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 Posted on December 15th, 2009We realized that we have been running this blog for over four years now. This is the second iteration of it, as of last Winter, so our analytics are incomplete. It is the case for the last several months, however, – and we promise that it has basically always been the case – that one of our first posts, on the Wayfarer Dinghy, is the most popular on the whole blog. Specifically, we called out the poor decision on the part of designer Ian Proctor’s descendants and the various Wayfarer Dinghy associations to not publish plans for the Wayfarer so they could be built at home.
We find it interesting that this post has had such legs and dare to think that it might mean that we are not alone in searching for the plans. Want more evidence, over the same period (3/14/09 to 12/14/09), one of the top search terms that brought visitors here was “wayfarer dinghy plans.” We think there is unmet desire here and it is time to publish the plans. Again, we are all for fair one-design racing, and we also think that issues raised by home-built boats in this context could be mitigated (e.g., validation by the association at the owner’s expense). We just don’t find the reasons for holding back compelling.
Posted on October 25th, 2009
It’s always fun when a real, live subject of a post stops by, even if it is to dispute your opinion. Heck, so much the better – we put ourselves out there, so we deserve whatever comes of it. So many thanks to designer Tony Dias, who found one of our very first posts, on on his Arey’s Pond Daysailer. I think he and I must agree to disagree, with no disrespect involved. I wish I could review more of Tony’s portfolio, but I can’t find a valid site. Tony, if you check in again, please let me know if there is a spot to which I can point other readers.
Posted on September 30th, 2009
The latest issue of Outside Magazine includes a great article titled “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” about a six-person crew’s voyage in a hand-made, 21′, open sloop from the southern coast of Haiti to Florida. The goal was to trace the route of refugees in a native craft. This is one of those voyages that gamely straddle the boundary between bravery and hubris. The voyage was successful, but it easily could have gone the other way. It was poorly equipped and used a boat that may be fine for coastal fishing but was not designed for open ocean crossings. I love that they used a traditional boat and I’m glad they made it, but the story reads as a bit too much tempting the sea.
Posted on March 8th, 2009
Call it a two-fer. I have been doing the Apprentice for a Day program at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. I thought my Dad would enjoy it as well, I gave him a day of it for Christmas. Of course I had to join him. So he got to check it out, I scratched my boatbuilding itch, and we got some father-son bonding time in. Hey – that’s a three-fer!
The mission – and of course we chose to accept it – was building a 13′ 3″ Melonseed skiff, based on lines taken from a 1920’s craft, the oldest surviving one of its type. Specifically, the task for the day was beginning to install the ribs. We were both thrilled as neither of us had done that before. I’ll not carry on – check out the images.
» Continue reading I built another boat! OK, I was just ribbing… »
Posted on January 16th, 2009
I just popped over to Proafile, where I don’t spend enough time, and was rewarded with a really nice piece of small boat design mind-candy. Michael Schacht, who writes the blog, has a concept that is one-part heresy and one-part genius – the stuff we need more of. He has taken a “sacred” design, L. Francis Herreshoff’s ROZINANTE, and turned it into ROZINANTE II – a “mono-proa – a bilaterally asymmetric monohull.” You need to check this out. You can call it crazy – it it is certainly unconventional – but you cannot ignore that it is a thoroughly creative move that does the design decent justice. As someone who increasingly finds his dabbling going in wacky directions, I love this concept. Classics, but unique moves forward that play to tradition as well are going to keep the spice in the boats we love. Keep pushing it, Michael.
Posted on October 6th, 2008
I have mentioned the presence of one of Iain Oughtred’s Caledonia Yawls at the festival. I had previously only seen the design in pictures and it was a thrill to get a up-close-and-personal with the boat, one of my favorite designs. This one is REBECCA ANN, built by Geoff Kerr in 2002 and owned by Dale Davenport of Linville, VA. Some observations:
- The Caledonia is much bigger in real life than she seems on paper or screen. That isn’t a bad thing at all – she seems more substantial for cruising or going out in a little weather than I expected.
- She looks even better up close. I guess many boats look better in the water with sails flying, but she was exceptionally so to my eye.
- The interior layout just screams adventure.
 This is a boat you could load up and go somewhere with a few people. She could take you into shallow-draft waters and out across some open water.
- I need one.
If interested, the web site The Caledonia Yawl Crazybird has Dale’s story of coming to own the boat, as well as his and other cruising stories.
Posted on October 4th, 2008
I just test-drove three Chesapeake Light Craft boats: a Wood Duck 12 Hybrid kayak, a Chester Yawl pulling boat, and an Annapolis Wherry. You may recall I have written about them before. I really like what they are doing.
