Chine bLog - 2B. Day Sailers

The Center for Wooden Boats - Part 4: Other available boats and some thoughts on livery services

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 02:46:00 +0200

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):

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The Center for Wooden Boats - Part 1: Sailing the Cape Ann Dory Q'ONA

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 03:26:00 +0200

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.

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Sailing a Delaware Ducker - finale, for now, with Cheaspeake Bay Maritme Museum's Apprentice for a Day program

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Mon, 19 May 2008 09:23:00 +0200

And so, like all good things, another set of sessions with Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum's Apprentice for a Day program has ended. And what a way to go - sailing a Delaware Ducker, the sister of the one on which I have been working. We got two little sails in, with some fine tuning of the rigging in between. Video of the sail is below; note that I shot it before we tightened up the snotter to get the sail to lie right. Enjoy, and thanks to our new friends at Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum!

Here are the completed boats. That red one is just amazingly beautiful...

More from Chesapeake Bay Maritme Musuem - two-masted crabbing skiff still for sale

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Sun, 04 May 2008 02:45:24 +0200

I was pleased to be able to at least see a picture of the two-masted crabbing skiff I worked on last year during my Apprentice for a Day stint at Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. Here she is, and she is still for sale. A bargain at $10,500. This boat would be a wonderful, solid say-sailer / camp-cruiser with loads of character. If you are in the market, you really should take a look. To learn more, see my past posts on this boat: day 1, day 2, day 3, and day 4.

We have a launch! Rowing a Delaware Ducker

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:23:37 +0200

I was able to get out to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum for another round of its Apprentice for a Day program. The highlight of the day was launching the other Delaware Ducker (then one not being built in the program) and getting out for a little row in her. Here is a short video of her maiden strokes with master shipwright Dan Sutherland first and then Tony, another museum employee second.

Based on a brief outing, this boat rows beautifully. I hope to be able to sail one soon.

Now, to other updates...

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More sparring, partner - Cheaspeake Bay Maritime Museum "Apprentice for a Day" part II

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 03:45:28 +0200

I got out to to Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum's Apprentice for a Day program again this past weekend and had another great day. First of all, the Delaware Ducker has a full combing, the beginnings of a paint-job, and a cleaned up false-stem. She is looking lovely.

For work, I got to finish my sprit. You may recall that last week I took a blank down to something nearly, but not totally, round. First, let's put this spar in context...

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Introducing myself to the Delaware Ducker - apprenticing again at Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 03:42:45 +0200

For Christmas this year, Mrs. Chine bLog again gave me a four-pack of days apprenticing with Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum's Apprentice for a Day program. You may recall my very happy time doing this last year. This is SUCH a sweet deal. For $25 ($15 if you do the right thing and join the museum) you get a full day working on as fine a small boat as you could find with some great people and highly accomplished shipwrights. Even if you interest in great boats is passing, check it out - you will have a great time.

This year I went unaware of what the project du jour would be. Happily I arrived to find a real treat - the latest in a growing fleet of Delaware Duckers. I had not, heretofore, made the pleasure of their acquaintance. I didn't catch the actual dimensions (doh!), but I am guessing the boat is 16' long and a bit under 4' abeam, designed for rowing and sailing, originally in pursuit of the eponymous fowl. Check out the pictures below - these are some stunning boats, and apparently they sail as well as they look.
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How cool is this - my Wayfarer Dinghy adventurer surfaces!

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 04:41:00 +0200

A while back I wrote about the Wayfarer Dinghy, a subject that still keeps people coming back to Chine bLog. It referenced my first knowledge of the boat, an adventure in one up the coast of Labrador. Imagine, then, my very pleasant surprise to see that the man behind that adventure found my post and identified himself. Geoff Heath, many thanks for stopping by - I am truly honored.

Stunning traditional boat images by San Francisco's Lisa Kristine

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Wed, 16 May 2007 03:13:48 +0200

I recently had to go to a conference in Sonoma, CA. It was a rough assignment, what with all that wine tasting, but I managed to pull through. Along the way I stumbled on the gallery of Lisa Kristine, a San Francisco-based photographer. Ms. Kristine specializes in images of indigenous peoples and the nice thing about this subject is that one tends to capture great boats in the process of studying the people. And that Ms. Kristine has done. I offer some samples below, but go to her site to view them all (select the Water image) - you will not be disappointed (and may be moved to buy one - I am looking into it...).

First up, a nice sail in a lanteen rigged boat off Zanzibar, Tanzania... get in before that weather comes, fellas!

