WoodenBoat 210 SeptOct 2009

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210

THE MAGAZINE FOR WOODEN BOAT OWNERS, BUILDERS, AND DESIGNERS

Jericho Bay Skiff
HIGH TEA
Screw Removal
Kathy Bray
Linseed Oil
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Build a Strip-Epoxy Outboard Skiff
Small Boats for Fast Coastal Cruising
The Virtues of Linseed Oil
Kit Boats
Removing Old Screws

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009
NUMBER 210
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Number 210
September/Octobert 2009
54 The Sum of Its Parts
Starting with a kit can
demystify boatbuilding
62 High Tea
An enduring beauty

David D. Platt

Ingrid Code

Page 40

FEATURES
35 Linseed Oil
Both a primer and
a finish

Page 48
Harry Bryan

40 An Apostle of Speed
Graham Byrnes’s simple boats
Bill Boyd
are simply fast

70 Build the Jericho Bay Lobster Skiff:
Part One
A Maine Coast classic redesigned
by Tom Hill
for strip-planking

48 Fastening Removal 101
Getting old fastenings
Doug Hylan
to budge
• Another Approach
Lessons from a self-taught
Ed Harrow
restorer

Page 62

78 Marine Art Meets Boat Preservation
The drawings of
Matthew P. Murphy
Kathy Bray

Page 54

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WoodenBoat 210

90 Fairing by Machine
A retrofitted grinder eases
Damien McLaughlin
this arduous task

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READER SERVICES
Page 78

116 Boatbrokers

DEPARTMENTS

121 Boatbuilders

5 Editor’s Page

Kit Boats
6 Letters

129 Kits and Plans

11 Fo’c’s’le
Shipshape and Perth Amboy
Fashion
David Kasanof
13 Currents

110 How to Reach Us

134 Classified
143 Index to Advertisers

edited by Tom Jackson

29 The Apprentice’s Workbench
Whetstones Part 1: Which type
is best for you?
Harry Bryan
92 In Focus
Boats of the World

Ellen Tynan

86 Launchings…
A tribute to designer
Phil Bolger

Karen Wales

96 Designs
SIRI: An 18' Canoe Yawl
100 Wood Technology
Going Green Means
Getting Tougher
105 The WoodenBoat Review
• Live Yankees
• Flotsam and Jetsam
• FeatherBow

Mike O’Brien

Richard Jagels
Niles Parker
Bob Hicks
Karen Wales

• Books Received

113 Calendar of Events
144 Save a Classic
Two Sloops: One by Crocker
and One by Hinckley
Maynard Bray

TEAR-OUT SUPPLEMENT Pages 16/17
GETTING STARTED: Lofting Basics
How to loft a simple
boat plan
by Karen Wales

Cover: An eye-catching
outboard skiff designed
by Joel White of Brooklin,
Maine, in the 1970s has
been reconfigured by
Tom Hill for strip construction. The resulting
how-to-build series on
the Jericho Bay Lobster
Skiff begins in this issue.
See Page 70
Photograph by
Benjamin Mendlowitz

WoodenBoat (ISSN 0095–067X) is published bimonthly in January, March, May, July, September,
and November in Brooklin, Maine, by WoodenBoat Publications, Inc. Jonathan A. Wilson,
Chairman. Subscription offices are at P.O. Box 421015, Palm Coast, FL 32142–1015;
1–800–877–5284 for U.S. and Canada. Overseas: 1–386–246–0192.
Subscription rate is $32.00 for one year (6 issues) in the U.S. and its possessions. Canadian
subscription rate is $37.00, U.S. funds. Surface rate overseas is $45.00, U.S. funds per year.
Periodical postage paid at Brooklin, ME 04616 and additional mailing offices. In Canada,
periodical postage paid at Toronto, Ontario (Canadian periodical Agreement No. 40612608,
GST Registration No. R127081008).
U.S. POSTMASTER: Please send Change of Address (form 3579) to P.O. Box 421015, Palm
Coast, FL 32142–1015.
CANADA POSTMASTER: Bleuchip Int’l., P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2.

