Chine bLog

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.

I found myself 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.

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.

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.