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Making sawdust again, part IV - a mast and its partner

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 03:18:50 +0200

And so, it came, my last of four trips out to Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum's Apprentice for a Day program. What a great experience it has been - I can't wait until life's other demands allow me time to head out there again.

The boat is coming along well. The frames and deck knees are all in and shaped, the forward deck beams are in, and the centerboard trunk is now snugly in place. Having worked on a number of these pieces over the last few weeks, I love seeing them in their rightful home.

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For Iain Oughtred fans - an interesting online forum on the Caledonia Yawl and others

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 04:14:21 +0100

Tonight I ran across a small but active discussion forum about Iain Oughtred's Caledonia Yawl, his other designs, and a transoceanic voyage in a related Shetland boat: The Caledonia Yawl & Voyage of The Aegre. I've talked in the past about the Caledonia - its a great design. This forum seems to include some owners and builders and would be a good resource for those going that route.

The Voyage of The Aegre piece I need to look at more. It seems that this guy decked over a 21' Shetland-style boat not unlike the Caledonia and took it from Scotland to Tahiti. Brave soul. The account seems to include the obligatory gale + roll + dismasting which is still exciting to read. Anyway, this one's is good for some more exploration.

Top designer: Iain Oughtred

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 03:41:00 +0200

I bit ago I realized I was overdue doing a post about Iain Oughtred, a man whose drawing table has produced some gorgeous small craft. I first got introduced to him vis his book on glued lapstake building: Clinker Plywood Boatbuilding Manual. Yeah, he's a Brit, so he used "clinker," which, however laden with tradition, is a term I have never liked - but I digress.

Iain has a great gift for looking at the traditional, finding its merits, and bringing it forward to today. Adding in the glued 'strake construction, which allows for solid but lightweight craft with all the charm of their rivet-n'-rib bretheran, he hits my particular sweet spot - the modern traditional boat. Mark my words - I will build one of his boats when I can get to building again.

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An important player: Chesapeake Light Craft

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 04:56:00 +0200

I found myslef thinking about Chesapeake Light Craft recently. Here is an organization that is bringing good-looking wooden boats - and boatbuilding - to a wider audience but marketing an array of kits. How can I not love this idea? There boats are mostly plywood stitch & glue deals, and the results are good, if not spectacular. They certainly produce better results than many of the plastic ones out there (I know, including mine). In short, they serve an important niche and I hope they continue to prosper.

Hall of Lame - Wayfarer Dinghy Associations

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 03:11:00 +0100

For a long time I have had a thing for the Wayfarer Dinghy. It started with a piece in the dearly departed Small Boat Journal about a guy cruising the coast of Labrador in one. I looked the look of the boat - and it was a wooden one - but the adventure really captured me. I was responding well to the designers intentions:

When Englishman Ian Proctor initially set about drafting the lines of the Wayfarer in 1957, his objectives were threefold. First, he wanted a boat that performed well enough to be suitable for competitive class racing. Secondly, the boat needed to be roomy and stable to make it an attractive family boat. Lastly, it was to be endowed with features such as large stowage compartments and other cockpit amenities, which would enhance its utility as a camping/cruising boat. All of this was with the view that the dinghy would be sailed for the most part in the rough, turbulent, coastal waters of the British Isles. Ian Proctor succeeded with remarkable genius in achieving all three of his goals.

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COQUINA by Cap'n Nat

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Tue, 15 Nov 2005 04:26:00 +0100

So that sweet daysailer I reference turns out to be COQUINA, one of N. G. Herreshoff's personally prized works (it seems he might have used it more than any other). She is pretty sweet and definitely looks like a boat to have adventures in. I will definitely be using this as inspiration in the not too distant future. Doug Hylan and Maynard Bray got license from MIT's Hart Nautical Collections (they hold rights to much, if not all, of the Herreshoff designs, if I am not mistaken) to produce and market plans for the boat. Definitely would be a good project.

Sweet Herreshoff as cover story in latest WoodenBoat

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 04:24:58 +0100

There is a really sweet Herreshoff cat ketch featured as the cover story for this month's Wooden Boat. I haven't read the piece yet, but look forward to doing so. The cover sure is captivating...

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Arey's Pond Daysailer - close, but...

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Sat, 08 Oct 2005 03:31:00 +0200

Another one out of WoodenBoat here... They recently did a piece on the Arey 18 Daysailer, a reasonably new design from Tony Davis. Its an interesting piece that devotes a just amount of time to detail the history of the Kingston lobsterboat, a class I had not knowingly encountered beforehand...

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