September/October 2009

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EDITOR’S PAGE
41 WoodenBoat Lane • P.O. Box 78
Brooklin, ME 04616–0078
tel. 207–359–4651 • fax 207–359–8920
e-mail: [email protected]
web site: www.woodenboat.com
PUBLISHER Carl Cramer
EDITORIAL
Editor Matthew P. Murphy
Senior Editor Tom Jackson
Associate Editor Karen Wales
Technical Editor Maynard Bray
Boat Design Editor Mike O’Brien
Contributing Editors Harry Bryan, Greg Rössel
Editorial Assistant Robin Jettinghoff
Copy Editor Jane Crosen
ART & PRODUCTION
Art Director Olga Lange
Advertising Art Director Blythe Heepe
Associate Art Director Phil Schirmer
CIRCULATION
Director Richard Wasowicz
Associates Lorna Grant, Pat Hutchinson
TECHNICAL PROJECTS Manager Tom Hill
MARKETING & SALES
Associate Publisher Anne Dunbar
ADVERTISING
Director Todd Richardson
Manager Michele Corbeil
Coordinator Laura Sherman
Classified Wendy E. Sewall
Sales Associates
New England: John K. Hanson, Jr., 207–236–8622
Mid- and South Atlantic: Frank Fitz, Ray Clark,
401–245–7424
West Coast: Ted Pike, 360–385–2309
RESEARCH
Director Anne Bray
Associates Patricia J. Lown, Rosemary Poole
BUSINESS
Office Manager Tina Stephens
Staff Accountant Jackie Fuller
Associate Roxanne Sherman
Reception Heidi Gommo
THE WOODENBOAT STORE
www.woodenboatstore.com
1–800–273–SHIP (7447); fax 207–359–2058
Catalog Manager Ann Neuhauser
Associates Jody Allen, Elaine Hutchinson,
Bob Noessel, Chet Staples
WOODENBOAT BOOKS
www.woodenboatbooks.com
Book Publisher Scot Bell
WOODENBOAT SCHOOL
Director Rich Hilsinger
Business Manager Kim Patten
WEB SITE
Manager Greg Summers

Kit Boats
In early July, I met the well-known Scotland-based boat designer Iain Oughtred.
We’ve been acquainted for over a decade and a half; when I arrived at
WoodenBoat in the early 1990s I was assigned to edit some of his pioneering
work on glued-plywood boatbuilding. Although we’ve maintained an occasional
correspondence by letter and telephone over the ensuing years, Iain and I had
never had the occasion to meet in person until this year.
That occasion arrived with the annual Scottish Traditional Boat Festival at
Portsoy, one hour north of Aberdeen. Iain and I were both invited to speak in a
pre-festival symposium. In his presentation, Iain gave us a delightful show of his
boats, many of which are based on classical Scandinavian hull forms—but
adapted for construction in lightweight glued plywood. Some of his images were
of Norwegian kit boats of the late 1800s, which were built to supply the treestarved boat market of the Shetland Islands. These were, perhaps, the world’s
first commercially produced kit boats.
The day after the symposium, we set up our booth at the festival. We were
located next to a gang of Norwegians from the Sunnhordland Museum. The
Norwegians had a captivating display: a 1 ⁄ 2-scale kit boat of an oselver—a fouroared, three-plank boat from Norway’s southwest coast. The display was meant to
be a teaching tool. The planks and scarfs were all bolted together and fastened
with wingnuts, so the entire hull could be quickly taken apart and reassembled in
about 20 minutes. The Norwegian crew, in traditional 19th-century attire, sang a
song to the tune of “She’ll be Comin’ ’Round the Mountain,” to the accompaniment of banjo and washboard. The verses described the details of the construction;
the chorus went like this:
I will hammer I will drill and I will shape.
I am building me a boat I make no haste.
Yes, I’ll rivet all the seams
Of the boat that’s in my dreams.
I will hammer I will drill and I will shape.
Say what you will about the lyrics, but each time they sang this song, a crowd of
rapt children swelled around the boat, and an entertaining lecture ensued as the
boat was disassembled. The kids were mesmerized as they joined in and helped
put the boat together. With the cutting and shaping of the parts done, the
structure was transparently accessible to the young audience.
The same transparency applies to an older audience who approach their initial boatbuilding projects with kits. Fertilized by modern adhesives, easy shipping, robotic routers, and good-quality plywood, the kit-boat market for full-scale
recreational boats has blossomed in recent years. David Platt examines this phenomenon in his article beginning on page 54. Kit producer Mike Vermouth, proprietor of New Hampshire–based Newfound Woodworks, notes in that article
that “boatbuilding is just a series of problem-solving events.” Kits eliminate some
of the more sophisticated of those events, allowing a would-be builder to learn
the fundamentals without a host of specialized skills, hand tools, and milling
machines. In the process, the builder gets a boat, an education, and, perhaps,
the confidence to start from scratch the next time.
—!—

Chairman & Editor-in-Chief Jonathan A. Wilson
President and General Manager James E. Miller
Copyright 2009 by WoodenBoat Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted
without written permission from the publisher.
CONTRIBUTIONS: Address all editorial communications to
Editor, WoodenBoat, P.O. Box 78, Brooklin, ME 04616–0078.
WoodenBoat is a largely reader-written magazine. Care is taken
with unsolicited contributions, but we are not responsible for
damage or loss.

Most readers will have heard by now the sad news that Phil Bolger died in late
May. Phil was one of the more original minds in the field of boat design—
perhaps ever. He was a consummate believer in things practical, and, though well
versed in complex hullforms, was widely known for his convention-breaking
simplicity. Because of this, he attracted many tentative newcomers to boatbuilding, and their work has appeared for many years on our Launchings pages. And
so this issue’s Launchings (page 86) is dedicated entirely to the work of Phil
Bolger. In the next issue, we’ll publish a selection of readers’ thoughts on the
impact Phil has had on their boatbuilding careers and lives. Details of the call for
entries appear on page 6; Phil’s obituary appears in “Across the bar” on page 24.

