodandepoxy construction. brief from Senator Yachts (Winterslow, She is 20' overall with a 6' beam and Wilts., England): an associated hardwood draws 9" with the 300lb steel centerplate manufacturing company was burning as raised, 5' with plate down. Her rig com waste short lengths of highgrade, thin bines a highpeaked gaff main with a mahogany planking. Couldn't they be marconi mizzen on a sprit boom. Work used? The result is the SALAMANDER: a manship is excellent throughout and is 15' filebottomed dayboat with bilge keels reinforced by fittings selected to match its and boomless sloop rig intended for the quality. The vessel sells for around £4,000. sailing novice. Construction is mahog Fabian Bush also builds the appealing any throughout, using tongueand 14' Osea Brig, a classic East Coast open groove, doublediagonal planking epoxy workboat with gaff sloop rig. For further sealed. SALAMANDER is very reasonably details, write to Fabian Bush, 2 East St., priced at £3,200 complete. Osea Island, Maldon, Essex, England." "On the Wessex Resins & Adhesives ur correspondent D.M. Jeffries of stand (U.K. importers of WEST SYSTEM
wooden boats grouped together in the resins), a partly complete 22' Latham
O
Sussex, England, took special note
dinghy section were, none of them, strictly launch was shown by Weston's Point of Thomas Fire's 35' model of a clipper dinghies! Nearest to the definition was the novel TRAILBOAT—an 11' folding sampan with two epoxycoated skins of marine ply. The TRAILBOAT comes com plete with road chassis—which effectively makes her a camping trailer—for £775. A sailing version is also offered, using the ubiquitous Mirror dinghy rig (B & P Trailboats, The Mill, Oxford Rd., Ayles bury, Bucks., England). "In complete contrast, Ian Richard son (Hillside Rd., Stromness, Orkney, U.K.) regularly makes the long haul south
to the show with a traditional open vessel of lapstrake construction, and his boats are always 'workmanlike' in the best sense of the word. Essentially a 'oneoff boatbuilder, Richardson's showboat this year was a beamy 15' open launch, pow ered with a 7hp Yanmar inboard diesel,
Fabian Bush's Blackwater sailing canoe—"The boat that embodies the most hope for wooden boat building in Britain."
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ship discussed in this column in WB No. 60. Many years ago he had seen a photo graph in a local woman's house of a working model of HMS VICTORY under f u l l sail. "She told me t h a t her father had been admiral of H M Dockyard in Ports m o u t h between WWI and WW II. To f u r t h e r t h e apprentices' instruction at the Dockyard, he had (hem build a 36' sailing model of the VICTORY, rigged as she was at the time of Nelson. She usually sailed
Badham of Bath, Maine: "At the recent
Down East IntheWater Boat Show, I overheard an older fellow asking the show organizer if there were any wooden boats on display. 'No,' replied he, 'They're not making 'em anymore.'" But the rockbottom best story I've heard on the perceived worth of wooden boats comes from Charles Neuschafer and Ken Bassett. The pair were motoring the Bassettdesigned and built canal cruiser BLACKBIRD from Newport, Rhode Island, to Lake Champlain when they slopped briefly at a marina, the Stepping Stone Yacht Club, in Throgs Neck, New York, for gas and beer. It's a good t h i n g they d i d n ' t plan to stay, because a sign by the o f f i c e read "No Wooden Boats." Perhaps the time has come to add an amendment to the proposed Equal Rights Amend ment and clarify things once and for all!
with a crew of 6 to 10 people to work the sails and was a very popular attraction along the south coast of England in the 1930s. Like all models, she suffered badly from scale problems; her builders were unable to ballast her to take more than a Force 3 breeze. During 1940, when the whole of Portsmouth was bombed flat, her storage shed was hit and she was totally destroyed by fire."
Meanwhile, in Venice, Italy, certain
J
ust when we thought the debate over (he death of wooden boats was over, t h a t (he tide of public perception had turned, along comes a review of the book Fiber Glass Boats published in the most recent Slocum Society Sailing Club News letter in which the author, Don Holm, raised an old shibboleth: "...This boat building medium [fiberglass], whether you like it or not, is here to stay, and will probably make wooden boat building
Ken Bassett (right) gets the bad news— "No Wooden Boats," and that's final.
extinct, except for a few dedicated purists and historical foundations who can afford to cling to old ways, old materials, and old methods....Wood w i l l be used mostly for t r i m , interior finish, and bulkheads." No big deal, really, when you stack it up against an experience related by Mike
purists are fighting a rearguard battle against certain others who are proposing the f u t u r e construction of gondolas in plastic. According to a story in the Chicago Tribune, sent to me by Thomas Broeckl, there are only four gondola builders left, with a production rate of only about 12 boats a year and a demand for about 20. The purists are so concerned t h a t they have plans to open a school to t r a i n more gondola builders.
Over 40 years of manufacturing experience go into Lydney's fully integrated plywood production Timber species specially selected for their durability (including Khaya. Utile. Sapele. Sipo. Okoume, and Teak among others) are pared into thin, uniform veneers. Adhesives meet British Standard 1203 for weather and boil-proof bonds, and have superb humidity resistance LydneyPly also has outstanding mechanical resistance to deflection, traction, and compression, with standard thicknesses from 3mm through 35mm available Quality control standards call for exhaustive inspections at every stage of production—and each individual panel is tested before leaving the factory The result is marine plywood approved by the Lloyds Register (YSC/QAI161. British Standards Institution, and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Each panel produced to these standards bears the British Standards kitemark 1088 and the Lloyds registration mark. Lydney is the only mill worldwide with the right to imprint both these marks. Quality costs money, of course. The best always does But for ultimate application, where the integrity of your craft, and your life itself may be at stake, why not the best? LydneyPly
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As a WoodenBoat subscriber, you'll have a lot going for you. For starters, you'll have six issues of WoodenBoat — going for your mailbox. Straight from the press. And those six issues will cost you $3.00 less than you'd pay on newsstands. If you could find WoodenBoat on newsstands. Which isn't likely because not all newsstands carry it. And those that do sell out quickly. You'll also have plenty of time to enjoy and use each issue. No rushing through someone else's wornout, tornout copy to return it in an hour or a day. When you have your own personal subscription, you can read WoodenBoat at your leisure. And then put copies aside to refer to and work with whenever you like. So... if you're now a WoodenBoat reader, but not a subscriber, use the coupon below — or a subscription card in this issue — to change all that. Subscribe now and save $3.00.
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fied with wood, or wooden boats fortified
with fiberglass? A c t u a l l y , it probably doesn't matter. After all, it was Norm Benedict himself who said, "It is well known that the two greatest days in a boat owner's life are ( 1 ) the day the boat is acquired, and (2) the day the boat is disposed of."
OAT Canoe's mini-bateau—"Out of an old Flemish painting."
One of the arguments commonly used against wooden boats is that they are m u c h too expensive to build when com pared with their fiberglass counterparts. I'm not going to comment on that—only refer you to a feature article in the October 1984 Motor Boating & Sailing (224 West
J
ohn H. Willey of Mt. Vernon, Maine, says his neighbor Jeff Hanna builds
great boats and does great repairs on great states the cost of the balsa was no more canoes. Hanna, proprietor of OAT (Oak, than conventional woods, particularly Ash & Thorn) Canoe Company, recently
considering the speed at which the balsa finished a minibateau, a riverdriver's can be cut, fastened, and sanded. Natu workboat reconstituted as a pleasure craft. rally these craft were sheathed in resined Says Willey: "Jeff took her lines off a ruin
textiles." Are these fiberglass boats forti his brother found upcountry and brought home. Framed and planked in native woods, elm and Maine cedar, she is one of 57th St., New York, NY 10019, $15.97/yr) the sweetest singlehanders I've had the entitled "What New Boats Really Cost." pleasure of p u t t i n g on Long Pond. Examples given include $1,259 for a 13' Sunfish, $122,400 for a Cigarette 38 with Underway on the water she looks and t w i n 400hp Mercruiser gasoline stern feels like something out of an old Flemish drives, $17,995 for a Catalina 27 without painting." The minibateau is 15' over engine or sails, and $22,120 for a Boston all, yet weighs only a tad over 70 pounds. OAT Canoe Company, Mt. Vernon, ME Whaler 25 without an engine. 04352. Okay, okay—now that we've raised all those ugly issues, let's raise yet one more. Scott Massey and David Lenowitz, formerly with the Rockport Apprentice Norm Benedict, Our Man in Southern California, writes: "Two 36' sailboats shop, have set up their own shop and The launching of Massey & Lenowitz's 9' have been constructed here of stripplank buckled down to serious work. They have Gardner pram. balsa. The proponent/designer/builder built a 9' plywood Gardner pram and
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fornia, has designed and built a unique 18' fast gig intended for either a double paddle or a slidingseat rig. The h u l l is stripbuilt cedar, deck and coaming are cherry, trim is ebony (not surprisingly; Franklin built f u r n i t u r e before boats). This is the sixth boat of its type built by Franklin for sale. Eric Franklin, 2407 Chapala St., Santa Barbara, CA 93105. Dr. Benjamin Riggs of Wando, South Carolina, also designed and built a fast rowing boat, but not for sale, only for his own use. "Wishing badly to get into recreational rowing and finding nothing available that suited me, HERON is the Scheel's SHEARWATER, an ultralight with ultra strength. result. She performs exactly as I hoped have under construction a 12' Catspaw he spent months observing. Wooden she would." HERON is 20'9" overall, has dinghy and a 16' Simmonsdesigned OneDesigns, 7332 Nightingale, Dearborn 17½" beam, and is stripbuilt with west ern redcedar. The h u l l is reinforced every Ducktrap wherry. Massey and Lenowitz, Heights, MI 48127. Box 272, Rockport, ME. 04856. Eric Franklin of Santa Barbara, Cali 5" with graphite fiber. Net weight, ready Wooden OneDesigns of Dearborn Heights, Michigan, have built the proto type for "the ultimate daysailer for the larger inland lakes of North America." Designed by Henry Scheel (see feature on page 36), SHEARWATER is 2 4 ½ ' LOA, 7.8' beam, 4' draft, coldmolded with two layers of cedar and an outside layer of African mahogany. An ultralight boat, the hull and deck are supported and stiff ened by an internal grid system. Scheel designed and tested the hull by building Eric franklin's 18' fast gig on display in a California bank. three 60" radiocontrolled models, which
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Dr. Riggs's Micmac-inspired recreational shell.
to row, is 41 lbs. According to Dr. Riggs, the shell is a modification of an elongated Micmac canoe. She is capable of approx imately 5 knots at 15 strokes a minute, with a gross weight of 210 lbs. Not to be outdone, East Bay Boat Works of Markers Island, North Caro lina, recently built a 78' wooden paddle wheeler, said to be the only wooden one built on the East Coast in more than 20 years. DELTA LADY, which will carry pas sengers along the South Jersey intracoast al waterway, has heart pine framing and keel, white cedar planking, and mahog any decks and rails. (Thanks to Steve Lang for this information.) John Cleveland says his uncle, Leo nard Hutchinson, is a prolific model maker who builds his models plankon frame exactly as the fullscale boats are b u i l t . "He has been building wooden ship models for perhaps 40 years. The models run between 1' and 5' in length and are usually powered by a steam
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engine that is made, every piece, by my uncle in his shop." His canopied steam launch is, indeed, a piece of work. Leo nard Hutchinson, 63 Adrian Ave., West Springfield, MA 01089. Those of you who fondly remember WilcoxCrittenden's oar clamp, which has been out of production for years, should be happy to know t h a t it is now being produced by Henry Little (Box 101, West Falmouth, MA 02574). This simple bronze device allows you to lock your oars The ingenious Oar Clamp. The shaft is and oarlocks in your dinghy. The only padlocked under the thwart. way they can be removed without a key is to tear out the thwart. since 1975 he served in the Maine Voca tional System, first as marine department e're sorry to hear about the death chairman and later as the director of the on October 4, 1984, of Otto (Junior) Marine Trades Center in Eastport, home Miller of Eastport, Maine. Miller spent of a very successful commercial boatbuild his life in the boatbuilding industry; ing training project.
W
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I
n the magazine d e p a r t m e n t , Scale Woodcraft is a notable new entry. The
debut issue ( A u t u m n 1981) indicates that this could become a quarterly to be reck oned with—nicely designed, well thought out, instructive and readable at the same time. There are two articles on nautical matters—decorative c a r v i n g for ship models, and part one of a series on how to b u i l d models of Banks dories—with the rest divided up among decoy carving and architectural modeling, and plenty of photographs of models thrown in for good measure. Scale Woodcraft, Box 510,
Georgetown, CT 06829, $11.95/year. A new magazine to me, but old enough to have published more than 30 issues, is Traditional Boats, the journal of the Traditional Small Craft Society of New Zealand. The editor, Pete McCurdy, was kind enough to send us a run of back issues, w h i c h contain a wide variety of articles and commentary, not unlike that published by the traditional boat enthu siasts in this country. In reading through the magazine, I was struck by the influ ence of various American writers on the New Zealand scene, n o t a b l y Howard Chapelle, John Gardner, and L . Francis Herreshoff. McCurdy asked me to remind New Zealand readers of WoodenBoat that the Traditional Small Craft Society exists for them. If you haven't joined, please do.
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Traditional Boats, Traditional Small Craft Society, Box 78 033, Auckland 2, New Zealand, $16.50/year (U.S. add $3.90). The Garrett Wade tool catalog isn't a magazine, isn't a book, but it could be either one. Filled with unbelievably per fect color production and sales copy that reads more like an inspired shop text, this catalog is worth the woodworker's atten tion even if he has no intention of buying a single item. On the other hand, be care f u l not to take the presentation too seriously; tools a r t f u l l y arranged do not a craftsman make. Garrett Wade Catalog,
drawings. In the ninth issue of 1984 is a
NY 10013, $3. S p e a k i n g of c r a f t s m a n s h i p , Fine Woodworking magazine, one of the best crafted specialinterest magazines I have read, has made the transition from black andwhite reproduction to color. On one
bottomed boat types that rivals in length anything I have seen published on the subject. Depth, of course, is undetermined, but I assume that if it was published by a prestigious maritime museum, it must be worthwhile. If you read Norwegian, look
feature that all sailors, no matter their linguistic a b i l i t y , will appreciate and understand: "How to Fold Sailor's Cloth ing," by Tadami. The color diagrams show how to stow a seabag so the con tents, when removed, don't look like flashfrozen spinach. Kazi, 217 Chome, Hamamatsucho, M i n a t o k u , Tokyo,
Japan. I can't understand a word of the 1983 Norsk Sjofartsmuseum Yearbook, either, but I can look at the pictures and deduce
that "...den styggeste av alle vore farkos 161 Avenue of the Americas, New York, ter..." by Asbjorn Klepp is a study of f l a t
level the change is very successful, since it up. 1983 Yearbook, Norsk Sj0fartsmu color, properly used, can add to the read seum, Oslo, Norway. er's understanding of the subject. On another level it is not, at least in my opin ion; FW in black and while had an ele gance that the color version cannot attain. Fine Woodworking, The Taunton Press, 52 Church Hill Rd., Newtown, CT 06170, $16/year. Kazi, Japan's yachting magazine, has always intrigued me, even though I can only understand the photographs and
The Fish Expo Issue (November 1984) of the National Fisherman has a bold headline on the cover proclaiming that inside you w i l l f i n d "Porno Kings Go Gillnetting." How unique. Meanwhile, our panel of experts has determined t h a t the Italian magazine Nautica easily edged out Motor Boating & Sailing for the Emma Q. Fla herty Salacious Cover Award of 1984. A
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description of the winning cover, August 1984, could never be adequate. Merely try to understand that string bikini designers have somehow figured out how to create backless bikini bottoms, and that photo grapher Raffaella Schiller somehow found a woman who does such a garment a tre mendous amount of justice.
D
avid Keith reports from Nova Scotia: "The B E N J A M I N E. H E I S L E R was
launched in late June from Heisler's Boat Yards in Chester. The 37' sloop is the
latest in the Chester C class. The first boats of this class were designed and built in the late 1930s, to the old Universal Rule, by Ben Heisler and his father. One
was b u i lt in the 1950s, and then no more until now. This new boat, built by Wayne 'Butch' Heisler and named for his father, makes use of some gear from other Cs— turnbuckles and rigging, for example, and the cabin, which was from a former C. She is, as Butch says, 'the best new secondhand boat around.' "David Stevens has launched his new Sboat, the 27' racing sloop design he developed back in the 1930s to the Uni versal Rule. Dave is officially retired but he turns out more work from his Second Peninsula Shop than many people who are supposedly in f u l l employment. "Doug Rosborough is keeping busy
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Last summer's regatta of Gates-built canoes.
these days also. One of his 40' Nomad ketches was launched in early September and started on its way to British Colum bia. Doug has also had several inquiries about the yawl PICKLE since our earlier notice of her plight. Two smaller designs that Doug has developed may be of inter est. For the historically oriented Nancy Griffon Fund, he developed an authentic 20' longboat; launched in the cold of win ter (to a trailer, not the water), she was shipped to the Lakes for finishing and is
now seeing use there. And then there is P E R I W I N K L E — a 15½' daysailer based on boats common to the era of 18601880. A delightful clinkerbuilt, spritsailrigged dayboat, she would have delighted the late Pete Culler. "Steven Swinamer is building and repairing boats in Western Shore, Nova Scotia, from the shop formerly operated by his grandfather, the late Raymond Stevens. Recently launched from this shop was BOO BOO—a 23' Bluenose class sloop. This design, by the late Bill Roue (designer of the famed racing schooner), has been a popular daysailing/racing class, but in recent years many were b u i l t of fiberglass, and none have been built in wood for several years. One of the earliest wooden boats in the class is on exhibit in the Mari time Museum in Halifax." A s a tribute to Harold Gates, canoe b u i l d e r of Middleton, Nova Scotia, a regatta of Gates canoes was organized by several owners and held at Lake Banook
in D a r t m o u t h , N.S., last September. According to Donald Gordon, 150 people and 50 canoes turned up for the occasion. John Steele of Covey Island Boatworks in Nova Scotia reports that the yard has been quite busy. Among various projects
were a 38' wood/epoxy fishing boat for a customer in Grand Manan and a 19' gaff
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Halcyon punt and strip-planked skiff in the Dove Industries's shop.
cutter designed by John Leather. "Last spring," says Steele, "we built a 22' dory whaleboat for a company rowing team that competes in an annual rowing race across the Bay of Chaleur between New Brunswick and Quebec, a 24mile row across open salt water. The company was looking for as light a boat as possible w i t h i n the regulations, and we built a 340pounder to Spencer Lincoln's design for the fiveman team. However, this year's race was in quite severe conditions, and the winning boat was the oldest and heaviest in the race. Ours, the lightest, was not suited to the high seas and winds, and didn't place. The team is hoping for a flat calm next year!" Covey Island Boat works, Bush Island Post Office, Lunen
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burg County, Nova Scotia. Over on Manitoulin Island on Lake Huron, Dove Industries has been build ing stripplanked reproductions of the St. Lawrence skiff in two versions, strip planked canoes, and a variety of custom work—for example, the hull of a 39' Atkindesigned skipjack and a series of Halcyon punts for Canadian Tectonics of Toronto. This appears to be a production shop of serious proportions. Dove Indus tries, Tehkummah, Manitoulin Island, Ontario, Canada.
T
he f i r s t wooden Lightning class sloop has been b u i l t to the new class rules that allow laminated construction. According to a report in the December 1984 Soundings magazine, Mark Patty of Union City, California, believes his boat will be very competitive, and its success should encourage homebuilders to fol low suit. The Windmill Class Association has changed to an allvolunteer organization and is in a rebuilding mode. They are seeking former owners who have lost con tact with the class. Windmill Class Asso ciation, Box 43564, Birmingham, AL 35243.
D
on Chesnut of Oxnard, California, has a bookstore to recommend: "If
you're on the West Coast, Karen Jensen's The Island Hunter bookstore in Ventura Harbor, California, is about the best you can find. Not only does Karen carry a complete line of publications on boating and other water sports, but also she has a large collection of artwork and hand crafts. She is well known for being able to find that obscure book you haven't been able to turn up anywhere." Then there's The Nautical Mind Book store of Toronto, which seems to have breadth and depth equalled by few. Their catalog from last year lists more than 3,000 titles in stock, and they offer book search services. Says owner Irvin Besen: "After five years in business and knowl edge of most nautical bookstores world wide, I t h i n k we q u a l i f y as 'good.' Hard to find? Yes, but we do try to get our light out from under the bushel." The Nauti cal M i n d , 245 Queen's Quay West, Toronto, Ontario. Nicholas Peck, whose boatbuilding story was abstracted in this column a few issues ago, has homepublished Boat: A True Story. "All about building a sail boat in an apartment in M a n h a t t a n and sailing away," this is a welltold tale that warms the heart. Read all about it for $1.00 (c'mon, be a sport; add 50¢ for post age). Nicholas Peck, 715 Washington St., New York, NY 10014.
The launching of Andreassen's 31' coldmolded sloop.
D
own on the Chesapeake, Ryck Lydecker reports: "The second Mid Atlantic Small Boat Festival at the Chesa peake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Maryland, appeared to be a big success. Some 50 boats came; everything from a halfdory (guy started with a tombstonesterned dory, got about 8' into i t , and put in another transom, w h i c h made it into a flatbottomed pram going the other direction—aw, ya hada be there, but it was a beautiful job in mahogany and f u n to sail), to a lovely, lavish Alerion." Dan Muir led a workshop on oar making at the Festival. According to R y c k , Dan's oars—custom made of spruce looms and plywood blades—are very well done. They're available from Dan Muir, New Heritage Oar Company, 5232 Gale
Drive, Virginia Beach, VA 23464. Two replicas of the ships used to col onize Jamestown, Virginia, situated for years at the Jamestown Festival Park, were in such poor condition that they had to be discarded and new replicas had to be built in their stead. (Does that make the new vessels replicareplicas?) But that wasn't the end of it. The nearby town of Hopewell, V i r g i n i a , figured it could squeeze some useful life out of the origi nal replicas, so the town bought the two of them for $1 apiece. Says our corre spondent Johnny Shelton: "Reconstruc tion for both ships started in October. The GOODSPEED will be put in drydock after it is finished and pickled. The DIS COVERY will be refitted with new floor ing, cabin, engine, mast, rigging, and sails fora training vessel for my Boy Scout Troop 912." Out in the Northwest, Dale Hodd of Andreassen Boat Works in Tacoma,
Washington, reports that he has finished building a 31' coldmolded fractional sloop for the mayor of Tacoma, who also worked on her construction when he wasn't keeping the city council in line.
The hull is five layers of 1/8" redcedar, stringers are Sitka spruce, keel and stem are laminated Honduras mahogany, keel son is ash, floors and frames are lami nated Douglasfir, deck framing is Doug lasfir laid fore and a f t , bulkheads are ½" fir plywood, sheer clamp is Sitka spruce. The entire boat is covered with 4oz cloth set in epoxy. Andreassen Boat Works, 1031 South D St., Tacoma, WA 98408. George Kuchenbecker attended a couple of boat launchings recently, each poles apart from the other. CHALLENGER is a new coldmolded '11' Peterson ULDB, b u i l t by Marine Service Center on Lake Union, Seattle. Says George, "I c a n ' t r e c a l l when I've seen a h u l l as fair as that one." The second l a u n c h i n g was a St.
Marine Service
Center's 41' Peterson ULDB.
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weight penalty and thereby reduce the danger from localized impact." O'Brien finishes the bottom of his boats with graphite powder set in epoxy and has found it to be extremely durable. Head water Boats, 156 Bunker Creek Rd., Che halis, WA 98532.
The BOWDOIN on launching day.
Pierre dory b u i l t by Nexus Boat Works, Everett, Washington. She was built for a customer in Alaska to be used as a supply and mail boat on a remote section of the coast that gets quite mean in the winter. Schooner Creek Boat Works recently l a u n c h e d a new 36' vacuumbagged, coldmolded catamaran into a shipping container for delivery to their customer in Hawaii. The boat will be used for pas senger carrying around the islands; it is ulch: The Arctic schooner BOWDOIN the first wood/epoxy catamaran to be cer was relaunched at Bath, Maine, this t i f i e d for such use by the U.S. Coast October after an extensive rebuild. She Guard. w i l l be used as an educational research Another builder of McKenzie River vessel....The Maine Maritime Museum at boats has turned up, this one in Chehalis, Bath recently received a $150,000 grant for Washington. C. Tracy O'Brien of Head a comprehensive exhibit of lobstering water Boats says: "I undertook the devel along the Maine coast. L.L. Bean, Inc., opment of a composite chine (sewn seam) matched the grant....The Maine Mari h u l l , since I felt a frameless boat would time Museum is planning an auction of afford thicker skin without incurring a antique and traditional boats and related
C
32
WoodenBoat/62
gear (engines, hardware, etc.) for next f a l l . The Museum will be the auctioneer, t a k i n g a commission on items sold. For i n f o r m a t i o n , contact D e n n i s Thoet, MMM, Bath, Maine.... A manual on the repair of wooden boats is available from the U.S. Coast Guard. Notes on Inspection and Repair of Wooden Hulls costs $4.75 and can be ordered f r o m C o m m a n d a n t ( G M P 2/1409), USCG, 2100 2nd St. SW, Wash ington, DC 20593. Our technical editor, Maynard Bray, says i t ' s worth looking
at....A new 26' BeebeMcLellan selfbail ing surfboat for oar and sail has been
delivered from Bill Cannell's shop in Camden, Maine, to the U.S. Park Service at Sleeping Bear Point Life Saving Sta tion in Frankfort, Michigan, where it will be used for demonstration. Maynard Bray served as the government's inspector and feels the work was first class in every respect....Three builders of Lafitte skiffs and shrimp trawlers are featured on a 12 m i n u t e video program on the state of wooden boatbuilding in South Lousiana. "By Hand and by Eye" is available in either Beta or VHS for $150 purchase or $30 rental from J.T. Butler, Center for Traditional Louisiana Boat Building, Nicholls State University, Thibodaux, LA 70310....The 4th annual Snow Row, a fourmile rowing race for traditional and
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quasitraditional boats and ocean kayaks worth owning even if one doesn't intend brochure and catalog that contains a list will be held February 23, 10:30 a.m., at the Hull Lifesaving Museum Boathouse, Windmill Point, Hull, Massachusetts. Bring your electric socks and tell them
Uncle Pete sent you.
M
ason Smith likes what he sees at the
Adirondack Museum. Here's his report: "The Adirondack Museum, in Blue Mountain Lake, New York, is stepping up its services to boatbuilders with new plans of some of its classic boats. About a
to build. At $3.50 per sheet, three sheets per boat, they are being offered at cost. So confident is Dillion of his technique at measuring boats that even with 4" inter vals between waterlines, the same inter vals as between buttock lines, he asserts there is no need to loft. "Anyone who takes a great interest in the guideboat really should visit the Museum. It opened in 1957, just in time for its strong boat collection to play a role in the revival in wooden boatbuilding. Many builders have found inspiration
dozen guideboat and canoe plans have there, as well as research assistance, plans, previously been available. Now, William patterns, books, leads on materials, and Crowley, the Museum's curator and edi tor of the facsimile 1903 J. Henry Rush ton catalog published by International Marine, has engaged Dave Dillion to take
contacts with other enthusiasts. Prospec tive builders especially would benefit from
a study of the guideboats there, before choosing a model to build. There's con the lines of three more guideboats: one by siderable variation among them in lines,
an unknown builder, one by Warren stem shapes, decks, fittings, and even cer Cole, and the historic Stanton guideboat tain features of construction. Knowledge GHOST once owned by guideboat scholar of the history and evolution of these uni Kenneth Durant. Dillion will soon be que boats may also influence your taste.
back in Blue Mountain Lake to draw still Museum curators, by the way, are knowl other boats of the Adirondack Museum's edgeable buffs themselves and will gladly extraordinary collection of 180 traditional small craft, probably including redraw ings of Rushton's NOMAD and PRINCESS models and a decked sailing canoe of W.P. Stephens. "Dillion's drawings are elegant and
34
WoodenBoat/62
show visitors through the storage areas
filled with boats not on display. "Note: the Adirondack Museum is open May 15 through October 15, though serious builders might try Bill Crowley at any time, for a special look at the boats. A
ing of boat plans may be had by writing to the Adirondack Museum, Blue Mountain
Lake, NY 12812."
The Coast Guard, which has been fooling around with fiberglass light houses (no, that is not a typographical error), decided at the last minute not to fool around with one on the island of Nantucket. The 19thcentury Great Point Lighthouse, which collapsed in a storm last winter, will be rebuilt with more tra ditional materials after substantial wheel ing and dealing by those who believe authenticity is more than skin deep. But Nantucket is an island chock ablock f u l l of people with guns of the proper bore to deal with bureaucratic institutions like the U.S. Coast Guard. Not all communities are similarly blessed. So if you want to get involved in light house preservation politics, join the Uni ted States Lighthouse Society, 130 St. Elmo Way, San Francisco, CA 94127. Says president Wayne Wheeler: "We seek to establish lines of communication between all who wish to assist in the noble act of preserving one of the most important aspects of our maritime heritage." —Peter H. Spectre
Y
ears ago when Henry A. Scheel was a small boy summering on
Cape Cod, he used to spend hours peer
HENRY SCHEEL Innovation Never Goes Out of Style
ing through a telescope at ships and small craft passing offshore, fascinated by the waves they made. Then he would
tote his own fleet of boats—fiveand dimestore models—down to the beach in front of the family cottage at High land Light and launch them in the tidal pools to see if they, too, would make waves. "It was a triumph to have one of those models go fast enough to make
any kind of wave," Scheel recalls, "and when they did—Wow! That was mag nificent." Today, at 73, Scheel still has that childhood enthusiasm, and he is still sailing model boats. But they are mod els of his own designs for sophisticated
yachts, and the object is not to make waves but to eliminate them in order to make the boats sail faster—one of Henry Scheel's enduring passions.
During recent late fall weeks, Scheel spent nine hours standing on a chilly wharf at Rockport Harbor, just below his home in that Down East village, peering intently at and taking pictures of two radiocontrolled models as they tacked and jibed like a couple of 12s
jockeying for the start of an AMERICA's Cup race. The models represented three design ideas; one model had different hull configurations port and starboard. When the experiment was completed, Scheel says, he had three minutes' worth of solid, comparative data that, together with many wake photos, told him which of his design concepts created the least
wave action. That concept became the basis for final plans of a 25', cold molded, fast daysailer for "a fellow in the Midwest who wants to go at a hell uva clip." Although his ideas of what consti tutes good hull design have changed since he was a kid urging crude models across the tidal pools of Provincetown,
by Jim Brown 36
WoodenBoat/62
Henry Scheel has never stopped mak ing waves. He loves to send shock waves through the orthodox boating world with such innovative ideas as the Scheel keel, which anticipated the winged keel that many think made the difference for the Australians in last year's AMERICA's Cup races. He delights in challenging traditional boat buffs to rethink their singleminded dedication to century old classics. "The oldtimers were con stantly innovating in response to new
needs, materials, and techniques," he argues, "and boats have been getting
Scheel insists, "and if you are going to do a good design, you have to use boats a lot, so that you know what boats have to put up with." He sailed in his first offshore race, the Fastnet Race of 1930,
better all the time." "Because of improvements in mate rials, principally sail materials, the boats today are wholly different and much, much better than they were 20 years ago," says Scheel. "This is true especially when you consider my prime
at the age of 18. Since then, he has sailed in countless races on both sides of the
requirement, which is that a boat has to be able to sail to windward and to beat off a lee shore in strong winds. There is no comparison between the way the
Yacht Yard in the Netherlands, and 25'
modern IOR boats sail to windward and 16' daysailers under construction through the water under dire condi tions, and the ability of any boat designed up to 20 years ago." Ask Scheel what he considers his best design, and he'll tell you: "The next one." It has been nearly 50 years since Henry Scheel completed his naval archi tecture training at M.I.T.—without a degree, because "I never could pass
in this country. One key to Scheel's success as a designer and the regard in which he is held by his clients and peers is his pas sion for sailing, especially for making a boat sail fast. ("Even when I'm cruis ing, I like to go fast," he says.) Another is his understanding of the sea and its dangers, based on years of seagoing experience in all kinds of craft under all accounting." In the intervening half sorts of conditions. "If you are going to century, he has designed masts for design boats, you have to use boats," Sparkman & Stephens; apprenticed to a naval architect and to a smallboat
builder in Germany; designed the schooner BLACKFISH and other yachts in his own office at Provincetown; assisted in World War II patrol craft construction for the Navy; designed
more yachts in another office of his own in New York City, including the popular 37' Stonington motorsailer; helped in the construction of the first nuclear submarine at Groton, Connec ticut; served as plant engineer and invented new fabrics for a textile firm in Connecticut; designed fiberglass boats, including a paddlewheeler and other craft for Disney World, at Morgan Yachts in Florida; founded Scheel Yachts, and designed and built the highly regarded Scheel 45 and other cruising sailboats; and then, after soar ing petroleum prices forced Scheel Yachts out of business, resurrected his oneman design firm in Rockport at an age when most men would have called it quits. International Marine Publish ing Company recently published 15 Modern Yacht Designs by Scheel, the first of a series in a new largesize for mat that shows the lines to best advan tage, suitable for framing. In all, Scheel estimates he has completed more than 225 yacht designs, and he's still going strong, with a new 36footer in the water, a 66' aluminum cruising sloop under construction at the Huisman
Atlantic, including the 1931 Fastnet, when the boat on which he was mate was hoveto for three days in winds above 60 knots and finally had to be abandoned. "Racing lets you stick your neck out a little farther—not necessar ily enjoyably; but if you're cruising and
a lousy day comes along, you stay at anchor for the most part. You never go out in a squall; but if you're out there racing, and it's blowing 50 knots, you are indeed right there. That's the real thing." Remembering such experiences, Scheel insists on morethanadequate strengths and safety features in his
boats. "I have a great respect for the sea," says Scheel. "I don't fool around with it."
Above— Patent drawing of the Scheel keel: effective lateral plane
with shallow draft. Far leftHenry Scheel tries out one of his coldmolded Scheel 36 designs, loving every minute of it. Left—The 45-footer GOLDENEYE
was an experimental design of 1981. The cat-ketch rig shown here has since been replaced by a simpler cat rig with a single
unstayed mast. Hull
design by Scheel; experimental rigs by owner Thoms G o d f r e y .
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Worth, the young American met the Louard family, owners of the racing sloop MAITENES II, who invited him to join their crew in a series of harbor races around the British coast, and after several weeks they asked him for the
Fastnet Race. "The Fastnet Race was a test," Scheel notes in his biographical sketch. "I
needed my father's permission to go, so I cabled him in New York, telling him to ask the advice of Herbert L. Stone. My father did not know anything about sailing. He told me later of making a
date with Stone, of being ushered into his office, of silting down across the way from this cheery, short man, of re citing to him the telegraph message. Father was astonished when Herbert Stone sprang to his feet, leaned across the desk, shook his finger in my father's face, and said, 'If you don't let that boy go on that race, I'm going to haunt you for the rest of your life, and a long time after that!' So I went in the 1930 race, and that's how I was introduced to real
offshore sailing—and I have been going ever since."
Even in those early years, Henry Scheel must have been a good man to have aboard, because the following summer the Louard family invited him
to join MAITENES II once more, first for the Transatlantic Race from Newport, Rhode Island, to Plymouth, England,
"He's a very, very competent sail He had an aunt who took him to boat or," says Roger Taylor, a sometime shows and bought him boating maga Scheel sailing companion who is pres zines and books, and when he was 13, ident of International Marine Publish ing Company and author of The Elements of Seamanship, which first ap peared in this magazine. "He's the kind of guy who can get on any kind of boat and know what to do. He likes to go
his father bought him a Wee Scot to sail in the waters off Provincetown. "It was a terrible boat," Scheel recalls, "but it had an outside keel, and it wouldn't
and then for the Fastnet Race of that year, 1931—a race that shared many of the devastating characteristics of the tragic 1979 event, although far fewer
vessels were involved. After lying hove to for 56 hours in 60 to 70knot winds, the crew of MAITENES II was forced by
gear failure to take in all sail—one man
young Henry haunted Provincetown
was lost overboard in that operation— and to run before the gale until rescued from their stricken craft by a passing
fast, but he's not a wild man. He's a
Harbor, often picking up invitations to
trawler.
good seaman. With Harry, seamanship always comes before speed." "He really knows his stuff," agrees Detroit Cadillac dealer Paul Mika, whose 53' cutter AQUILA is one of Scheel's own favorite designs, a much
sail and race in larger boats, but his big break came in the summer of 1930, after his graduation from high school, when the family spent a summer in England.
Such experiences only strengthened Henry's decision, reached years earlier, to study naval architecture at M.I.T. Meanwhile, however, he had enrolled at Hamilton College at the insistence of his father, a textile engineer who said
loved family yacht and charter boat whose owner boasts enthusiastically of her beauty in brightfinished, cold molded mahogany, her speed, her maneuverability, and, above all, her strength and such builtin safety fea tures as stout stanchions at the mast to brace a crewman working on deck in rough weather. "Henry has been to sea," says Mika. "He knows you need all the help you can get out there."
H
enry Scheel grew up in Passaic, New Jersey, in a family who encouraged his early interest in boats. 38
WoodenBoat/62
capsize." Besides sailing his own boat,
Lukewarm at the prospect of this, Henry went to New York City to con sult with one of his idols, Herbert L. Stone, then editor of Yachting. Although he had never met Stone before, the youngster from Passaic talked his way into the Great Man's office. "I asked him what he would do if he were I, since there would be a threeweek period when we would just sit on the beach at Paignton in England, and that would give me the willies," Scheel recalls in a biographical introduction to 15 Modern Yacht Designs. Stone told him to go see Dr. Claud Worth, author of a classic seamanship manual and a frequent contributor to Yachting. Through Dr.
engineers should first learn something about reading, writing, and speaking. After two years at Hamilton, followed by four at M.I.T., Scheel recalls, "I felt ready to work at my trade." So he got a job with the design firm of Sparkman & Stephens, who put him to work design ing masts for the schooner BRILLIANT, then under construction at Nevins. "I got to be a pretty good mast man," he says, "but my father saw that there
wasn't much joy in it for me. He sug gested that I go to Europe and appren tice myself to somebody, and learn to do the whole thing properly."
Scheel wound up in Germany, where he studied for a year under Arthur Tiller, a naval architect in Ber lin, and then apprenticed for a half year to a man named Bucholz, who built small craft on a river north of Berlin. He also met and courted a young Amer ican tourist, Jeanne Hall, a Salt Lake City, Utah, girl who was soon to become his wife. But Nazi Germany was not a congenial place to live and work in those days. Sensing the impending war, Scheel returned home in 1938, married Jeanne, and set up shop on the Cape. There he designed a score or more boats over the next few years, notably the 51' schooner BLACKFISH.