The Wood Duck is a pretty little kayak (the hybrid refers to it being part stitch-and-glue and part strip-built). It is too small and short for my taste (I do too many longer trips and want better tracking), but for a light, easy-to-manage boat, it is a nice option. It is way, WAY nicer-looking than I lot of light recreational boats.
The Chester Yawl surprised me – pleasantly – with its rowing capability. It is attractive, but not stunning, to my eye, but I liked its performance. It also has a really clean, flexible layout that strikes me as useful across a range of purposes. The center sent and foot stretchers are designed to hook into the floor-boards, basically allowing a myriad of configurations for different preferences. Very nice touch.
And then the Wherry. It is gorgeous and it rows extremely well and I made an absolute hash of rowing it. Complete embarrassment. I know it has been a while since I skulled, but geez… If I wanted a really nice rowing boat, though, I would definitely look at this boat.
One more thing…
I got to talk to Chesapeake Light Craft’s principal and designer, John Harris. I asked him about the rig for the Skerry, which always seemed too small to me. His fascinating response: a) everyone says that and b) everyone is surprised when they actually sail it. As-is, it has the same sail area / displacement as a Laser. Huh. Apparently they are pretty peppy with this rig and any more would be dicey (though a bigger Bermuda sloop rig exists). Shows what I know.
Posted on September 29th, 2008
New reader Alton Stone recently left a comment on one of my posts about Delaware Duckers. He was interested in upgrading his rig and was nice enough to respond to my info with some pictures (included here) and color commentary. If anyone can help him, please drop a comment and I will make sure he sees them. Stone writes:
… any folks who have experience with the [Delaware Ducker] or ideas on what works best, please [add a comment]. I love the boat, it rows terrifically, and sails well enough in my couple of tries with a sailing rig borrowed from another boat. However, I would like to set it up with a smaller traditional sprit-sail (the middle one for general use) as shown in the drawings.
I have attached a couple of photos, under sail. Even with what I consider an oversized sail (65+ sf) for the breeze (12-15+ knots) the boat set up real well and just skimmed along.
By the way, my boat is a fiberglass version with mahogany wood decking & trim, a take-off from the original “York Ducker” that I believe is now at the Mystic CT Museum. In the 1980’s Vanguard created a mold to use for a cold molded version they hoped to sell commercially [Stone has a Small Boat Journal article on the design that I dare not post]. The mold has since drifted around and I got a hold of a hull in good shape that probably was produced sometime in the 1990s, or perhaps late 1980’s. Thayer Boats (the Thole Pin, as I recall) also made a couple of size Duckers in the 1980’s.
I am surprised this boat is not more popular. It is a perfect small boat for gunkholing; looks sharp, rows and sails real well, seaworthy in bay chop, etc. Much more useful than a Sunfish or Laser, and according to reports, about as fast a sailer. Stuffed with flotation, it would (I think) make an exciting and safe big breeze sailer. My only (possible)improvement would be a centerboard instead of the daggerboard.
Posted on June 23rd, 2008
So once more, for now, to the Center for Wooden Boats, getting back the the livery service, from which I got a nice sail in the Cape Ann dory Q’ONA. The service offers both oar- and sail-powered boats in a variety of sizes. I few more I liked:
Lake Oswego Boat
The original 60-year-old boat was found in Lake Oswego, Oregon. Built by a Finnish boatbuilder in Portland as a stock boat, it was made using a half model which a customer brought to the builder. It became a popular boat at Skunk Lake, Oregon (which later became known as Lake Oswego). It may be a copy of the Rangely boat, a sporting boat developed on the Rangely Lakes of Maine about 100 years ago. The unique features (i.e. a flat-bottom plank in place of a keel and a two-part stem with inner and outer pieces) make the boat relatively fast to build. The current CWB Lake Oswego boat was built by students of Eric Hvalsoe.
Love the sheer on this one. I definitely want to take this for a spin on another trip…
Unless I can gather some friends, I’ll just look at the gig.
Pilot Gig DAN
This 21 rowing boat was designed and partially built by the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Townsend, Washington. The school’s founder, Bob Prothero, donated the unfinished boat to The Center for Wooden Boats in memory of Dan Dygert, a charter member of CWB. The boat was completed through donations in memory of Dan Dygert. The type is similar to the pilot gigs in the 18th and 19th centuries where fast and seaworthy rowing boats were used to carry ship’s pilots to vessels about to enter a port. The planking is red cedar, frames are white oak, fastenings are copper. The Dan is regularly used and maintained by a group of CWB rowers. It also has been used in traditional boat competitions. This type of boat also utilized by rowing clubs in Shelton, Olympia, and Anacortes.