30%

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September/October 2009

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LETTERS
From the Great Lakes
to New Zealand
Dear Matt,
I read with a great deal of interest that
excellent article in WB No. 208 entitled
“Great Lake Schooners,”by George D
Jepson, because here in New Zealand
between 1875 and 1925 there were a total
of 124 shoal-draft, centerboard scow
schooners built by a number of shipwrights along the northeastern coast of
the North Island. Here, they were always
called “scows,” and ranged in length from
the little 46' -long LENA to the threemasted, 128’-long ZINGARA. They were
either ketch or schooner rigged and
most carried topsails. Like their North
American cousins, the New Zealand scow
was also the 18-wheeler of its time, servicing the little towns and settlements
along a long, rugged coastline. The introduction of motor trucks and modern
roads caused their demise. Today, only
two of these vessels exist: the very recently
re-launched and rebuilt 67' JANE GIFFORD
of 1908, and a faithful replica, TED ASHBY,
owned and operated by the National
Maritime Museum at Auckland.
The first New Zealand scow, appropriately named LAKE ERIE, was launched only
seven years after the inaugural American
scow, ROCKAWAY, was built along the south
Lake Erie shore. As far as I know, no other
of these sailing scows (which is Dutch for
“flat bottomed boat”) were built in any
other part of the world. How did a North
American flat-bottomed workboat design,
which originated in the Great Lakes,
become replicated in the far-off and often
stormy seas of the South Pacific?
A clue to this mystery lies with the scow
LAKE ERIE, which was schooner rigged,
60' 7" long, had a beam of just over 17' and
a centerboard-up draft of 3' 5" ; she was
commissioned by an American, George
Spencer. She was built by Septimus
Meiklejohn at Omaha, who was the son of
Scot James Strange Meiklejohn. Scot was
born at Leith and built boats in Nova Scotia
and then Prince Edward Island before
migrating to Australia and then on to New
Zealand. George Spencer assisted Septimus
Meiklejohn in building LAKE ERIE, and
the vessel proved very suited to the New
Zealand coastal trade. She was quickly followed by other locally built scows, the
names of which honor their heritage: LAKE
SUPERIOR (1875), LAKE MICHIGAN
(1876), LAKE ST. CLAIR (1876), and LADY
OF THE LAKE (1876). These are curious
names for ships built and used on salt water,
many miles from fresh water lakes.
But who was George Spencer, the
American, in isolated New Zealand? He
obviously was familiar with the Great
Lakes Schooners, and he must have built
or sailed on ROCKAWAY or on an early
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WoodenBoat 210

Remembering Phil Bolger
Phil Bolger, who died on May 24 (see
page 24), touched many of our readers with his simple, accessible boat
designs. We therefore will publish a
selection of recollections of the
impact Phil has had on your lives and
careers. Entries must be kept to about
300 words, and will be edited to this
length; photographic submissions are
encouraged, too, and will be returned
if accompanied by a self-addressed,
stamped envelope. Please send material to Remembering Bolger,
WoodenBoat Publications, P.O. Box
78, Brooklin, ME 04616. We welcome
entries by e-mail, too; include the subject heading “Remembering Bolger,”
and send to [email protected].
sistership before he came to New Zealand
such a short time after the Great Lakes
scow schooners were developed. Why did
he come here, so far from the Great
Lakes? He operated LAKE ERIE (which
was wrecked in 1897) for some time, but
no further records of him appear to exist
here. Can anyone in North America provide further information?
Thanks for a great well-researched article, which has brought to light some
intriguing 19th-century maritime links
between New Zealand and America.
Paul Titchener,
Tairua, New Zealand

In Praise of Professionals
I applaud the article in WB No. 208
“Turning Professional,” by Harry Bryan,
in its realistic yet encouraging introduction of the elements an amateur boatbuilder must consider when turning
professional. Based on my own long-term
observations, one of the key factors limiting the growth of the demand for
wooden boats, new or used, has been the
serious lack of available professional boatbuilders and repairers outside of New
England and a few other traditional
strongholds of wooden boat use. It is the
local presence of professionals that makes
the culture of wooden boat designing,
building, and owning sustainable. Without the local professional with expertise
in wooden boat building, maintenance,
and repair, most people will not consider
owning a wooden boat. I hope to see more
articles of this nature in future issues.
Charles Burgess, NA
Pensacola, Florida

Suspicious Figures
Dear Editor,
I wonder if there aren’t some bad numbers in Maynard Bray’s article on the

