Chine bLog

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.

Here are most of the other pictures I took at the Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival.

Some "shuckie darns" business travel recently: back to Seattle, which means, yes, more visits to the Center for Wooden Boats, which I praised a bit back. I got in two visits and availed myself of a row and a sail. Both were great.

It had been a long time - a frighteningly long time - since I had bent the oars of a really nice pulling boat. I decided to put a fork in that lousy streak. I had noted in one of my prior posts the Lake Oswego boat, a pretty Finnish-by-way-of-Oregon rowing boat. I took her out for a spin and really enjoyed it - very light and smooth. Nice oars too.

As I was taking her out I couldn't help but notice a guy making a fuss in my direction. I guessed he was not expressing amazement at my skills with a couple spoon blades. I met him later and it turns out he was bummed I had beaten him to the boat - he really wanted to take it out. I am telling you, this place rocks.

The next night I went for a sail, choosing another Northwest transplant from my home waters: The Wood's Hole Sprit Boat. Some info:

This vessel is native to the waters of Woods Hole, Massachusetts. It was originally used by fishermen and can be easily rowed as well as sailed. Particular to this boat are the spar going from the tack to the peak, called the “sprit”, and the loose footed mainsail.