You won't find BLACKFISH in 75 Modern Yacht Designs. She was, in fact, a strongly traditional craft, a typi cal, gaffrigged, fisherman type, built at the Story yard in Essex, Massachu setts, in the traditional manner—pine on doublesawn oak frames. She was not the kind of boat that is, these days, usually associated with Henry Scheel. When Roger Taylor went to Scheel a few years back for plans of BLACKFISH to include in his (Taylor's) More Good Boats, Henry tried to talk him out of it. He said he didn't have the plans. "He's not interested in his past accomplish ments," says Taylor. "He's always look ing ahead, looking for better ways to do things." Nevertheless, Taylor dug up a set of BLACKFISH plans at Mystic Sea port ( w i t h which Scheel has had a long association) and put them on the cover of his book. Inside, Taylor describes BLACKFISH at length as "a vessel I have admired many times." Her only owner, Mendum B. Littlefield, of Mamaroneck, sailed that muchadmired schooner for 26 years, until she dropped her iron ballast keel and went down in Long Island Sound. "He always kept her in the water and never looked at a keel bolt," Scheel recalls. "If I had known then about keelbolt disintegration, I would have advised a good look every five years. Electrolysis can raise hell." After the United States entered World War II, Scheel, who had returned briefly to Sparkman & Stephens to help design a small freighter for the Army, was given a Navy commission, and joined the Patrol Craft Section of the Bureau of Ships in Washington as hull officer dealing with yards all over the
"Those New York years were five very busy ones," Scheel recalls. He designed about 30 boats during this period, including the 37' Stonington motorsailer, which he thinks is prob ably the single boat from his board that
country in the construction of torpedo
has given "the most pleasure to the
boats, subchasers, minesweepers, and other patrol craft. Toward the end of his naval stint, he was assigned to the David Taylor Model Basin in Carde rock, Maryland, an experience that was to come in handy when he returned to private yacht design work in New York
greatest number of people." This was also the period when the Scheel keel was first conceived, although it was to be 26 years before the concept was to be tested in a fullsized boat. The idea for the winged keel actu ally originated in 1946 when Scheel met
immediately after the war.
a couple of old chums on the wharf at
Provincetown. "They were home from the war, and they had these dandy new fishing boats," he explains, "but to hold the nets open they were using the traditional flat trawl doors—terrible things. I told them I thought I could come up with something better than that, so we got together some money for tank tests, and I went down to the David Taylor Model Basin and developed the Hydroflow Trawl Door. It has an end plate and a topcurved plate, and is very effective. "Soon after that, a Wall Street ac quaintance came along and said he 62/Wooden Boat
39
fine shipmate and a fine individual. His feet are on the ground all the time. And he has a sense of humor beyond all
would like a shallowdraft boat but he didn't want a centerboard, and what could I do? I thought about those trawl doors, and I thought maybe we could
do something like that on a boat. He agreed to put up money—about $2,000— for a towingtank model. I designed a
hull, and then on the bottom I put this Scheel keel shape. After refining it and testing it in the tank against a center board version, I said: 'Yes, you can have
the boat you want without a center board. Downwind it may not be as fast as the centerboarders, but you can get to weather in the same way.' This was 1947. He said, 'You're a very good fel low; send me the bill. I have just bought
of us. He excels in getting up before a crowd. Once after a race in Germany, a magistrate came to our table and asked ness, textiles. He became plant engi if we had somebody who'd like to say a neer for a Connecticut firm that was few words. Henry can speak German. I buying new textile machinery in Ger guess he has an accent that is hilarious many, where his familiarity with the to Germans, because he had them roar country and its language was an advan ing with laughter, especially when he tage. raised a finger to make a point. He once "I worked in textiles for 15 years," got it caught in a fanbelt of a boat he recalls. "We had a lot of time to sail, engine, and it's crooked. When he raises which I never had when I was design
it, it points sideways. Henry's a very
ing full time. I did design a few boats on
warm and congenial individual."
the side. We had our own boats and did Speaking of Scheel, the lifeofthe a lot of racing. I got to be in the hier party, Roger Taylor tells of a "mystery archy (rear commodore) of The Off box" Henry carries along on Camden
Soundings Club and served on the rac ing rule committee of The Cruising Club of America. I also instigated the formation of The Ideal Partnership,
Yacht Club cruises. "When we go ashore for a cookout," Taylor says, "he
pulls an accordion out of the box and
burner, and soon Henry Scheel was ris ing to a new challenge. The first nuclear
starts to sing these outrageous songs. composed of eight good friends, ship He'll strike up a Calypso tune, making mates, and good sailors. We had THE up the words as he goes along, telling HAWK designed by Bill Tripp, built by about people and events of the day. deDood in Bremen, and rigged by Hood. Total improvisation. It always brings We raced her in the 1968 and 1969 One down the house." Ton Cup series off Helgoland in the
submarine, NAUTILUS, was being built
North Sea. THE HAWK also competed
by the Electric Boat Company at Gro ton, Connecticut, and with the Korean War knocking the bottom out of his New York City yacht design business, Henry signed on as "assistant to the head fellow" at Electric Boat. After three years there, he was asked to take over as ship supervisor for the sub SEA WOLF, which was to have a sodium cooled reactor. "I knew enough about these things to say, 'No, dear friend, thank you,' " he says, and he turned his back on boat designing and building as well to return to the old paternal busi
in the SORC and various Bermuda business, designing exotic new races, and, all in all, she has become an fabrics, and finding plenty.of time for heroic figure in offshore racing. Here sailing, Henry Scheel's compulsion to again, the experience with THE HAWK design boats persisted. In 1967, he went added materially to my appreciation of to see his old friend Charlie Morgan, of the manyfaceted demands on boat and Morgan Yachts in Florida, and said: "I crew made by conditions at sea." need experience in designing in fiber Bill Dodge, of Mystic, Connecticut, glass after all these years." Scheel had was one of the "ideal partners" who been wary of fiberglass in the early built and campaigned THE HAWK. experimental days after World War II. "Henry was the convenor," he recalls, "I was skeptical," he admits. "I didn't "and we enjoyed ourselves together for like the way it smelled or looked or about 12 years, racing in Germany, anything. Eventually, however, I saw Halifax, Bermuda, Fastnet.... He's a the good points. It offers some freedom
a 68' cutter that draws 10'. What do you think of that?' I said, 'You can't follow me up a creek, can you?' He said, 'No.' "
The Scheel keel went on a back
40
WoodenBoat/62
A
lthough he enjoyed the textile
c. 1980 Scheel is still very much into small sailing craft today, but the emphasis now is more on performance. This is
the speedy Scheel 30, of which several have been built using cold-molded
construction.
to do things in hull design you can't in other materials."
Scheel went to work for Morgan, designing, among other things, a series of fiberglass vessels for Disney World—
a 96' sternwheel paddleboat, two 105' steam sidewheelers, a submarine, and six small steam yachts. He also designed for Morgan a motorboat which, he says,
"was a flop," redesigned a 40' ketch which was not a flop, and helped get materials for Morgan's wooden, bright finished 12meter HERITAGE. "These
were good years," he recalls. "We had a darned good time, and I learned a lot." In 1970, Scheel and three other Mor gan employees joined together and
formed Scheel Yachts to build fiber glass yachts, some to be designed by Scheel and some to be designed by oth ers, in Rockland, Maine, where facil ities were available and labor was cheap. "We built six splendid 45' centercock pit auxiliaries, the Scheel 45s. They're all still around with the original own ers. But we were babes in the woods. We didn't have enough money when we started out. I heard later that we should have had $4 million for such a venture. We had $80,000. You can't do it that way. The cost of stuff got out of hand with the Arab oil business, and we went under." Scheel was then at an age when most men are thinking of retirement, but he plunged right back into the fray, opening his own design office once more, this time in an old schoolhouse next door to his Rockport, Maine, home. Why did he do it? "I love to design boats. I am not going to retire and sit around. Also, I was in debt. I had to pay banks back. What do you do? I could get a job teaching at the vocational
school, or I could work toward getting the inventor's financial position, a back into the boat business again, in friend persuaded him to patent the designing. Of these two options, the idea, and it has been adopted for a boat business thing had much more number of production boats—Tartan appeal. I worked hard, had lots of help has put a couple of hundred on a and luck, and still do." number of different models, a Brazilian One thing that helped Henry sur firm has used it on more than a hundred mount the trauma of the failure of boats, and it is on several Islanders. Scheel Yachts and to reestablish him There's even an outfit in Hope Valley, self in the design business was the final Rhode Island—Greene Plastics—that emergence and success of the Scheel has adapted the Scheel keel for sail keel. Back in 1972, one of the "money boards. "That keel thing came along putterinners" of Scheel Yachts asked just in time," says Scheel. Scheel to design a shoaldraft daysailer Not everybody appreciated the mer for use on the Chesapeake. Scheel its of the new keel when it first emerged. sketched a 30footer with centerboard, A number of large design firms, includ but the client objected to the board. ing designers of AMERICA's Cup defend "Harry," he said (Scheel was called ers, initially scoffed at the idea. So there Harry when he was young to avoid con was a certain amount of satisfaction for fusion with his father, who was also Henry when the AUSTRALIA II walked named Henry; some old friends still off with the Cup last fall, sailing with a call him Harry), "I won't have that cen keel that looks strikingly different, but terboard. Do something else. Get some behaved in a manner similar to the thing so I don't have to fuss around Scheel version. Scheel denies that the
with that foolish board." Scheel looked keel was what won the Cup. Rather, he up the 1949 data and designed his flared keel to suit. The boat was built, and
credits the spirit of the Australian crew.
reports from the Chesapeake. "The owner'd write reports day to day and week to week," Scheel recalls, "telling how many boats he had passed on the wind, how he could go back and forth in front of them, and so forth." Three more of the 30footers have been built so far, with cuddies added, and the keel has been a feature of all of Scheel's other designs. But, more important for
boat, three down in the series, and say ing, 'The hell with it. We're going to win today, and we're going to win tomorrow, and we're going to win the third day and the fourth as well.' Of course, the keel did no harm, but it was AUSTRALIA'S crew's spirit that won." Scheel says he's discussed their keels
"What did the keel shape have to do soon Scheel was receiving glowing with these Australians coming on the
at length with AUSTRALIA n's designer,
Ben Lexcen, and that the two of them 62/WoodenBoat
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came up with similar answers, based on the same principles, for different prob lems. "My purpose was to design a keel shape to take the place of a centerboard, to give you a shoaldraft boat that was still stable and would go to windward," Scheel explains. Lexcen had designed a light boat, and his aim was to get the weight of his keel as low as possible for stability. Initially, says Scheel, Lexcen had "a thin connection between the hull and this thing on the bottom that looked like a turtle." In the towing tank, that shape proved to be a disaster because crosscurrents flowing around and across it created an unacceptable amount of residual resistance. As time was running out on their effort, Lexcen and his crew worked day and night at the tank, refining the shape of the keel to straighten out the water flow, finally coming out with the keel that helped
AUSTRALIA II to victory, a keel that only fleetingly resembles the keel Henry Scheel had developed a decade earlier. Incidentally, COURAGEOUS II, the first American challenger, launched last sum mer, sports a similar winged keel. A very recent model test is reported from the Delft, Holland, towing tank, where in the Scheel keel behaves very well indeed. In describing his keel, Scheel has written: "The Scheel keel flares out at its deepest point, creating a flattened look at the bottom. This shape reduces the crossflow of water from the high pressure side of the keel to the low pressure side, thus making itself effec tive in resisting leeway. Since the crossflow is reduced, the size of the vor tex is also reduced, and the energy saved
is available for increased boat speed."
I
t is ironic that this innovator, this provocatively articulate advocate of modern yacht design, is living and 42
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working in the heart of what is prob ably the greatest concentration of tradi tional boat buffs, builders, and sailors to be found anywhere in the world today. Lance Lee's Rockport Appren ticeshop, which recently completed a 19thcentury pinky schooner—to join its fleet of peapods, duckers, and other traditional craft—is just down the hill from Scheel's home and office, and in summer the venerable windjammer TIMBERWIND sails weekly from the Rockport town landing (where she is also wetstored each winter). A dozen more old windjammers are based in nearby Camden and Rockland. In this dedicated traditional company, Scheel is an irrepressible gadfly. Last spring he sat through a twoday session of tra ditional boatbuilders at the Rockport Opera House, organized by the Rock port Apprenticeshop to discuss market ing techniques. At the final session, he could hold still no longer and rose to speak his piece: "I would like to plant a seed," he said. "I don't expect it to flower this year or the next, but it is this: The old boats you people are building were at the pinnacle of their design and compe tence 100 years ago. Times have changed. You may continue the same type of development that resulted in the existence of these boats in the first place—for you can't tell me that the original peapod is the peapod of today. That is to say, somewhere along the way, some peapodbuilder said to him self, 'This thing needs to be a little wider,' so he made it a little wider, and so it developed into the fine piece of equipment it is today. You must con tinue that development. Bear in mind,
an outboard motor will never f i t on a peapod. Don't blanch when somebody comes along and says, 'It might be nice for my 80yearold grandfather not to
have to row upwind, and he's only
going to row a peapod.' What the hell are you going to do? You're going to take your lovely boats you're making now—not right this next year—but consider how you can improve them for the people who are going to use them." Scheel doesn't hesitate to criticize such traditionalists' icons as the Friend ship sloop. "The Friendship sloop type hollow waterlines of the clipper bow, I have always felt, were poor," he says. "That was a poor idea. I don't know why they made boats like that. Sailing to windward to me was always the most important point of sail. Any thing with a clipper bow or a plumb stem that has a hollow waterline must plunge deeper than the spoon bow does, relatively speaking, before it starts
to rise up again. The quicker the motions are, the more wind gets shaken out of the sails. It's a hobby horse." He also disagrees with the notion that the traditional longkeeled boats track better and sail better. "I think it's due to the poor sail balance of the older boats, which are the boats that happen to have the long keels. Since the sail plan centers are lower, the sails are thus less effective, in both light air and in a breeze. As a consequence, they aren't much good anyway. The result is a slow boat to China." When it comes to materials, Scheel is a wooden boat fan. He says he has a personal aversion to fiberglass, largely due to messy fabrication, but he adds: "In production boats, it's the most wonderful thing there is. If it hadn't
"On that subject, I think American designers have ignored the effectiveness
of the chine on sailboats. Van de Stadt in Holland has done a lot of chine
boats. They're prettylooking things, they go fast, and they're elegant. On a chine boat, you can use plywood, which is very strong and wonderful s t u f f in combination with cold molding."
If someone insists on a more tradi tional wooden boat, Scheel says, "I'll happily draw him a lapstrake boat, bless his heart—or a stripplanked boat.
There are dozens of ways to build boats, and if the builder is used to one way, who am I to come along and say, you're wrong, you've got to do it my way?" Henry Scheel won't always produce what a customer wants (or rather,
thinks he wants). "Most people who been for fiberglass, I bet maybe six out of ten people active today wouldn't be
sailing, maybe seven out of ten. Beauti f u l stuff. Unfortunately, there are lots of boats on the market that are not beautiful that get to be made in vast numbers, horridlooking things by the dozens. But still, if it weren't for these, lots of people wouldn't begin to know the delights of sailing a boat."
Most of Scheel's own designs these days are being built coldmolded, though a Scheel 66footer is currently being completed in aluminum at the yard in the Netherlands. "I think cold molded construction will result in a stronger boat (in most cases)," he says,
come to me have a good idea of what they're looking for," he says. "Other wise, I've sent a number of people on their way. I won't draw a boat for somebody who really doesn't know what he wants. One classic case was that of a fellow in San Francisco who, for a period of a couple of months, called up every couple of weeks about a boat he wanted to sail around the world. Finally, I discovered that he was a lawyer aged around 40, had a wife who was 36, and they had an 18 year old in college, a 14 year old in grade school, and twins who were six. I said, 'You're talking to me about going sailing around the world, dear boy? Forget it.' (Just as nicely as I could, you know.) I
"it being understood that the people told him what he wanted to do was building it are not perfect. It can suffer poor connection between faying sur faces. Fill spaces with epoxy, and you have a strong hull. If you have a bad con nection and don't fill it with epoxy,
charter some boats around San Fran cisco Bay, put his f a m i l y aboard, and go sailing in tworeef airs up toward Sacra mento. I've never heard from the man since. They may very possibly have got you've got a weak boat, and you're going ten a great sailing vessel and gone
to have rot. In middlesized boats, 30' to 'round the world." 40', aluminum is fine, and coldmolded Closer to home, two retired friends is good if you've got round bilges. If who had both sold off large yachts that you don't have round bilges, you can had become too much to manage, now use plywood. Plywood and coldmolded that they were older, approached Scheel would be dandy. last year about designing a small cruis ing boat they could build together in a backyard shop. "How old are you?"
asked Henry. When they acknowledged they were both in their early 70s, he told them: "You two old coots are never going to build a boat. You'll both be
dead before you finish it. Why don't you go out and buy a boat and go sailing?"—which they did. "I t r y to get people to go look at stock boats that are available. I'm not about to draw a boat for somebody who's going to walk down a dock, see a stock fiberglass boat that's just like the one I drew for him, then come back and say, 'Scheel, you're a rascal. You shouldn't have done that to me.' " One boat that Henry Scheel is pro moting vigorously these days to anyone
who'll listen is a 16' daysailer—Design 221 in 15 Modern Yacht Designs. De spite his scoffing at tradition and his insistence that boats are constantly improving, Scheel admits that this lit tle craft is modeled closely after a boat he designed 50 years ago while still at M.I.T., had built on Cape Cod, and raced successfully around Province town. "It's a very, very nice boat," he insists. "Actually, it's 10 boats. This boat is a rowboat, and it's a towboat. You can pile your family into it and go sinker bouncing, or you can go on a picnic. If you want to sail it, God bless you—you can sail it like an old man would sail it, or like a kid would sail it. Beautiful! It could be a moonlight boat; that is to say, a wooing boat. And it could be a nightsailer. Take the old man and a kid and go sail around all night. It's a party boat. I can see two guys and a saxophone and three girls and a puppy dog and God knows what in this thing." If he can round up 10 buyers, Henry has arranged with Bob Lincoln at RKL Boatworks on Mt. Desert Island to tool up and build them in Bruynzeel plywood—including one for the designer, who, no doubt, will sail it like a kid and take along Jeanne and his squeezebox. Any saxophonists for sailing? Jim Brown is an associate editor of Down East magazine.
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The Caddo Lake Bateau All my life, I've fiddled with boats. I expect I've built 180 to 200, all wood boats. I
like wood. A wood boat is much better for one's health than a metal one. The vibration of a metal boat has a very adverse effect on a person's central nervous system—it causes headaches and high blood pressure. Mother lived to be over 90 years old, and she rode only in wood boats. A wood boat absorbs vibration and soothes one's nerves. Why, an outboard will last two or three times longer on a wood boat than on a metal one. In hot weather, the shade under a wood boat is cool. A metal boat is hot and drives away fish. Besides, if a metal boat fills with water, it sinks. A wood boat floats. But boatbuilding is not like piling up some brush. If you don't do it right, you wind up with something
crooked. —Wyatt A. Moore
44
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by James H. Conrad and Thad Sitton
O
n Taylor Island, Texas, at nine o'clock Saturday morning, June 28, 1983, Mr. W y a t t A. Moore and Mr. Paul Ray Martin started w i t h two shaped mulberry stems, four 16' cypress boards, assorted pieces of cypress plank ing, a sack f u l l of nails, some silicone caulking compound, and a crude plan sketched on a scrap of plywood. By three o'clock that afternoon the boat was more or less completed, except for some minor finishing work, sanding, and painting. The following day, at about noon, after a special treatment to seal and waterproof the h u l l , Moore officially launched and successfully tested the craft on the waters of Caddo
Lake. As Moore summed up the construc tion process, We started on it one Saturday morning and rode in it on Sunday. We built the boat from scratch—there was nothing but lumber, just lumber lying out there. Wasn't anything but lumber sawed up.
The boat design is t h a t of Mr. Moore, 83, of Karnack, Texas, who throughout his long life has built wooden boats for use on Caddo Lake, mostly types referred to locally as "paddle skiffs" and "bateaux." These types are usually called "esquifs" and "planked pirogues" in Acadian Louisi ana. Moore learned h i s boatbuilding
techniques from Frank Galbraith, a nearlegendary Caddo Lake boatbuilder. Perhaps the last living builder of this type of boat in the Caddo Lake area. Moore was ably assisted in the con struction by Paul Ray Martin, a skilled carpenter and builder of fiberglass kayaks. In its heyday, the Caddo Lake bateau was noted for speed, maneuverability, and seaworthiness. The functional, canoelike craft was widely used by fishermen, hunters, f i s h i n g guides, and bootleggers before the introduction of a l u m i n u m and fiberglass motorboats after World War II. Moore recalls using his bateaux for
a variety of activities, legal and illegal: Once, nearly everybody felt that one of
those little fishing boats was a necessity, not a luxury. You couldn't go out there and do a hard day's fishing in a big, old hard-to-paddle boat, and get up in here, there, and yonder, and rover lots of terri-
tory, and keep the fish alive. The old-time
fishing boat was a tool of the trade, and was designed to serve that purpose. There was a couple here [on Taylor Island] who each had a bateau. They fished until they died. [ used to use one of 'em a good deal in the fall of the year. I would take a Buelsptnner on a cane pole and troll the edge of the timber, hunt the squirrels out over the water; I'd f i s h in combination with it, and maybe kill a duck. I'd come in with ducks, squirrels, and a few f i s h , everyday. One day, I hauled a full-grown deer from up the creek in one of my bateaux. And during the seven or eight years I almost exclusively made whiskey, I had a bateau I had carried 800 pounds of whiskey in. I knew they couldn't out-paddle me in a bateau, and I could go places where they couldn't go. Here, our method was mostly to put a platform out over the water in Caddo Lake in thickets where only a small canoe-like boat could get into, and run five or six barrels of mash. I never did plow one of Jim Ferguson's mules, but some of my friends told me that they thought I would f i n a l l y make it. But I didn't quite.
closed with pegs." As will be shown, the perforated fish box/bait well is a striking feature of Moore's Caddo Lake
bateau. The planked pirogue, perhaps the direct ancestor of the Caddo bateau, had developed around 1900 in southeast Louisiana from the modern dugout pirogue, which was hewn from a single cypress log. As Knipmeyer observed,
"The remarkable similarity between
the dugout and the plank pirogue in form, size, use, and associated equip ment makes it clear that the former was the inspiration for the latter. The time of the plank pirogue's arrival coincides with the expansion of cypress lumber ing activities, which created new uses and a greater need for pirogues. It seems certain that these new interests did not invent the plank pirogue, but were undoubtedly responsible for making it more possible and spreading its use." The modern form of the Acadian dugout pirogue, the immediate ances tor of the planked pirogue, had itself evolved from an earlier and larger var iety of Acadian dugout. This large Origins of the Bateau pirogue had been in wide use all across In many ways this particular "folk the southeastern United States, and boat" seems unique to the Caddo Lake derived in turn from aboriginal forms area, perhaps evolving from the planked of the dugout. Native Americans used pirogue [pronounced "peeroh"'] of the bark canoe in the North, bull boats southern Louisiana. in the West, dugouts on the West Coast, William B. Knipmeyer, in his clas and the ancestral pirogue dugout in the sic study, "Folk Boats of Eastern French Southeast. Louisiana," 1 identified six kinds of So, in both form and function, the Acadian folk boats. These were: dugout Caddo bateau which Wyatt Moore and pirogue, planked pirogue, chaland, Paul Ray Martin assembled in the esquif, flatboat, and bateau. The Aca spring of 1983 seems a lineal descen dian "bateau," a large, flatbottomed dant of the ancient Indian dugouts de rowing boat with blunt bow and stern, scribed by early French and British is a very different craft from Moore's explorers in the Southeast. The inter creation. Instead, his boat seems a spe vening stages of "larger 19thcentury cial Caddo Lake variant of the planked dugout pirogue" and "modern dugout pirogue, perhaps most closely resem pirogue" may or may not have been bling the planked pirogues of the Atcha present at Caddo Lake, but they were falaya Basin. Describing the latter craft, certainly present in Acadian Louisi Knipmeyer noted, "In the Atchafalaya ana. Moore's boat springs from a long Basin, plank pirogues are smallest and tradition. have the most sheer. Generally they The pattern for this particular form have a coaming about 2" wide at the of the Caddo Lake version of the waist, which diminishes to nothing planked pirogue was taken from a sur toward the bow and stern. Often they viving boat built by master builder are equipped with fish wells, which are Frank Galbraith. Galbraith lived with made by placing two boards about 2' Moore for several years in the 1920s and apart across the waist of the boat. Holes strongly influenced Moore's boat de are bored in the bottom of the boat and signs and construction techniques. Gal 1 braith, according to Moore, was "the Published in American Folklife. Don Voder, ed.. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 1977. Cadillac of the industry": 62 WoodenBoat
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Galbraith's tombstone has written on it, "A builder of fine boats." He was a marvelous man with tools. If he wanted to make something to do something with, he'd just whittle it out and make it. He could almost look at a place he wanted to put a piece of timber and saw it to f i t . He'd saw it a little bit long to start with, and then he'd put it down in there and scribe it, mark on either side of it, and then he'd saw it out. He said he never used a rule much; he could guess it better. But he could twist that wood around, and do a marvelous job of working! He was a very conscientious worker who wouldn't put a piece of poor material in a boat. He said there was no use in wasting that much labor with poor material. He wouldn't use anything but the best red-heart cypress lumber.
Knipmeyer mentions that the terms "twoplank pirogue," referring to the
number of planks in the bottom, were in general use in Acadian Louisiana at
the time of his 1950 study. These terms were both descriptive and expressive of value. A twoplank pirogue has two planks in its bottom, a threeplank pirogue has three; and the fewer seams,
the better. The fewer seams in the bot tom, the fewer places there were to leak. All other things being equal, a two plank pirogue was more troublefree and more valuable than a threeplank model. Moore doesn't use these terms, though he clearly shares the opinion that the fewer planks in the bottom, the better the boat.
speed and dexterity to keep the boat tracking in a straight line, or to execute a turn. While fishing, Moore sculls onehanded with the paddle, thus free ing the other hand to control the fish ing rod. When jumpshooting (or "bush whacking") ducks, he devised a special twopaddle strategy. One paddle would be in hand, another carried in the boat. Upon j u m p i n g a duck, he drops the paddleinhand, usually into the water. Then, after grabbing his gun and shoot
ing the duck, he uses the second paddle to retrieve both the downed duck and the first paddle. For the business of
Using the Bateau
jumpshooting ducks in heavy timber,
Moore recommends a f a i r l y short paddle, about 4'8" in length, for the Caddo Lake bateau. In a technique very d i f f e r e n t from the Cajun piroguemen studied by Knipmeyer, who used longer paddles and Jstrokes from one side only, Moore paddles on both sides of the boat, changing hands with great
Moore contends that the split second saved by instantly dropping the paddle makes a significant difference.
The live box and minnow well, which are located just a f t of amidships, have holes bored in their bottoms or sides so that they exchange water with lake or river to keep the fish alive. The
1—The first step in building the Caddo Lake bateau is to prepare the mulberry stems—the bow and stern pieces. Moore splits a short length of mulberry log into wedgeshaped sec tions with an axe and sledgehammer. He uses a hatchet for roughing out and
trimming, and a hand plane, bevel, and square for finishing and dressing off.
weight of water in these areas is de signed to balance with the weight of the paddler, who sits in an unusual posi tion just forward of amidships. How ever, when the bateau is "dry," ballast must be added to the stern to trim the craft. As Moore tells it: If you don't carry water in the live box, or some sort of ballast, the boat's stern will stick out of the water and will not be balanced properly in the water. If you move back toward the rear of the boat to balance it, you will be too far back to paddle good. I usually carry a good deal of ballast and put my seat forward so that I can paddle good.
As late as the 1950s, fishermen and hunters still used the bateaux, but their habit was to tow the bateau to the fish ing or hunting grounds behind a motor boat, then anchor the motorboat and hunt or fish from the bateau. Today, Caddo Lake is mostly traveled bv motor
boats—some remarkably large, consid ering the mazelike nature of the Texas end of the lake, with its labyrinth of channels, numerous cypress "islands," and endless meadows of lily pads. The motorboats roar along the narrow and wellmarked boat trails, or make short excursions into the nearby swamp, leav ing vast portions of the area untraveled by man—unless the man should have a bateau! The Caddo Lake bateau originally evolved to meet these special circum stances, and as a swamp boat it seems almost without parallel. With its nar row waterline, it paddles easily and with good speed. The boat's flat bottom and the paddler's low center of gravity ensure stability, and the rockered bot tom shape means that the boat can be spun around almost as easily as a whitewater kayak. The shallow hull slides easily over water vegetation—a trait that can be f u l l y appreciated only
by someone who has actually tried to navigate in the frustrating world of the swamp, where the natural boundaries between land and water seem often to disappear, being replaced by a third element that has the characteristics of neither. On the occasional stretches of extensive open water that are also typi cal of Caddo Lake (the "lakes" within the lake), the upswept ends of the bateau allow it to ride over big waves instead of plunging wetly through them, and the flared sides repel waves coming in from abeam, making the boat remarkably seaworthy. Moore and his bateau are s t i l l cap able of venturing where few others could go. As he says, "The oldtime fishing boat was a tool of the trade, and was designed to f i t that purpose." For exploring the watery resources of the Caddo Lake swamplands, Moore's bateau works as well today as it ever did.
2 — M a r t i n and Moore consult the "blueprint" board, a piece of plywood w i t h the basic dimensions of the boat on it. The bevels are also marked on the board for the bow and stern angles and for the bulkhead flare.
3—Moore considers selection of the two 16' cypress sideboards the most cru cial step in the building process. (He uses only good redcypress heartwood from Louisiana). He carefully inspects all four planks for size, shape, location of knotholes, and also for their flexibil ity. The two chosen for sideboards should be about matched in flexibility; Moore bends the boards repeatedly to determine this.
3a—After cutting the bow and stern angles, picked up from the "blueprint," Moore does some finetuning of the sideboard's shape. (He works on the smaller of the two selected boards first, and will later use it as a pattern for the other sideboard). "What you do is to
take a little at both ends at the top, because the boards at the top are going to stick up and the sides are going to lean down, and if you don't take some o f f , the ends will stick up too high in proportion to the bottom. Sometimes you cut some out of the bottom, a little strip from the bottom, if the boards
don't have a little swoop to them." 4 — Moore and Martin nail the two
sideboards to one of the stems, then bring the other ends of the sideboards together while their middles are held apart by a 3' divider board, placed there temporarily until the bulkhead is installed. The first bulkhead will largely determine the shape and curve of the board, and the decision about its dimen sions is the second most critical point. The wider it is, the greater the carrying capacity of the boat. Likewise, the side angles of the bulkhead determine the flare of the boat's sides, once the flexible sideboards are pulled into conformity with it. 62/WoodenBoat
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5 & 5a—For springing the sideboards so they fit the bulkhead, Moore clamps 4' planks to each sideboard near where the bulk head will be, holding them in position with a rope. Nails are then driven into the sides to secure the bulkhead in place—
cementcovered nails for the bulkheads and stems, because they are less likely to pull out under stress. 6— Placed bottomup on leveled sawhorses, the boat has a string stretched down its center from one end to the other to check for symmetry. If things look OK, the most treacherous stages of
bateau construction have been completed. 7—The middle bulkhead—the one between the minnow well and the live box—goes in next, followed by the second bulkhead, which forms the outer wall of the minnow well, and the third (shown here), which is the other wall of the live box. 8—Now for the remaining stem fastenings. "Nail the hell out
of it," says Moore. He claims that only dense mulberry wood can lake this many nails without splitting. 9—Leftover cypress from the bulkheads is used to make the 3" wide cross supports or "knees" for the bottom. Their spacing is about 15", and Moore advises, "Build the longer ones first. This way, if you botch up one, you can use it for a shorter crosspiece."
10—Moore has modified an old bread scraper for working down the sides so they'll be even with the rest of the bottom. A drawknife will not work, because one's knuckles would hit the cross supports.
11—All must be absolutely flush with the sideboards before the bottom can be put on the boat. It's quite an operation, and both Moore and Martin are at work here with hand planes. 12—Following a tradition established by legendary boat
builder Frank Galbraith, Moore places the two bottom boards at a slight angle to the true center of the boat, assuring that the ends of the seam, because they'll be back from the stems, will always be in the water and therefore will stay swelled up and watertight. 13—One bottom board is nailed in place, from the center out ward, before the other board is cut. Although silicone sealant is used along the seams in this bateau, heavy green paint (along with the usual good f i t ) kept the water out in the old days—at least in some of the boats. Other builders used cotton twine for caulking, or would "pooch" (compress with a blunt tool) one side of the mating edge, then plane the remaining wood down to it. The bruised or "pooched" wood would swell abnormally and keep the seam from leaking. When Moore is ready to nail on the second and final bottom plank, he'll draw it tightly against the first plank with furniture clamps. 14—Turned rightside up for the first time, the boat is ready for finishing work—dressing down the sideboards and bulkheads, installation of decking, and paint, which is always dark green over the entire boat. 62/Wooden Boat
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15—There is also a skeg, which Moore almost always puts on his boats so they'll keep running straight under the paddle. Skegs were put on rowing skiffs as well, but, according to Moore, "When we got to running motors on the skiffs, we quit p u t t i n g skegs on the boats." 16—Moore likes to deck over the bow and stern and the outboard sides of the live box and minnow well. A lattice work cover goes over the central part of the box and well to keep the fish from j u m p i n g out, and, of course, there are holes bored through the boat's bottom to let water flow into these compartments. 17—Stem guards—outer stems—of mulberry are added at each end of the boat for a finished appearance, and a hole is bored through the top of each stem for attaching a rope painter. 18—The optional seat, like the rest of the boat, is made from cypress boards. It is jamfitted between bulkhead and crosssupport and left unnailed so it can be moved to another location, if desired. "We would turn around and paddle backwards with the live box in front—just for traveling purposes—and then turn around and fish. We'd proba bly not paddle it back home backwards with the live box full of fish, because it wouldn't be practical." 19— Wyatt Moore tries out his not quitefinished Caddo Lake bateau. Bow and stern decking, stem guards, painting, and a latticework cover for the live box and minnow well will complete the boat. Jim Conrad is director of Oral History, East Texas State University Library, Commerce, Texas. Thad Sitton is an oral historian with the Texas Sesquicentennial Commission in Austin, Texas.
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R
ight here at the beginning, we might as well own up hat the following technique for building teak gratings is that of the Henry R. Hinckley Co. of South west Harbor, Maine. And everyone knows that Hinckley hasn't built wooden boats for over 20 years. What was WoodenBoat magazine doing in a shop that turns out fiber glass boats—having pictures taken,
even publishing a story? I hope the real answer lies in the description that follows, but here's our thinking: Readers have shown considerable interest in under standing how interior joinerwork is (or should be) dealt with. So, in complete agreement with these readers that something should be done, WoodenBoat began by seeking out an expe rienced builder who was: (a) turning out good work, (b) pro ducing enough to have attained both proficiency and efficiency
in his methods; and (c) near enough to our offices geographically to make the whole project economically feasi ble. Thus we turned to Hinckley's. What their hulls or decks or cabins are made out of really doesn't matter; the joinerwork is of wood and it is the joinerwork that interests us. Proper joinerwork isn't simply understood (although once under stood, it is often easily dealt with), much less easily presented in a single article. So we're getting into the subject a little at a time, trying to be thorough in what we cover. We hope you'll find this first piece, describing how a teak grating is built, a good start toward reaching a proper understanding of good joinerwork, and that you—like us—look beyond the fact that the grating shown in the following pictures was destined to grace the interior of a fiberglass boat. 62/WoodenBoat
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2—The notches that enable the grating cross pieces to interlock with those going the other
way are cut with a dado blade mounted in a 1—Milling the stock to the desired thickness and to the rough length is where this and most other woodworking projects begin. For reasons that will be obvious later, these pieces must be cut square and to equal lengths.
5—Two passes over the dado blade are required for each groove because the grooves are somewhat wider than the blade. This photo shows the start of a second pass. (The extreme end of the plank—marked by an "x" in the photo— will be dadoed to half its thickness for f i t t i n g the grating's margin piece.)
9—As a guide in assembly, the outline of the finished grating is marked on the assembly table, using an accurate pattern— upside down, because the grating will be built that way.
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table saw.
6 — W i t h the grooving complete and a regular blade installed
in the table saw, the grooved planks are cut into 1" strips from which the grating's crosspieces will be made.
10—Upon this marked outline, the grating is put together, starting with three thin strips and the wide notched one that will serve as a margin piece for one side of the grating.
3—To save time, the notched strips used in making up this grating start out as wider planks with grooves cut in them. Lines marking the groove boundaries have been carefully drawn on the plank edges, and the table saw's fence has been adjusted to index all the planks identically for each cut. Note that the fence is used for indexing only—not as a guide in the usual sense. The plank is held firmly against the miter guide -(set for 90°) while it passes across the blade: this eliminates the risk of the plank jamming between the fence and the blade and kicking back at the operator.
7—The other set of strips—that is to say, those that run at 90° to the first ones and seat in their notches—are likewise cut from a plank. They measure 1" x ½"
4—The center groove in each plank is made first, followed by the adjacent grooves on each side. The idea is to make all cuts for a given fence setting as a single operation.
8—The thickness of this second set of strips is finetuned by checking the fit in one of the notches.
11—One end of each remaining thin strip is tucked into a notch until all the notches are filled. (Margin pieces for the remaining sides will be installed later after the basic grating has been completed.)
12—Now the notched strips are laid in place and pushed firmly down over the intersecting strips, one by one, using one of the loose notched strips as a spacer.
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13—Flathead wood screws, driven from what will be the underside of the grating, hold things together permanently there is no glue used here.
14—Because a screw goes into each crossing, a power screw driver is a big timesaver.
17—For a guide in cutting a line that falls across the grating on the bias, a parallelsided guide plank is temporarily nailed so one of its edges is on the marked line. 18—Its other edge runs against and is guided by the table saw's fence, which has been set to match the width of the guide plank.
21 — Here's our grating w i t h its edges cut back for the margin pieces.
22—But w h i l e it is still possible to do so on the table saw, the
sides of the grating have to be cut to the marked outline. The fence assures that opposite sides will be parallel.
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15—The basic grating is now complete and can be turned rightside up to have its edges trimmed and margin pieces f i t t e d . The two side margins are being 16—Once again the plywood pattern is used, this time to determine positioned here for marking. the cut lines for the grating's edges.
19—Thus the cut is made, accurately and smoothly, at the marked line. Note the parallel line representing the inside edge of the margin piece. To make this cut, the grating will be turned over, the saw blade adjusted for halfthickness, and the fence reset for proper alignment of blade with line.
23—Now for the two final margins. First, their ends are cut to f i t against each other and against those margins already in place. Then they are securely clamped in position so they won't s h i f t while the grating is turned upside down...
20—Because this is a small grating, it can be easily flopped upside down or turned on i t s edge for making the margin plank cuts. A larger grating would be best left in one posi tion, with these kinds of cuts made by portable tools such as a router and a Skilsaw.
24—...for d r i l l i n g and fastening.
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25—At the pointed end, a separate piece is attached to
hold the ends of the margins together and to give them support.
26—Although there are other ways to give a grating's top surface a smooth and finished appearance, this big sander is probably the fastest.
27 (right)—If the pattern fits well, the completed grating will also fit well—and it does indeed, here in the interior of a new
Hinckley yawl. 28 (below)—As with most boatbuilding operations, there are various ways to make goodlooking gratings efficiently besides the technique described here. Some gratings have fulldepth strips in both directions, doublenotched where they cross. Others use a different method of joining the margin pieces.
Evaluate the next gratings you see, and try to figure out the sequence of steps used to build the ones you prefer. There are various places in a boat where gratings make sense. A small one at the base of the companionway ladder for drainage and bilge ventilation, a grating on the foredeck upon which ground tackle can be stored, and the familiar cockpit grating are possibilities. As units that can be built apart from the boat, gratings make fine winter projects. Maynard Bray is Technical Editor of WoodenBoat magazine.
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During the late 19th century and early 20th century the centerboard cat boat became the dominant design in the shallow waters of Barnegat Bay. The Barnegat type evolved from a New York Bay catboat brought to Waretown in 1854 by Captain Sam Birdsall. Three 19thcentury catboats still survive, KITTY (1875), MYTH (1890), and VIM
(1900). These older hulls have much the
same overall dimensions as MARY ANN, but are narrower, have a fuller bow with a plumb stem, and are much
deeper at the bilge. MARY A N N is 28' overall, 23' at the waterline, with an 11 '3" beam, and 2'7" draft, increased to 5'6" with the center board down. Her original mast was 45' and her boom 28', giving a sail area of
605 sq f t . She was marconi rigged from her first day, quite an innovation for catboats in 1922. The traditional cat boat had a gaff rig, with a gaff about threequarters the length of the boom.
The four other Acats which were built in 1923 to compete with MARY ANN
were given a "Swedish rig," with a short 6' gaff at the mast head. When MARY A N N swept all the races again in 1923, the competitive Acats all changed over to the marconi rig, and have remained so ever since.
The surviving boats are all very much like MARY ANN in hull dimen sions, though there are some subtle dif ferences. In the first few years they were given time allowances, but they were so
evenly matched that the allowances were withdrawn, and they raced boat for boat thereafter. Each boat has had her years of major cup victories and Bay championships. But the Acat fleet is not just strug gling to survive, it is thriving. The four older boats have been joined by a new one, built for Nelson R. Hartranft of Beachwood at the David Beaton and Sons yard in Mantoloking, and launch
ed June 20, 1982. Christened WASP, the
The beautiful new WASP, built at David Bea-
ton and Sons in Mantoloking, is the culmination of Nelson Hartranft's (below) love affair with the A-cats. Over the years, he has owned each of the surviving A-cats and has contributed greatly to their survival.
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boat was built from the plans of the burned TAMWOCK. The recent resurgence of interest in the Acats has centered around Nelson Hartranft and the construction of WASP. Nelson grew up in Ocean Gate on the south shore of the Toms River, and
learned to sail there in 15' sneakboxes. He remembers that although BAT was anchored in the river off Long Point then, he never got to sail in an Acat. "The owners took out their friends and some liquid ballast," he recalls, "and the kids weren't invited." But he never forgot his childhood interest, and when he launched WASP he told everyone it
was "the f u l f i l l m e n t of a childhood dream." Nelson knows the Acats were not always as well cared for as they should have been, or as they are now. "When I came home from Korea," he remembers, "SPY and LOTUS were up on blocks in
Beaton's yard with grass growing through their planks." For 20 years after his return from the service he built
up a variety of small businesses, which he manages now with his son, Nelson
SPY ( S 1 1 ) , MARY ANN (no number), BAT (T1), and TAMWOCK (S1) sail together off Seaside Park in 1924. TAMWOCK burned in a boatyard fire in 1941, but her plans, found in an antique shop, were used in the construction of the new A-cat WASP.