Hand and Hand-inspired boats (WB No.
208), specifically in regards to his own
boat, CONSTANZA? I remember the original article [WB No. 159–161] on the first
boat of that type turned out of Harry
Bryan’s shop in New Brunswick and run
down to Maine by the buyer, who, as I recollect, painted a very different picture.
First, the economy. Seems to me he was
running a 25-hp Honda, which perhaps
Mr. Bray is, too. (Wouldn’t it be nice to
know in such an article which bandies
about performance figures?) Anyway, I
was really interested in the performance
figures and recall fuel economy to be
around seven miles per gallon, much more
reasonable than the 15 or so Mr. Bray
claims. (The reasoning is a 25-hp engine
burns upwards toward 2.5 gallons an hour
WOT [wide open throttle], and at 16 knots
the engine must be burning fuel
approaching that.) Secondly, there were
performance issues, among them that at
speed the boat tipped back on its rockered bottom, impeding the operator’s
vision. This indicates the boat was being
driven faster than it was designed for.
Renn Tolman
Homer, Alaska
Maynard Bray replies:
I blew it, and I apologize. Guess I had our
low-powered diesel lobsterboat in mind.
You’re quite right in that our 25-hp Handy
Billy’s fuel consumption is more like 2.5
gallons per hour, wide open, instead of
the “little over a gallon an hour” I stated.
Your second point about the boat tipping
back on her rockered bottom at top speed
is true, and with the bow in the air, you
can’t see ahead quite as well. But the
change in trim is moderate, by no means
excessive, and
I feel that designer Harry Bryan hit
the nail on the head in shaping the hull
for seaworthy and comfortable performance. The earlier article you inquired
about is in issue No. 160 (page 111) and
the boat in that story is the same boat,
CONSTANZA, that my wife Anne and I now
own. We love her dearly.

Wheelbarrow Pram Plans
The article on building the wheelbarrow
pram Ladybug in WB No. 209 should have
included Harry Bryan’s contact information, so interested readers may order
plans. Here it is: Bryan Boatbuilding, 329
Mascarene Rd., Letete NB E5C 2P6,
Canada; 506–755–2486.

Credit is Due
The cover painting of Getting Started in
Boats No. 16 (bound into WB No. 208)
was derived from a photograph by Steve
Earley, and should have been credited as
such. We regret the omission.

History always leaves a trace.

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Thank you

for another spectacular WoodenBoat Show!

Over 12,500 wooden boat enthusiasts joined us at
Mystic Seaport this year for a festival of wooden
boats, boatbuilding, exhibits and demonstrations.
We enjoyed talking to so many of you, and are
happy to announce that we will be returning to
Mystic Seaport next year, June 25-27, 2010 for
another fantastic WoodenBoat Show!

“Summer begins at the WoodenBoat Show!”
—Carl Cramer, Publisher

www.thewoodenboatshow.com

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WoodenBoat magazine and

proudly announce the Winners of the 2009

Concours d’Élégance

Judge’s Choice: USCG 36500, Marine Restoration, Lifeboat
Outstanding Innovation: Harmony, Dennis Wolfe, electric launch
People’s Choice: Tenderness, Fred Rettig of Mobile, AL, 2009 14' Rowboat
Awards for Sailboats
Professionally Built 1st Place: Coquette,Taylor & Snediker
Professionally Built Honorable Mention: Regret, Two Daughters Boatworks
Owner Built 1st Place: Bonnie Sea, Nathan Rome
Owner Built Honorable Mention: Vairea, Joe Manning
Professionally Restored 1st Place: Bernice, Rockport Marine
Professionally Restored Honorable Mention: Ariadne, Cove Landing Marine
Owner Restored 1st place: None
Owner Restored Honorable Mention: Aspira, Peter Drake (only 2nd as she is not yet finished)
Owner Maintained 1st Place: FrEuen, Paul & Joyce Giroux
Owner Maintained Honorable Mention: Winfield Lash, David Clarke

Awards for Powerboats
Professionally Built 1st Place: First Light, Pease Boatworks & Marine Railway
Professionally Built Honorable Mention: Noble Cab, Hadden Boat Co.
Owner Built 1st Place: Harmony, Dennis Wolfe
Owner Built Honorable Mention: Alsek, Peter Poanessa / Keene Signworx
Professionally Restored 1st Place: Little Joe, Crockers Boatyard, A. Hixon
Professionally Restored Honorable Mention: None
Owner Restored 1st Place: USCG36500, Marine Restoration
Owner Restored Honorable Mention: None
Professionally Maintained 1st Place: Canim, Martin P. Sutter
Professionally Maintained Honorable Mention: Eulipion, Ken LeDonne/ Ynot Yachts
Owner Maintained 1st Place: True Love, Frances & Fred Roffe
Owner Maintained Honorable Mention: Snowy Egret, Byron Steger

Manually Powered Awards
Professionally Built 1st Place: Drake, Clint Chase
Professionally Built Honorable Mention: Willy Potts, Beetle Inc.
Owner Built 1st Place: Tenderness, Fred Rettig
Owner Built Honorable Mention: Heidi, William S. Hall
Professionally Maintained Honorable Mention: Unnamed, William Gunther

WoodenBoat and

proudly announce the winner of

“I Built it Myself”

TENDERNESS by Fred Rettig

Join Us Again Next Year at The WoodenBoat Show June 25-27, 2010 at Mystic Seaport
Keep up with all the news at www.thewoodenboatshow.com

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Shipshape and Perth Amboy Fashion
by David Kasanof