Finally, this one, SILKIE, is for advanced sailors (I’ll have to pull together my credentials):
She comes from the desk of Joel White. Yeah, no wonder she looks so lovely. I can’t find any reference to the design name (though I think I was told) – please fill in if you know. Anyway, she is as gorgeous a little sloop as you could want.
There are more, a fairly robust selection, all told. What struck me immediately, as I marveled at the set up, was why don’t other maritime history organizations do this? I know some of the answer: liability. Everyone’s afraid someone will put a boat on the rocks and they’ll get sued. The Center is renting, though, and has been for some time. This must be manageable. My new friend Zach, the manager of the service, appears to keep pretty good track of who has what experience and thus goes out in what boat. I imagine that if it is blowing like stink they keep the boats in. I bet this takes care of much of the problem.
I also asked Zach about the repair bill – do the boats get beaten up? He said they take some hits, but in general people were respectful – “good custodians” was his term – of the boats. He also made this wise point: “its better for them to be used than not.” To me this is the crux of the issue in a couple ways. First, people “get” these boats. One can look at the wood and the craftsman ship and see that they are not in a beater glass boat from a typical rental shop. Give people a chance and they will come to appreciate and care for these boats.
Furthermore, though, they will come to understand their beauty and value much more so than if they were looking at them on the shelf. When you use a boat you understand its performance and ideal purpose in ways you can’t just by looking at it. Sure, you can read a sign that say catboats were beamy because they were used to haul traps, but until you sail one you don’t see appreciate that stability and its trade-offs (e.g., ability to head to wind). Given that boat design is a science of trade-offs, this is a key lesson. Once people learn this and gain an appreciation, they will understand the value in preservation and continuing education. Few people, I think, would sail a dory like Q’ONA and not come away understanding what was missing in a more common production boat – and isn’t that really the mission of these organizations?
So come on, places like my beloved Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum and get on this opportunity! Seriously, Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum has a huge shed filled with classic boats of the region, many of which are only capable of being pieces of history. Many of them, though, could have lines take off, and the Apprentice for a Day program could build replicas. Then people could take the boats out in St. Michael’s harbor and really get to know the boats and the ingenuity that their builder employed. You have to let people use these boats if you want them appreciated. Heres to the Center for Wooden Boats for showing others the way.
Posted on June 21st, 2008
I was in Seattle for business last week, which allowed me to make a pilgrimage to the Center for Wooden Boats, a place so cool I cannot contain it to a single post, nor even two. In fact, friends, a roughly two-and-a half-hour visit gave me four interesting posts to lay out for you. This place is everything I expected and then a bunch more.
Here’s the overview, for those not familiar. The Center for Wooden Boats is, on the surface, a museum of small, classic boats that happens, unlike others of its type, to be set smack in the middle of a major American city. Right away, that gives it some cache. The thing that first drew me to the place, however, and I have known of it for a couple years, was the fact that this museum has a livery service. In short, for many of the boats, you can not only touch them, you can use them. At a very reasonable cost, too. Brilliant concept, and I have been itching to check it out. Thursday, 6/12, was the big day.
After looking around a bit, I found my way to the livery shack, where the manager, Zach, gave me a going-over on my sailing chops before letting me free on Lake Union. There were some nice options: a few Beetle cats (never actually sailed one), some small prams (seemed a bit tame), some knockabouts (a bit much for single-handing, first time out). Then something a little different caught my eye: the boat I was to come to know as the Cape Ann dory Q-ONA. Now she was the ticket.
Several minutes later, I was aboard and skippering Q’ONA across Lake Union (which, for those who haven’t experienced it, is real lake sailing, with 30 degree wind direction changes and the like). With a gunter rig and small jib, she sailed well in the pleasant breeze. The biggest challenge was the one design feature that was really new to me: the push tiller. Yikes – that was weird. Everything you know is wrong. For the uninitiated, the tiller extends to an arm the sticks out athwartships from the head of the rudder.  You basically operate the rudder by pushing and pulling on this arm with the tiller, so going to starboard was always a pull forward and port always a push aft. My reflexes are so tuned moving the tiller toward or away from the sail to tack and jibe, though, that I got fouled up there. It was fun to play with this boat and get to know this style.
Unbeknownst to me when I first selected Q’ONA, she occupies an esteemed spot on the “Bud’s Favorites” list (named for a longtime volunteer). I began to sense that my tastes pleased the regulars. As I was heading to the boat to embark, I guy passing by on the float beamed at me and said boisterously “Dude! I love that you are taking the dory out. That’s awesome!” I’m telling you, this place is fantastic.
Next in series: Haida dugout canoes
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