S., II. In 1975 he turned his attention again to the Acats, and purchased SPY. He bought a new sail, and proceeded to chance to teach his son Tom how to become Bay champion that year. In build a boat like this. Lolly is a superb 1977 he sold SPY, and bought BAT. He craftsman, and a perfectionist, and Tom then bought MARY A N N in 1978, sold is just like him." Lolly admits he was reluctant. The her in 1979, and j u s t recently bought LOTUS because he felt she wasn't get yard had quit construction when his ting the care she needed. At one time or father died because they couldn't make another, since 1975, he has owned all of any money at it. "We don't like to get the older Acats, and each of them is involved in that kind of work," he better off for his attention. BAT has insists, "because you have to put so stayed in his family, and is now owned many hours into it. You get to the point where you say 'we can't charge that and sailed by his son. When he decided he wanted to build much for the job,' so you wind up cut a new Acat, he turned to Lachlin ting back your price, and you're lucky "Lolly" Beaton, a thirdgeneration to break even." Lolly first ran into Nelson Har craftsman from a Scottish shipwright family. Lolly's skill and affection for tranft when Nelson owned MARY A N N . these boats have more than once saved "He talked me into working on her," Lolly remembers. "I didn't really want one of them from the scrap pile. "We never could have done it with to do it. But I didn't want to be respon out Lolly," Nelson says. "We tried fora sible for the death of the class, and I year to persuade him to build a new knew I could repair the boat." According to Lolly, the reason he Acat, but we didn't have a full set of plans. We had lines drawings, but no decided to build WASP was that Har table of offsets to make patterns from.'' tranft agreed that the job should not But the plans materialized as if by interfere with the yard's regular custom magic. A crewman from a visiting ers. Beaton's makes its money from
friend's boat, poking around in an old winter storage, summer slip rentals, chest of drawers in a local antique painting and minor repair, and similar
shop, found the complete plans for the burned TAMWOCK rolled up inside. Fortunately he knew what he had dis covered, and the plans found their way into Nelson's hands. When the plans turned up, Lolly Beaton agreed to do the job. "But the thing that really per suaded him," Nelson says, "was the
jobs that are not labor intensive. The agreement between the two was that WASP would be worked on when time permitted, and other work was not pressing. WASP's keel was laid on Febru ary 23, 1980, and she was launched on June 20, 1982. In between there were
many days when the "other customers" got more attention than Nelson's cat boat. "One spring day," Lolly recalls,
"he came in to see her, and it had been three weeks since he'd been there. I told him I didn't have a thing new to show him since he'd been here last. He smiled
and said, 'That was our agreement, wasn't it?' I always liked him for that. It's one thing to make an agreement,
and another to keep it when it isn't working out to your advantage."
WASP was built using the scantlings of TAMWOCK; neither Nelson nor Lolly would have it any other way. "We didn't build her to outclass the fleet. We didn't make her light, like you can do," Lolly said. "We built her strong to last." Nelson is sure that was the right thing to do. Competition is not the only issue with him. He places a higher value on the preservation of the class,
and on continuing a tradition of sound boat construction. He doesn't want money to make a big difference, or to
have the new boat take unfair advan tage of the older ones. He won't discuss the cost of WASP, and neither will Lolly Beaton. The Hartranfts have done well with their businesses, but they don't think of themselves as wealthy. The older Acats before rebuilding changed hands for very little money; about $4,000 bought MARY ANN in the spring of '83. Obvi ously, building a new boat or com 62/WoodenBoat
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pletely rebuilding an old one is another level of the game. Nevertheless, the owners of these boats have been small businessmen, middlemanagement exec utives, a teacher, a parttime boat mechanic—people who own midsize cars and sixroom houses. Of course, the upkeep is expensive, not only in money, but especially in time. The common denominator of the owners is not wealth, but their willingness to give up something important for the love of the Acats. And this is certainly true also of Lolly Beaton, who has saved them so often, sometimes at great cost to himself. Nelson loves to display the work manship that went into WASP. "Lolly selected all the cedar for the planks himself. Did you know they are all planed concave on the inside? And the outside face of the plank is the outside of the tree? It provides more even response to changes in water content." Naturally, with her dry hull and tight seams, her fair lines, stiff spars, and f l a t sail, WASP has won consis tently. "Sure, the new boat and the new sail are an advantage," Nelson admits. "But you still have to sail the boat well." He knows he has an advantage, but he's doing what he can to give it away. He is trying to arrange an agree ment among the owners to have every body start a season w i t h the same new sail. "We want everybody to be in "synch," and have a new sail at the same time. Our sailmaker, Skip More house of Medford, New Jersey, has agreed to make new sails at cost. That way you get down to the boat and sail ing, which is the way it should be." WASP doesn't always win, though, even though she is so new and nice. Marshall Warner, the new owner of MARY A N N , after going through a short learning period, managed to beat WASP in light airs in the 1983 Sewell Cup Race, and again in the final race series in September of that year. He learned racing in Escows, which, as he says, "are highly competitive, hightech boats, a different sailing atmosphere from the Acats." He had to learn the importance of boat balance in MARY A N N , fore and aft, and athwartships. The Acats carry a crew of six to eight, one of whose functions is to be shifting ballast, to move to balance the boat. Young Nelson S. Hartranft II, who has the reputation of being a fine Acat sailor, explains it this way: "If the crew is mobile and willing to move quickly
to the right spot, they can make the boat stand up better, particularly on reaches. On runs the crew has to get aft because the Acats, with the mast so far forward, 64
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ted States. The wind was 15 knots from the northeast that day, and there is an unwritten rule among the Acat owners (hat they will not race in winds over 18 knots, in order to protect the boats. They considered invoking the rule, but decided the race should go on. Just before the start, a crewman wedged MARY ANN's centerboard con trol stick between the board and the t r u n k . The crew tried to free the stick by pushing the board farther down with the boom crutch, but the crutch was too wide for the trunk and became wedged also. With the board stuck at 4 ½ ' and the Good Luck Point mark in shoal water, they considered withdrawing MARY ANN from the race. But w i t h only
Lachlan Beaton was reluctant to take on new construction work, but building WASP provided him with an opportunity to pass his boatbuilding skills on to his son Tom.
tend to nosedive. In his first couple of races, I thought Marshall might put his boat under; the crew was standing around watching when they should have been aft." Old accounts of preAclass catboat races tell of 20 to 30 sandbags being s h i f t e d d u r i n g a change of tack. Sand bagging has since been banned, because it puts a great strain on the boats, but "laying deck," that is, stretching out f u l l length along the windward deck, is still expected of the crew. Besides learning how to sail MARY A N N , Marshall had to learn how to con tend with the maintenance problems of an old wooden boat. MARY ANN appears to be in pretty good shape, but with a wooden veteran you can expect sur prises. At ten o'clock on the morning of the 1983 Sewell Cup Race, as he was being towed out of the marina, he noticed excessive play in the rudder. He turned back immediately, put MARY ANN up in the sling, and found that seven of the eight bolts holding the rudder to its post were loose and cor roded. It took two hours to bore new holes and install new bolts. He had a fast low up the bay to arrive at the start ing line just as the fiveminute gun went off. He learned a little more about such problems during the Toms River Chal lenge Cup race. This traditional cen terpiece of the racing season has been raced for by catboats (and others) since July 26, 1871, and is thought by Barne gat Bay enthusiasts to be the oldest con tinuously racedfor trophy in the Uni
three boats racing that year, they felt obliged to continue. The tide was wrong, and as expected they went hard aground at Good Luck Point. They lost the end of the boom overboard while striking the sail in the heavy breeze, and when the great sail scooped up a huge pull of water, the boom broke. MARY A N N had other trouble in that race. Her topsides had dried out, and the caulking had fallen out in places so you could see daylight through some of the seams. As long as the boat raced in light air, and kept those planks out of the water, she was manageable with two electric pumps and two hand pumps aboard. "But in the heavy breeze," Mar shall recalls, "the topsides were im mersed, and we took on a lot of water. When we went downwind, the water ran forward and pushed the bow under, so we slowed down and lost our lead. When we went below to look, the water was a foot deep in the bilge." He knows now that a complete recaulking will be required before the next season. He says the job will probably have to be done every three or four years. Marshall provided a list of his expenses for the first year of his owner ship of MARY ANN. The average owner of the average old wooden boat will recognize these numbers right away: Winter and summer storage and slip $800 Paint, sandpaper, etc., for spring cosmetics 150 Hauling out rudder and other repairs 200 Replace one shroud 50 Repair broken boom 300 Total $1,500 It may be that Marshall Warner escaped lightly with MARY ANN this year. Other owners of the older Acats have said that each year some major job has to be done. Don Sayia, who owned
SPY for about 20 years, and won a Bay championship in 1954, said, "The first year we bought a new Dacron sail. It was the first year Dacron sailcloth was available. One of the other owners was a traditionalist and bought a new Egyptian cotton sail. We ate him up that year, and the next year he switched over to Dacron. We reefed out the seams and recaulked the first year. We replaced the rudder one year, and you have to replace frames once in a while." The first owner of BAT, Edward Crabbe, is now 84 and as straight and strong as the boats he loved. He still lives in the house on the Toms River waterfront where he kept BAT for 30 years. He has a wry smile as he recalls the problems of keeping an Acat. "Everything's all wrong about these boats. The mast and rig are too big. The mast is way forward where the shrouds can't get a good lead angle. They sail hard with too many crew (we limited them to six under the old rules) and that's a strain on the hull, with the rig pulling one way and the crew weight the other. It twists the h u l l out of shape. We had to replace the iron strap around the maststep once, and we lost some framing from the twisting." The strap Ed speaks of is fastened to the chainplates and led under the mast step to keep the mast from pushing the keel away from the boat. All of the A cats have these reinforcements, but the Acat sailors remember that MARY ANN once had problems in spite of the strap. About eight years ago, while racing hard downwind, her keel parted from the hull and she had to be beached. She was repaired, but the same thing hap pened two weeks later, and they had to take her to Beaton's yard, where Lolly put a new strap in and did the job right. Eventually, though, fixing, repair ing, replacing, and reinforcing are just not enough for a 60yearold racing catboat. Roy Wilkens, a coowner of SPY, discovered this when he took his boat to Lolly Beaton to see if he could fix some nasty leaks around the center board trunk. When Lolly and Tom took her apart they found the keel had rotted, the stem had cracked under the maststep, nine frames were broken, and the hull was permanently twisted out of shape. Some of the wood in the keel, centerboard trunk, and deck frames had rotted away next to rusting iron spikes used in the original construction. The only way to save her, they said, was to rebuild her structure completely—keel, frames, floors, deck frames, and deck. The only parts that could be saved were the cedar planks, the transom, and the pretty, curved mahogany deckhouse.
WASP was built to the plans for TAMWOCK, an A-cat designed by Francis Sweisguth and built in 1923. TAMWOCK was a successful racer, and WASP was built to her scantlings.
Roy is a special physical education teacher in the Toms River high schools, and no millionaire. "We had to make a decision," he recalls, "so we decided to go whole hog, to rebuild her from the bottom up." He knew he needed a partner to help him w i t h the money, and he found Jim Reynolds, a member of a longtime sailing family in Island Heights. Working with young Tom Beaton at night and on weekends, and with the help of friends and even enthu siastic strangers, they completed the job in time for SPY's 60th birthday party, on Memorial Day. SPY entered this season's racing series ready to compete with the new WASP on even terms. She was the equiv alent of a new boat, in structure and appearance, and she had a brand new sail to drive her. The weather for the f i r s t half of the season was unusually blustery and damp, which favored SPY.
according to Barnegat Bay historians. And in fact she did well, winning four races through the end of July, includ ing the Toms River Challenge Cup. In the lighter airs of August, WASP, like her ancestor TAMWOCK, did much bet ter, frequently sailing through SPY's lead on the first downwind leg. At the season's end, SPY had won five cups to WASP's four, but two of her victories were in races not counted for the Bar negat Bay Championship series. So WASP was the Bay champion, but SPY had given notice that the competition with a Beatonrebuilt boat would be quite even. Roy Wilkens is convinced the re building was successful. "We're very happy w i t h the performance of SPY," he said after the final race. "We have some ideas that will improve our down wind sailing next year, and we think we'll do even better." Acat enthusiasts
Constructed of cedar on oak with Amazon mahogany trim, WASP was meticulously built at Beaton's when there was time free from
their normal storage and repair work.
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are now looking forward to the return of BAT next year, and the prospective owners of LOTUS now know that Lolly Beaton can make their boat competitive, too. More people are getting involved, not so much in the history of these boats, as in their future. Roy Wilkens is already talking about the next rebuilding of SPY being his son's problem. As Don Sayia says, "There's always some body, some n u t crazy enough to come along and take care of
the Acats." And the community of interest in the Acats is becoming ever wider. For many years, the Acats were a sort of older men's club. As Nelson Hartranft remembers, kids were not invited. Women, too, were excluded, u n t i l the late 1960s, when Millie Applegate—whose husband, Riley "Britt" Apple gate owned LOTUS at the time—broke down the sex barrier. "I just told Britt I was coming aboard, and there wasn't much he could do," she recalled. "They gave us women the rotten jobs, too, pumping out the bilge, and 'laying deck.'" But one of the encouraging features of the recent revival of interest in the Acats is the participation of younger people. SPY's Roy Wilkens is 38, as is Marshall Warner, the new owner of MARY ANN. Nelson S. Hartranft II, who owns and sails BAT, is just 25. SPY was rescued from the weeds at Beaton's in 1974 by Bill Haddon, then 21, and four of his collegeage friends. They fixed her up and sailed her for two years before selling her. And Tom Beaton, who has acquired the skills of his shipwright family, is now 27. He'll be able to care for the Acats into the next century. Nelson Hartranft, remembering his exclusion from the Acats when he was young, has made an effort to give the young sailors of the Ocean Gate Yacht Club the chances he never had. He has invited the winning sailors in the club's junior program each week to crew on WASP in the weekend Acat race. "They don't have to come," he says, "but at least they're invited." The Acats have come to represent an unusual kind of competition, where the real goal is to celebrate a beautiful class of boats, where everybody is cheered, and the whole community is the winner. It isn't the AMERICA's Cup, with its hoopla and high tech and multimilliondollar syndicates. But the Toms River Challenge Cup for Acats is very old, and the things you need to do to win it depend less on dollars and more on the sacrifices of downhome sailors. The Cup competition probably won't get on national TV, but around Barnegat Bay it has its own special glow. George R. Petty is a wooden boat owner and free-lance writer from around Barnegat Bay, who masquerades as a professor of medieval English language and literature at Montclair (New Jersey) State College.
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The
SCOTTISH FISHING
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FLEET Rugged enough for the North Sea
Text and photographs by Jeremy Cresswell
S
cotland is still one of the foremost builders of wooden fishing boats in Europe, news that may well be a sur prise to many of you. The Scottish fleet—more than half the boats are wooden—is one of the most uptodate fleets anywhere in the world. Classed as inshore craft, the boats fish the length and breadth of the North Sea, out to the west as far as St. Kilda, and way down to the waters of the southwest of England. This predominance of wooden boats
seems strange, considering that steel has been around for a very long time and fiberglass long enough to be widely used in commercial craft. The Dutch
and Belgian fleets contain hardly any wooden craft, yet they fish the same
waters. Tradition does play a powerful part in the preference for wood, but the overriding reason for the Scottish skip pers' choice of this material is its super iority in craft up to around 85'. A
wooden boat of good design has a motion and a seakindliness not pos sessed by craft of other materials; it is
oncefamous Nobles yard of Fraserburgh went under during the late1970sto 1982 slump, when practically no new vessels were built. The yards that sur vived stayed in business by doing repairs, refits, and modernizations; one yard, Thomson of Buckie, turned to care and maintenance, to await better days, rather than give up. This cautious optimism paid off—today, supplies are better, prices more competitive, and the yards are building again. The beginning of 1983 heralded a new confidence in the fishing industry, due to the fact that the European Eco nomic Community had reached some kind of agreement about fish stock handling and allocation. The industry, traditionally used to rapid changes in its f o r t u n e s , responded by placing orders for new boats, most of the larger Scottish ones being wooden craft. There are now about 20 substantial craft on order or being built. By anyone's reck oning, that is a lot of money's worth of investment. Most of the yards currently building are situated on the East Coast of Scot land, and one port—Buckie—even boasts three yards with wellfilled order
the natural buoyancy of the material that creates this virtue. Until a few years ago, Scotland possessed large fleets of big side trawlers and drifters built in steel, mostly over 100' in length. But books. In that particular area there has
the change in fishing patterns has forced been a crisis over skilled labor. During
Since 1983 more than 20 substantial fishing boats have been on order or built in Scottish yards. Top—The 80' ABILITY on her launch day in June 1984. She was built by Jones of Buckie. Above—The wheelhouse of the 75' Jones-built RELIANT. Left—The 66' SEAGULL, recently launched by the MacDuff Boatbuilding and Engineering Company of MacDuff.
their demise, and the much smaller, yet highly sophisticated, inshore craft now rule the roost. The fishing port of Peterhead, north of Aberdeen, is often crammed with such vessels, and its present fleet numbers around 400. Since the immediate post1945 boom, several crises have struck the boatbuild ing industry that creates these vessels. Perhaps the worst development for the woodoriented yards (and at the time, most of them built in wood only) came during the 1960s and early 1970s when there was a decided turn toward steel. Several yards, including Herd & Mac Kenzie, made a successful transition to steel building, but others died off. The most recent casualty occurred when the
the most recent low period, some staff left, never to return, and those who hung on for better days are now work ing at f u l l stretch. Most of these yards are fine, modern establishments equip ped with capacious building sheds for undercover construction and with plenty of gear for handling large lumps of timber. Some of the sheds can accommodate two or three hefty vessels at once. They don't really fit into the lay yachtsman's idea of a wooden boat building yard as being a cluster of brokendown sheds around a slipway that has seen better days. But the old traditions are also very present, as wooden boat building demands con siderable hand craftsmanship. 62/WoodenBoat
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British fishing vessels are laid down and built to the rules of the Sea Fish Industry Authority. Essentially, these rules are a set of minimum standards,
and every yard has plenty of leeway to apply its own ideas. (The differences of approach between the three Buckie yards alone is quite marked.) Great attention is paid to the desires and requirements of owners and skippers. During recent years, big wooden
craft have been built, for the most part, with an eye to combination fishing. While usually launched with just one
fishing rig, they can very easily be fitted with extra gear to allow for various fishing methods. The two most favored techniques are seine netting and trawl ing. Some boats are geared up for gill
netting, and others for purse seining as well. Without exception, the boats posi Buckie, Scotland, is virtually the
wooden boatbuilding capital of Great Britain, with three major yards—Herd Jr MacKenzie,
Jones, and Thompson's. Above— RADIANT WAV and
BUNILLIDH under construction at Herd & MacKenzie. Right—The 75' trawler MORAY ENDEAVOUR framed
and planked at Thompson's.
Bottom— The 45' trawler-yacht BANAMH
A1GHSTIR
receiving the finishing touches at the Jones yard.
tively bristle with electronics of the most sophisticated kind, so necessary for success in today's fishing industry.
In fact, electronics and machinery account for about twothirds of the total cost of a vessel, so the hull is rela tively cheap.
Scottish fishermen tend to be go getters. They work exceedingly hard, and many families are operating craft with a value in excess of £500,000. Ownership is generally split between families, merchants, and other inter ested parties, and so earnings are shared accordingly. Not many of these craft are fleet owned, as were the big steel trawlers. Pride in the vessels is considerable, and this is reflected in their colorful paint jobs. Blues, reds, and greens are popular colors, with black being per haps the classic, set off with a yellow cove stripe and gilt nameboards. Super structures are generally white about the shelter deck (if fitted), and the wheel house/deckhouse is traditionally built of wood that is grained for a "paneled" effect, very handsome when carried out. The graining (properly called "scum bling") is a skilled art in its own right. Deck machinery is most often blue or green; the inside of the bulwarks is painted buff and white. Practically all the vessels have a white boottop (with out it they look undressed!), and in addition to this, quite a few have an additional pink stripe immediately below the boottop, running back from the bow for several feet. This is a good luck symbol dating from the days of sailing herring luggers. The numberone port for building is Buckie. It can be described as the wooden boat building capital of Brit ain. At the time of writing, there are no
70
WoodenBoat 62
Map dawrn
by
Jane Crosen
fewer than eight large fishing boats under construction there; together, these involve about £4,000,000 of invest ment. By any standard, this is a lot of money, and it has ensured the viability of the three yards—Herd & MacKenzie,
built for charter work.) On the order book is a 75' seiner that will be similar to RELIANT; construction starts this year. At the other end of the Harbor from the Jones yard is Thomson's Shipyard. Jones (Buckie) Ltd., and Thomson's This is a straightforward yard of the Shipyard—for some time to come. more oldfashioned type. It does not The Jones yard can be traced back to possess large construction sheds, and 1900, when it started up as a sawmill its boats are launched straight into the supplying timber to other boatyards. open sea. Started in 1880, this is Buck The yard began boatbuilding in the ie's oldest yard, and 72yearold Wil years between the two World Wars, and liam Thomson represents the third in 1920 the first fishing boat went down generation since the yard's foundation. its ways. Besides building fishing craft, Among the many craft turned out by Jones has also built considerable num the yard for Commerical purposes were bers of other types of wooden work one or two oddities, the most curious of boats, as well as Admiralty vessels. The which is perhaps the replica of the work has not just been confined to COMET, a 43' paddle steamer that was wood; steel and alloy craft have been Britain's first commercial paddler. First built, too. Many yachts have been built, and foremost, though, the yard builds and perhaps the bestknown class to fine fishing vessels, and William Thom come out of this yard is the Speyclass son's office walls are well covered with MFV (motor fishing vessel)type motor photographs of his products. sailer, a true trawleryacht of Scottish Early this year the yard launched character. the 75' trawler MORAY ENDEAVOUR, Just now, the yard has two 75' sein and is currently well into finishing off ers under construction. One is a G.L. two other 70footers. All three vessels Watson design, and the other is a Stew are of MacAllister design. One is a little art MacAllister design. They follow unusual in that she has a cruiser stern on from two other seiners built in the in preference to a transom. This has the last year, the 75' RELIANT and the 80' effect of enhancing the line of the hull. ABILITY. In addition to the fishing ves The third Buckie yard is Herd & sels, the yard also completed a 45' MacKenzie. Founded in 1903, this yard trawleryacht of Watson design. She is has built an enormous number of craft called BANAMH AIGHSTIR, which is in wood, steel, and other materials. Gaelic for "Mistress." (She is mistress Yachtsmen can thank the yard espe to Dave Littleworth, who has had her cially for the fine trawleryachts turned
out in the 1960s and early 1970s, which are firmly based on the Scottish fishing boat model. The real pinnacle was the '60sbuilt topsail schooner CAPTAIN SCOTT. Five years ago, Herd & Mac Kenzie was taken over by the Fisher man's Mutual Association (Buckie) Ltd. This was when the yard was in some d i f f i c u l t y due to slumped orders. The takeover was to protect the interests of the fishing industry, but doesn't pre vent the yard from building craft other than fishing boats. In the last 12 months, Herd & Mac Kenzie has completed three vessels. The
largest is the HAZELMORE II. She is a 75' seiner to the yard's own design, and is a slightly beefedup, transomsterned ver sion of HAZELMORE, built by the yard some 10 years ago. This Catpowered shelterdecker's h u l l has nice lines, which are not hidden by the white painted deck shelter. Also completed at the yard were BUNILLIDH and RADIANT WAY, the latter as a trawler for English owners. BUNILLIDH is only 58'; RADI ANT WAY is much the same design but stretched by 4'. This vessel's keel is also boxed in steel as added protection against scraping bottom, which she will have to do at her home port. Just now the yard has another vessel of about 62' under construction, with the hope of further orders shortly. A few miles east of Buckie is Mac Duff, the home of the MacDuff Boat b u i l d i n g & Engineering Company. This firm has been conspicuous in 62/WoodenBoat
71
recent years for its success securing being fitted out, a hull under construc haven is the Forbes yard. This family orders when other yards failed to. tion in the shed itself, and the frames concern has a reputation for producing Though the hulls are always built in wood, the yard has a sophisticated quay side engineering setup that does an enormous amount of updating work on older vessels (including wheelhouses, deck shelters, spars, etc.). The construc tion shed is very modern, and on every occasion that I have visited the yard, there have been a justlaunched vessel
and main members of another vessel the toughest of all wooden craft in Scot being readied for assembly. The yard tish ports. Roderick Forbes is the firm's works very fast, of that there is no manager, and he has been most success doubt. In the last year TRANQUILITY, f u l in procuring orders over the past CHELARIS, SEAGULL, and OUR PRIDE
have slid down the ways, and there is a n o t h e r vessel a l m o s t ready f o r launching. In the nearby ruined port of Sand
year. The most recent vessel completed is the 75' ARIANE, and in preceding months, the yard also built the ROSE OF SHARON I I I , the JANET SATE, and the
FRANCES BOJEN. The three vessels are
FISHING VESSEL SCANTLINGS All of the big wooden boats (over 45') built for the Scottish fishing fleet are really of composite construction, or perhaps more correctly, semicomposite. A true compo site vessel is generally considered to have a metal skeleton clad with wood or some other material. In these fishing
craft, however, only the deckbeams are steel. The frames and other main members are mostly wood, so semi composite seems a more appropriate term. Steel deck beams came into use initially in enginerooms, as a fire prevention measure. Now the shortage of suitable lengths of oak has meant the adoption of steel beams and carlins
throughout. The Scottish vessels are mainly larch (hackmatack) planking on oak frames, with Oregonpine decking. Most timber is native. Iroko is practically the only exotic hard wood in use on these boats. (This contrasts strongly with the English yards, which make heavy use of imported hardwoods in fishing boats, using iroko especially.) Beaminess has long been a feature of the Scottish inshore fishing boat, the average lengthtobeam ratio being 3:1. In smaller craft, this sometimes runs 2.5:1! Most
of the current generation of boats have transom sterns, are f u l l bodied, and carry their beam well forward to the shoulders. The larger craft invariably have wheelhouses/ deckhouses of steel or alloy, and they also sport deck shel ters of one form or another. The shelters are mostly of alloy construction, and tend to be of threequarterlength style. This means that the decks of the vessels are covered in, except for a small working area right in the stern. Any fishing gear that needs to be worked from the side of the vessel is worked through doors in the shelter. There is no doubt that these structures have greatly increased the working comfort of the crew and have also contributed to seaworthiness, as the main deck can no longer be easily flooded. Scottish skippers seem to appreciate comfort, for they have a decided preference for aftofamidship wheel houses, at least in the bigger craft. Nearly all of the smaller boats have forward wheelhouses, owing to the need for a
clear aft working area for stacking large numbers of prawn, lobster, and crab traps. Hull construction is invariably massive, be the vessel small or large. A typical vessel of around 70' to 75' in length has main timber dimensions approximately as follows:
Most of the vessels have steel sister keelsons; one yard, Herd & MacKenzie, uses a sophisticated main keelson in steel with side webs. Frames, either single or paired, are about 4½" wide in facing and molded 12" wide at floors, 8½" wide at futtocks, and 6½" at their heads. The frames are generally carried to full rail height when a shelter deck is to be fitted, rather than cut short below deck level. Separate stanchions are not considered strong enough. Sternpost cutoffs vary, as some craft are "softnosed." Transom framing varies considerably. For example,
one yard favors steel transom frames. The transoms vary between 2 ¾" for the skin, 3¾" for wales and topsides, 3¾ for the bilge, 3" for the transom, and 2½" for decking. Beams are galvanized steel welded into steel shelves which are throughbolted into the frames immediately above the clamps. All carlins are steel, as are the bulkheads on either side of the engineroom. Engines are usually around 500 hp, with Kelvin, Caterpillar, and Deutz being popular. A second engine is fitted to drive the hydraulics, etc. All fastenings are galvanized bolts and nuts, or nails of (mostly) the 5½" patent flat type. 72
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big 75footers. Forbes boats use heavier
thanusual scantlings, and incorporate more steel into the hulls than do the other yards. The radiused transoms are
framed in steel and are prefabricated before being lifted into place. In the case of the ROSE OF SHARON III, a mas sive steel shoe encases half the depth of the keel and extends up the sternpost as far as the waterline. The yard, in com mon with most of the others, has further orders on the books and is currently well into the construction of another vessel.
In the ancient Kingdom of Fife, close by the home of golf, St. Andrews, lies the ancient port of St. Monans, home of Miller of St. Monans. This yard is perhaps the most famous of the Scottish workingcraft yards, as it has built a large number of worldrenowned Miller Fifer yachts. Mostly ketchrigged, these craft are of the motorfishing vessel type but slimmed down a little. They can claim to be true trawler yachts, a title not deserved by most so called craft on the market. Miller is now a part of the McTay holding group, having been taken over a few years ago during a depressed period which all but brought the yard to its knees. The McTay Group, a conglomerate with an interest in steel fabrication and special ist steel craft, put the yard back on its feet. Reputations are certainly not a guarantee of survival, but they can help! The Miller yard has produced a huge number of wooden craft of all sorts, and only gave in to its first steel
Scottish fishing boat construction tends to be massive in proportion to the vessel's size. Above—An 80' seiner at Jones of Buckle. Below—Thompson's 75' trawler MORAY ENDEAVOUR features double-sawn frames and wood sister keelsons. Note the single bilge stringers.
MFV last year. Yachts have played a particularly significant part in the Miller story, and some of the loveliest came off the drawing board of John Bain. Today, Miller is concentrating on fishing boats both in wood and steel, launching its first steel fishing boat, ORUNA, in 1983. The year 1984 has seen the completion of two 75footers. One,
the SEDULOUS IV, has been completed craft to their credit in recent years. All as a shelterdecked seiner; the other, are to much the same design, and are COROMANDEL, has been completed as 40' transomsterned craft with forward wheelhouse shelters and broad, open a trawler for Grimsby owners. On the East Coast are three other cockpits. Few other yards have tackled yards working in wood and able to such craft in the British Isles in recent handle large craft. They are: Gerrard years. MacKay has j u s t completed its Brothers of Arbroath, MacKay of Ar broath, and the Eyemouth Boatbuild largestever vessel, SHARRADALE, of ing Company. The Arbroath yards are some 72' overall, and has since gone back to its more usual repair and refit both openslipway builders. The Gerrards have completed the work. The Eyemouth yard has completed 58' ORION II, a trawler with a three quarterslength shelter deck, and have a 45' trawler, and is now in the last now started on a 54' trawler for a local stages of fitting out a cruisersterned team of skippers. Gerrard Brothers also seinertrawler called WHITE WINGS. specializes in the building of wooden She is 66' overall and is unusual for passenger launches, and have five such Scotland in that she is entirely planked
in iroko on the usual oak frames. This Kelvinengined vessel, incidentally, has the same name as one of the oldest fish ing boats still working in Scotland. The oldtimer was built as a sailing
Fifie lugger, and still has no wheel house. She still possesses the "skegs" (now boxed over) that were used to f a c i l i t a t e folding down the massive foremast she used to carry. Over on the West Coast, the most notable yard is Nobles of Girvan. Orig inally from the East Coast, the family set up in Girvan in 1946. Soon a fine reputation was established for the grace f u l ringnet boats much favored in the West for herring fishing. A Noble boat is easily picked out from a crowd of boats in port. Her shape is particularly good, and the decorative carvings at her bow are usu ally of thistles. Lately, the yard has been busy in repair, refit, and modernization work, and has missed out on recent orders. It is tooled up and ready to go at short notice, with several designs to offer. The most recent new boat off the ways is RAMBLING ROSE, a handsome,
varnished vessel, built for Irish owners. Peter Noble, who now handles yard affairs, is not unhappy with the present situation because at least there is plenty else to do other than build. Scotland, then, is not a backwater where wood somehow just lingers on. The best of wood and other technolo gies have been combined to produce
among the finest working craft earning their keep and more, on a sea that has always tested vessels to their limits.
Wooden boat building in Scotland is a multimillionpound industry! Jeremy Cresswell, from Aberdeen, Scotland, is a free-lance marine writer and photographer who specializes in small wooden commercial and fishing craft. He also operates his own trawler-yacht and is a member
of Her Majesty's Coast Guard. 62/WoodenBoat
73
CONCOURS
and hang the expense! 74
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D'ELEGANCE... A mazing, not a fingerprint," this said by a A woman who was stunned by the stupefying perfection of the gleaming speedboats at the Tahoe Yacht Club's 12th annual Concours d'Elegance. "Maybe so," said her husband, "but essentially these boats are all the same." He was obviously a tire kicker from the flatlands, so nobody corrected him— none of the owners of the Gar Woods and the Fay & Bowens, the Hackers and the Minettes. They were too busy keeping the fingerprints under control. The Concours d'Elegance wasn't just a speedboat show. Nothing with a name like that could be so plebian. This was a *Speedboat*Show*. The Run for the Roses of shows. The ne plus ultra. The Big Kahuna. The letitallhangout doordie. If the boats at the Concours were that perfect—and they were—if the competition was that stiff—and it was— then the difference between first place and no place could very well come down to a fingerprint or a speck of dust, even a droplet of water if one were so unfor tunate as to have such a disgraceful liquid leap from the surface of the lake and mottle a 12layersof handrubbedvarnish surface at an inopportune moment. Nobody was taking any chances. As the covey of judges made its way down the floating piers that fingered out from the main dock at Tahoe City,
by Peter H. Spectre Photographs by Benjamin Mendlowitz
Left—HIGH HOPES, a
1937 Hackercraft owned by Steve Lapkin, runs away from the pursuit. The great thing about Lake Tahoe is that no matter what direction you take, mountains are always ahead and
astern. Below—Is if a transoceanic jet plane) An Art Deco train? An avant-garde streetcar? No, it's the stainless steel cabinhouse of Buzz Cibb's THUNDERBIRD, a 55' 1939
Hacker custom runabout—the King, Queen, Prince, Princess, Duke, and Duchess of Lake Tahoe.
Right—OF COURSE, a 28' 1969
Riva Super Aquarama owned by William Bones. Not considered "antique" by Tahoe
Yacht Club rules, the Italian Rivas, of which there are a considerable number on the Lake, are nonetheless classy
boats.
Middle left—NOSTALGIA'S instrumentation—elegantly simple. Middle right—OF COURSE'S
instrumentation—reminiscent
of a sports car from the late 1950s. Bottom—An amber field of varnish, NOSTALGIA is a 21'
1924 Fay & Bowen owned by Alan Furth.
California, excited exhortations pre ceded them. "Get ready. They're com ing." The dust rags and chamois cloths waved; the owners took deep breaths. It was like the bodybuilders who pump up before the Mr. Olympia poseoff, like the Miss America finalists who rub
Vaseline over their teeth to make their smiles more dazzling when they hit the runway at Atlantic City. This was ser ious business. There were three antique wooden speedboat shows at Lake Tahoe last summer, three opportunities for the upper levels of boat freakdom, the clas sic boat collectors, the men and women whose money knows its object, to strut their s t u f f . Two of the shows were gawkandgape affairs, with little
attempt to separate the cosmic boats from the merely great ones. (Maybe that
isn't totally true—the Tahoe Yacht Club held an "Invitational Classic Boat Concours" earlier in the summer, but everybody knew it was only a warmup for the main event.) This one, the show
with cachet, the Concours d'Elegance, was for the high rollers—the people who not only wanted to know that a distinguished panel of their peers con sidered their boat to be the top of the line, but who also wanted a blue ribbon or two to prove it. Hey, what the hell. Maybe even a silver trophy. Lake Tahoe has two ingredients essential to the preservation of antique 76
WoodenBoat/62
wooden speedboats: climate and money. Situated 6,500' high in the Sierra Neva das, straddling the border between California and Nevada, surrounded by mountain peaks and coniferous forests,
the lake is quite simply a jewel. The weather in the summer months is clear and dry, with hot days and cool nights. In the winter, sparkling sunny days are interspersed with periods of heavy snow
(an average of 50' per year, or so they say). The lake waters are cold year
round, in the 50s near the surface and 40s below. Cool waters, dry mountain air—woodrot spores are few and far between. Pure mountain lake, eyecrushing
scenery, proximity to the Nevada gam bling casinos, Tahoe attracts summer folk with money—folding money, as my grandfather would have said; real money, as Everett Dirkson was fond of saying (I paraphrase: "A million here, a million there: pretty soon you're start
Left and below—For all its excessiveness, THUNDERBIRD is still the ultimate neck-twister on the surface of Lake Tahoe. Once owned by William Harrah of gambling casino fame, she is a 70-mph cocktail lounge with a mirrored Art Deco interior. Power' Twin 2,000hp V-12 Allison aircraft engines. You can charter this boat for $500 an hour.
78
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ing to t a l k real money"); Western money, the kind wielded by people who, unaffected by the strange rituals of "old" Eastern money, see what they want and buy it. I'm not sure how many wooden speedboats there are on Lake Tahoe, but I do know that approximately 75,
which represented the cream off the top, were entered in the Concours d'Elegance. Dick Clarke, who runs Sierra Boat Company over in Carnelian Bay, stores more than 200 during the winter months. My guess is that there
are at least 500, probably more, spread out around the shores of an oval lake that is only about 25 miles long. Think about that for awhile. Think about the fact that these boats aren't Brand X buzzcraft built by farmers out in Iowa and restored by grocery clerks in their spare time. These are Hackercrafts, Gar Woods, MinetteShields, C e n t u r y s , ChrisCrafts, Dodges, and Fay & Bow
ens built by craftsmen of the old school and restored professionally by people like Dick Clarke, who know precisely what they are doing.
Lake Tahoe never had an indige nous boatbuilding industry, so the boats you see there now were, manufactured all over the country and shipped in by special order. Many of the boats have never known a home other than the lake and have remained in the same f a m i l y for generations, but as the demand has risen in recent years for restorable craft, boats have been import ed from as far away as Lake George,
Above— What else could it be but a Hacker-designed Gold Cupper? This is CHLOE, 24' of continuous curve, one of 19 heart-stoppers owned by Alan Furth. Left—MISS ALEXIE, a 1927 26' Baby Gar Jr. owned by Ken Schull. The day after this photograph was taken, MISS ALEX1E blew up and was declared a total loss. Below—Dick Clarke's own REDSKIN, a 20' racing launch built in 1912. Unlike most other restorations on the Lake, she has a painted hull. The engine is a 4cylinder 110-hp 1913 Wisconsin—the very first engine produced by that company.
New York, and the Muskoka Lakes, Ontario. Even new Rivas have been
62 WoodenBoat
79
brought in from Italy. As a result the lake has the look of a universal speed boat museum, where if you squint your eyes selectively, you could be at Lake
Winnipesaukee or Geneva, the Thou sand Islands or Moosehead. At the higher levels of collectordom, it's like a monumental poker game with antique boats as the currency rather than chips or silver dollars: I'll see your Gar Wood
from Lake George and raise you a Hacker from Minnetonka. The king of the collectors is easily
Alan Furth, president of the Southern Pacific railroad and currently the owner of 39 (count 'em) antique wooden speedboats. A short, stocky, genial
man, Furth doesn't particularly stand out in a crowd, but his boats certainly
do. At the 1984 Concours, the Furth stable was represented by S I L V E R CLOUD, a 27' 1933 Hacker Special;
CHLOE, a 24' 1934 Hackercraft Gold Cup; KAHUNA, a 21' 1948 Gar Wood doublecockpit runabout; and NOSTAL GIA, a 27' 1924 Fay & Bowen launch. (At one point Furth was heard to say, "NOSTALGIA is my most disciplined
restoration." A woman turned to him and said, "Oh, that was very satisfy ingly put.") The other 35 boats in his collection were held back in reserve, perhaps ready to be thrown into the fray if the competition got out of hand. There were other multiple entries in
the Concours, including two from Dick Clarke and two more from his Sierra Boat Company. Actually, one could easily claim that Clarke had the largest number of boats in the show, since he is
the major restorer of wooden speed boats in the Lake Tahoe area, even the West, perhaps the entire country. Such is Clarke's deserved reputation and skill that those owners who seek profes sional restoration and maintenance for their boats unhesitatingly go to Sierra Boat and then enter them in competi tion. A f u l l restoration by Clarke isn't exactly cheap, but then again, his clients aren't exactly broke. F. Scott Fitzgerald once observed that the rich are different from you and me. If he had lived long enough to meet the boat collectors out at Lake Tahoe, he probably would have constructed a corollary about them, but I won't put words in his mouth. It is sufficient to sav that their state of mind is such that 80
WoodenBoat 62
the wrecking of an antique speedboat show up year after year, eventually they in the Hollywood movie On Golden will all be winners. The last boat to Pond was probably more shocking to win, the one that could drive a black them than the stroke suffered by the stake through the heart of the show,
character played by Henry Fonda in the could very well be a $25 flatiron skiff same movie. Even if it were only a nailed up out of 2 x 4s and a few orange movie and even if the budget held crates by a 12 year old in his backyard. enough money to hire a team of Italian The Tahoe Yacht Club judging violinmakers to glue every stick of the panel doesn't take a tour of the assem boat back together, it just isn't right to bled boats at the Concours and then treat a classic speedboat in that way. determine the winners by a show of Mintcondition wooden speedboats hands. Rather, it has a scoring sheet must be kept in mint condition. Wood that allows a maximum point total of en speedboats that aren't in mint condi 98. The perfect boat's exterior and tion must be made mint, immediately, planking will get 12 points, while its and hang the expense. The concept wiring will be worth only 4; interior reminds me of antique automobiles. and upholstery 12, versus engine opera Model A Fords are no longer allowed to tion (does it run?) 8; stain and finish 12 f a l l into that condition known as ja points, elegance 10; engine authenti lopy (even the word has virtually dis city 12, lights and accessories 8, etc. The appeared from our lexicon). Every boat that racks up the most points in its Model A worthy of the name has to look class wins. exactly as it did when it rolled off Hen But it's not as simple as that. Will ry's famous line—that is to say, mint— somebody please tell me how "elegance" before anyone today will take it seri can be quantified without reverting to a ously. Collectors want perfection. s t a t e m e n t l i k e "Elegance is, well, Of course, defining perfection is elegant"? another matter entirely. At about 9 a.m. Enough of this niggling. It doesn't
on the day of the Concours d'Elegance, matter who won Best of Show at Tahoe long before the mano a mano of the or that it took two bottles of Michelob competition was to begin, I ran into a young man sporting a green Tahoe Yacht Club judge's ribbon at a chic establishment in Tahoe City. The place had nothing to do with seafaring sup plies but was called The Chandlery nevertheless. I was drinking black cof fee to counteract the getacquainted cocktail party of the night before. He ordered two bottles of Michelob to go. So early in the morning? "They're to carry me through the day later on," he said. "Being a judge is hard work. How do you give
to figure it out. What does matter is that
the show was held, that it has been held for 12 successive years, and that it is proof of the promise I have heard around the waterfront for years: If you want to see gorgeous, meticulously re stored wooden speedboats from the Golden Era when speed meant more than going fast, visit Lake Tahoe. Peter H. Spectre is the Executive Editor of this magazine, boola boola.