I

don’t care what they say, I think
I’m a hell of a nice guy. I say that
with characteristic humility, because
I think that most wooden boat
enthusiasts are a decent bunch. For
instance, most of us would throw a
line to a jet skier in trouble. True,
I might take the time to select an
old manila line rather than new
and expensive nylon, but these are
difficult economic times.
Despite our generous natures,
most of us have at least one negative
attitude. We don’t like snobs. Before
patting ourselves on the back, however, consider that disliking the
dislikable is like shooting fish in a
barrel, to coin a phrase. And the
first cousin of snobbery, exclusiveness, has a way of sneaking in the
back door.
Once, in Florida, I anchored in
a little cove. I knew it was a private
anchorage because the chart said
so and the shore was festooned with
blue and pink mansions and the cove
itself was crowded with those floating
birthday cakes that spawn along the
continental shelf during a bull market. Soon after we had set our hook,
down came the inevitable authority
figure in his inevitable garb, khaki
shorts, rigging knife hanging on a
perfectly stunning braided lanyard,
polo shirt with insignia, and sunglasses that look like mirrors. He said,
with exquisite politeness, “Sir, this is
not a public anchorage.” With my best
wide-eyed stare and gaping mouth, I
said, “Gosh, I didn’t know,” and prepared to get underway. Then, perhaps
by way of smoothing over our little
contretemps, he added, “After all, Sir,
we don’t know who you people are.”
It was that “you people” that did
me in, and just when things were
going so swimmingly. I felt degraded,
scorned, and besmirched. The Tsar’s
coach had just splashed mud on me.
I would have yelled some revolutionary slogan, but it seemed to me that
all the good ones had long since
become outworn.
Besides, before I had even

Pete Gorski

cleared the anchorage, I realized
that my recent radicalization had
merely revealed a reverse snobbishness. I was feeling morally superior
to vulgar clods who looked down
their noses at me. In fact, it was kind
of fun, truth be told. Putting aside
my righteous indignation, I had to
admit that, after all, I had been on
private property, and Khaki Shorts
had been polite, up to a point. If
some folks like the floating birthday
cakes and pink houses, well shucks,
bless their pudgy souls.
The twin sins of snobbery and
self-righteous reaction to it are difficult to avoid. One must be on
guard. For example, there’s nothing
wrong with taking pride in a wellmaintained boat (“shipshape and
Bristol fashion,” and all that). But
remember what pride goeth before.
And what about the rest of us who
don’t sail out of Bristol? I bet most
of us maintain our boats fairly well.
What are we...chopped liver? Are all
those folks in Bristol looking down
their noses at us? And who made
Bristol the gold standard, anyway?
Probably a bunch of Bristolians, I
bet. What’s wrong with “shipshape
and Perth Amboy fashion”? But
what’s the use? If you select one
place as the standard, you put down
all the others.
There’s no harm in admiring a
well-maintained vessel. The fellow

who keeps up all that varnished
brightwork should take pride in his
handiwork, but it’s a short step to
looking down his nose at some of
us poor slobs with the gray teak and
black-spotted varnish. He may not
feel superior, but it is a temptation.
As one who was never very good at
maintaining brightwork and all of
that sort of thing, I’m already beginning to dislike that “Bristol fashion”
guy, the snooty bastard.
Permit me to apologize for that
unseemly outburst. The world of
wooden boats may be just the venue
for ending the cycle of “us versus
them.” More and more wooden
boats are incorporating other materi­
als, such as plastics and aluminum.
The line between wood and nonwood is beginning to blur. Perhaps
something like that should happen
between snob-dislikers and snobs.
Someone once gave me a pair of
cups with “Captain” on one and “First
Mate” on the other. I hid them away
in a locker. I had no use for such
“tacky” stuff. But I have been thinking
of digging those cups out of storage.
I’m uncomfortable with the similarity between my attitude toward those
cups and the attitude of Khaki Shorts
toward me.
I feel quite strongly on this point.
Actually, I consider myself quite
superior to those who have the
audacity to disagree.
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CORINNE RICCIARDI

