Chine bLog

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.

I read an article last night that prompted me to reflect on how I rate the value of a magazine article. One could imagine a star system, like those for restaurant, movie, or record reviews. Zero stars means that, at best, the article gave me nothing - no entertainment, no new knowledge, no nuggets of wisdom to chew on - basically it wasted my time. One star means that I was entertained on some level but basically got nothing out of it. Two stars gave me a little something new, and so on. Five stars, then, would be an article that is entertaining, includes several new bits of knowledge, presents a solution(s) to an interesting problem, and basically leaves me thinking 'I absolutely need to clip this out because there is 100% certainty I will want to go back to this again.' Allow me to introduce you to a Chine bLog-certified five-star article.

The piece is "A Suit of Sails," featured in the latest issue of WoodenBoat (May/June 2008, Number 202) and written by Senior Editor Tom Jackson. Jackson is building himself a lovely Nomans Land Boat (some discussion on the type in this thread) and is trying to design a sail plan for her, there being no original one on which to base it (at least one that is known). Jackson outlines eight possibilities, walks through pluses and minuses for each, cites a few experts and principles they offered, and provides sketches of each option. Not only do you get Jackson and his experts' views on one level, but you also get the perspective of Jackson as a boatbuilder, working through a problem as it has hit him. The article thus has a great multifaceted discussion that is both incredibly useful and incredibly entertaining. Five stars, Tom.

Oh - and, by the way, the boat in question is gorgeous and will, no doubt, be another gem for the Maine coast.

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.

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.

I recently found some comments I had heretofore not noticed, including one from designer / builder Michael Storer, who seems to hail from Australia. Thanks for visiting, Michael! Storer has some nice-looking plans, including one I particularly like, a sailing canoe called BETH.