Opposite page—Most of the classics at the Concours were restored professionally, but not the little launch WREN. Built in 1905 by a San Francisco yard, she was restored in 1982 by owner Paul D'Anneo. She had been in storage since the 1950s on Fallen Leaf Lake. WREN's engine is an original 3-hp Buffalo,
Below—Elegance is, well, elegant. COMET, a 36' Fellows & Stewart aftcabin launch built in 1922, is now owned by the Owen Owens family. Not necessarily restored to "mint" condition, this boat has a patina of authenticity that can only be acquired by continuous, caring use. Photographer Mendlowitz thinks she's the best of the bunch. Author Spectre, being a proletarian populist, prefers WREN.
points to one boat and not to another, anyway?" I didn't
have the slightest idea, but a wise old fellow off in the corner did. "Check to see if the boat has won before. If it hasn't, declare it the winner." Brilliant reasoning, but it won't work forever. Benjie Mendlowitz says that at the Victoria (British Columbia) Classic Boat Festival they have a standing rule: no boat can win if it has already won before. So if the same boats 62 WoodenBoat
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Not Just Boats but Craftsmen, The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding by Kitty Reithel his firm repaired some 12,000 wooden boats and built about 200 from start to finish. Since 1959, when he retired at age 52, he has used his expertise as a marine surveyor and consultant, often serving as expert witness in court cases. Referred to as "the Dean of West Coast wooden hy would a man in his mid70s, boat building," Bob Prothero brings with a long and satisfying boat almost 60 years of wideranging, prac building career behind him, no longer tical experience to his school in Port in his prime, and possessing the means Townsend, Washington. The school is very much a product to retire in relative comfort, instead plunge into the stressful, unprofitable, of its founder, and to the observer, hazardridden business of running a clearly this is not a late20thcentury school? The answer seems to be that the place. One is reminded of the leadin man in question, Bob Prothero, has a sentence to L.P. Hartley's novel, The sense of mission, and his mission is to Go-Between: "The past is like a foreign teach the ancient art of boatbuilding to country; they do things differently younger hands before the secrets of his there." Attending the school is, in a trade slip into oblivion. way, like a fascinating trip into the A native of Seattle, Washington, past, with methods used 50 years ago Bob Prothero began his career as ship and back, unchanged for centuries wright and designer for the Bremerton before that: no plywood, no strip Navy Yard. For 35 years thereafter, he planking, no plastic, no glue. owned and ran a wooden boat building Much of the work is done by hand, operation on Lake Union in Seattle, and though modern machines—band employing up to 60 people, where he saw, jointer, thickness planer, table estimates that between 1929 and 1959, saw, and router—are used for routine
W
82
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milling operations, Bob is fond of
reminding students that hand tools come first. "Remember, "he says, "when you use a machine, you are limiting
yourself to what the machine can do. You, as a craftsman, can do anything; the machine can do only limited tasks." Work with hand tools is encouraged at
the school, and demonstrations are given in the use of tools unfamiliar to
most people—tools like the adze, spoke shave, and slick, with all of which Bob is a master, and the broadaxe, although
Bob admits that it went out of use before his time. Those whose souls
rebel at the timesaving expedient of substituting modern joisthangers for handnotched beams in house carpen try will be in their element. The school also teaches specialized skills, such as blacksmithing, caulking, and tool making. The students at the school, at any one time, number between 10 and 25, are of various ages, with those in their 20s and 30s predominating, and come from a wide variety of backgrounds, many with college degrees, and a good many, though by no means all, having worked in woodrelated fields before
Too
(building construction, fur niture and cabinetmaking, etc.). Interestingly, in the first two and a half years of the school's operation, only
four women applied, of whom two finished. It is
difficult in the present egal itarian climate, full of cla mor after opportunities for women, to account for this— certainly there are plenty of
women carpenters and boat fanciers. Students' reasons for coming (the school always asks for a reason at the bot tom of its application form)
are homogeneous. By and large, applicants are young
The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding provides its students with the opportunity to work alongside Bob Prothero (above, with the caulking mallet). Prothero is often referred to as "the Dean of West Coast wooden boat building."
men with a strong interest in wood working who want to improve their toolhandling skills, often acquired at high school shop courses. Many express the desire to build, eventually, a boat for their own use, and want to know how. Some have a more longrange goal in view, such as the applicant who wrote: "I'd like to have the confidence to walk into a boatyard and ask for
work." A statement that is music to Bob's ears. "We can help that young man," he says. Reasons for picking this particular school range from the thoughtful—"It sounded to me as though most of the school time at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding would be spent not in the classroom listening, but out there in the shop doing it, and that's
important to me"—to the elegiac: "I came here to go to graduate school! This place is run by a lot of experience. All those years Bob spent in commer cial industrial boatbuilding—he's tried all the ways there are of doing things, and he knows what works. I can learn a lot from him." That last quote was from Ray Speck, San Francisco boat builder, who after an apprenticeship in 62/WoodenBoat
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Because the school's central philosophy is learning by doing, there is always a variety of boatbuilding and repair projects going on at once.
England had been building boats in a that he is offering his years of expe oneman shop in the Bay Area for years. rience to a potential owner, and he Quite recently, with the help of Keith expects his advice to be followed. Porter, a Northwest School of Wooden Materials provided are, to my eye, Boatbuilding graduate, Ray built a astonishing—knotfree, finegrained couple of 26' lifeboats for the museum fir and cedar (hardwoods also, where ship BALCLUTHA. "I saw what Keith had learned since I had first met him,
needed), not the sort of stock you'd be
and decided it would be good for me, too—and I was right," Speck adds. The cost of schooling to the student is $2,250 for the sixmonth program, of which $90 is a registration fee. Boats b u i l t on commission help pay the school's running costs. These commis sions are regularly accepted, the usual arrangement being that the owner pays the cost of materials plus overhead. An important requirement, from the school's point of view, is that the design chosen be traditional enough to be compatible with the aims of the teaching program. This means that the
secret where we get our lumber. It's from local sources, available to every one. We don't buy wood for specific jobs. When good boatbuilding wood is available and we have the funds, we buy it in quantity, then we resaw and man ufacture our own lumber to size for each project as needed. We airdry all
likely to find at the local building saw what the school had done for him, materials outlet. Bob says, "There's no
owner and school must agree on the design. More than one potential project has been turned down for lack of that basic agreement. A second requirement is that all major nondesign construc tion decisions (choice of materials, fas tenings, finishes, etc.) be left to the school as builder. Bob has some strong convictions about materials as well as about their cost effectiveness. He feels 84
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our lumber and do not use kilndried lumber in the boats at all, and we steer clear of plywood entirely." Small mills, of course, are the answer. Today, scarce oldgrowth logs are brought out by helicopter, milled to order, and the top grade is sold—at least by a few small mill operators—preferentially to local boatbuilders with whom they are in occasional contact. The keel assembly of schoolbuilt boats is usually Douglasfir, as are decks and planking. Sometimes, if requested, a hardwood like balou is used for a stem, "but it isn't necessary; fir is very strong and perfectly ade quate," Bob says. Yellow cedar is some
times used for sawn frames and other substantial framing members, but Bob isn't fond of it for planking. "Fir is better," he says. "It won't move on you. Port Orford cedar—if you can get it—is also a good planking wood. Redcedar is good for cabin soles and Cabintops, being rot resistant, and also for plank ing small boats, as it is light and strong." For steambent frames, Bob is very particular to get unseasoned east ern white oak, and he keeps it as wet as possible, ideally in salt water, until use. He avoids local Oregon oak. Mahog any is used for cabin sides and trim. For fastenings, Bob prefers galvan ized—hotdipped galvanized, not just electroplated—whether for bolts, boat nails, or screws. Timber joints are fitted together dry, without so much as a coat of bottom paint, although every piece going into the keel assembly, particu larly the endgrain, gets liberally sluiced
with hot linseed oil to inhibit checking. The theory is that if the workmanship is good enough and the joint fits when dry, it will swell and close completely once immersed. For seams in carvel planking, white lead putty is used; for topside paint, ordinary semigloss white; for deck seams, tropical pitch; and below the waterline, cheap com mercialgrade sloughing copper bottom paint completes the list of preferences.
Restoration and Repair 65' fishing boat, new fish hold, replaced frames and planking 65' tug, major restoration and repairs 17' doubleender, open boat decked over 14' Poulsbo boat 35' sailboat, new forefoot
The course at the school involves, as a rule, building boats in the 2560' range. Bob prefers to work at this scale, he says, because the same amount of work goes into a small boat as a larger one, and larger boats are more forgiv ing of minor student inaccuracies. Since the projects are large and ongoing, and since students are assigned to projects at whatever stage has been reached by those who have gone before, it is usu ally not possible for a student to expe rience the entire construction of any boat from start to finish, yet all students learn the same skills and procedures. As
Bob is fond of saying, the product of the school is craftsmen, not boats. Director Bob Prothero admits it is next to impossible to impart to each student all that the school has to offer. "There was good reason for a long apprenticeship in the old days," he says. "But apprenticeship wasn't the ideal answer, either," he continues, "because a novice would get put to work day after day at a boatyard doing
the same job, whatever it was that he
For some prospective owners, this is a Above—Prothero and students haul a small lot to swallow on faith, and it goes boat out of the shop in the shadow of the 50' against much of what they've read. Bob Cogge ketch designed by the Urry Brothers. shrugs with a grin; that's not his prob lem, but the owner will have to make up his mind.
was good at, and it would take years for him to get exposed to something differ ent. At the school, at least he will be exposed to as many new things as he can absorb, including some real tricks of the trade."
The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding is set up as a nonprofit educational endeavor, and in its first three and a half years of operation has undertaken: New Construction 20' Tom Cod 20' motor launch 28' tug, launched Autumn, '82 26' sloop, completed 50' ketch, nearing completion 26' Lyle Hess cutter, completed 34' cruising cutter, launched September, '83 65' fishing schooner, lofted, soon to begin 21' Whitehalls (2) 16' Whitehall ( 1 ) 12' oneday skiff (1) 10' oneday skiff (6) 21' pulling boats (3) 10'6" sailing dinghies (2) 14' Danish skiff ( 1 )
The 34' cutter BRYONY nears completion in a corner of the shop.
62 WoodenBoat
85
One afternoon Bob was explaining
to fix it"), persistence, coordination,
to the group his method for lining out planking. After a few preliminary mea surements, the method involved the use of a graduated stick which, when laid up against the hull at any random point, would tell for a given number of planks the width thereof at that point—
teamwork, and increased proficiency with tools ("a degree of accuracy in wood joinery similar to that required in
a tool and die shop")—all this in addi
pause and a slow smile, Bob said, "I'm telling you how to do this now, but in the old days the Master Builder would
tion to specific boatbuilding skills such as lofting and layout, which, as Bob is fond of pointing out, are skills useful in many trades besides boatbuilding. Cer tainly the value of the training is borne out by the n umber of graduates who are working in fields of their choice, some
keep his hand over the stick, so you couldn't see what he was doing." Tricks
freelance, some hired, many in boat yards.
a real timesaver, in other words. After a
of the trade are part of what Bob is
offering. The emphasis is on learning by doing. This is definitely a handson
program, one that demands real com mitment and a will to learn. What the
Students at the school learn all aspects of wooden boat building, from lofting (above) to framing (below). Besides the normal course work, special weekend workshops are provided to cover special topics.
school does not provide is passive enter tainment. The kind of student who
The weekday course work is sup plemented by weekend workshops taught by Bob, occasionally also by guest
speakers, on subjects as diverse as loft ing, rigging, steambending, planking, lapstrake construction, modelbuilding, oneday skiff building, toolmaking,
etc. The weekend workshops are open to the public for a reasonable fee, and
wants to sit in a class and let it all wash over him will be disappointed. On the other hand, the student who has ques tions about how something is, or was, done will receive answers in full, or
summer seminars on smallboat build ing and lofting are also offered for those whose interests lie in that direction. Of the many students who have completed the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding course, I think
better yet, Bob will often demonstrate the skill.
Recent graduates, as well as present
most would say it was well worthwhile and would do it again. Those who are
students, say they have learned: disci pline and better work habits ("how to
patiently willing to cut frame pockets, put in plugs, or mill decking by the hour, and who, though daunted by the prospect, pitch in willingly to hand
apply ourselves"), confidence to take the initiative ("you have to look at something, think about it, know how
LEARNING THE TRICKS
A
professional approach to boatbuilding is the rule at characteristics or to allow for its weaknesses. For instance, a the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding, one pair of 20' boats presently under construction at the school that stresses utility and quality to the finest standards, (one power, the other sail) will be utilizing redcedar plank achieving beauty without the highgloss finish. Bob
Prothero teaches lofting and gives all of the lectures, work shops, and seminars; the other teachers, when there are any, are Bob's assistants.
The endless "tricks of the trade" that are shown one at a time, day by day as each situation arises, are the main strength of the NWSWB. These are the benefits of Bob's
extensive experience. After a while, the student will appre ciate how things can be done a certain way to achieve sim plicity. There are strong lessons in the basics, such as: • learning nomenclature • chopping rabbets and carlin notches • the use of edge tools and scrapers rather than sanders • accurately taking up bevels, either from the loft or when spiling • using the sticks, storyboards, and spiling blocks rather than relying on the tape measure • paying attention to how a boat's interior will ventilate and drain • using material with as little waste as possible, and learning the value of the scrap pile The student will learn to appreciate wood as a living substance, how to alter a design to best utilize wood's good 86
WoodenBoat 62
ing stock that was recently cut. This is a problem that many traditional boatbuilders are faced with and especially those
who are just starting out—not having a nice airing shed stocked with wellseasoned lumber. How do we deal with this? First, the stock is "slicked" properly to allow the max
imum amount of wind to get at and around each piece. Second, narrower planks are used for the topside planking, since these will shrink less than wider ones. Third, the
planking is steamed, even though some planks have only gentle twists and bends and might not otherwise need steaming. Steaming tends to season wood by drawing mois ture out of it. Fourth, the plank is left clamped in place for a week or so before being fastened. Cut to its finished size, there is less wood to dry. And fifth, every other plank might be put on the boat, then the missing planks all will become "shutters." Since the boat has been completely lofted and all the component parts are laid out, there are plenty of other pieces to make and jobs to do while the planking progresses slowly. Planking is only a small part of the total. In these ways, the student not only learns the problems of using green lumber, but also (redcedar being durable and a fairly stable wood), at the same time, how he might be able to use green wood and still end up with a firstclass product.
smooth a vastlooking hull with hand planes, will come out at the end with a big smile and the realization that they have experienced something and have grown in the process. As one student wrote last a u t u m n , "I had come to the Northwest School of Wooden Boat Building with the expec tation that it would provide me with valuable boatbuilding skills and a heightened appreciation for, and under standing of, boat design; this it most certainly did, but far more valuable to me was the feeling of selfreliance won through the training program, know ing that if I needed something made of wood, I could make it, I didn't need to buy it. So many experiences of the pres ent day are onceremoved. For instance, instead of singing, one pushes a button and is sung at, instantly and without e f f o r t . I n s t e a d of m a k i n g some thing, one buys readymade things, instantly and without effort. The school teaches that much more satisfaction is to be gained by the patient application of effort, which leads to skill, pride of accomplishment, a n d — u l t i m a t e l y — selfrespect."
The cutter
BRYONY, owned by the author, is one of many boats of all sizes and types built by Prothero and his students. The author and her husband worked for 18 months on the boat at the school, during
which time the hull, deckhouse, and spars were built.
A landscape architect by training, Kitty Reithel has been a small-boat enthusiast since girlhood summers spent on the Maine coast in the 1940s. She has written occasional pieces for the journal of the Traditional
Wooden Boat Society.
OF THE TRADE
by Ray Speck
Boat repair is another strong feature of the school. Some never to build a boat. Boatyards primarily service the exist students may think this "dirty work" is laborious and isn't ing fleet. really boatbuilding, but there is a lot to learn from seeing The lofting and layout techniques that Bob Prothero what went wrong in an old boat. This is an excellent way to teaches are quite possibly the most thorough in the learn other boatyard skills, such as: spiling planks, caulk country—and amount to a strictly professional way of ing, repairing decks and applying pitch to the seams, spil doing things. The use of tic sticks is quicker and more ing bulkheads, and putting in sister ribs of a proper length accurate than using the tape measure—one uses a minimum in difficult situations. With an eye to cost effectiveness, there of numeric measurements. The grid is laid out from a cen are limits to how much repair is actually necessary. Let's tral point to minimize distortion. Bundle battens are used, face it, when a person goes to work in a boatyard, it is almost with three thinner battens working together to eliminate the "bumps" and "hard spots" that develop with a single, heav A 20' Tom Cod sloop ready for framing ier batten. The student learns what a "fair" line is, and how in the boatbuilding school's shop. it differs from a "sweet" line. Layout techniques are taught so that anyone can make pieces from the lofting with correct lengths and bevels cut exactly, and so the pieces will go together without additional fitting. My fulltime studies at the school are now finished. If I could, I'd like to roll the clock back nine months and start all over again. Bob Prothero's style is the purest form of traditional wooden boat building that I've seen in this country. After a formal apprenticeship in England, Ray Speck ran a boatshop in Sausalito, California (see WB No. 40), before moving to Port Townsend, Washington, to study with Bob Prothero. He's now working with Kit Africa, building a 23' version of George Holmes's canoe yawl Eel. 62/WoodenBoat
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The
Weather's Every
CAPRICE by S.G.W Benjamin
Originally published in The Century Magazine, December 1881
F
ew of those who have heard of, or
then at sea, but was expected back at cure. All the multifarious accounts,
have seen, the trim pilotboats of
any hour to pick up her pilots and pro visions. More than a week passed, how ever, before we were notified to be at the pier on the following morning. The CAPRICE had been detained by severe weather, which gave us the promise of a boisterous trip. When we reached the office of the Pilot Commissioner—a lowstudded, elbowshaped room, on the corner of Burling Slip—everything portended a storm. A massive antique mahogany desk, at one side, served partially to conceal the busy secretary of the department, whose position is by no means a sine
New York Bay are aware what a thor ough preparatory education and expe
rience is required of a New York pilot. Nor is it generally known how system atic is the organization which regulates the movements of these pilots, and what hazards they must encounter in plying their vocation on the boisterous Atlantic. Having accepted a cordial invita tion to take a cruise in the CAPRICE, Mr.
Burns and myself were notified to keep ourselves in readiness to sail at a moment's warning. The schooner was 88
WoodenBoat 62
together with most of the shore busi ness of the pilots, pass under his eye. Between two windows stood a large and elaborate chronometer clock, includ ing with it a barometer and thermome ter, and around the room were ranged a number of closets or lockers. One by one the pilots straggled in, took a look at the glass, and discussed the prospects of the weather, which was pronounced to be unusually foreboding, with the mercury ranging below 29° and a sky of the most sinister aspect.
By halfpast nine, the pilots who belonged to the CAPRICE having arrived,
we started for the pier where she was lying. I confess the prospect of a cruise in such a graceful little craft filled me with enthusiasm. She was 96' long and 20' beam, and drew 11' aft. Not over sparred, like too many of our yachts, her masts were beautiful sticks and a d m i r a b l y proportioned, w i t h o u t a knot or a crack. The cabin was coziness itself; nothing can exceed the comfort of a snug little cabin when all hands but the watch are below, the swinging lamp is lit, and the long, steady howl of the gale and the boom of the seas break ing on deck blend in a sublime organ peal— the t u m u l t of the storm often ris ing above the jests and yarns of the men gathered around the table or lying in their bunks with feet dangling over the side. A stove was firmly fixed in the center, on a brightly burnished plate of brass. On each side were a stateroom and two berths that could be closed by slides. The galley and quarters of the crew were amidships, and were divided from the cabin by a bulkhead. The crew included four able seamen, a swarthy lascar cook, a cabinboy, and the boat keeper. The latter commands the schooner, and takes her back to port after all the pilots have been put on board other vessels. But before that, the boat is under the direction of the pilot whose turn it is to board the next ship. We put to sea with six pilots, the full complement being seven. These formed a jointstock company, b u t while all were licensed pilots, they were not all of equal rank. This matter of rank underlies the whole principle involved in piloting according to the laws of the State of New York, and a resume of the regulations is therefore pertinent, while the schooner is mak ing sail. The number of pilotboats licensed to run out of the port of New York is fixed by law; it is now 28, and they register from 40 to 70 tons. Each boat is obliged to carry its number in enormous black figures on the main sail. These boats are owned by about 170 pilots, but, strange to say, they are never said to be manned except when left in charge of the boatkeeper. Includ ing pilots and crews, this fleet of schooners gives employment to nearly 400 men. In this survey we do not, of
course, include the New Jersey pilots who sail out of New York Bay, but are subject to the laws of the other state. This number is by no means excessive when we consider that the foreign entries and departures of vessels in the port of New York are at present over 10,000 per year, while the coastwise Illustrations by M.J. Burns from original publication
An Epic Cruise in a Newark Pilot Schooner
entries and departures are nearly four times that number. Coasting vessels, though they often find it expedient to employ a pilot, are at liberty to decline to take one. But vessels coming from, or bound to, foreign ports have no option in the matter. If a pilotboat can get near enough to hail them, they must either accept a pilot or pay the full charges he would be entitled to receive if he boarded that ship. This law is by no means so unfair as some might regard it. The pilots must devote much time and expense to qualify themselves for their business, and are exposed to great perils. Unless they are protected
by the laws from the whims of sea captains, the profits of pilotage would be so reduced that it would be impossi ble to induce capable men to enter the service. While it may be alleged that in fine weather their services are often not needed, on the other hand, emergencies frequently arise when a good pilot is indispensable. The responsibility devolving on a pilot, and the extent of his qualifica tions, may be partly appreciated when one learns that, immediately on board ing a vessel, he takes command, and is answerable for any accident until he has discharged his duty of taking the vessel in or out of port. If any mishap befalls the ship at that time, he is liable to have his license revoked, and thus lose all further opportunity of plying his vocation. The New York pilot must, therefore, for the good of all concerned, pass through a long and rigorous course of training. He must serve, man and boy, before the mast till he masters every problem in the management of every form of rig. To this he must add a thorough knowledge of navigation. Then he must contrive to obtain the position of boatkeeper or pilot's mate. In that capacity, he must serve three f u l l years on one pilotboat before he can be admitted for his examination for a license. If through illfortune he loses his position, he must begin de novo, and serve the full time on another boat. Sometimes, a boatkeeper serves nine or ten years on various boats before his apprenticeship is complete. After all this, he must pass a most rigid exami nation on all points of seamanship and navigation before the Board of Pilot Commissioners, and exhibit a thorough knowledge of the tides, rips, sands, and all other phenomena for hundreds of miles out from the piers of the East and North rivers. But even after receiving his license, he is sometimes forced to wait years, until some pilot happens to die, and leave a vacancy for him. The first year of pilotage, he is granted a license to pilot vessels drawing less than 16'. If he gives satisfaction, the following year he is permitted to take charge of ships drawing 18'. If he passes a satisfactory examination the third year, he then receives a full license, enti tling him to pilot vessels of any draught, and is then first called a branch or f u l l pilot.
I
n a few moments the CAPRICE was stealing past Castle Garden, and leaving behind her the towering roofs and spires of the lower part of New 62/WoodenBoat
89
York. Nothing could be more disheart ening than the pall of sudden clouds that hung over the bay. There was scarcely any wind, but the glass and the sky indicated that we were either in the center of a revolving storm or that one was rapidly approaching. But there were also signs of a shift of the wind into the northwest, and a few vessels bound south had concluded to venture out, and were gliding with the tide toward the Narrows. No sooner had we put off into the stream than the pilots began to look about for a possible prize. Their keen enterprise was illustrated sooner than I expected. Scarcely had we shoved off from the pier when we saw a schooner putting to sea a mile away. " Johnnie, head her for that schoon er," said one of the pilots, to the man at the wheel. "You can't catch her," said another. "Yes, we can. She's only got her foresail and jib up." "She'll have her mainsail up in a minute. They're hoisting it now." "I don't care if they be. We'll catch her, anyway." And catch her we did, by making all sail with manofwar speed. Hauling under her stern, we hailed her, and sent a pilot on board to guide her past Sandy Hook. We then took some provisions from Staten Island, and glided through the Narrows. We picked up our pilot at the stationboat. This leads us to notice that one of the pilot fleet is always sta tioned off Sandy Hook, to serve as a rendezvous to pilots when they leave vessels, after having piloted them out of New York. The boat anchors between the lightship and Sandy Hook for four days, when another boat takes her place. When the weather is very bad, the stationboat lies off and on. Sometimes she is forced to make a harbor herself, but it is wild weather indeed when she is obliged to do that. A penalty of $ 100 a day is enforced on every boat that delays to appear at the station when its turn has arrived. The storm signal was flying at
"A pilotboat on the weather bow, sir." Immediately the order rang out, in quick, sharp tones: "Shake out the reefs of the mainsail and keep her away!"
An exciting race followed between the two pilotboats, several miles apart,
to reach a large ship standing north. Now rising, now plunging over the gray seas, and staggering under a press of canvas, we neared the prize only to see it snatched from our grasp by the
other boat. No sooner was that fact ascertained than we shortened sail, the lookout was sent aloft to his usual eyrie at the fore crosstrees, and the pilots, without so much as a word of regret, returned to studying the chart, reading
a threadbare novel, fingering the well thumbed cards, or snatching a little A GLIMPSE OF THE SUN.
sleep in their bunks. This is about the ordinary routine in a pilotschooner
William Wright, the boatkeeper, enter ed in the ship's logbook: "January 1st and a happy New Year!" Five days after
ing quiet broken by sudden alterna tions of the utmost excitement, together with a feverish, endless vigilance from
that, another hand entered on the pages of the same logbook the following terse b u t tragic record: "Thursday, 6th.
masthead and deck.
Blowing hard from N.E. At 4 a.m. hauled the jib down. Lost a man off the bowsprit. Hove the yawl out and lost two men and the yawl; then hove the other yawl out and lost her. Lay around tacking till daylight, and kept a look
during good weather—intervals of seem
Nothing of note occurred on the third day; the recent prevailing winds had kept vessels out at sea. The third night it blew half a gale, and we hove to under close reefs about 40 miles south east of Barnegat light. About 10 o'clock, the lights of a steamer heading north ward were f a i n t l y descried in the myste rious gloom that overhung the sea.
out on the masthead till 8 a.m. Then "Give her a torch!" was the order started for town at 1 p.m." One of these poor fellows was Wright, the boat that instantaneously followed the dis keeper. One month more, and he would covery. A tub containing turpentine was brought on deck; a ball of cotton have been licensed as a pilot! Two years before this, the CAPRICE was hove on her beamends in a terrific squall, losing both masts and a man who was in the rigging. On still another occasion she was tripped by a huge
was dipped into this and set on fire. It resembled the contrivance used to light cigars, except on a larger and ruder
wave and nearly filled. Momentarily
Nothing more picturesque can be ima gined than this contrast of light and shade—the dark figure in uncouth oil suit standing on the low, reeling deck, fiercely whirling the ball of fire over his head, and the ruddy sail and rigging
expecting her to go down, the crew took to the boats and were picked up. The schooner survived the gale, however,
was towed into port by a passing vessel, and was repurchased at auction by her
scale. The torch was so held as to illumi nate the large numbers on the mainsail.
former owners. On another occasion clearcut against the impenetrable she was run into by a steamer, cut down blackness of night, while the wind observe its warning, and we ran out to to the water's edge and sunk in shoal whistled through the cordage and the sea and headed south. At nightfall we water, from which she was raised again. foam seemed to turn into blood as it doublereefed the mainsail and hove to. She seems to lead a charmed life, but washed on board. We were now in the water where the her career well illustrates some of the The steamer, which proved to be a CAPRICE, at Christmas time two years hazards of piloting—which are so well coastwise craft, gradually drew nearer ago, encountered the most frightful appreciated by the underwriters that and passed by, heedless of the signal. dangers. Every sea that came on board they charge 10% premium for insuring The excitement was over, and all hands froze, until the ice on deck was 12" pilotboats. but the watch turned in. At four we thick, and it was feared she might Nothing of note occurred during the signaled a second steamer, and discov founder with the weight of the ice. first night, and after running south for ered the torch of another schooner in Great blocks of ice grew on the furled a few hours after daylight, we had just our vicinity. jib, and could not be detached without hove to again with the helm lashed, On the following morning, a wild tearing the sail. On New Year's Eve, when the lookout at the masthead cried: scene presented itself to view when I Sandy Hook, but it is not for pilots to
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went on deck. The gale which had been she was in sight our movements would
ship, a steamer was reported heading
blowing around us, and of which we be necessarily influenced by her own. directly for us. Immediately the cards had had a taste during the night, had Finding that we were overhauling her, were flung aside, and in a moment suddenly shifted into the northwest, she finally put her helm down and every soul was on deck. The pilot and was shrieking out of that quarter, headed south. whose turn it was to board the next We kept on to the east, deciding to vessel, after a hurried survey of the with every prospect of increasing. The quick, short, emerald waves, smitten go as far as Saint George's Bank after with the gold of the sun bursting over steamers. These vessels are the great the low shores of New Jersey, were prizes in the pilot lottery, because their streaked with foam and were rising fast. draft averages more than that of sailing
steamer, exclaimed: "Boys, goodbye. Finish the game for yourselves!" He then dashed below, and in all
As it was useless to look for inbound
ships. To secure an inbound steamer
haste put on a "boiled" shirt and a
vessels with this wind, and as its force might increase to a dangerous degree, we decided to beat in under the land, where we should find smooth water. It
also ensures piloting her out again.
Sundaygotomeeting suit, and packed his valise. It should be remembered that these steamers are rather more "swell" than sailing ships, and seem to demand
Ocean steamers are therefore very desir able game, and great risks are encoun
tered in order to intercept them. The opposite extreme are Norwegian barks, a corresponding difference in apparel. the seas, but finally we found ourselves for they are small and generally come to In the meantime, the torch was blazing close under the sand dunes of Little Egg this country in ballast. "To get a Nor on deck in the liveliest manner. The Harbor. Then we wore ship, and trim wegian bark" is therefore considered a needlelike points of light representing med the sheets to run up the coast to good joke on the poor fellow whose the steamer gradually approached, and Sandy Hook. Several other pilotboats luck it is to board one. Steamers which at last the huge, vague form of the vessel were in company, and an impromptu are exclusively freight boats, and are herself could be defined. But she already race immediately ensued. Not to speak irregular in their sailing days and slow had a pilot, and paid no attention to us. too technically, it suffices to say we in their movements, are called "tramps," The game in the cabin was resumed at were under very short sail. The sky was and are also not held in high esteem by once, and the "boiled" shirt was once a clear, crisp azure, flecked with swiftly the pilots. The cruises to the eastward more folded up and laid away carefully scudding windclouds. The blasts swept are sometimes, although rarely, pro in the locker. The precariousness of off the land with exceeding violence tracted to 20 or 30 days. But the average steamercatching is well illustrated by this matter of dressing to board them. and suddenness, laying the little vessel luck is good. The following evening, when we One of our pilots told us that he had over on her side and burying her lee rail under a mass of boiling foam, the spray were well eastward of Nantucket light actually shaved and dressed six times in smoking under her bow the while, and blowing off to leeward in sheets. Thus
was a long and arduous pounding with
hour after hour went by in this stimu lating race. Hour after hour, also, we threaded our way through a fleet of
coasting schooners, that were taking advantage of the northerly gale to run down the coast in ballast. Their swell ing sails gleamed like flakes of flame
over the intense amethystine blue of the sea, that was ridged with long crests of
foam. We flew past the lofty lighthouse of Barnegat and its whitening reefs,
past the cedartufted banks of Manas quan, the sloping cottages of Elberon, the spacious hotels of Long Branch, the pointed gables of Seabright, and the twin watchtowers of the Highlands, until the sentinel shaft of Sandy Hook loomed grandly in the north, and the splendor of the setting sun suffused land and sea and sky with indescribable beauty. Then we headed up into a cove behind the Hook, dropped anchor close by the beach, and went below to a
smoking supper. Though the quarter ing moon shone gloriously that even ing, we all snatched a muchneeded slumber before venturing out once more to encounter the wild March winds on the gray wastes of the Atlantic. At dawn we made sail, and stood due east along the shore of Long Island before half a gale of wind. At 10 o'clock we discovered a pilotboat ahead, and crowded on sail to overhaul her. While 62/WoodenBoat
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sea. With some difficulty we managed to get supper, while the deafening roar of the howling winds and the thunder of the surges pounding on deck almost deadened the conversation that went on u n i n t e r r u p t e d l y below; yarns were told, and intricate problems with cards were discussed by men in oil jackets and
sou'westers, while the cook served out rations of hot coffee. Any moment a terrific catastrophe was likely to over whelm us, but it is not in the nature of the sailor, after he has taken every pre caution, to borrow trouble about pos sibilities. A vivid flash of lightning at
long intervals indicated that the gale was approaching its height, and it was decided to put up stanchions, or posts, in the cabin. These were firmly fixed between the timbers of the deck and the cabin floor, to keep the ballast from shifting in case a sudden lurch should throw the schooner on her beamends. If the ballast had shifted, it would have been all over with us in a moment. So violent was the lurching and creaking
of the little vessel, all that long, dreary night, that no one slept until toward dawn, when the weather moderated slightly.
But while the wind was less violent, it blew hard at intervals, and the temper ature was so low that the deck was
covered with a layer of ice. At noon we succeeded in getting an observation, the pale sun flashing for a moment through the scud and causing the heav ing deep to look like molten silver. We were in longitude 66° 30' and in 48 fathoms of water, and were heading southwest, under very short sail, when a fearful squall darkened the horizon and rushed toward us with appalling rapidity. At the same instant the look BOARDING A STEAMER.
out discovered two steamers and a pilot boat to the eastward. The wildest excite ment ensued. Reefs were shaken out,
one trip, for a steamer, before he had
robed in ermine. The gale increased to a notwithstanding the squall, and the lit
succeeded in boarding one. There is a tradition of a pilot who dressed 17 times before success crowned his perseverance. Morning broke on a savage scene; enormous mounds of water, crested with foam, swelled up against the sky and tossed the little CAPRICE like an eggshell. The gale increasing with great f u r y , we hove to under trysails—sails scarcely larger than a tablecloth, show ing a spread of canvas so moderate that, as they say at sea, we were under "a threereefed mitten with the thumb brailed up." The squalls were tremen dous, and were accompanied by blind ing sheets of snow, which seemed to sweep from the horizon in a moment and envelop the sea in impenetrable gloom; the decks and rigging were
hurricane. The little schooner for the tle schooner flew before the blast as if most part rode easily, but sometimes a bewitched. The "boiled" shirt was put sea, that seemed to go bodily over her, on again, winds and waves were defied, would strike her, and might have sunk and everything was forgotten except her but for the low bulwarks, only a the great fact that we must snatch the foot high, that allowed the water to run steamers from the clutches of the rival off; sometimes, too, she was carried pilotboat under our lee. When the over so far that there was danger of her dense pall of gloom finally passed off to rolling completely over. Three times leeward, the southernmost steamer was during the day we wore ship in order discovered to have been boarded by our that we might not be driven out of the rival. Every effort that skill could devise track of the steamers; whatever the was then put forth to catch the other weather, business was never forgotten. steamer. As we lessened the distance, This maneuver was, under the circum the CAPRICE was hove to and awaited stances, one of extreme peril, and her approach. Slowing up, the great required the greatest skill and circum Cunarder gradually drew toward us, majestically mounting and plunging spection. The sun went down over one of the on the vast surges, while cataracts wildest scenes I have ever witnessed at poured from her hawseholes as the
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bow soared skyward. At this exciting moment an enormous whale, little, if any, shorter than our schooner, arose close alongside the CAPRICE, and,
spouting and if to salute her, dived again into the depths. The yawl, only 16' long, was now launched over our lee side into the froth ing waters, and with two seamen and the pilot started for the steamer, then a
quarter of a mile distant. I confess it was a thrilling spectacle to see this mere
cockleshell, with her precious freight of three lives, now lifted far above us on a mountainous billow, and now descend ing out of sight into the depths of a hollow vale, and hiding there until it seemed as if she would never appear
again. By slow degrees the yawl succeeded in reaching the lee side of the steamer.
There again the greatest prudence was required to prevent her from being swamped by the action of the mighty hull, rolling deep in the turbulent sea.
At last we saw the pilot, the merest speck, spring on the ladder and creep up the side of the steamer. Then came the yet more difficult task of picking up the yawl. The way it was done was by keeping her head to the wind, and allowing her to drift down toward the schooner. By wearing, we kept directly in the track of the yawl; she slipped
REEFING THE MAINSAIL.
The day was gloriously beautiful, the sky cloudless, and the swell remaining after the gale was scarcely dimpled by across our stern, and pulling up under the zephyrlike cat'spaws. One of the crack boats of the New the lee side, was hauled on board. As can be easily imagined, one of York pilotfleet loomed above the west the pilot's most arduous duties is to ern horizon, carrying every stitch of board a vessel in heavy weather. Each canvas. Her shapely sails gleaming in pilotschooner is provided with two the morning sun, she gradually crept up yawls. They are lashed to the deck, bot in our wake, while another pilotboat tom upward, and are lifted and launched was also visible in the eastern board. over the low side of the schooner by Circumstances being t h u s against us, means of a light tackle reaching down we hauled to the wind on the starboard from the mastheads, and hooked into tack, and headed south u n t i l we had the stem and stern. The pilotyawls run them both out of sight. "Our policy is to scatter," dryly differ from other boats in that they are short, broad, and deep, and are thus remarked one of our pilots, a tall, very buoyant. It is not an uncommon slender Scotsman of large intelligence circumstance for men to be lost when and an i n e x h a u s t i b l e stock of dry boarding vessels. Both yawls of one of humor. A standing reward of $2 for the dis our New York pilotboats were succes sively capsized last winter, when trying covery of a steamer was now offered to to board the ARIZONA in a gale of wind. the crew, whose vigilance was thus Happily the men were picked up by the greatly stimulated, although it would lifeboats of the steamer, after great have been impossible to sharpen their sense of sight. exertion. "Sail ho!" rang from the mast On the eighth day out, we were 450 miles east of New York, on the southern head at noon. It proved to be a sailing edge of Saint George's Bank. At one ship far to the southward. The wind time, we passed off soundings into blue was so light we could not hope to reach water for a few hours, a fact proclaimed her except by sending out a yawl. But in sonorous tones by one of the pilots, the uncertain nature of the season made this inexpedient. This hazardous when he sang out: method is, however, quite frequently "No sound, no ground, followed by our own pilots in calm No bottom to be found With a long pitchpine pole, Daddy." weather.
T
wo days of perfect weather, each closed with a sunset of magical splendor, were followed by a change. The glass began to fall; cloudstreamers arched over the zenith from horizon to
horizon. A sad wind moaned over the heaving deep, and a mist gradually closed us in. Then came fitful showers, and, between the flaws, the little schoon er flapped her slatting sails with fore boding dreariness. Another storm was stealing upon us. During the day—it was Sunday—we saw a number of steamers, bound eastward, which had
left New York on the previous day. I should add that for two days we had been heading westward, and were now not far from the Nantucket lightship.