CURRENTS

Edited by Tom Jackson

move ideas around the early September, I hope to have FAR &
globe to those who were AWAY heavy-laden and ready to live up to
ready to hear them, bor- her name for perhaps two weeks of solo
row them, steal them, voyaging on the coast of Maine, followadapt them, and improve ing my nose and exploring islands and
them. Today everything’s coves I’ve not yet seen in my own neighjust faster, that’s all.
borhood. I’ll get back to my wanderings,
Take the work of the I know. But at this moment all I want to
late designer Phil Bol- do in this world is to sail my own boat
ger (see “Across the bar” on my own course in my own waters, takbelow) as one example. ing my own sweet time.
His influence extended
far and wide and was Tom Jackson is WoodenBoat’s senior editor.
undiminished, or even
enhanced, in the computer age. My dory is
built to one of his most
popular designs, and
In a shallow cove in Center Harbor, Brooklin, Maine,
by now who knows how
FAR & AWAY awaits adventure in nearby waters.
many Gloucester Light by Alan Haig-Brown
Dories have been built
on how many continents.
ost of the Grand Canal of China,
Bolger also had a bit of influence in a
which is 1,765 kilometers (1,100
roundabout way on FAR & AWAY. After miles) long and was completed about
experimenting with quite a number of 1,500 years ago, accommodates modways to improve the system for tacking ern steel tugs and powered barges, but
the dipping-lug mainsail—inspired by in the huge Yangtze Delta districts near
boats of France, and a bit of a handful— Shanghai, many fine little side canals
by Tom Jackson
I’ve settled on exactly the technique Bol- still join communities—and the boats
uring 2009, for the first time in ger himself wrote about inWoodenBoat that take small groups on tours are often
quite a few years, I have had no No. 114, letting go the principal halyard built of wood.
crew slot for yacht racing, no long North to let the peak halyard take the weight, Seeing these boats prompted me to
Sea voyages for my indulgent employer collapsing the spar to nearly vertical and seek out the builders, as there was no evito tolerate, no Raid to join (other than making it easy to shift to the other side. dence of boat repair shops nearby. With
the right-here-at-home Small Reach I ended up taking off the more compli- the help of my Chinese friend Gary Gui
Regatta), and scarcely a flight anywhere. cated gear. Simplify, simplify. Such
Does this bother me? Not in the slight- was a central tenet in Bolger’s phiest. I substantially satisfied my wander- losophy, which became ubiquitous
lust during 2008—especially during during his lifetime, from L.A. to Latmore than six weeks away for a single via, from Alberta to Australia. If rovers ever find water on Mars, I’ll wager
article in WB No. 206.
For now, I thoroughly enjoy dialed- they’ll find a Bolger boat alongshore.
back travel budgets and the simplicity Still, travel is important. I know
of merely staying put. Mystery to me, I it for a fact, and I believe it in my
have even found an odd sort of content- bones. I’d get as stale as bread if I
ment in mowing my lawn. Why? Because couldn’t get around a bit. Nothing
as I write this, in late June, my Glouces- can substitute for going places and
ter Light Dory nuzzles the dinghy dock seeing first-hand how other people
at Brooklin Boat Yard, a 10-minute solve problems and how boats fit
walk down the road from my house, into their lives. There’s something
ready to resume my seasonal commute- compelling about having a different
under-oars when the rain abates. And sea to sail. Hasn’t it always been so
my own pretty 18' Nomans Land boat among mariners?
FAR & AWAY will lie at her mooring in For this year, I am content to let
that selfsame Center Harbor, only a few others do the roaming. (And several
moments’ row away. Both went through accounts of recent travels, all with a
time-consuming, sometimes tricky, and boat interest, of course, are woven
always thoroughly enjoyable refits in the through this column down below.)
For my own part, at least for now, I
spring.
I know that without travel, ideas seek no long passages, and I’m happy
can still disseminate with ease and with to merely read of faraway places.
unbelievable speed. There’s nothing When a friend on the docks told me
Zhang Zou Ming builds traditional boats
really new about this. In the heyday of of a racing yacht looking for crew, I
just off the Grand Canal, an ages-old,
The Rudder, say the 1920s and ’30s, that thanked him but never did follow up.
1,100-mile-long waterway in China.
magazine and others like it helped to By the time you read these words, in

Boats along the
Grand Canal of China

The high adventure
of just staying put

M

ALAN HAIG-BROWN

D

September/October 2009 • 13

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ALAN HAIG-BROWN

Hand tools of Zhang Zou Ming’s boatyard
include a bow drill.

and his driver, we arrived, after some difficulty, at the home and workshop of one
of them, Zhang Zou Ming. His workshop
was on a small canal connecting the area
farms to the Grand Canal 15 kilometers
(9.3 miles) away and eventually to the
city of Jiaxing, the city where the Communist Party of China was founded in
1921—aboard a wooden boat, a replica
of which is on view in South Lake.
Zhang builds boats for the tourist
industry and also for local fishermen. A
large tourist boat with cabin and floor-

boards sells for 20,000 Yuan ($3,000)
and a small open fishing boat for
only 2,200 Yuan ($325). On the day
in late April 2009 that I visited, he
had a nearly finished eight-meter
(26' ) tourist boat sitting on a porch
between the shop and the canal.
Planked with coniferous softwood,
the boat used a harder wood, perhaps zelkova, for its three-piece sawn
frames. When natural crooks are
available, the builder uses them for
frames. He also scabs a piece onto
the frame so that the many short
floorboards reach from frame to
frame and can be easily removed for
cleaning.
Inside the shop, a six-meter
(19' 6" ) fishing boat hull was nearing
completion. The planks were toe-nailed
one edge to the other and had hemp
caulking. An oil-based paste had been
prepared for filling the nail holes. The
slightly flattened hull bottom had two
rubbing strakes so that the boat could
be safely pulled up on the shore. The
larger tourist boat had four such strakes.
Lying on the bottom of the boat were a
hand drill, plane, and other tools that
Zhang explained had belonged to his
father, who—like his grandfather and

others as far back as he knows—was also
a boatbuilder. His two sons are accomplished boatbuilders, but as the Chinese
economy has transformed they have
turned their skills to house-building in a
larger town, where the pay and demand
are greater.
Alan Haig-Brown, www.haig-brown.com, is
based in Vancouver, British Columbia, and
Bangkok, Thailand. He photographs and
writes about commercial marine vessels worldwide and also has a passion for wooden
boats. For further information: Zhang Zou
Ming, Unit 10, Shun Feng Village, ou Che
Gong Town, Jiaxing City, Peoples Republic of
China, 573–8584–3754.

Finding like-minded
boatbuilders in Laos
by Ray Speck

A

fter visiting cities and many temples
and markets in the first part of a
two-month trek in Southeast Asia in the
winter of 2007–08, my wife and I found
our way to Muan Ngoi, a small village in
northern Laos accessible only by water

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7/28/09 11:01 AM

pile of wood, formerly
the superstructure of the
previous boat, was ready
to be reused, as well. To
the assembled keel plank,
they attached the first two
side strakes, which had
one scarf each.
This was an impressive
start for a 46'-long hua,
the Lao name for a narrow river sampan. They
built “by eye” in a way
that was reminiscent of
techniques I had seen in
Whitby, England, many
years before. After watching for a while, I showed
Ray Speck, a boatbuilder from Port Townsend, Washthe builders some photos
ington, came across a boatbuilding project in the
of boats I had built. Their
village of Muan Ngoi during his travels in Laos.
eyes widened. Soon, I was
asked to lean on this or
help lift that. They invited me to join who spoke a little English, I learned that
them for smoked venison and sticky rice the project was stalled for lack of wood.
rubbed in a fiery red-chili paste, my first Mr. Poan already had the 16-hp Isuzu
diesel and running gear from his previsampling of a village workman’s lunch.
The next day, only Mr. Poan was at work, ous boat but lacked wood for another set
patching checks and holes with a thick of side planks. With no boat to ferry pashome brew of pitch and kerosene over sengers, it would be some time before
which light-gauge galvanized sheet metal he could get more. He needed paint,
was nailed. When someone happened by too—$50 would cover it. Not wanting to

RAY SPECK

via the river Nam Ou. We were following the advice of friends who had
recommended the area for its natural
beauty, hiking, and excellent handcrafts—and for its lack of the trucks,
buses, cars, and motorbikes that swarm
cities in Southeast Asia.
Not far from the hut where we were
staying, I heard the familiar sound of
a small generator and an electric hand
plane chewing wood. A fellow was surfacing four ¾"-thick planks of a very dense,
heavy mahogany. It had been resawn by
hand with a bow saw by a father-and-son
team during one full day and two hours
of the next. The planks were almost 18"
wide and some 22' to 24' long. The planing was going on under a low-slung blue
tarp shading an area about 10' wide and
40' long. I wondered if a boat would be
built there. Sure enough, I soon saw bottom planks in place for a new boat that
would ferry backpackers to this not-soremote village.
A boatbuilder named Mr. Lek, and
his client, a Mr. Poan, laid down the
bottom plank with help at various times
through the day from three sons and an
uncle or two. The bottom was scarfed
in four places, using some material
recycled from a previous boat. A nearby

September/October 2009 • 15

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MATTHEW P. MURPHY (BOTH)

Left—The Scaffie OBAIR NA GHAOL lies alongside the wall of Portsoy’s 17th-century Old Harbor at low tide as youth of the
town’s Faering Project learn to row their latest launching in the foreground. The kids have recently begun restoring the 20’
Fifie GIRL KATIE. Alex Slater built the Scaffie’s mast at an earlier festival, and to put it to use he later replicated the 1896 Scaffie GRATITUDE, naming it OBAIR NA GHAOL. Right—The 70’ Fifies REAPER (left) and SWAN lie in the new harbor of Portsoy,
Scotland, at the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival, July 3–5. The boats are herring drifters, and they were both originally lug
rigged—a configuration REAPER still carries. SWAN has been converted to gaff ketch.

make a beggar of this fellow, I offered
him the money in exchange for three
days’ use of a paddle sampan. One of
his sons would tow us upriver to a weaving village—where Janice could feast her
eyes on beautiful fabrics, as she had in
the city markets—and we would paddle
back with the current. He liked this idea.
This got things rolling again the next
day, when the ordered wood arrived. In
the morning they finished up the framing, nailed down the railcap, and got
ready to roll her over and tend to the
bottom details. In three more days, while
we were enjoying our river excursions, the
woodwork would be complete.
Two nights before we left, the owner
invited us to his house for a “string ceremony.” The whole family was present:
kids, cousins, aunts, uncles, and 90-yearold grandmother over in the corner
perched on her bed. We were all seated
on the floor around a large circular tray
that had a cone-shaped centerpiece with
flowers, a candle, and four sticks with
bits of cotton string half-hitched onto
them. Placed around it was food: rice
crackers, meat, rice chapattis, wrapped
candies, and cookies. There was ample
rice moonshine called lao lao as part of
the ceremony, and a lot of beer to chase
it with.
After Mr. Poan announced our
agreement to all, we folded our hands
as the eldest uncle chanted a blessing.
As we and three others held our hands
out palms-up, the rest of the adults proceeded to tie the knotted cotton strings
around the five of our wrists, amid much
chanting and laughter. Then, the adults
all placed a hand on the tray and uncle
gave another prayer. After the five of us
received bits of food, everyone started
in earnest eating at the bowls and bowls
of different stews, soups, sticky rice,

congealed duck blood, and barbecued
meats.
The day we left—aboard the new
boat—Mrs. Poan hustled down to the
landing and gave us a bag lunch of sticky
rice and chicken for the trip north.
Ray Speck is a boatbuilder in Port Townsend,
Washington, and teacher at the Northwest
School of Wooden Boatbuilding in nearby
Port Hadlock.