An inbound steamer was also seen from the masthead, and we flung out all the kites and let our little schooner fly at her wildest rate. Here seemed a fair chance at last, for we were apparently south of the pilotboats we had pre viously seen, while the whole horizon 'round revealed not a boat in sight. But, after another mad chase, our hopes were blasted in a moment when the steamer hung out her signal to inform us she was provided with a pilot. That night there was a snowring around the moon, and the glass was still slowly falling. On the following day we had a very exciting chase after a White Star boat. But she, again, had been already boarded. At 4 p.m. the 62/WoodenBoat
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wind, which had been w h i f f l i n g about in a dubious manner to all points of the compass, settled into a strong, steady breeze from the east, and by nightfall it blew half a gale.
"Call all hands to reef!" rang through the ship, and soon the crew were ranged along the booms, shorten ing sail. A wild night was before us. For
main topsail and hove to. Running down on her lee side, we also hove to
very near to her, and proceeded to launch the yawl. It was a wild scene as the little boat vanished into the dark ness, perhaps never to be seen again.
A Gallery of
But her crew carried a lantern with them, and after they had left the pilot on board the ship, we were able to
Pilot-Boats
shape our movements by this little track of steamers, reasoning that as the glimmer bobbing up and down like an wind was likely to hold awhile it would ignis fatuus in the misty dark. As the prevent other boats from getting far east night wore on, the fog grew so dense of New York, and thus we should have that we brought up our sixpound brass a fair chance of not being interrupted in piece from the fore peak, and fired it at our chances by interlopers. But, as the short intervals; this was done, not, as gale freshened, it seemed unlikely that one might suppose, to keep vessels we should board any vessel in the from coming into collision with the weather now threatening, and the helm schooner, but to inform them there was was put up and we stood west again. a pilotboat in the vicinity. But this very fact required redoubled vigilance We had now been out 12 days. At sunset the sky was completely on our part, in order that we might not obscured by a dense canopy of cloud. be run down. In the middle watch we Just as the sun rested on the ocean's were startled, just after firing the can verge, the clouds lifted enough to allow non, by the answering whistle of a the sun to burst forth and illumine the steamer hoarsely coming down the horizon with a line of vivid fire, below wind, and close at hand. The excite which the ocean rolled intensely sullen ment of the moment was intense. Again and livid. But who can describe the we fired the cannon. The whistle drew a w f u l magnificence which irradiated nearer, and all at once the colored lights the entire heavens with a volcanic glow! of a steamer loomed out of the dripping The sky was like the dome of a vast oven mist, and her huge bow emerged from heated to the last degree. At the same the gloom, so near that it actually moment a shower fell on the sea, and seemed to overhang our deck. Passing immediately two perfect rainbows span close alongside, she slowed up the pal ned the firmament. Then, as if a curtain pitation of her mighty engine a moment had been drawn across the scene, night to make sure of our position, and then closed in, and the wild winds howled vaguely glided out of sight. On the following morning, the sun over a little ship tossing alone on a was invisible. The war of the elements dreary waste of waves. It blew very hard that night. A dan was raging with increasing fury. The gerous crosssea set in, and twice the wind had shifted to southeast. The fog CAPRICE was nearly thrown on her was less dense, and we could see some beamends with terrific lurches. We distance. We were running under a bit kept a bright light at the masthead and of foresail, and hardly needed that. It a double lookout, for it was an uncanny seemed, at times, as if the following seas time for a collision, and we were would founder the schooner as they towered over the low taffrail. Not a sail directly in the track of ships. On the following day it moderated, was in sight, not even a solitary gull; it but the wind, which had only "backed is a curious fact that, excepting the in," shifted from north to east after petrels, seabirds keep near to the land in dark. This brought a corresponding bad weather. By means of the patent log change of weather. Rain and fog set in, towing astern and from casts of the and a very puffy breeze that settled into lead, we knew we could not be far from a gale before morning. We ran west Sandy Hook lightship. About ten, the lightship hove in ward all night under short sail, taking casts of the lead at intervals. Soon after sight. We rushed by it at the rate of 13 ten, the atmosphere being thick, but knots. An enormous sea was rolling not so much so as to prevent us from over the bar, but the depth of water was discerning objects the distance of a enough for vessels like the CAPRICE, mile, we discovered a sailingship and by s k i l l f u l steering she passed over ahead, evidently running for New York, handsomely. The fierceness of the wind and probably in need of a pilot. Edging was now terrific, and, dowsing the fore away toward her, we lit our torch, and sail, we ran up the Lower Bay and flew had the satisfaction of seeing her send through the Narrows under bare poles. up a couple of rockets in response. At Thus ended a most delightful and the same time she backed her reefed entertaining cruise.
a while we hove to, in order to be in the
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Pretty Enough to Save Commentary by Steve Redmond
bursting with bigboat things: big beam, big cockpit, big cabin, big mast, big sail, big rudder. Catboats often have engines, and wheels to steer with, and coal stoves to stay warm by. Generally, they're rather plainly finished, without the misplaced nauticalia—the clipper heads, deadeyes, and baggywrinkle—of small character boats. They are not imitations of big boats, but are, in fact, big boats w i t h short decks. Catboat fever really took hold of me about 10 years ago, encouraged in par ticular by exposure to a finelooking vessel named FRANCES, which resides in the smallcraft boatshed at Mystic Seaport. Whenever I go to the Seaport, I sooner or later head for FRANCES. She never seems to be as popular as some of the other exhibits—the unafflicted seem to prefer bigger ships and sunshine to the sepulchral gloom of the boatshed where she sits, permanently careened against the far wall. Usually, I walk through the door and (here's the real test) march right past Herreshoff's ALERION in all its gleaming magnificence, in order to get a good view of FRANCES. It is an interesting juxtaposition, FRANCES and ALERION. ALERION is
varnished from her sheer up and wears customcast polished bronze blocks and fittings like jewelry. FRANCES is painted white outside and gray inside, with a b u f f cabintop and a solid galvanized boom pedestal to match her galvanized wheel. I won't say which boat I prefer, but I know which one draws me first. The thing I like best about FRAN 20'10" Catboat designed by Wilton Crosby
C
CES is her lines, also a funny thing to say, having passed a Herreshoff on the way to look at them. You'd think a catboat might seem very plain and even a little crude when compared with a
fault them on everything; if you do like them, you won't tolerate any criticism. Personally, I like catboats. But 1 didn't start out that way. With me, it was an acquired taste. To the unini tiated, it's hard to appreciate many of
last, an oversized sail, a killer boom, a brutally inefficient rudder, and a 1,000 real yacht of more svelte proportions. gallon cockpit. If you'd never seen a catboat, you Yet there is something in the way a couldn't be blamed for condemning a welldesigned catboat looks that is very boat of such specifications—you'd ex satisfying. pect an ugly, mean, structurally short It's a funny thing, too, because cat lived, and possibly dangerous boat. boats are a severe test of design aesthe And to some people, even after seeing tics—they should, by all rights, be very homely. While it's easy to design a nice the real thing, that's all a catboat is. To many of us, though, a catboat is looking boat if she's long and low and more than the sum of its bad features. deep, a catboat is fat, high, and shal Catboats have for us a slightly comical low. Because she is short on deck, her
the individual features of a catboat: a
b r u t e strength in asmall package
bow is plumb. Because she needs capac
plumb or tumblehome bow, a flat, sometimes vertical transom, excessive beam, high freeboard, a cabin divided by a big centerboard case, a telephone pole mast (unstayed, yet placed in the narrowest part of the boat), inside bal
kind of appeal that a bulldog or, per haps more appropriately, a bigheaded old tomcat has. The essential idea behind a catboat is, as I see it, to cram as m u c h of what a boat is into the small est space possible. Catboats are filled to
ity, stability, and shoal draft, she has little underbody, and great beam and freeboard. With a high cabin necessary to give even sitting headroom inside it,
atboats make for strong prefer ences—either you like them or you don't. There is no middle ground. Upon sighting a new boatyard, you're either the kind of person who looks for fat, stubby masts, or you aren't. If you don't like catboats, chances are you
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a c a t b o a t ought to look like a box stuck
on top of another box. And a very few of
the poorest examples do, though they are not typical. In fact, rats are usually quite hand some boats, because their great bulk is craftily disguised by the liberal use of curvature. Typically, the sweep of a good cat's sheer is exaggerated. Wilton Crosby, FRANCES'S builder, saw fit to
build in a foot of sheer curve in her 21' length, while ALERION has about 8" in her 26'. A catboat's cabintop is a com plex of intersecting curves—often ellip tical in plan view, and highly cambered in section. Even the portlights are ellip tical, reducing the apparent height of the trunk sides. The cockpit coaming, of her size. Note that displacementto became commonplace. Though FRAN too, is curved in plan, while in profile, length ratios are usually figured on the CES'S sail would be considered very the coaming and cabin sides are con basis of waterline length rather than large by present standards, her sail plan tinuous, often following the strong overall length. FRANCES is actually a was quite conservative when compared deck sheer. A l l in all, the v i s u a l effect is pretty heavy boat for her 21' LOA, but with the kind of spread the racing cat one of flowing lines, rather than mass. she has a very long waterline, and this boats once carried. Equipped with a Personally, I t h i n k there is more art in a moderates her displacementtolength bowsprit and staysails, some of the rac ers of the period set nearly 1,500 square nicelooking catboat than there is in a ratio, as it should. nicelooking boat of normal beam and FRANCES'S single gaff sail measures feet of canvas on hulls no larger than draft—certainly it takes more a r t i s t r y to an i n t i m i d a t i n g 390 square feet in area. FRANCES'S. While actual sail dimensions aren't make it so. FRANCES, like many catboats, has a FRANCES is 20'10" long overall, precisely known, Mystic's reconstruc boom pedestal, rather than a conven with a waterline length of 19'5", and a tion based on spar lengths and similar tional mastmounted gooseneck or beam of 10'0". Her lengthtobeam ratio Crosby cats of the period should be boom jaws. The pedestal reportedly is 2.1 to 1, normal for a catboat of her accurate. Her sail areatodisplacement prevents the wood fibers from being size. FRANCES'S draft is 2' with her ratio works out to 19.7 with the recon crushed or chafed in the lower portion board up. I calculate her displacement structed rig. By comparison, a Folkboat of the mast, as they might with more to have been about 5,700 pounds on her has a ratio of 13, BLUE MOON 17.2, a conventional fittings. It seems clear to designed waterline. This yields a dis Stone Horse 19, and a Thunderbird me that the pedestal also transfers the placementtolength ratio of 347, mak racer about 21. This puts FRANCES at driving force of the lower portion of the ing her a boat of moderate burden. By the high end of the scale, as was typical sail directly to the deck and hull, rather comparison, a proportionately much of small sailing workboats in this coun than to the mast, relieving that unstayed heavier boat, BLUE MOON, would have try near the turn of the century. The spar of some of its load. In an accidental a D/L ratio of 467, a Stone Horse Rhode Island working sloop of 1886, jibe, this kind of arrangement might cruiser would rate about the same as which was discussed in my WB No. 58 make the difference between a hair FRANCES at 325, a Folkboat rates 286, design column, had a sail areatodis raising embarrassment and a dismast ALERION is 260, and at the ultralight placement ratio of 22.2. SA/D ratios of ing. FRANCES'S boom is a respectable end of the scale, a Thunderbird racer about 20 were required to deal with piece of timber, 25'8" long, only 3' would come in at 177. FRANCES'S dis light and variable East Coast summer shorter than her mast, and nearly 3½" placement is consistent with a catboat wind conditions before inboard engines in diameter.
Drawings by R.C. Allyn. Mystic Seaport Museum
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FRANCES was not a racing boat, nor halfdovetails and more closely spaced was she a commercial fishing boat fit forward framing are two quality con ted with a live fishwell. Her stern is not struction features that mark FRANCES typical of the betterknown Cape Cod as a boat built by a man familiar with style cats with their nearly vertical tran the special stresses a catboat endures. soms and outboard rudders. Instead, There are plenty of other interesting FRANCES has a short counter and a construction features in FRANCES. Her skegmounted inboard rudder. This rudder stock is of wood, 3½diameter arrangement gives her a more yachtlike oak, and is housed in a trunk made up appearance and was a fairly popular of the sternpost at its forward end, a catboat variant in Nantucket waters. standard at its aft end, and two rake FRANCES's construction is about as pieces that form the trunk sides and tie simple and economical as possible for the trunk to the transom. Another piece the type. Catboats as a class are neither of timber which, like the rake pieces, easy nor inexpensive to build. As noted serves a dual function is the stem before, they are big boats for their knee—it's mortised to act as a maststep. length, and they use up a lot of mate Even the centerboard weight has sev rials. Costs in commercially built boats eral functions. It's a square bar of lead are affected more by displacement than which, rather than being poured in by overall length; looked at from a place within the centerboard's boun weight point of view, there are 5,700 dary, is attached to the aft edge of the pounds of material to be paid for and board to serve as a grounding shoe as assembled in a boat like FRANCES. Also well. The lead bar also ties the center there are all those intersecting, bulk board plank ends together. Clearly, a disguising curves—elliptical cabin lot of thought and experience was trunks, rounded, staved cockpit coam brought to bear by FRANCES'S builder ings, heavily cambered housetop, etc.— to produce a strong and efficiently con to build, and these naturally take a bit structed vessel. more time and skill than do simpler Underwater, FRANCES shows a rak structures. In addition, a catboat en ing midsection, a sharp, slightly hol dures a lot of stress under sail; her mas low entry, and a long, easy run. Her sive unstayed mast in the very eyes of maximum beam is located aft of amid the boat, her great beam, large press of ships at about 58% of her length on sail, and big centerboard all require deck. Her midsection shows a flat floor fairly massive construction. All in all, a with 14° of deadrise, a fairly moderate catboat will take substantially more turn to the bilge, and some tumble labor, wood, and canvas than will a home at the sheer. Her forward sections conventional yacht of her length. are strongly Vshaped, with a high, Nevertheless, FRANCES is built as easy bilge, and her aft sections main economically as possible. Her backbone tain the same flat floor and deadrise as consists of a singlepiece stem, backed her midsection. up by a substantial knee, a single In general, FRANCES'S hull lines are 8½ x 6" keel timber, two short lengths similar to those of other moderate cats of deadwood timber, and a 4½" x 3½" of her period. Her lines do seem very sternpost. Frames are 1½"square steam clean and a bit soft by comparison with bent oak placed on about 12" centers, more heavily canvased cats. She has except in the bow, where their spacing more deadrise, and less displacement is gradually reduced to 7" to help take and freeboard than some other exam the stresses imposed by the 7¼"diam ples, and I'd expect her to be more eas eter unstayed mast and the 390 square ily driven because of it. feet of sail it carries. The frames are All in all, I think FRANCES is a boxed conventionally into the keel sophisticated boat, handsome in line, timber, except in the area of the center well built, functional, and unpreten board t r u n k , where they are fastened in tious. She sailed for 60 years before res place with a wedged halfdovetail joint. toration and retirement, the major prob The dovetails tie the frames to the keel lem at the end being the deterioration and help prevent wracking of the gar of her iron fastenings. It is a tribute to board planks where the centerboard Wilton Crosby that his vessel, now 84 slot pierces the keel. Interestingly, an years old and on permanent display at ordinary dovetail cannot be used Mystic Seaport, was tough enough to because its end would be too large to be survive—and pretty enough to save. pushed endwise into the keel mortise. You'll find further information on FRAN But, by using a halfdovetail along CES in John Leavens's The Catboat Book with a wedge to hold the joint tight and in Maynard Bray's Mystic Seaport after the frame end has been driven Museum Watercraft. Full plans for FRAN home, a secure attachment of keel to CES are available from Mystic Seaport frames is still possible. The wedged Museum, Mystic, CT 06355. 98
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Simplicity, Not Extravagance Commentary by Joel White
I
have a theory, difficult to prove but intriguing to think about, that the best yacht designers are able to instill
some of their character traits into their designs. Nat Herreshoff, genius design
er, workaholic, a demon for speed, turned out a huge body of work, metic ulously designed and crafted, fast and longlived. His son, L. Francis, was inventive, eccentric, a lover of beauty
and simplicity; he produced a number of beautiful and simple yachts as well as some that were more inventive than b e a u t i f u l . John Alden, ardent racer and deepwater sailor, took the fisherman type schooner and modified the design
into offshore yachts that were simple, strong, and economically appealing to the yachtsmen of the Depression years. I am sorry that I never knew S.S. (Sam) Crocker, but over the years I have
come to know a number of his boats. I have built two boats to his design, stored and maintained several others. If my theory is correct, Sam Crocker must have been a practical, sensible man, one who enjoyed comfort and rugged good looks, a man who preferred simplicity to extravagance. He was a cruiser rather than a racer, a man well versed in prac tical yacht construction with a good knowledge of what makes a boat look "right." In 1967, I was privileged to build the little sloop shown here for a rather spe cial client. I had a great deal of enjoy ment with the project, and the client
has enjoyed a great little boat for the past 17 years. The passage of time has diminished his use of the sloop, but his
grandchildren and greatgrandchildren sail her now.
If you have studied Sam Manning's
A 19'9" Pocket Cruiser designed by S.S. Crocker
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fine drawings for the "Anatomy of a Wooden Boat" in the 10th anniversary issue (WB No. 60), you were looking at perspectives of this boat. Crocker de signed her as a yawl in 1953; later, in 1955, a slooprigged version was drawn. It was this slooprigged design that I built in 1967. Perhaps more than any other boat in Center Harbor, people stop to admire her looks and inquire about the origins of this sloop named MARTHA. I can see her now out of my draftingroom window, looking ex tremely j a u n t y with her dark green top sides, red bottom, white topstrake and cabin sides. Her spars and deck are painted a fisherman b u f f , and her trail boards have three leaping dolphins
picked out in gold leaf. The only var nished item on the boat is her oak tiller. As you can see from her lines plan, the hull is of shallow draft and wide
beam, sort of a cross between a catboat and a Muscongus Bay sloop. To me, she is prettier than either one, more delicate than the chunky cat, more graceful than the Muscongus sloop. The large outboard rudder hangs on a wellraked transom, and the deadwood just forward of the rudder is cut away for the propeller of the 8hp single cylinder Palmer Baby Husky engine installed under the big hatch in the cockpit floor. This power plant is per fectly suited to the character of the boat, driving her easily and economically, and producing a wonderful, oldfash ioned "puttputt" exhaust out the stern. The roundfronted cabin trunk goes well with the clipper bow profile and the strong sheerline. The general appear ance is of huskiness and grace, an eye catching little boat. Only a naval arc hi tect knows how difficult this is to achieve on such a small boat. Crocker deserves high marks for this design. I might as well confess right away
that we made a few changes when we built her. To give a wider deck and make it easier to go forward to gaff the mooring or to furl the jib, the cabin sides were moved inboard about 3". The top of the stern was given a high
arch above the deck crown, the tiller brought through it above the deck, and the coamings carried aft to join the stern as in a Herreshoff 12½. I think this made her even prettier. A boom gallows was added to eliminate the need for a boom crutch and to give a good handhold aft. Rugged is the best description of her construction. For instance, the keel is 7 x 9" oak! The stem is sided 4½" and molded about 8"—all this on a boat
only 20' overall. What Crocker has done has been to incorporate much of the ballast needed into the backbone structure of the boat. A keel entirely of oak is cheaper than one having a spe cially cast chunk of lead or iron ballast attached to it. This boat has no outside ballast at all, which simplifies the building. The heavy construction con tinues with 1" cedar planking over 1 ¼"square bentoak frames on 9" cen ters, and 1 ½ " t h i c k oak floor timbers. All of this weight is pretty low in the boat where it will improve stability as 62/WoodenBoat
101
well as strength. The deck, of ½" ply wood covered with Dynel and epoxy over oak beams, is of normal weight. She is tremendously strong and should last a long, long time. About 700 lbs of lead ballast stored under the floorboards abreast the centerboard trunk brings her down to her lines, and together with the heavy backbone and wide beam makes her a stiff boat in a breeze. Below, the cabin is split in two by the centerboard trunk, which runs from the cockpit almost to the mast. A low seat/bunk on each side allows the boat to be used for overnight cruising for two. Forward of the mast, a raised plat form permits stowage, both under it and on top. There are no toilet or galley facilities. The rig, a low marconi mainsail with selftending jib, and a total area of 218 sq f t , looks a bit stumpy on paper, but to my eye, appears just right on the actual boat. She is certainly no lightair f l y e r , but sails well in moderate and strong winds, giving one the feeling of being on a boat much longer than 20'. For the owner's convenience, we ar ranged to lead the halyards aft to where they can be handled from the cockpit. Her original sails were tanbarked can vas, which looked wonderful, b u t her
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appear. Such a boat will last much longer than the homely and lessloved craft on the next mooring. I suspect Mr. Crocker knew this to be true; certainly he designed attractive boats, and many of them have aged gracefully. We look after a 40' Crocker ketch that was built in 1936, and is still in the hands of the original owner. It would be hard to improve on that longevity record. WoodenBoat has j u s t gotten permission to make these plans (6 sheets) available. The set is $150 (plus $3 for shipping and handling);
order from WoodenBoat Plans, Box 78, Brook l i n , ME. 04616.
second suit of white Dacron proved eas ier to handle and longer lasting. I have another theory, one which I think can be proved, that goodlooking boats last longer than plain ones. The boat that gives one pleasure merely to look at it is a great joy, evoking favor able comment from others. This fills the owner with pride, causing him to take extra care with the boat's appear ance. More attention is paid to a hand some craft by everyone involved in her
care, whether owner or paid profes sional; her paint and varnish are better kept, dirt and grime are washed away, problems are dealt with as soon as they
WoodenBoat will be happy to consider design submissions for possible inclusion in the Designs section. All material must be identified with sender's name and address, and if provided with a suitably sized, sufficiently stamped, self-addressed envelope, will be returned if unsuited to column requirements. Every reasonable care is taken with design submissions, but we are not responsible for damage or loss. Submissions should include lines and construction drawings, on reproducible stats, if possible. Address design submissions for boats 26' on deck and shorter to: Steve Redmond, WB Designs, 127 College St., Burlington, VT 05401. Design submissions for boats over 26' should be sent to Joel White, WB Designs, Brooklin Boat Yard, Brooklin, ME 04616.
BUILDING THE
by Graeme King
KINGFISHER
Part II
T
he first part in this series on the King fisher covered the initial steps toward building your own Kingfisher rowing shell. The pro cess of getting your workbench set up and materials ready, plus the complicated task of putting on the bottom and side skins, may have been demanding; but if you followed those first part directions care fully, you should have a bare hull in your workshop by now, and we can guide you toward its completion. Take care, go slowly, and stay on
course—the steps shown are critical in making your King fisher a beautiful and practical rowing shell that will be enjoyed for years to come.
Photographs by Madeleine Deininger 62/Wooden Boat
103
is about 18" in length, the short leg is about 5" long, and the
included angle is 100°. The shoulderfitting then proceeds as follows:
Securely clamp the shoulders (33, 34) to the forward side of the bulkhead (10) and, with a pencil, accurately mark their thickness on
each sheer stringer. Between these lines, the stringers are notched a Trim off all excess plywood along the chine knuckle and deckline, using a plane or router. With 80
grit sandpaper, sand a 1/8" radius on the chine knuckle and clean any extra glue off the keel joint.
Fill all staple holes with a thick filling paste made, if you wish, from plywood sanding dust, tal cum powder, and varnish. At this point, give the chine knuckle and keel joint a final cleanup, using
120grit sandpaper.
little until the outboard faces of
Next, fit and glue the bow and stern deck supports (27, 28) into their correct positions. While you
are working in this area, the deck packers (25, 26) can be glued to
the shoulders protrude, when set 10° from vertical, about 1/32" to 1/16" beyond the outer surface of
the hull. Use the 100° triangle to set the 10° outward lay.
the stringers. To ensure uniform clamping pressure, use a batten laid on these packers as shown.
These can be made from ¾"wide strips of 'A" scrap plywood. The
deck supports and packer strips are now faired and shaped to accept the deck skins, in the same manner as the hull framework
before its skins were fitted. Check w i t h a straightedge to ensure that there is a perfectly flat surface
from the edge of the hull to the centerline of the deck supports. Now is the time to cut out the drainholes (3/16" square) at both ends and on either side of the deck support.
The next step is to prepare the bow and stern ends for the ash trim (48)*, using a small plane and creating a curve that is as fair as possible. If the curve is fair, the width of this flat, planed surface
With each shoulder fitting per fectly flat against the bulkhead, it can be glued and fastened with a 1¾" #6 screw (106) through the frame, and a ¾" #6 screw (104) as well as one 1" #6 screw (105) through the bulkhead itself.
should increase gradually from nothing at the keel to about 3/8" at the bow and stern. The five layers of ash trim (48) are now glued in place. While the glue sets, these strips should be held in place with a small clamp
at the ends, some ordinary 1" #18 nails driven around the curve, and pieces of rope around the flatter keel sections. When the glue is thoroughly set, the nails should be removed and the ash trim faired to the hull, using a plane, fine rasp, and sandpaper. (Note: It will be easier to remove the nails if they are first driven through small pieces of scrap hull ply and then wiped with paraffin wax to keep the glue from stick ing to them.) * Numbers in parentheses key boat parts to drawings that appeared in WB No. 61.
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Since the shoulders take the great est stress in the boat, they must be carefully made and fitted. In mak ing the shoulders, you should check to ensure that the surfaces where the washboards attach are all the same height. The shoulders are then cleaned up w i t h a rasp and sandpaper. All the exposed corners should be chamfered (1/16" to 1/8" wide) for a finished appearance. Before fit ting the shoulders, a 100° triangle (see photo) should be made from scrap "A" plywood. The long leg
The above procedure is repeated when you fit and secure the second pair of shoulders (31, 32) to the forward side of the batwing (15) and slide support (21). As the stringers are larger in section at this point, the notching is consid erably deeper. These shoulders are secured with one 1¼" #6 screw
(106) through the slide support, and two 1" #6 screws (105) through the batwing.
The batwing and bulkhead ties
nishing, once you have made sure
(16, 86) that secure the batwing (15) and the bulkhead (10) to the keel can now be made and fitted. These can be glued and fastened, using 1 W #6 screws (106) for the keel, 1" #6 screws (105) for the
that you have refined the shape of the bow block to a pleasing curve. Thoroughly clean out the under deck areas and make sure the bulkheads will be watertight by
batwing, and ¾" #6 screws (104) for the bulkhead. The small
bulkhead tie (88) for bulkhead No. 11 should be glued in place. There are no mechanical fasteners in this block. The keel extension (23) is
The small washboard knees (30) are now carefully fitted around
running a small bead of glue around their edges. Bulkheads 10 and 11 should have a small bead of glue on the cockpit side. On
the opposite side (the deck side), a
secured to the keel with three 1 ¼" #6 screws (106) and glue. It is positioned 7½" from the No. 10 bulkhead. If you are less than 5'6"
bead ¼" to 3/8" wide is formed from a very thick epoxy filler, made by mixing plywood sanding dust with epoxy glue. Wearing a pair of rubber gloves, smooth this mixture out with your fingertips to form an even bead. When this
tall, this distance can be increased to 8½". You should also make sure the screws are placed so they won't interfere later with the
has set, the areas of the hull to be concealed and the underside of the plywood decks (except where glue will be spread) can be given three
stretcher plate holes (65) and secur
or four coats of varnish. Double check that all areas, especially where the hull joins the stringers,
ing screws (108).
the stringers. These should also
have been well varnished. To ensure that the extreme ends of the
protrude about 1/32" to 1/16"
beyond the hull skin. Glue and fasten these with 1 ¼ #6 screws (106).
hull get varnished, pour about onehalf pint of varnish right into the hull, then tilt and roll the entire boat. Excess varnish can be brushed out or poured out. When all the varnished areas are dry, the plywood decks can be glued in place, using the same
gluing and stapling process by which you installed the hull skins
in Part I. To make staple removal The two plywood decks (43, 44) are now fitted in the following
When the glue is set, plane the shoulder's outer surface so it comes flush with the hull, while retaining its 10° outward lay.
Make sure you are not planing twists in these surfaces.
sequence: True up the edges that come together over the centerline and check for a tight f i t by plac ing the two halves together on the boat. Trim the ends that cover the cockpit bulkheads (10, 11) until
they are precisely flush with the bulkhead surfaces. Carefully cut the excess off the opposite edges, leaving enough plywood to cover the framework (29, 89) by 3/8". (Remember to keep the offcuts since you will be using them to
make small, ½"wide strips (45) that will secure the Dacron deck
ing material in place later on.) Put the decks back in position on the boat, and trace the outline of the framework on their under sides. Don't forget to trace the outer edge of the hull as well. These pieces can be cut to width, leaving them about 1/16" oversized. Now the areas of the boat that will be decked over should be cleaned up and prepared for var
easier, remember to use small strips of leftover h u l l plywood underneath the staples. Make sure that glue has not filled the drain openings in the bulkheads and
frames. When the glue has set, remove the staples, fill the staple holes, and plane the outboard edge of the deck so that it is flush with the hull.
The washboards can now be cut out and shaped. These should fit exactly from the aft end of the plywood stern deck, to the for ward end of the plywood bow deck. Ends are gradually tapered and shaped until they meet and match the halfround deck bead ing. Washboards are then glued and nailed in place, using W #6 bronze ring nails spaced about 3" apart. The two nails in each shoulder may need to be pre drilled, and their locations should be checked to make sure that they won't interfere with the locations of the rigger bolt holes. (See the section that deals with fitting the riggers.) 62/WoodenBoat
105
The f i n (90), it i t is to he fined, should be done at this point. The fin will greatly assist in tracking and is a useful addition if you want to row in a straight line for any distance, say a mile or more. If you're after maneuverability instead, then leave i t off. It's somewhat harder to keep the boat going in a straight line without the fin, but if you're not racing, the fin is by no means a necessity. The fin slot shown in these photographs was cut with a por table circular saw fitted with a thin, 6"diameter plywood cutting blade. A platform with a slot and guide to accommodate the saw was made from scrap ¼" ply wood. Its legs or sides could be clamped to the deck stringers and thus held rigid. Considerable care was taken to ensure that the guide ran parallel with the centerline of the boat. The slot is cut ½" deep and after cutting the required length, the fin can be glued in place. When the glue has set, the boat can be turned rightside up and prepared for its Dacron
decking.
The deck supports (39) are now to be fitted. At the plywood deck
ends, these supports are fitted into a diagonally cut slot in frames 29 and 89. (There is a drawing of the deck support detail on Sheet 1 of the plans.) The other ends of the
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deck supports are cut out and shaped so they lie only 3/8" above the deck stringers. From end to end, the top edge of the stern deck support should form a straight or even slightly convex line. This is accomplished, roughly, by letting the ridge piece into slots cut into the bulkheads (8, 9). If you need to lower the support even deeper, don't cut into the bulkhead s t i f f ener; notch out the deck support instead. To help get the final shape, the deck support can be tapered some at the stern. It is now glued in place, and once the glue has set, the top edge of the deck support can be trued up w i t h a plane. The last 3" at the how and stern needs to be gradually tapered down to meet the stringers (see detail on Sheet 1 of the plans). The top edge is now rounded off to remove the sharp corners; then the piece can be varnished. Because of the sheer in the foredeck, the forward deck sup port will he a l i t t l e more difficult to fit. Once again, however, the top edge will form a straight line. To accomplish this, instead of notching out the underside of the support where it passes through the bulkhead (13), you may need to glue on a small packer piece. This will effectively increase the depth of the deck support in way of the bulkhead. Once the top edge of the forward deck support looks reasonably straight, it can be glued into place and then later trued up and varnished in the same manner as the stern support. Small plywood strips (45), approx imately 10" long—you can use the offcuts from the two plywood decks (43, 44)—must be cut to a width that allows a 1/8" overlap beyond the edge of the bulkhead frames. These pieces will be used to hold the Dacron decking mate rial to the bulkhead frames. Since the Dacron cloth will be sand wiched under these strips, it will be necessary to sand their under sides to reduce their thickness so the tops of the strips will be flush with the top of the plywood deck. And for a finished appearance, the top outer corners and outboard ends of these strips should be rounded o ff. The beading pieces (47) are now cut to length so they extend about 1 ¼" past the ends of the deck supports. Give them a
streamlined shape at the bow and stern ends of the boat, as shown. To remove any ridges that would cause excessive wear on the cloth decking, the sharp corners of the deck supports and the stringers should be lightly sanded. The
tops of the stringers between the ends of the deck supports and the end of the boat should be well sanded so that when the Dacron is varnished, it will stick to the boat's structure in this area and form a watertight seal. These decking pieces are now put aside
while the breakwater is fitted.
Begin fitting the breakwaters by cutting the 25° base level along the underside of each piece. Then cut the 40° angles where the two pieces join, and put a 5/8 bevel on those ends. (See details on Sheet 2 of plans.) At this stage, do not cut the breakwater pieces to length or height. The two halves can be taped together to form the V at their forward ends, then placed on the deck. Using a sharp chisel, cut a rough bevel on the ends of the washboards to f i t the angle of the
breakwater, marking them first as shown. Clamp the breakwater
the frames (29, 89) and the edges of the plywood decks. Lay the
pieces to the washboards and
decking back down on this glued
check (A) the base level, (B) the
surface, pressing it down firmly.
common joint, and (C) the point of the breakwater, making sure it does not extend beyond the ply wood deck. Double check and, if necessary, correct all of the above joints, making sure they f i t together properly. The next step is to glue the two halves of the breakwater together. First, lay them flat on a table with their common joint touching. Tape these beveled ends together, f l i p them both over, put glue on the bevels, and then care f u l l y fold up the halves to form a V. Hold them in place w i t h a piece of masking tape across the V while the glue sets, after which the breakwater assembly can be used to check the final beveling of the washboards. The breakwater is now trimmed so it is about 1/8" oversize in height and length. The breakwater is fastened to the deck with glue and three ¾" #4 screws (102). One screw goes into each stringer and one goes into the deck support at the com mon joint at the point of the V.
The excess Dacron decking can now be trimmed off with a very sharp knife. Glue is then applied to the underside of the decking strips (45), which are then nailed in place, using small ½" brass nails ( 1 1 2 ) . Make sure you don't accidentally drive these nails into
For gluing, the washboard breakwater joints are held together w i t h a few spring clamps. Once the glue is set, plane the breakwater to its correct height and trim the ends off so they are flush with the washboards.
After the breakwater has been fit ted, we move on to the fitting of the Dacron decking. Drape the decking material over the boat and tape it down every 12" along its edges and ends. Except for the last 6" at the bow and stern ends, the material does not need to be stretched tightly. The wide end of the decking is now folded back and glue is applied to the tops of
the drain holes.
When e v e r y t h i n g is glued and nailed in place, and the glue is
Nails ( 1 1 2 ) are now started into the beading pieces. Make sure the nails are driven in straight, are placed about 3" apart from one another, and do not go through into the flat gluing surface. One piece of beading is now turned over, and glue is applied to what will be the lower twothirds of its flat inner surface and to the end that abuts the washboard. The reason for using only twothirds is to avoid having the glue squeeze
out at the top and be visible beneath the Dacron decking. The decking is now rolled back from the side of the boat where the beading is t o be a ttached. A 3/8" band of glue is spread evenly 1/8" down from the top edge of the h u l l (once again, this is done to prevent glue from squeezing out and r u n n i n g under the decking). Fold the decking material back down over the bead of glue, press it down, and tape it, making sure the tape is placed below the glue line. The beading can now be carefully put in place and nailed to the hull, starting at the wash board end. The above procedure is now
carried out on the other side of the boat. Remember, when you retape the decking down over the glued surface, that the narrow end of it at the bow or stern should be kept moderately tight. You may need to space the tape every 3" in this area.
still soft, the excess decking mate rial that hangs down beyond the beading can be cut off, using a sharp knife. Clean any excess glue off the hull at this time as well. When the glue has set, the deck ing can be shrunk tight by iron ing it with a clothing iron set on medium heat. A hot iron may burn a hole in the dec king, so experiment first—and be conservative. After the decking has been tightly shrunk, it can be var nished. Do not thin the varnish or apply it too heavily, or it may form runs on the underside of the Dacron deck. After the decking has had three or four coats of var nish, the whole boat can be pre pared for varnishing by cleaning all the woodwork of any remain ing dust and dirt. You should select a goodquality marine spar varnish or clear polyurethane for the Kingfisher's finish. Make sure to follow the manufacturer's instructions and use a good q u a l i t y naturalbristle brush for application. Once the boat has been var nished, the f i t t i n g s can be made and installed. First off, the clogs (58) and the top and bottom bars (60, 61) are cut to size and com pletely varnished, after which three ½" bushing holes are drilled to a depth of 7/16". The bushings
(63) can now be glued in and when the glue has set, the 5/16" diameter thumbscrew holes can be drilled. Later, in order to give the thumbscrews (64) more clearance, these holes may need to be enlarged to 21/64" or 11/32" diameter. 62/WoodenBoat
107
The clogs are now fastened to the bottom bar with one screw, and their spacing is adjusted on the top bar. After rechecking the squareness of the top bar, the clogs can be secured to it with
four 1" #10 screws (109). The two
The adjusting plate (65) is secured to the keel extension with ¾" #10 screws (109). Clearance holes for the thumbscrews will need to be drilled 1/8" deep into the keel extension, using the adjusting plate as a location template.
remaining bottom screws are now installed. The joints where the clogs rest against the bars are then marked, and the whole assembly is dis mantled. Varnish is removed from the joint areas and glue is applied. Reassemble as described above. When glue has set, the com pleted stretcher assembly can be used to locate the adjusting plates on the stringers. To align the adjusting plates, screw thumb screws into the a f t adjusting holes and clamp the plates to the string ers. Now reset the stretcher assem bly in the forward position, se curing the thumbscrew in the bottom bar. Make certain that the adjusting plates on the stringers haven't moved from the first marked hole, set the near hole spacing. This should align the plate properly. Before securing the adjusting plates, mark and drill all thumbscrew clearance holes. These holes should be well sealed with varnish.
Using a thumbscrew (64), secure the bottom bar (61) square to the keel. The top bar is also set square to the keel but is only clamped to the adjusting plates, which at this stage are not yet fastened to the stringers.
WoodenBoat/62
leg of the clip is parallel to and spaced 1" from the seat horn. Use
a l"wide rule or piece of wood as a spacer for this setting. Make sure the short leg of the clip points outward as shown. If the axles and bogey wheels are not preassembled, assemble them now. Be certain that the axles are exactly parallel and that the wheels are in line. The wear strips (75) and axle
clips (76) should now be attached. To do this, place a pair of wear strips so the screw holes are 7/16" from the forward ends of the two horns and drill holes for screws. Place the bogey assembly and two axle clips (76) in place. Fasten with ½" #4 screws (101). The two remaining wear strips and clips are now fastened on the opposite ends of the horns. Push the bogey The leathers are secured to the clogs with ¾ #16 nails (111) cut to about W long. The heel cups should be positioned to suit your feet, a good rule of thumb being that when sculling, your toes should be at about the same height as the seat top.
108
The seat assembly is somewhat complex and requires proper care in installation if it is to function properly. The horns (73) are secured to the underside of the seat top with glue and screws driven from above. Make certain t h a t the horns are perfectly paral lel and that they extend equal dis tances out from the edges of the seat. The reinforcing plate can now be clamped and glued in place, and when the glue has set, the woodwork can be completely varnished. Seat clips (74) are now secured. Be certain that the short
assembly to the end of its travel. The ends of the two unsecured axle clips can now be positioned so they rest against the axles themselves where they are secured. If everything is working properly, the wheels and axles should move freely up and down the length of the clips. These clips sometimes get bent and may prevent free movement, so double check that this hasn't happened. A light layer of waterproof grease should now be applied to the wear strips (75) and axle bearings (78).
seat clips (74) are under the slide flanges, the back wheels can be lightly forced over the back stops. The seat should now be free to move the length of the t r a c k .
The inspection port (91), slides (8), and stepboard (68) are made up (if need be) and installed in the boat at this time. The inspection port is seated on a thin, even layer of silicone and secured with machine screws
(113). When making the stepboard, the end that is positioned nearest the stretcher should be rounded off, because your legs will brush against this surface while rowing. When varnishing the stepboard, you should leave the top surface rough—this will keep you from slipping when stepping into the boat. The slides (81) and seat (70) are now fitted. For the seat to function properly and not jam, it is most important that the track
the pins (55) are bolted in place. The packer plates can be beveled for a snug f i t of rigger plates against washboards.
To install the riggers (4953), ¼" rigger bolt holes will need to be drilled through the shoulders from the washboard side. A gauge that resembles a tuning fork is used to transfer the shoulder location to the outside of the washboards, where the center line for the bolt holes is marked centrally between the two shoulderpositioning lines. The distance between bolt holes must be the same as those on the rigger plates (ours are set at 60mm).
centers are exactly the same as the wheel centers. To achieve this, you may need to notch the under lays so they will fit around the shoulders. The large front stops (82) are designed to protect your legs from being injured while rowing. These are secured with 1 " #6 screws. The smaller halfround back stops (83) allow you to install the
seat on the slides. These stops are
Initially, drill 1/8" diameter holes
also secured with 1 W #6 screws. The following method can be used to install the seat without removing the tracks: The front wheels are set at the very front of the seat and placed on the slides. The seat is now slid forward so the wheels are at the aft end of the wear strips (75). Making sure the
perpendicular to the outer surface
The oarlocks can be fitted after the pins have been greased. The rigger heights (measured from the horizontal base of the oarlock to the middle of the seat) can vary from 5" to 7", depending on your height and the conditions you are rowing in. All this will be covered in our concluding Kingfisher arti cle, and we'll also tell you how to prepare your boat for the water, explain the fundamentals of row ing, and give instructions on keeping your Kingfisher in good shape.
of the washboards. If the holes don't come out centrally in the shoulders on the inside, correc tions can be made when opening the holes up to ¼" diameter. The holes should be sealed with var nish, after which the packer plates
Originally a designer and builder of racing shells in Australia, Graeme King has relocated his boatworks to South Woodstock, Vermont. In addition to coaching rowing and sculling teams, Graeme has been
(56) and riggers are bolted on and
the national rowing teams.
Boatman for Harvard, as well as for
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The initial cut. Log is in place on the two log holders, with dog spike driven to keep through the cut, the kerf is almost invisible.
from
rolling. Halfway
THE BANDMILL A SawItYourself Solution by Christian Becksvoort Product review is not our usual turf, spar, or a keel, only to discover that the lipping. Anyone who has ever used but two of our editors happened to see local sawmill can only handle timber these units will agree that they are fine the Ross Bandmill in action at Maine's up to 24'? Or you needed 5/4 stock for for occasional use, such as sawing out a Common Ground Fair, came back to planking and decking, and nobody car keel or other specialty items. However, the office with rave reports, tracked ried that size or even the species you if they are used as a steady method of down an article on the bandmill in needed. By sawing your own wood, you producing lumber, the operator's back American Forests magazine, and asked could obtain precisely the right length will begin to revolt at about the same author Christian Becksvoort to run it and dimension (without sending costly time that his ears start ringing and he through his mill again to reshape it for wood f l y i n g out the planer), using any finds himself wallowing in an incredi WoodenBoat readers. The bandmill idea species available. ble pile of sawdust. seems a natural for boatbuilders, and The home sawmills using 36" or 40" Until recently, the only alternative we're pleased to share it with you. to the lumberyard or commercial mill circular blades are a vast improvement —Eds. was the chainsaw lumbermaker or the over the chainsaw rigs. There is also a small circular mill. The chainsaw units vast increase in the price. The blade n most fields of woodworking, are relatively inexpensive, but have sev alone can cost up to $700. Extras such obtaining exactly the right material eral drawbacks. First, special chains as the foundation, the base, and even can be a real problem. Boatbuilding is must be used, since standard chains are the power source must be built or pro no exception. How often have you designed for felling (crosscutting) and vided by the operator. The Ross Bandmill Portable Saw located just the right tree for a mast, a clog almost immediately when used for
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mill/Resaw is a totally new approach. Utilizing existing technology, the band mill is an extremely simple and effi cient tool. It consists of a bandsaw and motor mounted horizontally and rid ing on a dolly along a 20' track. The two log rests complete the unit. The log remains stationary, while the saw trav els through it. Upon first seeing the mill demonstrated, I was struck by the thought, "How simple! Why hasn't anyone thought of this before?" Traditionally, bandsaws were used only in large sawmills to cut thick logs too large for circular blades. The band saw has several advantages over a circu lar blade. The first is cost, both initial cost and operating cost. Should a spike or foreign object be hit, the blade is easily resharpened, rewelded, or re placed. The ¾" blade for the bandmill costs only $7.00 and can be replaced in two to three minutes. Second, a band saw wastes much less wood. The 1/16" kerf is almost invisible, resulting in about 20% more usable wood and 80% less sawdust. Warren Ross started with the idea around 1973, after seeing a need for a mill that an inexperienced sawyer could use simply and safely. The mill had to be reliable and be sold at a cost that even a small woodlot owner, boat builder, or home builder could afford. After tinkering, planning, and a lot of trial and error, the concept of the bandmill was developed. The first units were built in his barn and driveway, and later in an old school bus across the road. Now he has a modern, well equipped shop. Ross has received two patents on the bandmill, and this year he was picked as one of only 50 inven tors selected by the Patent Office to publicly display and demonstrate their products this spring in Washington,
End view of the bandmill with blade about to start cutting a 1" board. The saw is totally enclosed, with only the lower portion exposed for cutting. A brake stops the blade at the end of each cut.
Or if you have 8/4 cedar or mahogany (probably not from your own woodlot) that needs to be thinner, it can be placed on a heavy plank to keep it from sag ging, and be resawn to any thickness. For the landbound, this process can be taken one step f u r t h e r . By shimming only one of the lower corners of the timber, clapboards can be cut. The ingenious can also use the bandmill to cut tapers, by raising only one end of a timber. Once a square taper is cut on four sides, it can be turned 45° and dogged into position, and again tapered to form an octagon, perfect for mast construction. With such a versatile machine, woodlot utilization becomes more effi cient. Trees as small as 6" in diameter can be turned into usable stock, where as before they were destined for pulp or firewood. Efficiency also comes through cost. The bandmill currently sells for $4,650, complete (longer track lengths are extra). That is thousands less than the most popular circular saws. That price can be recovered in the construc tion of a single boat or building. If one owns a woodlot, the wood can be had for only the cost of the labor. Freight, milling, and middleman charges are also eliminated. The bandmill can be used in operations other than boat building, such as post and beam con struction, lobster traps, cabinet shops, and clapboard and shingle mills. After years of operation, Ross's original machines are still in opera tion. So well designed is the bandmill that only minor changes have been made from the original. The saw comes ready to run, with a dozen extra blades and a sharpener. More information can be obtained directly from W.K. Ross, West Hempstead, NH 03841.
place to hold the log for the first two cuts, or until a flat side can rest on the log shelf. Once in place, the 5hp gaso line engine is started, the clutch/brake is disengaged, and cutting can begin. If the track is positioned to be slightly higher at its head end, the saw will cut effortlessly through the log, rolling along by gravity feed. Next, the brake is engaged, the slab removed, the saw is returned to the head end, and the log is turned 90°. This procedure is then repeated three more times to produce a clean, square timber. The saw is amaz ingly quiet and leaves a very smooth cut, fine for rough carpentry or for some pieces used in boatbuilding. Fuel consumption is about ½ gallon per hour of engine time. The real fun begins once the square timber is cut. It is at this stage that the bandsaw comes into its own, perform ing operations impossible with other saw units. Shelves on the log holders are predrilled for 1" cuts, yielding a true inch the entire length of the tim ber. By not moving the shelves, but rather by placing shims under both ends of the timber, lumber of any thickness down to 1/16" can be pro duced. Instant veneer! Is there is a need Christian H. Becksvoort is a free-lance wriD.C. Operation of the bandmill is sim for 3/8" or 5/8" planking on a skiff or ter and a cabinetmaker who lives in New ple, straightforward, and designed for a peapod? This is the way to produce it. Gloucester, Maine. single operator. The track on which the saw carriage rides is a standard piece of 18" channel iron, 20' long. For the boatbuilder who regularly handles longer lengths of wood, the track can be ordered in any length up to 60'. The standard length will accommodate logs up to 17' and 17½" in diameter (Ross figured that to be about the limit for one person to handle with a peavey). Logs are rolled into place on a couple of 2 x 4s; no great effort is required, since the two log holders are only a few inches off the ground. Positioning is accomplished with a lifter (provided) that allows the operator to position the log shelves that determine the thick ness of cut. A dog spike is driven into The completed fourth cut, resulting in a squared timber, to be used as is or sawn into boards. 62/WoodenBoat
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Health hazards and wood rot are on the minds of two readers whose questions are
of solvents (as in traditional oilbased wet and dry) in the hulls and superpaints and varnishes), but by polymeri structures of pre-fiberglass-era boats.
featured in this issue. If you would like an answer to your pressing wood dilemma, drop a note to Wood Technology, WoodenBoat, P.O. Box 78, Brooklin, Maine 04616.
"It is the best treatment of this probzation and crosslinking of two mono mers. The components are locked lem that raises questions in my mind. together by very strong covalent chemi In many situations, it is not practicable cal bonding—a bonding so strong that to remove a whole wooden structure to once epoxy has cured in wood, it is give the boat 'first aid.' I have tried virtually impossible to remove by chemi using Git-Rot and other such products with little success, and most oil-based cal means. Various solvents are added to the wood treatments will not allow subsetwo monomer components of epoxy quent filling of the cavity with epoxy resins to control viscosity and cure glues or polyester fillers. Over the last time, and these can be quite toxic dur year or so, I have used a method that ing resin cure. But longterm exposure seems to have some success, but not to cured epoxy resin, in my view, should enough time has passed to indicate be even less hazardous than exposure to whether I have come up with a good painted or varnished wood surfaces. answer. "First, as much as I am able to, I remove all the infected wood, with the hope that I have gotten beyond most of the rot spores. Second, I take a propane torch and char well the cavity I have C.D. "Woodie" Owen, St. Petersburg, opened up. This dries out the wood, Florida, writes: "Most of my working and I hope that the heat of the torch hours involve wooden boats and cabinet- will kill some of the remaining spores. work, wood being my medium. One Third, I brush the area with a clear problem that seems to come up again wood preservative. The next step is to and again is the problem of rot (both brush the area with epoxy glue. Then I
Frank Franzen, Landorf, Federal Republic of Germany, writes: "In your magazine of July/August 1984, WB No. 59, I
read an essay by Richard Jagels, 'Health Hazards of Wood Additives.' My question: Is epoxy coating (in a generous manner) inside a boat a potential health hazard when one is exposed to it for years on end?" Before epoxy resins "cure," various
volatiles that can be toxic to humans are emitted. However, once epoxy resin has set (within one to two days' time under most conditions), the efflux of toxic substances should, theoretically, be zero. This is because epoxy resins
solidify not by controlled evaporation
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f i l l the cavity with epoxy glue and Cabo- have been successfully used to restore sil mix. Any surface glazing necessary is sill beams and similar structures in old later done with auto body filler. buildings which are placed on new or "My question is this, Mr. Jagels: rebuilt foundations. For the most part, Ami on the right track, or is there any plastic fillers have proved to be failures better method? The method is my own in boats. invention and I am not sure I am going Let me add a few further comments about it the right way.... I am a steady concerning your system of epoxy repair. reader of WoodenBoat, National Fish The logic of using a clear wood preser erman, Small Boat Journal, and others, vative in wood is sound, although the but the subject of rot treatment is sel- volume of wood protected will be min dom mentioned. When it is, practical imal due to diffusion constraints. How solutions for localized areas are not ever, one must choose a preservative discussed." that is compatible with epoxy, or else I will begin by addressing the last the resin will not bond well with the statement in your letter. 1 believe the wood. Charring the wood with a blow paucity of information on localized rot torch provides little or no protection treatment stems from the widely held from f u t u r e wood decay (contrary to the opinion among the experts that local folk myth that the charring of fence ized "ream and fill" solutions are rarely posts before placing them in the ground e f f e c t i v e , and, in fact, may accelerate helps prevent decay). Furthermore, the the deterioration of the boat. I subscribe charred wood surface has very little to this opinion. If wood is rotting in a strength, so the bond between the epoxy local area, then moisture must be resin and the wood will be very weak. accumulating in that portion of the Finally, charred wood is more porous wood in excess of 2530% MC. If the rot and will create a spongelike interface is removed and a waterproof patch ap between the epoxy patch and the un plied, moisture will simply be diverted charred wood, which will help draw to the wood patch interface, and rot moisture into the wood beneath the will continue—often at an accelerated patch. pace, since the waterproof patch pro One final comment. Despite the vides an evaporative barrier, trapping widespread use of the term "dry rot," the moisture beneath. 99.9% of all decay that occurs in boats is The above logic would suggest that wet rot—that is, moisture was present the best repair is one that involved in the wood in excess of 2530% before complete removal of the wood section decay began and remained above that (plank, frame, knee, stem) that contains level as long as decay continued. Strictly any decay and the replacement of that speaking, the term dry rot applies only section with ( 1 ) heartwood from a spe to a very rare fungal decay in which the cies that has high decay resistance or f u n g u s grows in soil and builds a "liv (2) pressure preservativetreated wood. ing tube" between the moist soil and The next best alternative would be to dry wood. By drawing moisture from remove all of the decayed wood, plus a the soil, this fungus can invade wood healthy safety margin of sound wood, that has a low moisture content. The and replace that with a scarfed, sound only way this decay can occur in a boat wooden repair (preferably decayresis is if the boat were stored for an extended tant wood again). The reason that a period of time in a dark shed very c lose wood repair is better than an epoxy to soil that contained the appropriate f i l l e r is that the wooden repair piece fungus. will shrink, swell, gain and lose heat, The term "dry rot," as it is usually and breathe in a fashion similar to the misapplied in boats, generally refers to wood already in the boat. A plastic advanced cubical brown rot that oc patch, on the other hand, will not; thus, curred in damp wood sometime in the even though epoxy may bond well to past. Subsequently, the wood has dried wood, the patch will separate from the below 20% MC and decay has ceased; wood through differential shrinking but when one pokes a knife or ice pick and swelling (actually the wood fibers into the wood, it crumbles into a dry, will be torn apart). powdery mass. The presence of this Epoxy and other plastic or non "dry rot" indicates one of two possibili wood repair systems work well in cer ties: ( 1 ) the wood was once exposed to tain situations, p a r t i c u l a r l y in those high moisture conditions, but is no cases where the decayed wooden piece longer, due to structural or operational can be kept at a reasonably constant changes, or (2) the wood is subject to moisture content which is below 20% cyclical changes in moisture content, and where the only engineering con and the observer has uncovered the cern is the improvement of compressive decay during a dry cycle. strength. For these reasons, epoxy fillers —Richard Jagels 114
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The Historic American Merchant admit it. The inland waterway system Marine Survey. Volumes I-1V, East of the Midwest, the Columbia River Coast Vessels. Volume V, Great Lakes and Puget Sound, New York Harbor Vessels. Volumes VI-VII, West Coast and the Hudson River—whole, vast Vessels. Ayer Company, 47 Pelham regions of the United States have been Road, Salem, New Hampshire 03079. almost totally ignored. The staff cer $3,000 the set. Note individual volumes tainly had good excuses, foremost being and sets of plans from HAMMS can be the small budget and the ridiculously purchased from the publisher separ- short time allowed for the Survey—18 ately. Volumes range in price from $650 months. Furthermore, the project ended to $975; plans sets range from $15 to rather suddenly, and many individual $140. surveys were left uncompleted; about 60 were so fragmentary that they were not included in this edition. In addi tion, the people who initiated the Sur had to hump the damn thing up the vey did not foresee that they would have narrow, dark flights of stairs to my difficulty finding a skilled staff; neither depressing apartment. The landlady, the WPA nor the Federal Emergency old and crippled, heard me cursing and Relief Administration included many banging, stuck her head out the door. naval architects or marine draftsmen in With a quavering voice she asked me their employment rolls. The time and what was in the rather huge box. I told expense of training new people led to her it was a woman's body. At 165 the abandonment of some of the planned pounds in its wooden shipping case, projects. the Ayer Press edition of The Historic I think that the worst problem American Merchant Marine Survey is a HAMMS had was that its purpose was heavyweight. unclear. I ' l l quote Frank Taylor's The Historic American Merchant introduction so you won't think I'm Marine Survey, hereinafter referred to lying: "The policy of the Survey in as HAMMS, has been reprinted in a regard to what type of vessels should be facsimile edition in seven folio volumes, surveyed was very general. Supervisors each measuring 23½" by 18½". Ayer were asked to report all old vessels in Press did their best in printing HAMMS: their regions which appeared to them the volumes are bound in post binders, to have historical interest, keeping in the paper is acid free, and the printing mind the desire to make the greatest is of high quality. My first impression effort to survey types of vessels about was of b e a u t i f u l fields of creamcolored which information was not otherwise paper and crisp lines. HAMMS feels readily available.... and looks expensive, and it is. "Frequently in actual practice the E v e r y t h i n g I k n o w about the subjects of the surveys were determined HAMMS itself is in the preface to this by their availability, the weather, lack edition. Melvin H. Jackson, the former of other material, the qualifications of Curator of Maritime History at the the personnel, and other reasons in no Smithsonian Institution, edited the way related to the desirability of the work for publication, and he offers material." information about this edition and the The projectors of the Survey had Survey itself in his Editor's Preface. A rather ambitiously divided the country short memoir of the Survey by Director up into 17 geographic regions. But for Eric J. Steinlein appears in the preface, the reasons adduced and others, this as does the contemporary introduction number shrank to 10. These 10 were to the Survey by the Associate Direc again reduced to 7 for publication to tor, Frank A. Taylor. I assume it is all produce volumes of approximately accurate in information and tone. equal size. The Historic American Merchant For all its wide goals and obvious Marine Survey was part of Federal Proj energy, the HAMMS was a WPA proj ect No. 6 in the Works Progress Admin ect—brought to us by the same people istration. Operations began in March who invented the idea of f i l l i n g up 1936 and ended in October 1937. The holes that had just been dug. It was a Survey has a very promising title but it "make work" project, and it shows. fell far short of its promise; everyone, The general lack of direction and what including the authors of the Survey, I think was the WPA milieu produced a
I
work that often sacrificed function to form. There's plenty of material of inter est in HAMMS, but plenty more that's not. The whole project is marvelously uneven in quality. Since the national directive was so weak and the goal so vague, the different styles of the regions and the draftsmen are very distinct. Therefore, this is an interesting docu ment not only for the information con tained in it but also because of the per sonalities of the men which seem to surface through the lines. I wonder who these men were. The builder of a Florida sponge boat is listed as "un known Bahama island Negro." What a choice bit of information—who could have written it? Howard I. Chapelle is certainly the most famous of the HAMMS regional directors, yet his work in Regions I and II is disappointing. Most of the entries from his regions are builders' half models. The scale of most is unknown; in fact, most of the information about each model is unknown. Every entry follows the same strict format, even one of the unknown half models. The min imum entry seems to be four pages. The first page on the unknown half model is the standard cover page—all the eli cited information of which is missing. The second page has the same total lack of information condensed on one side with a perfectly blank square 15x15" on the other. The third page is a 1 7 ½ x 36" sheet, half of which is absolutely blank; the other half contains the body plan of the unnamed half model, which is re produced at some arbitrary fraction or multiple of the model's size—whatever fits well on the page. The fourth page, again 1 7 ½ x 36", but comparatively f u l l , has the plan and profile views and diagonals, as well as perhaps a com pletely gratuitous curve of areas—again to some arbitrary m u l t i p l e of the model size. Added to this is the obnoxious habit, permitted by Chapelle (but none of the other regional directors), of eras ing all the grid lines from the drawings. This practice may have appealed to the individual draftsman's sense of artistry and desire to enhance his own work, but makes the lines very difficult to deal with. All this has yielded page after page of vessels of unknown size, type, and even name—all almost useless. The West Coast Region seems to
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the regional office was, and I guess motor ship JUNE in Florida waters" to there wasn't much of a travel budget. Frank Taylor back at the Smithsonian. Out West there wasn't the same preoc I cannot figure out why this fatuous cupation with half models and lines as letter, or his work, is included in this in the East; in the West Coast entries, edition. Sawyer was prolific in the Volumes VI and VII, the hull lines are manner of a firstyear art student run sometimes squeezed onto the page. The amuck. His work is completely differ boys in San Francisco seemed to have ent from anything else in the Survey. It liked sail plans, construction plans, stands out primarily as the only color and very intricate drawings of wind work in the entire seven volumes. Most lasses, anchors, steam boilers, and wood of his paintings have been reproduced grain. The quality of the drawings is in black and white, but some have been excellent. They are as lovingly illumi lovingly reproduced in the same muddy nated as a 10thcentury sacred Chris colors he used on the originals. tian manuscript. It seems to me that It is apparent that Sawyer was try they were often embellished in the same ing mightily to enlighten but above all manner. to f i t in with the rest of the Survey—an An obvious example is the LOUISA artist among mere technicians. Among MORRISON, built in 1868. The prove his works are four pages of broadly nance of the information for the draw done renderings of the bugeye LOLA ings is given as a half model and "Data TAYLOR'S patent stern. Evidently he from a contemporary painting," which wished to illustrate its construction, is reproduced. Yet from this modest but his technique doesn't really give us information they have deduced 10 folio a clue. pages of information, including: a con My big complaint is not with the struction profile, the arrangement of HAMMS. True, it is flawed, largely the deadwood, a deckbeam plan, and because so much was attempted with so an anachronistic plugstock rudder. little. There is much in it that is worth Certainly the volume with the most less: pages that are empty, useless lines consistent quality is Volume V, the plans and drawings that have been Great Lakes. There is an absolute wealth embellished toward fiction. Yet it is so of what I assume to be accurate infor massive that there is a tremendous mation, especially about the postCivil amount of good among the bad. It is War steamships of the region. This what it is. great s t u f f comes primarily from origi It is the edition itself that I don't nal drawings, largely from yards still like. Eight years ago when the now then in existence, like Burger and defunct Arno Press set out to publish Burger. My only complaint is that the HAMMS, some brave souls appar instead of j u s t being recorded, they ently asked if it wouldn't be better to were copied and converted to the print the work in a smaller, more man HAMMS format. ageable format. It was decided that the Of all the various individuals who photographic reduction of the lines made their mark, my favorite is Phillip would distort them and make them Sawyer. He literally appeared in Frank unusable. Too bad. Anyone who has Taylor's office doorway, "a small gray built a boat or taken a detail from one of man carrying an enormous load of the tiny plates in a Chapelle history unframed paintings. Without a word knows that it is possible to work accu he quietly arranged them around the rately from reduced lines. Further, I walls facing my desk. They were rather f i n d the publishers' obsession with f l a t but f a i t h f u l and pleasing paintings maintaining the supposed quality of of Chesapeake and Delaware sailing the lines a little misplaced, as the craft. He came to stand beside me and authors of the Survey blithely enlarged nod his approval of the work. His first or reduced lines graphically to fit their words were to explain that this was the format. What is the harm of reducing first time he had really seen the paint lines that have been enlarged? My ings because he had painted them in the impression is that the draftsmen were t i n y cabin of his boat where he could much more interested in drawing fair not get far enough away from them to and pristine lines than in reproducing see what he was doing.... Later we put them accurately. him on the payroll, gave him an inex The books are j u s t too big; with pensive camera and a supply of film, a their 36"long pages, you need a desk 5' small travel allotment, and turned him wide just to open them. Because of their loose.... He was the happiest and least size, the pages are extremely difficult to troublesome employee of all." turn without bending them—some Included in the introduction to the t h i n g the normal obsessivecompulsive edition is a silly letter written in 1939 personality n a t u r a l l y worries about from this Phillip Sawyer "On board the with a $3,000 edition. 116
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It is the needless expense of this edi tion that chills me. In the edition there
is literally a ream of white paper, pure and unsullied by printers' ink. In addi tion to the huge blank squares, there are hundreds of cover sheets with no information, and there are hundreds of entries, principally the watercolors of Phillip Sawyer, which should have been removed. Evidently there was some editing, as only 360 of the Watercraft's collection of 426 vessels are included in
the edition. The editor claims that some effort went into rearranging the plates into a sensible and useful order—I fail to see any evidence of this. Vessels seem to be strewn at random through the volumes: s a n d w i c h e d between two Florida spongefishing boats is a Tancook whaler from Nova Scotia. Why is it there? There is useful information in this edition of the HAMMS, but it is buried in a heavy mass of very high
quality, acidfree paper. Who should buy this? Not you. I
suppose a few will be sold to well endowed museums and libraries that
feel they must have it; and I know there are some rich, oddball collectors out there who will buy other sets. I think I'm going to wait for the paperback.
—Andy Davis
PA 17105. $8.95. Personable howto. Ocean Yachtmaster: Celestial Navigation, by
Pat LangleyPrice and Philip Ouvry. Sheridan House, 145 Palisade St., Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522. $27.50. Howto, with exercises and answers; the tables used are Nautical Almanac, Reed's, and HO 229 and 249. Sun Sight Navigation, by Arthur A. Birney. Cornell Maritime Press, Centreville, MD 21617. $12.50. Getting a line of position from the sun, then another later for a running fix; uses HO 249. The Complete Book of Boat Electronics, by
Ernest A. Zadig. PrenticeHall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632. $19.95. If you feel you must have black boxes aboard, you might as well read up on them before they're installed. Mariner's Atlas, by A.P. Balder. Chartcrafters, 114 E. Lexington St., Baltimore, MD 21202. $27.95. Navigation charts in a largeformat book, covering Long Island Sound, South Shore of Long Island, and Southern New England. Surveying Small Craft, by Ian Nicholson.
Sheridan House, 145 Palisade St., Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522. $17.95. Second edition of an excellent handbook for the knowledgeable amateur. The Last Sailors, by Neil Hollander and
Harold Mertes. St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10010. $19.95. "The final days of working sail"; companion book to the videotape of the same name. The 12- Volt Doctor's Practical Handbook, by
Edgar J. Beyn. Spa Creek Instruments, 616 Third St., Annapolis, MD 21403. Boats and batteries; handbook for those who want to know more about electricity than how to flick a switch. Boating Cost Guide. Robert Snow Means Company, Kingston, MA 02364. $29.95. Tables of
costs for (almost) every item that goes into the modern pleasure boat; excellent for costing out your new boat.
Ben Lexcen, by Bruce Stannard. Faber and Faber, Winchester, MA 01890. $14.95. The author ized biography of the man who brought the winged keel to America, brought the New York Yacht Club to its knees, and brought the AMERI CA's Cup to Australia. Concise Tables for Sight Reduction, by Thom as D. Davies. Cornell Maritime Press, Centre
ville, MD 21617. $8.50. A simplified method of sight reduction said to be the modern alternative to Ageton's tables (HO 211). Launches and Yachts: The 1902 Elco Catalog. Swanson Marine Enterprises, Waldorf, MD. $ 10.95. Reprint of a catalog that makes one realize how late one was born. The Yachting Book of Celestial Navigation, by Stafford Campbell. Dodd, Mead, 79 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. $9.95. Based on HO 249. The Yachting Book of Coastwise Navigation, by Stafford Campbell. Dodd, Mead, 79 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. $9.95. Companion volume to the above but limited to navigation in sight of land. Historic Ships of San Francisco, by Steven E. Livingston. Chronicle Books, 870 Market St., San Francisco, CA 94102. $8.95. "A collective history and guide to the restored historic vessels of the National Maritime Museum." Managing Your Escape, by Katy Burke. Seven Seas Press, Newport, RI 02840. $15.95. How to run away to Paradise without guilt. The Joy of Backyard Boatbuilding, by Carol
McCormack. Ox Bow Press, Woodbridge, CT. Man and woman build boat, get married, launch boat, and go cruising, in that order. "This is not a howtodoit book; it's a howwedidit book." The Real Runabouts V, by Bob Speltz. Speltz, 505 Albert Lea St., Albert Lea. MN 56007. $35.95. The speedboat saga continues.
Andy Davis was the shipwright in charge of the building of the schooner SPIRIT OF MASSACHUSETTS.
Recently Received Building Classic Small Craft, Volume 2, by John Gardner. International Marine Publishing Company, Camden, ME 04843. $35.00. More boats to build, 23 of them, all of the wholesome variety. Sailing Alone Around the World, by Captain Joshua Slocum. W.W. Norton, 500 Fifth Ave., NY
10010. $19.95. New edition with a series of excel lent blackandwhite illustrations by marine artist James E. Mitchell. Kayak Touring, by William Sanders. Stack pole Books, Harrisburg, PA 17105. $12.95. Empha sis is on rivers and sheltered water with a nod toward the sea. Canoeing Wild Rivers, by Cliff Jacobson. ICS
Books, Merrillville, IN 46410. $14.95. "A primer to North American expedition canoeing." Cruising the Pacific Coast, by Carolyn and
Jack West. Pacific Search Press, 222 Dexter Ave. N. Seattle, WA 98109. $12.95. Fourth edition cov ering from Acapulco to Skagway by a powerboat cruising couple who have been there and back a number of times. Practical Celestial Navigation, by Tom Bot tomley. Tab Books, Blue Ridge Summit, PA
17214. $12.95. Uses the Nautical Almanac and HO 229 Sight Reduction Tables. Yachtmaster Exercises, by Pat LangleyPrice and Philip Ouvry. Sheridan House, 145 Palisade St., Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522. $14.50. Practice ses
sions, with answers, for navigation, both coastal and offshore. Introduction to Canoeing, by Bradford Angier and Zack Taylor. Stackpole Books, Harrisburg,
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SEAMANSHIP IN THE AGE OF SAIL by John Harland; illustrated by Mark Myers T h i s must be the most detailed account ever published of the methods and techniques used in handling squarerigged ships between 1600 and 1860. Over 350 drawings were especially prepared to illustrate every ma neuver, accompanied by numer ous paintings and photos. The
author first discusses the lan guage of shiphandling, masts, rig ging, spars, individual sails, and some theoretical principles. He then explains in fascinating detail how all the many shiphandling evolutions were actually carried out, including the organization of the crew, bending, loosing and furling sail, reefing, studding sails, steering, tacking, wearing and boxhauling, working a ship in a tideway, towing and warping, storm handling, heaving to, anchor ing, accidents at sea, and much
more. 320pp. Illus.
$39.95
LAUNCHES AND FINISHING YACHTS: The 1902 by Walter I. Simmons
WOODENBOAT TENYEAR INDEX
Elco Catalog
ou've waited patiently, and now it is ready: the new, compre Y hensive index to WoodenBoat
Introduction and Notes by William C. Swanson T h i s facsimile reprint of the extensive 1902 catalog of Elco— the Electric Launch Company— presents not only a fascinating and detailed look at the craft of one of the world's outstanding boatbuilding organizations, but an engrossing glimpse into the leisure life of turnofthecentury America. From its birth in 1892 until it closed in 1949, Elco designed and built more than 6,000 pleasure boats, from small electric launches to large gaso linepowered yachts. To this re print, taken from the only existing original 1902 catalog, William Swanson has added a history of the company. The 1902 purchase prices, completely fitted, shown with the detailed descriptions of each boat, will astonish you! 143 pp. 110 photos, plans and drawings. Softcover. $10.95
T h e r e has long been a need for a good manual on finishing out boats, and this book fills that need superlatively. Before Walt Simmons took up building lap strake boats, he worked as a pro fessional painter, and the finish work on his boats clearly demon strates the results of his expertise In this book, printed from type script, he discusses the basics, the tools of the trade, preparation, painting, varnishing, oiling, gold leafing, maintenance, and repair of the finish. Included are four appendices discussing incising a waterline, bottom paints, estima ting, and specific products the
magazine throughout its first ten years. With the TENYEAR INDEX you will have at your fingertips an unmatched resource of priceless information on the design, con struction, use, history, care, and repair of wooden boats of all types and sizes. Arranged alpha betically, the INDEX, with over 8,000 entries, will guide you to the answers to just about any question you could have on the subject of wooden boats. If you read and use WoodenBoat mag azine, you can't afford to be with author uses in his shop. FINISHING out this all new INDEX to our first is packed full of hints and tips that 60 issues. will save you time, effort, and About 80 pp. Softcover $9.95 money, and having it is like serv ing an apprenticeship with a master of the trade. 97 pp. Illus. Softcover. $20.00
FIFTY WOODEN BOATS: A Catalog of Building Plans This new, greatly enlarged catalog of 50 of WoodenBoat's full sized construction plans, plus 11 halfmodel plans, supersedes our previous catalogs and includes many designs recently added to our offerings. Here is a wide variety of boats—power,
Now, in addition to our regular binders, we are introducing handsome Library Slipcases as an alternate method of protect ing your valuable copies of WoodenBoat magazine. Each customdesigned slipcase will hold one year (six issues) of WoodenBoat. Bound in attractive pine green leatherette, embossed with gold lettering and our distinctive logo, these slipcases will fit nicely in your bookcase and keep your favorite magazine readily at hand for easy reference. A lot of you have been asking for these; now you don't have to wait any longer.
sail, rowing—from rowing shells and prams to bassboats, cat boats, and schooners, from 7footers to 40footers, by this cen tury's outstanding designers. Each design is fully described, with study plans, and tables that summarize "vital statistics," cost estimates, skill required, and more. There is a chapter on "How to Understand Boat Plans" by Weston Farmer, a perspective drawing identifying the parts of a boat, and a bibliography of useful books and articles on boatbuilding. There is much of interest in this catalog for the boat enthusiast even if you don't plan to build one yourself. 122pp. Illus. $9.95
FOR ORDERS & SUBSCRIPTIONS: Call 1-800-225-5205 (in Maine, 1-800-225-5800) or use our order form on page 117.
OUR NEWEST LIMITEDEDITION PRINT GAZELA PRIMEIRO Arriving on the Banks The second in our series of limitededition prints, this fine repro duction of a Watercolor by C.L Peterson depicts the Portuguese Grand Banker arriving for a season of fishing, as viewed from the topmast of a rival Gloucesterman. The GAZELA was built in 1883 as a topsail schooner, and rerigged as a barkentine in 1900, when she began a 69year career on the Banks. Here she is seen about 1900. The GAZELA, still sailing, is now a training ship based in Philadelphia. Personally signed and numbered by the artist, this print is limited to an edition of 500. Image size, 16½ x 23"; overall size, 24 x 30". Shipped flat. $75.00
...and still available ALVIN CLARK Our first limitededition print by C.L Peterson shows the Great Lakes schooner ALVIN CLARK preparing to lower sail, approach ing the port of Ephraim, Wisconsin. Edition of 500 signed and numbered prints. Image size, 17 3/8 x 23"; overall size, 24 x 30". Shipped flat. $75.00
Builder's ScaleModel Kit NUTSHELL Pram More than an intriguing scale model...it's a lesson in boatbuilding Boatbuilders often build a construction model of a new design to anticipate and solve problems before they cut into expensive timbers. We thought a builder's construction model kit would be interesting, and what better design to start with than WoodenBoat's 7'7" NUTSHELL sailing pram? Not only does she make an unusual and attractive model to display; every piece is identical, except in size, to the parts used in the fullsized NUTSHELL, and you put her together essentially the same way. Here is an ideal, inexpensive way to expe rience boatbuilding and learn something about the process. Our 1 ½ " = 1' scalemodel kit includes all the sheet and strip basswood you need, tanbark Dacron sail material (real sailcloth), plans drawn to model size that may be used as patterns for cutting out the parts, and detailed instructions. Complete scalemodel kit: $29.95
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KINGFISHER Kit
22'6" Plywood Single Recreational Shell In 1983 WoodenBoat commissioned Graeme King, one of the world's top designers and builders of wooden racing shells, to design a Vbottomed plywood recreational shell suitable for construction by the home builder. The happy result is KINGFISHER, a design that doesn't require a lot of expensive jig and moldmaking and is well suited to oneoff construction. Stability is a delicate matter in any shell, and KINGFISHER'S 1'4" waterline beam provides a good com promise, giving the inexperienced rower a shell he can learn to handle, but also satisfying the experienced oarsman. Intended as a recreational rather than allout competition boat, KINGFISHER can still reach an estimated 93% of the speed of the best of them, so you won't be embarrassed if another boat happens along and slyly challenges you; chances are, you'll leave them in your wake. Constructed of mahogany plywood and spruce, the boat is 22'6" overall, 1 '7 " beam, 4" draft, and weighs only 42 lbs (easy for one person to transport).
The KINGFISHER Complete Kit makes this exciting new shell available to amateurs who might hesitate to build from scratch, or may find the proper materials difficult to come by in their area. Produced by the King Boat Works, the kit comes with everything you need to finish your shell, except varnish and the oars. Included are plans, stepby step instructions, special mahogany plywood with the bulkhead shapes marked for cutting, spruce stringers, Dacron decking mate rial, epoxy resin, all hardware and fastenings, complete slidingseat assembly, and outriggers custom designed for the boat. COMPLETE KIT: $1,150. Shipped freight collect from Vermont. Allow 6-8 weeks for delivery.
KINGFISHER Plans Only For those with intermediate boatbuilding skills who prefer to obtain their own materials and build from scratch, we also offer plans only for the KINGFISHER single shell. The four sheets of plans include lines, construction drawing, arrangement, and fullsize templates and pat terns. No lofting is required. Authorization included to build one boat. WB Plan #51
$75.00
Designed by Joel White, the NUTSHELL pram is one of the best small tenders we've ever seen. She rows like a true pulling boat, and can carry three adults comfortably, yet she is only 7'7" overall, has a beam of 4', a draft of 5 ¼", and weighs just over 90 pounds. She tracks exceptionally well and tows securely. Saucy in looks, she is stable and safe under her lugsail, great for the kids—and adults. NUTSHELL is available in either a rowing or a sailing model. The Kit is complete with all wood parts cut to size, fastenings, hardware, a set of bronze oarlocks and sideplate sockets for two rowing stations, plans, and complete instructions. The sailing model also includes spars, rudder and fittings, tiller, daggerboard and case. Shipped freight collect. Allow 46 weeks for delivery. ORDER
NOW, OR WRITE FOR MORE INFORMATION. ROWING MODEL: $650 SAILING MODEL: $800
OPTIONAL DACRON SAIL: $145 (available in white or tanbark)
NUTSHELL Pram Construction Plans Do you prefer building from scratch instead of from a kit? We are now offering plans alone for the great 7'7" NUTSHELL pram so that you can join the fleet. From our detailed construction plans you can build either the rowing or sailing model (and if you are a beginner, the article on how to build the NUTSHELL in WoodenBoat issue No. 60 will be an additional help). The construction plan set includes fullsized patterns for the two molds used in building, the transoms, 'midship frame, fore keel, and scaled drawings of the plank shapes, as well as lines and offsets, construction details, sail plan and details, and a plan for the building jig. WB Plan #41A. $75.00 FOR ORDERS & SUBSCRIPTIONS: Call 1-800-225-5800 (in Maine, 1-800-225-5800) or use out order form on page 117
Stuff to Wear LONGSLEEVED JERSEY
This classylooking longsleeved jersey, with a small breast pocket on the left, is made extra attrac tive by the WoodenBoat logo on the pocket. Made of Preshrunk, heavyweight, 100% cotton for long wear and a comfortable feel, you can dress up in this for almost any occasion and be right in style. Navy blue with white logo. Adult sizes: S (3436), M (3840)
L (4244), XL (4648).
$13.50
SUN VISORS Just because it's winter doesn't mean the sun doesn't get in your eyes. You can wear our Wood enBoat sun visors playing indoor tennis, or to brighten up the ski slopes. These sturdy visors have a stiffener of rubber covered with a fine blue fabric, and a headband lined with thin foam for comfort. Fully adjustable, with an unbreak able metal buckle, the visor is silkscreened with the Wooden Boat logo. Blue with white logo: $5.95. Also available without the logo (please specify): $4.50.
REGULAR TSHIRTS SWEATSHIRT When the sun is out even on cold winter days, a heavy coat is often just too warm. That's the time to put on your WoodenBoat hooded sweatshirt. Made of medium weight, 50% cotton and 50% acrylic, our blue pullover sweat shirts include roomy pouch pock ets to keep your hands comfort able. And that beautiful white WoodenBoat logo across the front 36), M (3840), L (4244), XL (46 will certainly send an extra glow 48). State size and color. $7.50 of warmth throughout. Adult sizes: S, M, L, XL (sizes run slightly
Our WoodenBoat TShirts con tinue to be a big favorite, and if you didn't get one for Christmas, treat yourself! Made of Preshrunk heavyweight 100% cotton, our regular TShirts are silkscreened with a large WoodenBoat logo across the front. Available in two color combinations: blue with white logo, and tan with dark brown logo. Adult sizes: S (34
small).
$19.50
Our Newest Plans tive gaff rig option. Below, in addi tion to two forward Vberths with head between, she has a convert ible dinette in the main cabin that makes into a third berth. Her gal ley is a really big one, there is plenty of stowage space, and she has 5' headroom. The 11 sheets of plans include sail plans, lines, offsets, construction plan, cabin profile, twocabin arrangement plans, spar plans. WB Plan #64 $210.
TYPHOON is a big boat for her length and a truly comfortable
cruiser for three adults, with a good, easy motion in a lumpy sea. Her overall length is 24'6"; LWL, 20'4"; beam, 9'; draft, 4'10"; dis placement, 11,400 lbs. She car ries a 3,520lb iron ballast keel, and 500 lbs of inside ballast. Sail area with the ¾ marconi rig is 376 sq ft, and there is an alterna
This handy little clipperbowed, centerboard yawl is heavily built, but she is still a smart sailer. She is technically a ketch, but the pro portions of her sail plan are more those of a yawl. She is 20' overall, 16'10" on the waterline, with a beam of 7'7", and a draft of 2' (board up). With her relatively wide beam and heavy keel, stem, and planking, she requires only 300 lbs of inside ballast. She has fairly Spartan cruising accommo dations for two below. Her low rig carries 205 sq ft of sail, making her easy to singlehand, and there
This seaworthy, opencockpit, inboardpowered launch, design ed by the author of the highly respected book, Boatbuilding Manual, would make a fine fishing boat, yachtclub launch, or gen eral workboat around the harbors, islands, and open bays. Her round bottom is carvel planked over steambent frames, making her a solid boat, less vulnerable to such dangers as floating driftwood
is provision for a small inboard than are many of today's high
engine. The 6 sheets of plans speed planing hulls. Intended for include lines and offsets, construc a 7 to 10hp inboard diesel tion plan, sail plans, and spar engine, she is 18'7" overall, 16'7½ on the waterline, with a details. WB Plan #65 $150. beam of 6'3" and draft of 18½". The three sheets of plans include lines and offsets, construction plan, and outboard profile and arrangement, and there are sup plementary specification pages.
WB Plan #63 62/WoodenBoat
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FOR ORDERS & SUBSCRIPTIONS: Call 180022S5205 (in Maine, 18002255800) or use our order form on page 117.
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(207) 236-4188 (207) 236-8500
THE AMERICAN BOATHOUSE . ATLANTIC AVENUE . P.O.BOX 900W . CAMDEN, MAINE 04843 38'8" S&S "Finisterre" yawl built by Matthiesen & Paulsen 1956;
double-planked mahogany on oak, bronze fastened, bronze strapped, CB, CB trunk, floor
timbers, maststep, worm shoe; 74 Westerbeke diesel; sleeps 6; beautiful interior joinery; shower; vessel completely refitted '80-'81 incl. new sails, rigging, electronics. CA $75,000 39'10" Concordia yawl 1956 by Abeking & Rasmussen; African mahogany tight-seamed hull, bronze fastened; Graymarine gas rebuilt '82; one of the best maintained and authentic Concordias available. Simple and elegant. ME.
46'6" Charles Mower 8-meter yawl built by Nevins 1929; doubleplanked mahogany over cedar; bronze fastened, strapped, bronze knees; '75 Graymarine gas; sleeps 6; good cruising gear; a classic, fast, well-maintained yacht. NY.
$40,000
39'11" Ford/H.R. Hinckley yawl built 1958; mahogany on oak,
bronze fastened and strapped; 73 Westerbeke diesel; sleeps 4-6, spacious galley and nav. area; large sail inventory; built as a racer for the Lakes, now a fast and comfortable cruising yacht; pedigree built and carefully maintained. ME. $42,000 22'6" Gilbert Dunham "Stout Fella" sloop; mahogany/oak/bronze; 16-hp gas inboard; sleeps 2; thoroughly rebuilt 77-'83. ME. $7.200
25' "Folkboat" sloop (1958); gas inboard; much custom gear and maintained in top condition by knowledgeable owner. Price reduced. VA. $13,500 26' "Controversy-26" CB sloop (1951); strip-planked cedar; Kermath gas inboard; sleeps 4; well respected, fast coastwise model. ME. $10,500 30' Hanna "Tahiti" ketch rebuilt '79-'83; black cypress/oak/bronze; BMW 12-hp diesel;
52'3" Alden gaff schooner built by Post & Sons 1925, "Malabar VI" model; longleaf yellow pine
on oak, refastened bronze, teak over ply deck; "68 Cerlist diesel; sleeps up to 8; vessel completely rebuilt to survey recommendations, details available. FL. $110,000 36' Van de Stadt "Holiday-36" yawl by Zan Dam Shipyard (Holland) 1961; center cockpit, aft cabin; mahogany on oak, bronze fastened, "82 Vaitses-method fiberglass sheath; Palmer 22-hp gas, rebuilt '82; sleeps 6-7 in good use of space; excellent as a family cruiser. MA.
$16,000
40' Mason gaff schooner built 1949 (Canada); pine on oak, galvanized fastened, refastened '82 with SS; '68 Ford 60-hp diesel; sleeps 4-6; a handsome, seaworthy model with recent upgrading. NY.
$23,000
50' Brazilian traditional gaff schooner built 1979; jitaipeba planking on greenheart frames, galvanized fastened; 79 MWM 201-hp diesel; sleeps up to 10; handsome and authentic vessel with rich native woods and carvings, fitted for charter work. British Virgins.
$180,000
36'10" German Frers CCA-type K/CB sloop (1978); cedar/viraro/copper; Peugeot diesel;
sleeps 6; bluewater boat, well designed, well built. PR. $55.000 38'11" Wm. Tripp/lacobson K/CB yawl (1963); finest quality double-planked wood construction, similar to B-40 design; Westerbeke 40 hp; sleeps 6; one-owner yacht, NY. $79.500 42' S&S classic yawl (1938); mahogany/oak/bronze; 30 hp gas; sleeps 5; a very able vessel. strongly built and well maintained. NC. $32.000
49'11" Calkins-50 double-ended motorsailer sloop (1964); mahogany/ipol/bronze; Ford/ Osco 116-hp diesel; sleeps 7; very fast model, ext. equipped. NY. $65.000
sleeps 4; sturdy and sound. FL. $32,000 30' Rosborough-30 ketch (1977); modeled after H-28; mahogany/oak/bronze; Yanmar diesel; sleeps 4; very well suited and equipped for cruising. NJ. $34.000 32' Alden custom sloop (1941, rebuilt 1980); mahogany/oak/bronze; '80 diesel; sleeps 5; extensively equipped for serious club racing. IL. $35,000 33' S.S. Crocker cutter (1950); cedar/oak/galvanized; 30-hp gas; sleeps 4; classic Crocker clipper bow, a delightful cruiser. MA. $28,500
50' Alden RORC ¼-rigged sloop (1938); mahogany/oak/bronze; complete refit 1978-82; exc. strongly built, has had only 3 owners, lovingly maintained classic. NY. $160.000 POWER 30' Willis Rossiter lobsterboat-type cruiser/commuter (1970); mahogany/oak/bronze; Chrysler V-8 gas; sleeps 2. ME. $18,000
36' Angleman/Davies ketch (1968); ipol/ipol/bronze, teak deck; Perkins diesel; sleeps 5; a
40' Ralph Wiley trawler-yacht (1963): cedar/oak/bronze; Ford/Lehman 96-hp diesel; sleeps
roomy and nicely appointed, heavy and fast cruiser. MD.
$49,500
up to 7, ME/FL.
SPECIALISTS IN WOODEN BOATS * MANY MORE LISTINGS AVAILABLE PLEASE CALL OR WRITE FOR MORE INFORMATION
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ORDERING INFORMATION
16' C H A P E L L E CHESAPEAKE BAY CRABBING SKIFF, built 1981. In top shape. 5'6" beam, 15" d r a f t , spritsail rigging. $3,500 or offer. At
Classified Rates: Compute the cost of your ad at S .85 per word (including n ame, address, zip code, and phone number). All orders must be prepaid. Photos and illustrations are $30 each per insertion. Include an addi tional $5.00 for slides or trans parencies. All art submitted will be reduced and cropped to suit column w i d t h . Copy may be rearranged to f i t editorial style. Please print clearly; we are not responsible for illegible hand writing. If you would like the photo or illustration returned, please include a selfaddressed stamped envelope. Display Classified: $60 per col umn inch. Cameraready copy
must adhere to a width of 10 picas (1 58/" wide). We w i l l de sign your ad inhouse for a m i n i m u m charge of $10. For more information, write and request our rate card.
Deadline to place ads in the
35' CHRISCRAFT COMMANDER, 1950. Twin Hercules engines. Stored inside since new interior custom ordered in curly maple. Sleeps 6.
Betterthannew condition. $26,000. 5138668010.
March/April issue (No. 63) is
Jan. 15th. Anything received after this date will be placed in
the following issue unless we are otherwise notified. Please send all classified materials to WoodenBoat Classified, Box 78, Brooklin, Maine 04616,
2073594651. Late Ads: Space permitting, we w i l l now include late ads on a firstcome basis at the end of the classified pages.
36' TOPSAIL SCHOONER, Blue nose design, 1950. Yellow pine on oak. 45hp Westerbeke 5 years old. New sails. Refrigerator, Kenyon depth
sounder, VHF. Owner must sell. Asking $29.000. 2017937845.
36' SKIPJACK, new in water '84, w i l l finish to suit owner, for bugeye rig, from National Watercraft Col lection. 11'6" beam. Pine on oak.
Bruce Nolan, Box 613, Locust Grove, VA 22508. 7039722532.
w i l l , Box 8, Port Aransas, TX 78373. 36' OHLSON CLASSIC: SWEDISH BUILT YAWL. 1961. African ma hogany on oak, bronze fastened, f u l l keel, 6 North sails, cruise equipment. Asking $39,000. Stone Assoc., 5 Green
5127495555.
S4'2" HINCKLEY CUSTOM SOUTH WESTER, built 1951. Cedar plank ing on oak. 9'2" beam. 4112hp
37' CLASSIC MYRON SPAULD
briar Lane, Annapolis, MD 21401. 3012632260.
p.m.
ING SLOOP, designed and built by a Master Shipwright. F u l l l e n g t h
28' CONTROVERSY 28, built by
sails, Taylor's heater. She has sailed
Graymarine. $17,500. Located in Nor walk, CT. Call 2038381216 after 6
Vator of Finland. Cedarsirip plank ed, spruce spars, 4 sails, Atomic4. See WB No. 61. $15.000. 609452
2000, ext. 2756.
or day charter. New transom, cock pit, and more in '84. $44.000. Call
planking, teak decks, Aries vane, 8 from S.F. to Japan and to Friday
"Smitty," USVI 8097751210, or Florida 3057255153.
Harbor, and is ready to return to the
islands a f t e r you provision her! $49,500 offers. Wind Works Broker age, John Neal. P.O. Box 800, Friday Harbor, WA 98250. 2063782393.
12'8" SAILING CATSPAW DIN GHY. B u i l t by Eric Dow. New, used briefly as demonstrator. $2,250. Lo cated in Milwaukee. 4144216697.
16' C H R I S C R A F T R U N A B O U T MODEL 20, 1935. Near m i n t , all original, real show boat, includes trailer. $ 10,000. Contact Tom Dickey,
1054 Riverbend Club Dr., Atlanta, GA 30339. 1049524627.
ter," 1939. Mahogany oak bronze teak. New Volvo. Excellent condi
tion. Much recent work. $18,000 or best offer. J. Flannagan, 1455 W.
35' WHEELER SEDAN, 1930. Mys tic prizewinner. Great style and detail, w i t h modern systems. Twin Crowns, Penn Yan dinghy, designer interior. Recent survey, insured. Must sell by spring. Best offer over $20,000. Brokers protected. New York area. 9148330618.
tional Ships, P.O. Box 2870, Estes Park, CO 80517 or phone owners at O i l 459281060.
18' LYMAN ISLANDER, 1954. Ex cellent original condition. Refinish ed 1984, rebuilt Graymarine engine. T r a i l e r i n c l u d e d . $4,900. 301 2758638.
Likenew condition. Can deliver. For brochure and equipment list, contact L. Hess, 39594 Jefferson. Mt. Cle mens, MI 48045. 3134683986.
37' STAPLES & JOHNSON MAR B L E H E A D CLASSIC CRUISER.
1050 N., Oak Harbor, WA 98277. 2066786580.
accommodations for 11, lying Den mark, can deliver. $65,000. Tradi
19' SAILING DORY, handmade by Lowell's Boat Shop, 1980. Lapstrake construction, w h i t e pine on oak.
13' G E R M A N KETCH. 1946. Ma hogany on teak, under restoration. 13'6" beam, draws 5'. Must sell, leav ing country. $18,000 or reasonable offer. 4044457422.
27' RHODES SLOOP, "Little Sis
60' R A R E A N D LOVELY DANISH SHIP, wellfound, strongly b u i l t 1905. Oak on oak, rebuilt 1982.
40' MARINER KETCH. 85hp Per kins. Comfortable sailer, liveaboard,
1937. Cedar on oak, mahogany super structure. Graymarine flathead six. Must sell. A s k i n g $12,500. 301 2265571.
19' LIGHTNING, built Skaneateles, 1949. With trailer. Needs work. Best
36' W I L L I A M A T K I N I N G R I D KETCH. In prime condition. A clas sic heavydisplacement bluewater cruiser built to the last detail to A t k i n s specifications. Fir below waterline, cedar above, on oak. Per kins 4.107 diesel, 50 hp. Sacrifice at $38,000 U.S./$50,000 Canadian. For f u l l information: Don Bool, 1812 Buena Vista Ave., Comox, B.C. Can ada V9N 4E7. 6043393923.
offer. 7153567298. 10' FRERS YAWL. Proven passage m a k e r , v a r n i s h e d h u l l double planked, ss floors, refitted 1980 engine, a l u m i n u m spars, B&G elec tronic, G runert r efrigeration, e lectric windlass, pilot, wind vane, etc. High quality construction. Elegant inside and out. $78,000. Exceptional. Anna polis. 3016473678 evenings.
33' MAICA SLOOP, 1960. Famous European cruiser 'racer. Excellent race record, three Atlantic crossings, EnglandCalifornia 1983. Complete cruising and racing inventory. Beau t i f u l , strong, dry, loved, classic. $32.500. Mark Cathcart, 3034 College Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626. Call 7142410863 evenings.
7 6 ' B A L T I M O R E C L I P P E R SCHOONER. "Lizard King," built 1974, Portland, Oregon. Has returned from Tahiti and the Cook Islands, p r e s e n t l y c h a r t e r i n g in the San Juans. Mercedes Benz main engine, 7 sails, Dickinson heater. $250.000 or offers. Wind Works Brokerage, John
Neal, P.O. Box 800, Friday Harbor, WA 98250. 2063782393.
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32' ELCO CRUISETTE, 1937. Un 20'6" LAURENT GILES OCEAN dergoing restoration by Elco histo GOING SLOOP, replica "Trekka." rian Bill Swanson and professional Oak ribs, cedar planked, Dynel cloth
ANTIQUE AND CLASSIC BOATS
yard. Bottom refastened; deck, rock pit, saloon sole replaced. Twin Chry
sheathing, 9hp OB. $8,500. 601 9878352.
RR 2. Orillia, Out.. Canada L3V 6H2. 7053261049 evenings.
sler Aces. Price increases daily as re storation continues. Will be sold at
43' KETCH, William Atkin "Little
cost. Galesville, MD. 3018431367.
Ranger" design, b u i l t 1968. Fast.
32' LONGRANGE DIESEL CRUIS ER, 1965. 900mile range at 7 knots,
able bluewater cruiser. Loaded with
or good liveaboard. Stripplanked
equipment. Roller furling. 6'3" head
mahogany on white oak, Everdur
room. Top condition. $59,000. Al Weber, 8187626363.
25' S P A R K M A N & STEPHENS 19' R IVASUPERFLORIDA MOTOR BOAT, built in Italy, 1960. Mahog any plywood, excellent condition,
beautifully refinished. Chrysler V8, 177 hp, 500 hours, recently over hauled. Well equipped, hardware all
SLOOP, built by Derector, 1952. Mahogany on oak, bronze fastened, 25hp Atomic 4, 4 sails, VHS, sound er, full headroom. Inquire for inven tory. $15,000. 2036632921 after 6
p.m.
rechromed. Located Sweden, but will arrange container shipping to U.S. Aake Lindahl, Tuolgatan 2, S 63220 Eskilstuna, Sweden. Phone 016/112746.
D.J. Charles. Pinetree Enterprises,
f a s t e n e d , heavy w h i t e oak keel. 40' HANNA KETCH, built 1957.
Inspired by Slocum's "Spray." Die sel, autopilot, Bristol condition, inside and out. Full cover. $59,000. Los Angeles. 2135450832.
CHRISCRAFTS: 1937 17' Deluxe U t i l i t y , restored, $3.600; 1942 17'
upholstered, $5,100; 1958 21' Capri, 8' C U S T O M B U I L T H E R R E S
HOFF PRAMS. Cedar on oak, cop per and bronze fastened, weight 95
$5,000. CENTURY 1957, 21' Coro nado, $2.000. 2036934811.
bronze fastenings, and several new
planks. Needs centerboard trunk.
FIRST CLASS 39' SPARKMAN & by American Marine. 1962. Mahog any on oak, bronze fastened, fiber glass deck. Ready to sail away. Sleeps
4, good sail inventory, 1978 37hp Perkins diesel, heal exchanger, SAT NAV, Loran, VHS, depthsounder, log meter, shortwave radio, new life r a f t . Aries vane. Well maintained,
comfortable, fast, and beautiful. Ask
53' ELCO MOTORYACHT, built 1938. Extensively reconditioned 1965, refastened and repowered 1983. GM 471 twin diesels, new Onan, elegant
inside and out. $65,000.9049267272 or 1049713581. 18' OLD TOWN GUIDE AA. 1942.
Excellent condition. $1,200. C. Gros P.O. Box 1482. Hillon Head Island, jean, Franklin, ME. 2075652282. SC 29925. 8037573899 evenings. ing $39,000 best offer. J. Hancock,
Extra mast and boom. $2,000 as is, or $2,500 with new t r u n k . Nat Bray, Brooklin, ME 04616 or 2073598593 evenings.
17' OLD TOWN OTCA CANOE, 1961. M i n t . $995. 15' PENN YAN
RUNABOUT, best o f f e r . Daniel Hamilton, 6173692325. 26' BEAUTIFUL SAILING YACHT built for Coast Guard Academy, 1935. $5,400. Call for pictures and descrip
tive literature. Marina: 301 2758181. Owner: 7033824135.
52' L A K E U N I O N M O T O R YACHT, 1937. In good condition, liveaboard owner must sell, trades
15' PELICAN. 1982. William Short custom design based on SE/Great
considered. Located Marina Del Rey,
epoxy, bronze fastened. $3,000/offers.
Pelican. Cabin, lug rig, marine ply/
CA. Asking $85,000. 2139316984.
4158836901.
21' CLASSIC MURPHY R U N ABOUT, 1984. Mahogany and oak,
41' YAWL, built in Seattle, 1947. Western redcedar on oak, electron i c s , BMC Captain diesel, refastened 1981/82. $25,000. P.O. Box 2161, Galveston, TX 77553. 4097402634.
bright h u l l , very f u l l y equipped,
hydraulic trim labs, OMC 3.8 L. 170 hp I/O, mooring cover, screens, two 27' CHESAPEAKE BAY CABIN WEEKENDER, picnic boat built by Crockett Bros., 1953. Mahogany on oak. Wet shedkept since new. Excel lent condition. $9,500. 3012265571.
18' ALDEN OBOAT. Slooptigged centerboard daysailer (See WB. No.
42). Hull restored with new frames,
lbs. Tyler Proctor, Bar Harbor, ME
04609. 2072883679.
STEPHENSDESIGN SLOOP, built
tionally built from Wooden Boat Plan No. 12, the Herreshoff Colum bia Dinghy. Includes oars, sail, new trailer. $2,300. P. Tresselt, 1660 Car melita, Laguna Beach, CA 92651. 7144943758.
33440.
newly painted and varnished both
$4,000; 1956 26' Continental, twins, $4,000; 1957 19' Capri, refinished,
YAWL, 1962. Beautiful liveaboard
1 2 ½ ' CATSPAW D I N G H Y , tradi
Recent survey, insured. $16,500. Write P.O. Box 2132, Clewiston, FL
Deluxe R u n a b o u t "Barrelback." $3,000, 1946 20' Custom Runabout,
42' H E R R E S H O F F C L A S S I C for circumnavigation. New spars, refastened, diesel, 8 sails, Aries, Avon w/Seagull, freezer, fireplace, elec tronics. Florida owner asking $65,000. 8138229485.
OF ALI. KINDS are available from
axle trailer. 39 hours since new. Must sell. $6,000 under list, $30,500. Wil liam Aherne, 1160 Spa Road, Anna polis, MD. 3012688782 or 301
2683131.
38' HACKER SPEEDBOAT, 1932. Twin 325 Chryslers. Completely re 32.5' KINGS CRUISER, 1956. Hull
No. 1, Atomic4. excellent condition,
stored. Mint condition. $100,000. Lake George, NY. 2129878636.
four previous owners. $ 18,000. Henry
Shaw, 9192562648. 19' LIGHTNING, n a t u r a l f i n i s h 36' OHLSON YAWL "Prologue,"
cedar h u l l , mahogany trim, new red wood seals and canvas deck. Good condition. $2,000. 4044572804.
1964. Awlgripped 1983, new 20hp Yanmar diesel, f u l l awning, self steering, new transom, extensive re f u r b i s h i n g by ownercarpenter. Ready to sail away. $30,000. David Landt, Homeport. St. Thomas, USVI 00801, or call 8097745630 and leave
16' THOMPSON, 1960. Original
showroom condition. Top, side cur tains like new. 1956 30hp electric start Evinrude. $3,000. Jim Patridge, Box 111, Dresden, NY 14441. 315 5363984. 28' H O D G D O N B R O T H E R S DOWN EAST CRUISER, 1964. 120 Lehman diesel (74400 hrs). Cedar on oak with bronze. Sleeps 2. Very good
condition. $14,400. Midcoast Yacht Sales, Wiscasset, ME. 2078827152.
142
WoodenBoat/62
message.
40' W E L L K N O W N C L A S S I C
WOODEN SLOOP, Danishbuilt,
16' C E N T U R Y RUNABOUT, 1938. All original, rebuilt 4cyl Grayma rine engine. Mint condition. Trailer included. 6098450490.
26' LYLE HESS CUTTER, built 1977. sistership of "Seraffyn." Cedar on oak, teak decks and cabin, bronze fittings, Saab diesel. Fully equipped, Bristol condition. L y i n g British Columbia. $38,000 Canadian. 604 2489829.
in beautiful condition. Diesel en gine. Full sail inventory and elec tronics. Handles beautifully. Sleeps 4. Berthed in Richmond, CA. Part
nership would be considered. $35,000 or best offer. 4154410500 days, 415 3393385 evenings.
37' OWENS GRENADA, 1967. Ex cellent condition, new engines in '79, hauled in spring '84. Perfect for
YAWL, 1950. Maintained by Palmer Johnson. Lying Sturgeon Bay. WI.
l i v e a b o a r d e n t e r t a i n i n g . New a/c
Asking $60,000. Call Walter Slager,
and heating, new depthfinder (Ray theon), new headliner, canvas and fiberglass enclosure on aft deck rails. Everything conveys—dishes, 2 TVs (color, B&W), etc. $45,000 or make
3127755211.
45' S P A R K M A N & STEPHENS
21' Z I M M E R LAUNCH (WB No. 43), built 1984 as a showcase of the yard's woodworking capabilities,
"Winkle" is now for sale. U t i l i t y
offer. Call Tom at 3012660733.
27'11" M E N E M S H A , a traditional, shoaldraft cruising sloop. Mahog
l a u n c h sans cabin. W h i t e cedar planked, white oak framed, copper rivets. Mahogany laid decks trimmed with oak coaming. The boat is meticu lously finished, bronze hardware in accordance w i t h her heritage. Volvo Penta 10hp diesel w i t h stick steer ing. $22,000. Coecles Harbor Marina & Boatyard, Inc., Shelter Island, NY 11964. 5167490700.
16' NORWEGIANTYPE DOUBLE E N D E D R O W I N G / S A I L I N G BOAT. Glued and riveted, lapstrake, Bruynzeel plywood planking. Like new. Boat, rig, oars, $1,600. Joel White, Brooklin Boat Yard, Brook
lin, ME 04616. 2073392236.
any coldmolded hull. Double berth forward folds to f u l l w i d t h settee; 8' selfbailing cockpit. Diesel inboard power. Min. draft K/CB 2'9". Displ. 6,000 lbs. One available for spring delivery. Also plans & kits. Literature $2. T A L M A N YACHT CO. Box 132W, Brooksville. ME 01617. 4 6 ' R O C H E S T E R M O T O R YACHT, 1925. Elegantly refinished, professionally restored by yacht inte rior designer for office space. Live
14' W O L V E R I N E . 1955. Restored condition, cover, trailer, '57 Johnson
35 hp. $3,500. 7146757272. TWO 4OARED ROWING SHELLS ( w i t h cox), made by Williams. Cut
them down to doubles or use them for camp or club workouts. $300/ each. 2038687018.
aboard beauty or gracious cruising. O f f e r s welcome. Contact Design Interiors, Ltd., 6176761427.
30' STEPHENS CRUISER. 1938. FWC Graymarine, cedar on oak, teak cabins, electronics, windlass, canvas, in Bristol condition. Estate sale. Ask ing $19,500. 4156562484.
17' CHRISCRAFT SPORTSMAN, 33' OWENS REGENCY, 1967. A 40' CUSTOM LUDERS CENTER COCKPIT, AFTCABIN CRUIS ER, b u i l t 1964 by R. Fung Co.. of
solid teak. Single 6V53, 7 ' ½ k w Onan, and full cruising equipment. In perfect condition, professionally
tion. Call Executive Yacht Sales at 3012660733 for information on this unique yacht.
maintained. Anxious. Call Bill Martz, 3056551790 days, 3057461122 evenings.
Completely refinished, 400 original hours. $6,000. Rare 15' CENTURY COLT, 1957. Al condition. $4,000. Fred Reimann, Rt. 3, Fontana, WI.
4142753750. 11'6" ALDEN "X" DINGHY. Cus
Fully equipped for liveaboard cruis
tom b u i l t , new. Lapstrake white cedar, mahogany sheer and trim.
ing, excellent condition. Washing ton. NC. $29,500. 9199464653.
40' SEAWOLF KETCH designed by William Garden, b u i l t 1969. Perkins 4107 diesel, double stateroom, show er stall, twin whisker poles, Kenyon
log. Bluewater cruiser w i t h two Atlantic crossings. Mostly restored.
trailer. $5,800. Call 6096521314.
Merc OB, 8' glass dinghy. Excellent
21'CENTURY CORONADO, 1962.
35' DICKERSON KETCH. 1966.
30' DRAGON, Borrenson b u i l t , 1958. New keelbolts, bottom refastened 1983. No rot. A l u m i n u m mast, race rigged, two sels of sails. Doubleaxle
4042339430 nights.
2467.
negotiable. 2012282285.
42' OWENS ARUBA, 1967. Owner financing! Exceptionally clean and well maintained, this yacht is geared for comfort. Engines repowered in '75, new canvas, bow seat, new bot tom paint in June. $40,000 make offer. Call Jean at 3012660733.
25' SKIPJACK, b u i l t 1977 by John Swain. Marine plywood. 1983 9.8
condition. Very dry. $500. 609625
28'8" MYSTIC SAILOR, Howard Smith III design. Cedar on bent oak, all bronze fastenings and hardware. New 12hp Yanmar diesel. $10,600/
33' MOTORSAILER, designed by Stadel, built 1963. 60hp diesel, f u l l electronics, dinghy, excellent condi tion, roomy liveaboard. Reduced for quick sale. $22,750. Located St. Peters burg, FL. 3057633045.
1955. KBL 131hp engine, original upholstery, excellent h u l l , custom trailer, recently refinished. $6,500 w i t h trailer. $5,500 w i t h o u t trailer. Call Bill Floyd, 4043962134 days,
true rare find! Meticulously main tained by owner. Brandnew 280hp engines last season. Very well equip ped, w i t h too m a n y extras to men
$32,000. P.O. Box 15093. St. Peters berg. FL 33733. 8138969343.
Copper fastened, Sitka spruce spars, mast jointed to stow inboard. Nar rowpanel cotton sails as original. $3,000 firm. R. Bittner. Shelter Island Heights, NY 11965.
8053432163 evenings.
18' CHRISCRAFT CONTINEN TAL, 1955. Newly overhauled KCL 120hp engine. Original upholstery, very sound h u l l , recently refinished. H u l l No. 100. Collector's i t e m . $8,000. Call Bill Floyd, 4043962134
days, 4042339430 nights. 53' W I L L I A M H A N D MOTOR
SAILER. Located Florida. Priced for quirk sale. 7136881800.
18' CHRISCRAFT, 1947.327 Chevy. New varnish work. Excellent condi
tion. $13,000. Call Vince. 301 7780044. 1 1 ' L O N G S T O N E C E N T E R BOARD GAFF SLOOP, craftsmen built at Tyne and Wear. 1984. Clinker planked larch on oak. All bright. Cradle. $4,500. 2122334690.
28' MODIFIED H28. New engine, new cruising sails. Bristol. $25,000.
20' C H R I S C R A F T H O L I D A Y , 1955. Completely refinished, reup holstered. 158hp ChrisCraft engine. Second owner, has known boat since new. $11.500. Speculator, NY 12164. Call Dean Lane, 5185487451.
42' DISPLACEMENT C R U I S E R "Rideau Spray." New, superb crafts
manship,. Built by master builder to cruise East Coast. Lines by Brewer from Icelandic fishing vessels. Hull 1¼" mahogany on w hite oak. Beams and ceilings while pine. All fittings and fasteners bronze and brass. Spa cious saloon and fullsized electric galley. Two staterooms. 7.5kw Onan diesel generator, twin 120hp Ford diesels. This lovely cruiser is imma culate and ready to cruise. Valued at $280,000 (invoices available). Selling price $160,000. Photos/ details. Pat ric Ryan, Tobermory, Ontario, Can ada N0H 2R0. 5195962492.
62/WoodenBoat
143
27 x 24 x 8 x 3'6" ALLEGRA by Bingham. WEST SYSTEM, cedar/
28'6" W A R N E R (Cambridge) CA DET SLOOP, 1956. 5' d r a f t . $13.200. Call evenings. Fred Lippert. 203 9669719.
mahogany, professionally built. Cut
ter rig. partial interior, many extras. $20,000. 2038527481 weekdays, 84
p.m.
22' BRUCE ROBERTS SLOOP 1984. Mahogany stripplanked, teak decks, working sails, VHF. $18,5011
18' S Q U A R E S T E R N E D OLD TOWN CANOE. Perfect condition, new canvas and paint. $975. Tyler,
2032723334.
21'6" O R I G I N A L K I N G S T O N LOBSTERBOAT, centerboard cat
ketch. built ca. 1903 by Ransom,
Union Terrace, Minneapolis, MN 55441. 6125451181.
rebuilt Concordia 1968. Cedar on
oak, Everdur fastened. Lines in Mys tic collection. Excellent condition,
f u l l y equipped, including cradle, custom winter cover, and much more. $8,500. Rene D. Varnin, 38
Summer St., Salem, MA 01970. 6177155708.
40' CUSTOM SETH PERSSON YAWL "Fox Fire," superbly built 1957. Double planked; bronze fasten ings, floors, centerboard t r u n k , etc. Beautifully dovetailed cabin corners. Unique aft cabin arrangement. Wes terbeke 10hp diesel; autopilot; elec tric fridge with freezer; well equip
35' C R U I S E R , H u n t d e s i g n e d , Q u i n c y b u i l t , 1955 Repowered Chrysler 250 FW, mahogany on oak, documented, excellent shape. $21,000. 2038381839 evenings. 94' OLD TOWN L E N D E R . 1937. Rebuilt '84 w i t h new canvas and brightwork. Real classic dinghy in new c o n d i t i o n ! $3.000. Midcoast Yacht Sales, Wiscasset. ME. 207882 7152.
ped. Accommodates six in three
32' ALDEN SLOOP, b u i l t by R.W.
Clark and Agamemnon, England, 1963. Mahogany oak copper. Teak decks. P e r k i n s 1107 diesel. New sails. Bristol condition $52.000 Cdn. " E l e c t r a of Beaulieu," #040, 600 Stamps Landing, Vancouver, B.C. Canada V5Z 3 Z 1 . 6048713300.
96' S C H O O N E R , b u i l t in Spain 1925. Redecked a n d replanked in 1969. pitch pine on oak. Sleeps 12 in 6 dbls. plus 5 crew, new diving gear on board, excellent condition. $250,000. Good for sail t r a i n i n g or charter. Contact: Theo Breiler, Homeport.
42' CHAPELLE SCHOONER, 1955.
St. Thomas, USVI 00802.
Gaff rigged, traditional lines, diesel auxiliary. Located Long Beach, CA. $44,000.' 7145390651 or 714539
3'8" shoaldraft keel. 10hp inboard, t r a i l e r , c u d d y c a b i n , boom t e n t , bright mahogany hull, teak deck, b u i l t by Red N i m p h i u s . Stored in doors f o r w i n t e r v i e w i n g in St.
43' CLASSIC DANISH DOUBLE E N D E D KETCH. Sound, extensive ly rebuilt, diesel power, diesel gener ator, good sails, comfortable c r u i s ingliveaboard vessel. $42.000. Small er vessel as t r a d e i n considered. 3018498555.
generator, outriggers, chair, beauti fully furnished with custom furni ture. A magnificent example of old world craftsmanship. $35,000. Mr. Ivan. 2016875910 business days. 31' V I K I N G CLASS SLOOP, 1939. Oak frames, copper riveted. Sleeps 3. sink, stove, outboard motor, 7 sails. A classic beauty in excellent condi
tion. $7,350. Richard Golden. 11192 Sunrise Dr. NE, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110. 2068427250.
12' SAN FRANCISCO PELICAN, built 198.3. WEST SYSTEM marine plywood. M a i n and jib. Till trailer, 2hp Evinrude. $2,800. Call 804
3846511 evenings. 31' DOWN EAST CRUISER by Far num & Brewer, 1950. 135 Palmer marine (55400 hrs.) Cedar on oak
with bronze. Sleeps 2. Very good condition $12,900. Midcoast Y a c h t Sales, Wiscasset, ME. 2078827152. 15' C H R I S CRAFT C O R S A I R .
36' ILLINGWORTH PRIMROSE C O L D M O L D E D M A H O G A N Y SLOOP. 1964. Diesel, Windvane, completely cruiseequipped. 1983 transatlantic. $27.000. Jean Lacroix ( F l o i c a ) , Harbormaster. Gustavia, 97133 St. Barthelemy. F.W.I.
Joseph. M i c h i g a n . Must sell for grad uate school t u i t i o n . Vessel. $4.500;
WoodenBoat/62
22' C U L L E R CATSCHOONER, new. Centerboard, c u d d y cabin. $24,500. Photo and specifications upon request. B r u c e Northrup, Rt. 1,
41' W H E E L E R S P O R T F I S H E R MAN. Twin 235 Palmers FWC:, 7.5
new canvas, b e a u t i f u l l y finished, repainted October '84, in water and ready to go. $39.000. Mr. Ivan. 201 6875910 business days.
23' STOUT FELLA SLOOP. 1942.
144
Miami. Well maintained and in sail away condition. Price $95,000 or near offer. Dudley Pope, Box 2.31. Philipsburg. St. Maarten, Nether lands A n t i l l e s .
26' S A I L I N G DORY nearing com pletion, ketch rig, cuddy, will finish to s u i t . $10,000 U.S. K i n g s b u r g Woodworkers, Custom Boatbuilders, R R 1, Rose Bay, Nova Scotia, Can ada B0J 2X0. 9027664516.
Twin 225 Hemi heads w i t h 2 com plete spare engines, 7.5 generator,
8961.
42' P A C E M A K E R F B MOTOR YACHT. Diesel, generator, generous master stateroom. Immaculate wood en yacht. Onset Bay Y a c h t Sales, 6172950338.
CANOESTERN KETCH "Rani age" has been Caribbean home for famous author and wife for past 14 years. Built Argentine of South Amer ican hardwoods. 5.3'x43'x15'x6'6". Sail area 1350 sq f t . Perkins 101hp 6cyl main engine, Penta MD1B as generator. Three staterooms, shower, 2 heads, large decklevel saloon. Con siderable stainless steel f i t t i n g s . Large fuel and water tankage. At present anchored St. Maarten. Dutch West Indies, direct f l i g h t s from NYC,
Box 292A. Corvallis, OR 97330.
areas, two heads. All original and in Bristol condition. 3059713821.
trailer, $1,000. 6167829691 or 616 6848848.
Box 574, Kennebunkport, ME 04046.
1118' "NEW" OLDSTOCK OUT B O A R D R U N A B O U T S , P E N N Y A N . C R U I S E R S INC.. and MILO CRAFT MOLDED PLYWOOD. These are new oldwood boats, and only a few are left. Send LSSAE for list and prices. Dick Mickelson, 212
62' A L D E N M O T O R S A I L E R KETCH "Tradewinds." 1938. Twin 671 diesels, f u l l inventory, excellent condition. A l l leak. Box 156. Orleans. MA 02653.
25' F O L K B O A T . built Sweden 1950. N i c e l y redone and ready classic. Recent survey. New power. $9,400. Douglas Williams. Savannah. GA. 9122347413.
35' D I C K E R S O N KETCH. 1973. Center cockpit with a f t cabin. Ma hogany, stripplanked on oak frames. Westerbeke 4107. Located Chesa peake Bay. All records available. $36.000. Please c a l l or write: Doug S c h i r m e r , 7006 Aronow Dr., Falls Church. VA 22042. 7035341192.
12' P E N G U I N , epoxy construction, race equipped. $500. 9146323677.
37' CATBOAT, 1938. U.S. Coast Guardcertified for 18 passengers. Cedar on oak. copper and bronze fas tened. Fast and responsive. Located New York. $18.500. 20754675.32.
16' CLASSIC WOOD COMET, #3757. varnished deck and interior, trailer, 2 suits of sails. Not many left in this condition. $1.495. 201526 3822.
47' EGG, H ARBOR SEMICUSTOM SPORTFISHERMAN. 1966. Galley up. T Cummins. Tower. Rigged to fish. Reduced. Onset Bay Yacht Sales. 6172950338.
f u t u r e classic back to its former
42' CLASSIC LUDERS, 1910. Ma hogany/oak/bronze. Westerbeke 1 107, Barients, 4 sails, ready to cruise. $33,500. 3055672094. 38' P A C E M A K E R SUDAN SPORT F I S H E R M A N . 1965. T/280s, gener a t o r . R e b u i l t 1982. Loran 1983. $35,000. 6172950338. 20' CROSBY CATBOAT "Sara Hope." 1910. 4 c y l G r a y m a r i n e ,
sleeps 2, excellent condition. $ 12.000. 6179902633. 17' CHRISCRAFT DELUXE BAR R E L B A C K R U N A B O U T , 1941. Original KB engine. $8,000. Brown. 6164583822.
ing, h u l l is sound. Shortshaft out board. Woodard Boats to be covered in u p c o m i n g edition of Robert Speltz's The Real Runabouts. Must go to a home that will nurture this
proud stature. We have example of same boat for reference. Al Woodard, Creek Rd.. Hydeville, VT 06750. 8022653690.
48' R I C H A R D S O N C H E S A P E A K E BAY C R U I S E R , c u s t o m b u i l t by
"Gentleman Jim Richardson" of Cambridge. MD, in 1974. Twin "CAT" diesel engines; 7 ½ k w Onan generator; sleeps 6; f u l l y equipped. E x c e l l e n t c o n d i t i o n . M u s t sell. $100.000. Contact Jim Bounds. 102 Southwood Terrace, Salisbury. MD
18'2" HERRESHOFF CAPE COD KNOCKABOUT. 1928. Cedar over oak. Boat in terrible condition. 28 h a l f f r a m e s bent into place, keel dis covered to be rotten completely. Take it away. Joel M c M u l l i n , R R 1 . Box 565A. Gorham, ME 04038. 207839 6944. COVEY ISLAND 33— The latest addi tion to our line of custom wood epoxy yachts. Designed by Joel While, based on the classic Concordia 33. Current U.S. $ exchange makes now an excellent opportunity to own t h i s t r u l y f i n e vessel. COVEY ISLAND
21801. 3017491676. 28' H E R R E S H O F F S C L A S S SLOOP, b u i l t 1922. Cedar on oak. bronze fastened. M a i n , j i b . 6hp out board. Good c o n d i t i o n . A s k i n g $5,000. 5167541385 evenings.
BOATWORKS, Bush Island. Lunen burg County, Nova Scotia, Canada B0R 1B0. 9026882843.
1 9 ' L I G H T N I N G S A I L B O A T . Trailer and sails. Needs work. Easy r e s t o r a t i o n p r o j e c t . $500. 6 1 7 8656246.
32' CLASSIC ALDEN CUTTER, 1935. Mahogany on oak. 11' beam. 4V draft. Volvo diesel, VHF. RDF, 1 anchors. 7 sails. Excellent condition, ready to cruise. $25,000. 8134 137423
or 8134432328.
15'2" COMET SPEEDBOAT. 1952 Refurbished, 58hp Lycoming, on trailer. $1,700. 15080 S. Woodglen Way, Oregon C i t y , OR 97045. 503 6565409. ATKIN GAFF KETCH "Clione," 1940. Good c o n d i t i o n . Offers around $20,000. Details and photo, write Taylor, P.O. Box 6828, Nassau. Bahamas.
16' CRUISERS, I N C . , 1958. Sound lapstrake h u l l . 35hp Evinrude. 1960. Chattanooga t i l t trailer. $1,950 Vir ginia Beach, VA. 8044951111 38' MATTHEWS SEDAN FISHER M A N . 1938. Very good condition, i n c l u d i n g original f i g h t i n g chairs and o u t r i g g e r s . T w i n C h r y s l e r
42' CLASSIC ABEKING & RAS MUSSEN RACING SLOOP. Sleeps 46. Marina del Rey slip. Half part nership also available. $33.500 offer. Call 7145859343 message. WELLS 31 KETCH. Allleak hull, cabin, deck in top shape. New Per k i n s 4107 and propulsion gear. Complete c r u i s i n g inventory. Dick Frenzel, 5127583201.
2 6 ' . . . . . CRAFT ST CLOSED C R U I S E R . 1947. Main tained by one owner for 36 years. Boathouse storage. Original and lovely throughout. Replacement Chrysler Crown. 6cyl diesel option al. Equipment and electronics. Pur chase of home on small lake forces sale. $5.000. 2036934811. 45' COLONIAL. 1968 Flush deck, t w i n Detroits, recent survey, loaded, i m m a c u l a t e c o n d i t i o n . Asking $96.000. Executive Y a c h t Sales. 301
2660733.
2 5 ½ ' AMPHIBICON SLOOP. Ex cellent condition. 9.9 hp w i t h alter nator. New tandem trailer, 5 sails. and spinnaker. Ideal family cruiser $9,400. 2075495634.
BOATS, P.O. Box 1708, New Ro chelle. N Y 10802. ARCTIC S K I N BOATS. Canvas skin wood f r a m e — k a y a k s and u m i aks. Thomas A l l e n , 31 Woodland Road. Barrington, RI 02806. 401 2456068.
CONSTRUCTION, REPAIR, boats, rowing shells. St. Lawrence rowing skiffs, at AMBLER BOAT WORKS. 1313 N. Broad Street, Lansdale. PA 19446. 2153688474.
18' T R A D I T I O N A L M A I N E CANOES. W h i t e cedar, brass, c a n vas. C. Grosjean. F r a n k l i n . ME
LAPSTRAKE BOATS—Rangeleys. R u s h t o n s , doublepaddle canoes, Good Little Skiffs, and recreational shells. Traditional, finest materials, restoration and custom building. TROUT R I V E R BOAT WORKS. Manitowish Waters, WI 54545. 715
5432577. RESTORATION, custom repair and m a i n t e n a n c e of line wooden boats. O f f e r i n g quality Maine craftsman ship and thoughtful care of your boat. Midcoast Marine Services, Inc., Box 103, Bristol. ME 04539. 207 5633030.
REPAIR. ALTERATIONS. New con s t r u c t i o n , c o m m e r c i a l and yacht in
FREE BOAT—FREE AD 17' CHRISCRAFT SPORTSMAN, I960. 283 V8 engine. Engine needs work. Needs refinishing to be per fect. Original upholstery. $1,500. Call Bill Floyd. 4043962134 days, 4042339430 nights.
2079857976.
building. Catalog $1. ECHO BAY
2075652282.
Crowns. $9,500 or trade for small speedboat. C h a f f i n c h Island Yacht Sales, 2034536283.
Adirondack Bateaux, Ozark John boats. Echo Bay Skiffs, and more. Plans and completed boats, custom
WILL B U I L D ON COMMISSION: Sailing dories, daysailers or cruising boats to 30' LOA. b u i l t to your requirements. A l l of superior con s t r u c t i o n in wood at reasonable price. THE L A N D I N G BOATSHOP. PO Box 1490. Kennebunkport, ME 04046.
15' WOODARD RUNABOUT, b u i l t Chester, Vermont, I960. Plywood hull with fiberglass covering. Com plete boat with all original hard ware. Mahogany deck needs rebuild
teriors. Q u a l i t y wooden s k i f f s 7' to 28'. Franchised builders of Texas clones. N E X U S M A R I N E CON STRUCTION, 3816 Railway Ave.. Everett, WA 98201. 2062528330.
CUSTOM 9' L A W L E Y YACHT F E N D E R S (shown above). Copper riveted, lapstrake construction, cedar over oak, mahogany seals and rails. D O W N E A S T PEAPODS (shown below). Over 100 built since 1964. These cedarplanked beauties are copper riveted in the very best tradi tion and have proven themselves f r o m M a i n e to C a l i f o r n i a . Oars i n c l u d e d ; s a i l i n g rig and o t h e r options available. For more informa tion and a her brochure on either the Lawley Tender or the Downeast Pea pod, write to: DOWNEAST PEA PODS. Brooklin. ME 04616. or c a l l Jeff on Jim at 2073598842 3598349.
H&H B OATWORKS—wooden boat b u i l d i n g & repair Cold molding with epoxy and polyurethane spray
p a i n t i n g . Box 275. Freeport, ME. 04032. 2077255644.
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BOATKITS PLANS PATTERNS FRAMEPACS FIBERGLASS BUILDERS SUPPLIES. LARGEST CATALOG—300 modern designs— 8'—80' Plywood Fiberglass Steel
Simplified amateur construction save 50% POWERBOATS In boards Outboards Jetboats Cruisers Runabouts Sportsfishers
T H I N K I N G OK B U I L D I N G A BOAT? Before you spend money for catalogs, plans, or even a k i t , h u l l , or materials, why not stall with one
small investment that will help you find the project that's just right for you? Now, in one fascinating, com prehensive publication you can see just about everything that's available for amateur construction. PLANS, KITS, BAREHULLS, OWNER COM PLETION OPTIONS. From canoes
Hydroplanes Deep VS House boats SAILBOATS Daysailers Trailersails Motorsailers Multi h u l l s (CANOES, K A Y A K S ) F I B E R G L A S S S u p p l i e s C l o t h Resins Foam New improved E P O X Y P L U S E P O X Y G L U E EPOXYSURFACER Wood/Epoxy Boat Construction DISCOUNT PRICES CATALOG $2.00 (Air mail $4.00) Includes FREE Boat builders materials brochure (Book A M A T E U R B O A T B U I L D I N G Plywood Fiberglass Wood/Epoxy Steel$6.00). CLARKCRAFT 16 42 A q u a l a n e , T o n a w a n d a , NY 14150.
and kayaks to dinghies, small craft, hydros, runabouts and power cruis ers, commercial craft, and cruising & racing sailboats. All the boats you might want to consider are presented
FOR LESS." Save over 50 percent when you build by contract; you
CLASSIC DESIGNS. Sailing cruis ers built in wood for strength and durability. 26' and 32' versions. Very detailed plans for amateur building. For information ($2, no cheque) write
don't even have to do all the work
to: F. GRAESER, N.A., Bellerive 19,
yourself. Materials, sails, masts, etc.. at boatbuilder prices. Build in steel, glass, wood, etc. Hull and deck kits, plans and fullsize patterns available for over 100 sail and power boats, plus custom designs and hulls. Free book contains details, all building methods. Sent 4 t h class free. Allow 1 to 6 weeks for delivery, or enclose $2 for airmail. Bruce Roberts, P.O. Box 1086W. Severna Park, MD 21146.
Lausanne, Switzerland.
FREE new 120page book "BUILD
in this extensively illustrated publica tion— THE BOATBUILDER'S IN T E R N A T I O N A L DIRECTORY. Once you start building, the DIREC
TORY keeps on saving you time and money and helps ensure t h a t you
complete a quality project by giving you the best sources for building materials, hardware, tools, rigging supplies, sails, engines, schools, books, etc. Order the NEW Seventh Edition now for only $6.50 plus $1.50 postage h a n d l i n g f r o m : BOAT BUILDER'S DIRECTORY, 512 View mont. Dept. A, Benicia, CA 94510.
BUILD THE WINDMILL! Excit ing 16' twoperson sport boat. Light weight, low cost, simple rig, very nimble. A boat to sail, not ride. Ply wood plans, HowtoBuild book, $25. WCAW, P.O. Box 43564, Bir mingham, AL 35243.
FREE study plan for a 6' dinghy you
can build in a day with each $3 study MEGHAN A deadrise skiff to row or sail. 10 x 4', sewnseam construc tion, l u l l flotation, classic detailing. Complete plans and instructions, $22/ppd. Info, $1. Also available as bonded shell or Sailaway. HEAD WATER BOATS, 156 Bunker Creek Rd., Chehalis, WA 98532. 206748 4089.
plan ordered of "Gunkholer," a modi fied 12' ply wood catrigged dory that
can be sailed to windward in a foot of w a t e r . F u l l plans $30. DILLON M A R I N E ENTERPRISES. P.O. Box
NEW! The YACHT DESIGN CAT ALOG. A selection of the best plans from 12 top designers. Advice on materials selection and construction methods. Detailed plans with com puter fairing to eliminate lofting. $3 from Coast Design. F110201 WB, Blaine, WA 98230. 6045846118.
The dipping lug rig was the rig of the pilot gig and makes an excellent rig for a rowboat that occasionally sails. The advantage of the rig is that it allows a large, low sail area to be set on spars t h a t are short enough to easily stow aboard. We have first hand experience with the dipping lug rig as well as most other small craft rigs, and we welcome the oppor t u n i t y to discuss your boat and sails w i t h you. BIERIG SAILMAKERS. 11092 Freeport Lane N, North East, PA 16428. 8144598001.
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WoodenBoat/62
DORY PLANS and completed boats, row, power, or sail. Send $3 for study
packet. DOWN EAST DORIES, Pleasant Beach, So. Thomaston, ME 04858.
E L V E R — Over 500 b u i l d e r s have ordered plans for E L V E R , our 20'
Auspicious beginnings for this row sailpaddle cartopper! Prototype by boatbuilder Dave Montgomery, test ed by designer Bolger. Simple "in slanttype" construction. Plan: $20. Information, $1 plus SASE, includes MICRO, our fabulous catyawl mini cruiser. LA ROWE BOAT PLANS,
doubleended pocket cruiser. She fea
302 Crosswinds Drive, Palm Harbor, FL 33563. A M A T E U R BOAT B U I L D E R S ! B u i l d i n g a boat? Considering it? Send for free brochure: INTERNA TIONAL ASSOCIATION OF A MA TEUR BOAT BUILDERS. Dept. WB. PO Box 1855. Rockville, MD 20850.
7, Old Greenwich, CT 06870.
15'4" x 6' x 1'9" MICRO, says design er Bolger, "is one of the best propos als I ever came up with." Plywood, easy "instanttype" construction. Very complete information $1. Plan, $45. ($47 overseas). LaRowe Boat Plans, 302 Crosswinds, Palm Har bor, FL 33563.
tures a double berth, large cockpit, draws only 4" of water, and is an economical, lightweight, trailerable canoeyawl with the kind of good looks that makes for considerable pride of ownership. Modern mate rials and construction methods, f u l l size patterns, and material and tool source lists make her a reasonable project for the amateur builder. An information package including large scale blueprint is available for $9— refundable on fullplans order. Full p l a n design fee: o n l y $59, from
REDMOND DESIGNS, 127B Col lege St., Burlington, VT 05401.
61' CLASSIC 1938 MATHIS/TRUM PY FOR CHARTER. Sleeps 5. Gra cious cruising by day or week. Palm
Beach winters, Nantucket summers. Brochure—"Sea Tabby," P.O. Box
1323, East Dennis, MA 02641. 617 3853322.
HERCULES t w i n diesel, 30 hp. Transmission by Kermath, Com pletely as new. 4084257467.
1953 KBL, 131hpChrisCraftengine.
C H A R T E R THE 13' A L D E N SCHOONER "Blackbird" and spend an unforgettable week sailing the Maine coast: "Blackbird," a roman tic wooden classic meticulously main tained by her owner. Mainebuilt in 1930. $250/day charters schooner, captain, and crew. Weekly rates on
request. Loran and radar. Write Capt.
Learn small c r a f t design or construc tion. Two f u l l t i m e residential pro grams combine theory w i t h practice in a creative but disciplined envir o n m e n t . Design s t u d e n t s s t u d y marine engineering and d r a f t i n g , along w i t h CAD t r a i n i n g and daily exposure to an active boatshop. Boat b u i l d i n g students learn to construct a classic wooden dory and daysailer w i t h option of a cruising boat in stead. Equal opportunity enrollment. VA approved. LANDING BOAT SHOP, Box 1490, Kennebunkport,
ME 04046. 2079857976.
Larry Wheeler—owner skipper, P.O. Box 7359DTS, P o r t l a n d , Maine
ENJOY THE PLEASURES OF A CLASSIC 80' WOODEN KETCH—
"Meroe of Kent," built 1923. A lux
Ottawa, Ont., Canada K2P 1M1. 6132382644.
PROCTOR'S 16' racing cruising A N C I E N T G R A Y M A R I N E EN GINE—small, two cylinder. Used in fresh water. Spiers, 2036618317.
mahogany kit comes precut, ready B U K H ENGINES & PARTS—com plete stock. DAVE STOLL'S MAR I N E CENTER, I N C . 2401 E. Ana
heim St., Wilmington, CA 90748. 2134370308 or 4357774. Telex: 656465.
'84; '84'85; summer and fall '85;
round trip t r a n s A t l a n t i c , paying guest sailing apprenticeship berths available. $35 per day includes bunks, board and booze, reduced rates for longterm stays. Write Street, Glan dore. Co. Cork, Irish Republic. THIS S U M M E R explore the East Coast of England on ADVENT. Combine the e x c i t e m e n t of sailing a 70' gaff c u t t e r with visits to the his toric ports of TRADITIONAL SAIL ING. Further details: Hester Bury, 88 Dearfield Dr., Greenwich. CT06830.
W A Y L A N D M A R I N E , Box 33, Cob ble H i l l , BC, Canada V0R 1L0. 604
7131741. M A N U A L . New, comprehensive
(125 pp.) with photos and stepby step information on maintenance,
making, lofting. Free class schedule at 1155672205 or write Hands on Wood, 2621 Sutler, San Francisco, CA 94115. H u r t h 2:1 gearbox, heat exchanger, propeller, complete exhaust system, control lever, flexible mounts, flexi ble coupling, 2 batteries, instrument panel, a l l for only $2,995. Call 301 5444311. Bruce Roberts, PO Box 1086W, Severna Park, MD 21146.
YDI Schools. Available via home
the eastern Caribbean. Winter '83
tings, and WEST SYSTEM brand epoxy included. Information—$3.00.
ATOMIC4 SERVICE AND REPAIR
20hp 3cyl MARINE DIESEL with
IOLAIRE Don Street on his 78yr
to assemble with precision jig which ensures accuracy. Manual, hull fit
B O A T B U I L D I N G CLASSES ON SAN FRANCISCO BAY. Lapstrake (old molding, bronze casting, oar
A S S O C I A T E P R O G R A M I N SMALL CRAFT DESIGN: Want to be a smallcraft naval architect or yacht designer? Let YDI help you achieve your career goals. Associate of Science Degree Programs in Small Craft Naval Architecture offered by
old engineless 45' wooden yawl cruises, races, charts, and explores
W A Y F A R E R can sail the seas, stow 200 Ibs, carry 6 people, sleep 2, and can't t u r n turtle! Our BRUYNZEEL
tuneups, winterizing, engine over haul, exhaust systems, etc. $19.95, plus $1 postage. SEACRAFT PUB LICATIONS, Suite 1404, 55 Charles St. West, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2W9, Canada.
04112. 2078711315.
ury yacht b u i l t in the old style. Available for ( hailer for up to 6 peo ple in the V i r g i n Islands or Down Island. $4,000 per week—including all (excellent!) food. 277 Elgin St.,
Triple carbs, transmission. Runs very well. $600 + freight. 4065870681 evenings.
study and September 1985 in resi dence. Twoyear program at the YDI f a c i l i t y on the Maine Maritime Acad emy campus. Study under experi enced, practicing naval architects w i t h the proven YDI curriculum emphasizing engineering and empiri cal design methods. Seminars w i t h wellknown designers and builders. Field trips. Introduction to computer aided design. 850page proprietary text. MMA courses and recreational facilities. Contact Bob Wallstrom, Director, YDI Schools, 3 Main St.. Blue Hill, MF 04614. 2073715551.
J A M E S W H A R R A M DESIGNS CATAMARANS for cruising, rac ing, coastal trekking. Brochure J5. "James Wharram Designs", Dept.
BOAT P L A N S PATTERNS KITS Hundreds of designs 8' to 55' Sailboats Powerboats Work boats Canoes Kayaks Dinghies Dories Rowboats. Simple, amateur
proven methods. Instructions assure professional results. Lowest cost, high est q u a l i t y for 32+ years. Save 50%!
HUGE 152page catalog $3.00 (J4 AIRMAIL). Includes FREE "BOAT BUILDING SUPPLIES" catalog
DISCOUNT PRICES! Fastenings Fiberglass Resins Glues Spars Books Boat Trailer Plans. Inves t i g a t e "POLYSHIELD" "POLY GRIP" wood epoxy systems. Man ual = $2.00. GLENL MARINE, 9152 Rosecrans, Box 756BW, Bellflower, CA 90706.
WB. Greenbank Road, Devoran, Truro, TR36PJUK. American Stock ist: Binary Boat Systems, Dept. WB, Box 22342. Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33335
BORG, W A R N E R and PARAGON rebuilt marine transmissions. Fred Comer. 3051652579.
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GEODESIC AEROLITE CANOES... NEW EASYBUILD SNOWSHOE.
12' Plans, Station Patterns, Instruc tion Manual $18.95; SNOWSHOE 11' $24.95. Monfort Associates, Box M90WB, Wiscasset. ME 04578, WHISP — I f you'd like a classic [inc lined, highperformance, 68lb, If)' rowing and sailing skiff, which will do an honest 12minute mile under oars, cruise silently all day with a
small electric trolling motor, or race a Class C sailing canoe across the bay...she's yours for the building. Quickly assembled from 3 sheets of plywood, WHISP was designed for the amateur as a swift, economical vessel pretty enough to build. Study pack, $5 (refundable on plan pur chase). F u l l p l a n fee, $25. RED
WOODENBOAT SCHOOL—1985 needs a cook and an assistantcook housekeeper for the 1985 summer session, June to August. Someone
New INSTANT BOATS by Bolger. Character, elegance, simplicity, no l o f t i n g or building jig is needed. 6' to 31'. Row, power, sail. $3 brings study
who combines standard American, international, and vegetarian cook ing creatively would f i l l the bill. Write for job descriptions if you would like to work in a small, family style situation w i t h lots of boat talk and time for sailing. Pete Anderheg
packet. H.H. Payson & Co., Pleasant Beach, So. Thomaston, ME 04858.
gen, WoodenBoat School, P.O. Box 78, Brooklin, ME 04616.
WOODEN SHIPBUILDING. 221 page reprint of the c l a s s i c 1919 book, jammed with photos and diagrams on building large vessels. $1 1.95 plus $2 to mail. ( N Y residents add 7% tax.)
Instant refund if not pleased. Vestal Press. Box 97, Vestal 37 NY 13850. VISA, Mastercard, AmExp. 607797
BOAT PLANS—BOOK OK DE SIGNS11 to 36'. Plans, kits, f i n ished boats. Information on construc tion, anchoring, design philosophy.
MOND DESIGNS, 127B College St.,
$4.50. Gerr Marine, Inc., 37 Alden
Burlington, VT 05401.
Park. Suite W, Throgs Neck, N Y 10465.
REQUIRE HIGHQUALITY JOIN ERY WOODWORKER for yacht con struction in China. Celestial Yacht,
1872.
Ltd., Room 1009 Hang Shing Bldg., 363373 Nathan Road, Kowloon.
Hong Kong.
BOAT KITS—27 trailerable models— POWER & SAIL—11' to 30'. Molded fiberglass h u l l s and decks come fac toryassembled, you install factory supplied interior. Save half factory
BUILD THEM ALL—bags, covers, awnings, dodgers, flags, harnesses, windcatchers and more. 8½ X 11"
built cost. No experience required.
FREE 48page catalog. Luger, Dept.
formal, 154 pages. Details, carefully
OW84, 3800 West H i g h w a y 13, Burnsville, MN 55337. 6128903000.
illustrated. $26.50 ppd. SAILRITE KITS. Route 1, Box 402, Columbia City, IN 46725. 8003482769.
MAPS OF DOWN EAST MAINE. Penobscot Bay to Frenchman Ray, set of 5 large, b e a u t i f u l coastal NOTECARDS w . / e n v . . $4.95 ppd. East Penobscot & Blue Hill Bays, POSTER, $6.50 ppd. Assortment of 5 coastal MAP POST CARDS, $3.50 ppd. Jane Crosen, General Delivery, Brooklin, ME 01616.
T R U L Y E CONOMICAL A N D S I M PLE TO BUILD The UQBAR f a m i l y : 6', 7', 8', 10' superlight prams to row or sail. Available as s t i t c h a n d g l u e kits (WEST SYS
TEM), plans/patterns, sailaways. Illustrated brochure $1. Pictorial guide to amateur construction $4. the Back'nforth Co., 43 East 22nd, New York, NY 10010. 2126741606. OVER 460 BUILT!
PLANS BY LEADING NEW ZEA
L A N D DESIGNERS. Dinghies, Trailer/Sailers, Racer/Cruisers by JIM YOUNG. Catalogue $4.00. Powerboats, Sailboats, Multihulls. Wood, fiberglass, steel, aluminum, by FRANK PELIN. Catalogue $7.00.
S E M I D O R I E S , 11' to 17'. Five
study prints for row, sail & outboard $3.00. Ken Swan, P.O. Box 267.
F R E E CATALOG OF OUTOF P R I N T A N D USED NAUTICAL
Hubbard, OR 97032.
BOOKS. Also original Boat, Canoe, Marine Engine catalogs. N a u t i c a l Magazines, Columbia Trading Com pany, 2 Rocklyn Drive, Suffern, NY 10901.
Both $10.00. CANIWI MARINE LTD., 3546626 Yale Road, Chilli
wack, BC, Canada V2P 2R6, BOAT PLANS PATTERNS 19' to 55' Sailboats Powerboats Dories Workboats Easily built Inexpensive Proven methods 20
R E P U B L I S H E D BY P O P U L A R DEMAND: The late William Atkin's
"Of Yachts and Men," a delightful
years experience Catalog $3.00 KEN HANKINSON. Naval A r c h i tect, Box 2551W, La Habra, CA
autobiography. $22.50 plus $2 pos tage. "Practical Small Boat Designs" by John A t k i n , $14.95 plus $2 pos tage. Orders to $25 add only $3 U.S. f u n d s . A t k i n & Co., Yacht Designers Dept. WB, P.O. Box 3005, Noroton. CT 06820.
90631.
BUILD YOUR OWN BARTENDER. Salty, seaworthy, planing double ender. 19', 22', 26', 29'. Plans sold by originatordesigner. Send $2 for bro chure. George C a l k i n s , Box 222, Dept. WB, Nordland, WA 98358.
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FREE LIST OF 100 DESIGNS. Sail, power, workboats. Nils Lucander, 5307 N. Pearl, Tacoma, WA 98407.
We have it all! Send $2 for a catalog. SAILRITE KITS, Rt. 1, Box 404, Columbia City, IN 46725 or c a l l 800 3482769. Charge cards accepted.
Write for OUTOFPRINT book list about sailors, ships and the sea. Books bought and sold. J. TUTTLE M A R I T I M E BOOKS, 1806 Laurel Crest, Madison, WI 53705.
SEA OF INIQUITY and Approaches
(thai silly Parody Nautical Chart that appeared in WB No. 59. p. 15) is available as a handsome prim, $8.50 postpaid. Postcards, 5 for $3.50 ppd.
Jane Crosen, Gen. Delivery, Brook lin, ME 04616.
HECLA SAILS offers totally TRA DITIONAL SMALL BOAT SAILS. Traditional in both materials & work
manship. Imported Egyptian cotton sailcloth and tarred Italian hemp boltrope. Small brochure. HECLA SAILS, P.O. Box 1162, Eon Bragg.
CA 95437. 7079644213. "PRACTICAL BOAT OWNER," Britain's leading magazine for cruis ing yachtsmen. Send $1 for latest issue and a subscription offer to save you $$. To: Practical Boat Owner,
QUALITY WOODEN SPARS—All types. THE BOAT DOC, Box 725,
Morro Bay, CA 93442. 8057723777.
IPC Magazine Limited, 205 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017.
WANT GOOD BOOKS ABOUT BOATS? Send for I n t e r n a t i o n a l Marine Books, a great free catalog of
the best 500 current marine titles. International Marine, Box W, Cam den, ME 04843.
STEAMBOAT BUILDERS, owners, dreamers: Join the Steamboat Society and receive the members' b i m o n t h l y n e w s l e t t e r SCAPE PIPE, $7.50 year. Write: Mueller, Box 262WB, Middlebourne, WV 26149.
BATTENLESS MAINSAIL. 8.5 oz Carolon, luff 44'5", foot 16', area 350 sq f t . New condition. GAFF MAIN SAIL WITH BATTENS. 7.75 oz Carolon, luff 24', fool 19'6", head 15', leech 36', two reefs, area 436 sq f t . New condition. MAIN, FORE, JIB. STAYS'L, TOPS'L and FISHER MAN STAYS'L for 45' gaff schooner. A l l new cotton sails, never used. Sold
as suit only. Total area 1724 sq f t . Call or write N.S. Wilson Sailmaker. P.O. Box 71, East Boothbay, ME
04544. 2076335071.
BOOKS FROM BRITAIN. Warsash Nautical Bookshop, Warsash, South ampton, U.K. Phone: (04895) 2384. New and secondhand books. Charts.
Callers and mail order. Free lists worldwide. VISA, Mastercard, Din
ers, American Express. SAVE ON SAILBOAT BOOKS! Boat building, cruising, repairs, etc. Per sonal service. Moneyback guaran tee. For FREE catalog, write Iron Mistress Yacht Supply, Box 160 W J . Clinton, WA 98236.
ALL MAIL AND TELEPHONE
SERVICES. Fast, reliable, low rates. Member Chamber Commerce and BBB. Travelers Mail Service, Drawer 439, St. Augustine, FL 320850439. 9044718218.
STAINLESS OR BRONZE — M a chine screws, nuts, washers, all thread, etc., offered in Type 188 stainless, silicon bronze, and hot dip galvan ized. Boat nails and all the other h a r d t o f i n d items used on boats. 24 hr shipment. Send $1.50 postage for free catalog. S&B MARINE, (formerly Wm. Alvarez), PO Box 6727, Dept.
W, Laguna Niguel, CA 92677. 714 9563760. TRADITIONAL SMALL CRAFT plans 7' to 16', fittings, fastenings, Skookum copper rivets, clench nails. $1 brings illustrated catalog. THE COPPER NAIL, Dept. WB, PO Box 936, Sacramento. CA 95804.
CHESAPEAKE BAY Ship's carpen try and cabinetmaking. Simple pro jects to classic restorations. Small company with wellseasoned back
ground. Scott Raab, 2210 Harford Rd., Fallston, MD 21047. 301877 0646. YACHT RESTORATIONS & RE FITS by Antigua Slipway Ltd. For information and/or brochure, write Antigua Slipway, Ltd., P.O. Box
4518, Annapolis, MD 21403, 301 2686267. TRADITIONAL ENGLISH SAILS. Custom made in small Devonshire loft. Your dollar will buy yards of English experience. Jon Alsop Sail Loft, Croft Road, Salcombe, Devon shire, England.
NAVAL ARCHITECT BS name, MSE 11 years experience. Design and consulting services for wooden vessels of all types. Peter W. With erell, 141 East Water St., Taunton,
MA 02780.
OUR BEST CEDAR BUCKET. Handmade from clear, native Maine white cedar; solid brass hoops; spliced dacron lanyard with carefully whip ped adjustable end. Dimensions: 11½" across top; 10½" high, $48 ppd. Send check or MasterCard, Visa and Amer ican Express welcome. Moneyback guarantee. A.G.A. Correa, P.O. Box KW, Wiscasset, ME 04578. Instate 2078827873, outofstate 800341 0788. FREE catalog on request.
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SMALL CRAFT DESIGNERS: Fine Copenhagens, weights, splines, scales, planimeters, straightedges, vellums, film, and 30 other quality instru ments and materials useful or essen t i a l to small craft design work are featured in our free catalog. WATER LINES Incorporated, Box 1534W,
Southold, NY 11971.5167651960.
ASH SHELL BLOCKS w i t h bronze sheaves and strap. Guaranteed qual i t y — U S made. Manufactured for line sizes ¼", 3/8", ½". Send s tamp f or c atalog. B A I N B R I D G E BLOCKS. 1101 Wing P o i n t . Bainbridge Island. WA 98110.
FASTENERS, BRONZE, BRASS, A N D STAINLESS STEEL. Nuts, bolts, screws (Phillips & slotted), bronze/stainless round and threaded rod, and blind rivets. Almost any
PROTECT YOUR BOAT WITH O U R H A N D W O V E N M A N I L A ROPE FENDERS. Side & bow avail able in 153 sizes. Soft & long lasting, protect top side from damage. Side lenders: 3 x 10"—$6.75; 4 x 12"— $10.75; 5 x 14"—$15.75; 6 x 20"— $27.00; 8 x 24"—$46.00. Order yours today or send for free price/ size sheet. Moneyback guarantee. To order: please include check or money order, add 10% shipping & h a n d l i n g c o n t i n e n t a l U SA, 15% Alaska, Virgin Islands, & Puerto Rico. California residents add 6% sales tax. RAY W. VANDERMEER. 3305 South "G" St., Oxnard, CA 93033.8054832945.
type of fastenings available. Catalog available $2.00 each. Dealer inquir ies invited. Contact: CHESAPEAKE MARINE FASTENERS, P.O. Box 6521, Annapolis, MD 21401. 301
2688973.
EVERYTHING FOR BOATS. Di rect from England at DISCOUNT PRICES. Send $1 for latest catalog listing over 3,000 items. THOMAS FOULKES ( W B ) , Sansom Road,
Leytonstone, London E11 3HB. Tel. 011441 5395084. Telex 21792 ref. 1024.
VARNISH FOOD The amazing product that cleans, polishes, restores
and preserves existing painted or varnished marine finishes, just by wiping the surfaces. Literature free.
Concentrated 12oz can $6.95 ppd. Thermo Coustics, Box 1116, James town, NY 14701.
ASHBREEZE OFFSET NO. 1 ROW LOCKS and SOCKETS, polished bronze. Rowlocks $16.45 pair, plus
$2.25 shipping. Sockets $7.95 pair, plus $1.25 shipping. Set pair row
locks and pair sockets $23.45, plus $2.25 shipping. The Copper Nail, Dept. WB, P.O. Box 936, Sacramento. CA 95804.
AMERICAN SHIP'S SAW 8' cast iron frame, tilt table, belt drive, 14 x 32" capacity. In outstanding condition. $750. D. Koepke, 190
Maplewood Avenue, Yarmouth, ME 04096. 2078464476.
NORSEMAN TERMINALS New Mark VI terminals. The easiest to assemble and most reliable in the world. Lloyds of London certified to 100% of the break strength of the wire. For further information on other Norseman rigging products, call or write Norseman Marine, Inc.,
516 West Las Olas Blvd., Ft. Lauder dale, FL 33312. 3054671407.
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EXCHANGE WANTED USA has 42' classic sloop/house car. Oslo fjord, Norway, July 1985. Bendiksen, Almevein 20, 3100 Tonsberg, Nor way.
YACHT BLOCKS, teak shells, bronze sheaves, stainless fillings. 3½" block handles up to 7/16" line. Single $19.00,
WRITERS WANTED Send J3 for Writer's Guidelines and current issue. Popular Woodworker Magazine Dept. WB, 1300 Galaxy Way, Con cord, CA 94520.
H E A D Q U A R T E R S FOR BOAT LUMBER—Teak, mahogany, oak, yellow pine, cedar and Sitka spruce.
Fir, teak and mahogany marine ply wood (long lengths in stock). Also fiberglass, glues and fastenings. G E N E R A L WOODCRAFT, 100D
Blinman St., New London, CT06320.
single becket $20; d ouble $32, d ouble becket $33. Delivery ppd. TRADI
Small old 3cyl marine engine. 510 hp with reverse gear. Paul D'Anneo, T I O N A L S A I L I N G S U P P L Y . 6126 Ocean View Dr., Oakland, CA Box 74, Woods Hole, MA 02543. 94618. 4156539440.
AUTHENTICSHIP'S LANTERNS, bells, and traditional boat fittings in solid brass or bronze. All products are Britishmade and the finest qual ity available. Free Catalog. Nautique Ltd., PO Box 605. Aquebogue, NY 11931. 5167223944.
HEARTPINE quartersawn or plane sawn. Clear Juniper. 9198233306 or 9198230189.
21' CAPRI (in 50s) CHRISCRAFT in restorable condition. Gene Alien, 8072 Cabinet Cir., Cincinnati, OH 45244. 5134741372. Have boats to trade.
Call 2034425301.
WHITE OAK, walnut, cherry, ash, poplar. 150,000 feet, sawed and pro perly dried for boatbuilding. Best prices, excellent quality, sensible mar keting practices, individual atten tion to your needs. SHREWSBURY
FARMS, Box 150, Princeton, KY 42445. 5023656119. MESS ABOUT IN BOATS but don't mess around looking for Christmas gifts. Highestquality cotton tee shirts hand silkscreened in two colors
STUDENTS AT THE WOODEN BOAT SCHOOL need old boats on
which to learn wooden boat repair methods. Consider donating your old boat to the WoodenBoat School. For information, call or write: Peter Anderheggen, The WoodenBoat School, Box 78, Brooklin, ME 04616. 2073594651 (Mon.— T hurs.).
with the original drawings and fam ous quotation from Wind in the Willows. For each shirt specify "Row ing" (above) or "Painting" (Mole
and Rat fitting out). Light blue or tan. Adult S to XL, and Youth S, M. L ( XS). $10.50 p ostpaid. The Design Works, Box 5I4BB, Waitsfield, CT 05673. Satisfaction guaranteed.
HERRESHOFF 12½ W ANTED, con dition unimportant. Call or write Rockport Marine, Rockport, ME 01856. 2072369651.
REALISTIC SAILING SIMULA
TOR for TI99/4R (cassette/basic or extended basic) or Commodore 64 (cassette or disc). Two exciting games
included. Only $12. Zephyr Software, Box 5341. Wharton, NJ 07885.
B U R M A TEAK We import this
NEEDLEPOINT Handpainted
sawn lumber exclusively and can
offer the finest quality and lowest prices available. Call or write for a
listing of teak currently in stock. The Mailings Company, Inc.,6801 Lake wood Drive, Richmond. VA 23229. 8042851096.
FOLDING STEPS Practical, sale Bosun chair alternative. Custom f i t ted to your mast contour. P.B. Nauti cal Innovations, Inc., 262 Cardinal Leger, Pincourt, P.Q., Canada J7V
3Y7. 5144537096. BENDING WHITE OAK, KEELS, TIMBERS, LUMBER, any dimen sion up to 14" x 14" x 30'. Also Western redcedar, Douglasfir t i m bers to 60'.
RACQUETBALL CLUB/MOTEL/
HOT SPRINGS COMPLEX in Wyo
fullcolor replica of your yacht, home or whatever, on customcut canvas
ready for working into cushion, rug, or wall hanging. Send color pictures. Describe shape and overall dimen sions for quotation. Write or call Annie "B" Wings of Time, 1 1card Lane, New Rochelle, NY 10805. 915 6365170 (evenings only). Prices start
at $75.00.
ming (near Yellowstone Park). We w i l l trade part of our e q u i t y of
$265,000 in this modern established M A R I N E PLYWOOD. Fir marine plywood ( fine D ouglasfir) ¼", 3/8", ½"
T E A K B L O C K S — C h o s e n f o r "Whitehawk". Best quality, prices, delivery available. 3" to 10" sizes. TROY BROS. MARINE, 810W Electric
Ave., Seal Beach, CA 90740. 213 5967434.
5/8", a nd ¾ ". S heetsizes 4 x 8 ,4 x 10, 4 x 12, 4 x 16, 4 x 18, 4 x 20. Hand some Philippine ribbon stripe, or rotary cut mahogany marine ply wood. ¼", 3/8", ½", 5/8", ¾", 4 x 8 . Elegant teak m arine plywood, ¼", ½", ¾", 4 x 8, width full 16". Teak veneers
business for a cruising sailboat. Con tact Ev Diehl at 3075277131. IS IT T R U E YOU CAN B U Y BOATS FOR $43 THROUGH THE
U.S. GOVERNMENT? Get the facts today! Call 3127421142, ext. 5578.
front and back. Teak plydeck (teak
with holly lines for decking, etc.) 4 x 8 x ¼" Most of our products are sold in f u l l sheets, half sheets, or pre
cision cut to size, avoiding waste to you. Solid teak and mahogany, also. Shipping by UPS, common carrier, USA. Boulter Plywood Corp. WB, 24 Broadway, Somerville, MA 02145. C H R I S T I A N O R G A N I Z A T I O N NEEDS 30' or larger sailboat and committed Christians for unique co operative Caribbean evangelism and sailing ministry. Phone Dr. Brown lee 2099578718 or write VISION FOR CHRIST, 9311 Sundance Lane, Stockton, CA 95210.
6176661340. CROOKED TIMBER—OAK, etc.. for breasthooks, stems and transom
braces. For ordering information send SASE to R.L. Greene, 9 Court House Lane, East Greenwich, R I 02818.
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TOW YOUR CLASSIC to the next antique boat show behind your 1946 Buick woody estate wagon. All wood 99% replaced and/or refinished. 6163478320.
BARNETT & SMALL Carburetor Repair Kits to fit updraft carburetors from 1940 through 1960. These gen uine major overhaul kits are for boats equipped with Zenith carbure tors. Tell us carburetor # and make of boat and engine for prompt quote. Barnett & Small, Inc., 151 E.Industry Court, Deer Park, N Y 11729. 516 2422100.
SALES REPRESENTATIVES: in ternational yachting and cruising. Sell crewed, bareboat, and flotilla cruises to clubs, groups, etc. Free travel. 7182633835.
NEW VIDEO CASSETTE: LINES A N D LOFTING, Part One. How to understand lines plans, how to take lines off boats, how to draw lines plans shows you stepbystep. Featuring Arno Day, an instructor at the WoodenBoat School and a fourth generation Maine boatbuilder with 45 years of experience. Send for free details, or send $59.95 plus $3.00 for postage and handling. VHS 'BETA, VISA/MasterCard accepted. Commun ication works, Inc., Dept. W., P.O. Box 118, Blue Hill, ME. 04614.
FLY THE CHRISTIAN BURGEE. This sturdy 12" by 18" nylon burgee of tapered swallowtail design has a red cross in upper blue square on while background$14.95 ppd. Cali fornia residents add 6% sales tax. G R E G O R Y P. TAYLOR, 12146 Plumas Dr., Saratoga, CA 95070. DONATE YOUR BOAT and take the f u l l value as a lax donation. The United States Classic Yacht Founda tion is a nonprofit organization which has been formed to acquire and maintain a small number of fine, classic, sail and motor yachts. The foundation is helping to preserve our maritime heritage, and is using its vessels in various programs cooper ating with scientific, educational, and conservation organizations. To help fund these programs and main tain its classic vessels, the Founda tion actively seeks boats for resale as well as for preservation. For further details you may write to the Director, United States Classic Yacht Founda tion, 2810 36th Place, N.W..Washing ton. D.C. 20007 or telephone Robin Hill at 2023382878.
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BOATS ON CANVAS by Southern Studios. Send your favorite photo graph and our artists will transform it into an heirloom in oil. Write or call today for our brochure. All work guaranteed. Southern Studios. P.O. Box 761. Dept. B., Daleville, AL 36322, 2055983669.
SOLID BRASS PORTHOLE MIR ROR 11" round. $34.95. RBazaar, 26A Bishop, Watsonville. CA 95076.
DIRECT FROM FRANCE The true, famous, traditional French sail or sweater. Best quality 100% pure virgin wool guaranteed. Color, navy blue or striped navy and white. S to XL send check for $44.95 + $2.85 postage & handling, or Visa card (FF 420 + FF 30) specify number & expi ration date. AncreDeMarine, 4 Rue Porcon, SaintMalo 35400, France.
INVENTIONS, IDEAS. TECH NOLOGY WANTED! Industry pre s e n t a t i o n / n a t i o n a l exposition. 18005286050. X831.
Free brochure detailing our expanded line of NAUTICAL LIGHT FIX TURES. Send selfaddressed stamped envelope to NAUTICA LIGHTING COMPONENTS (W). 2915 Georgia St., Oakland, CA 94602.
VIDEOTAPE Master Mariners Regatta 1984. Traditional sailing ves sels. San Francisco Bay. VHS or BETA $39.95 + $1.75 shipping. (CA orders add 6,5% tax). MERMAID PRODUCTIONS. 118 King St., San Francisco, CA 94107. Also custom marine videotaping.
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