A Scottish Sojourn
by Matthew P. Murphy

“O

f all the web sites in the world,
nothing beats having 60 tons of
boat at the pier.” That was volunteer
crewman Frank Pole’s assessment of
the presence of SWAN at the 2009 Scottish Traditional Boat Festival in Portsoy,
Scotland, one hour north of Aberdeen.
SWAN is a Fifie, a two-masted sailing vessel, 70' on deck, built in 1900. She sailed
for six years under a lug rig, and is now
a gaff ketch. She fished from the Shetland Islands until the mid-1950s before
being sold down the coast to England,
where, under a succession of owners,
she went through a slow steady decline
before coming to rest on the bottom of
Hartlepool Dock. Sparked by the vision
of one Keith Parks, a trust was formed
around her, she was restored to floatable
condition, and she was eventually rebuilt
to her current pristine condition.
At the festival, SWAN was moored
alongside another Fifie, REAPER, of
similar size, which provided a great contrast, for REAPER once again carries her
original 3,360-sq-ft lug rig. “The power
in this sail is phenomenal,” said Jim
Main, regarding the dipping-lug fore-

sail, which was raised, dockside, for most
of the festival. Main is chairman of the
Scottish Fisheries Museum Boat Club,
which operates REAPER. Her rig, though
cumbersome to tack, was common
throughout the 19th century and into
the early 20th on vessels of the Scottish
east coast, where long, single-tack passages favored speed over maneuverability; SWAN’s gaff rig is far more nimble for
short tacking, though slower on a long
haul. REAPER, built in 1902, received
her first engine in 1910, and had her rig
cut down then. She fished continuously
out of Shetland until 1966—save for a
wartime break when she saw service as
HMS PIPER. After 1966, she became a
“flit” boat, carrying cargo and people
among the Shetland Islands. She was
laid up in 1975 and then was purchased
by the museum, which began a restoration that took 10 years.
One photograph in REAPER’s belowdeck display shows her in her flit-boat
days with a bus lying athwartship on her
deck. A recent visitor to REAPER recalls
riding that bus to school; another recent
visitor donated a photograph of the boat
being planked in 1902. And so REAPER
has three missions: She’s a teller of stories, a gatherer of them, and a repository.
Jim Main said that since the restoration
REAPER has “clocked up something
like 50 ports as a museum ship.” More
than176,000 visitors from 119 different
countries have crossed the ship’s deck.
At Portsoy, by the final morning of the
three-day festival, the head count was
approaching 1,500. “The museum is
stuck where it is,” said Main. “We get to
take the museum to the people.”
Fifies aren’t all the size of SWAN and
REAPER. The designation, you see, has
more to do with hull shape than size.
The stems and sternposts of these vessels

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Page Cvr I

GETTING STARTED IN BOATS
from the Editors of

Volume 18

Magazine

Lofting
How to Loft a Simple Boat Plan

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Page 2

LOFTING BASICS
How to Loft a Simple Boat Plan
by Karen Wales
Illustrations by Sam Manning

L

ofting—enlarging a boat’s lines to full size—is an
important part of boatbuilding. Having this skill
opens the door to a wider variety of boats to build
and to having better control over the construction
process.
Some builders have a love–hate relationship with
lofting, yet it pays us fourfold for our efforts. It allows
us to make corrections (yes, even great designers can
make a few mistakes), it helps us to better understand the designer’s plans, and it renders patterns
from which we can build the boat. Additionally, it
gives us some latitude in making changes, such as
sweetening the sheerline or adding a bit more rake
to the transom.
I have chosen the Asa Thomson skiff for my
subject. This article will cover the basic steps
required to loft this simple flat-bottomed boat. The
goal is to replicate, at full size, enough of the lines
shown on the drawing so you can build the four
station molds, the stem, and the transom.
Some very fine builders have tackled the subject of

lofting. Among them are Greg Rössel in his two-part
article, “Lofting Demystified” (WB Nos. 110 and 111)
and Sam Manning in his article, “Some Thoughts on
Lofting” (WB No. 11). Both are rich in information
but feature round-bottomed boats, which are more
complex than the flat-bottomed skiff we will discuss
here. I will reference these—and other works—as this
article is intended as a primer to those writings and
as a starting point for the first-time loftsman.
Tools
Loft floor (board), two 4' x 8' sheets of 1/4" plywood with
one “A” face
Combination square
Long straightedge, 4' or more
Batten, 3/4" x 3/4" x 14', clear pine
Pick-up sticks, 3/32" x 1" x 3'
Chalkline, 16' long
Some 2" box nails and a light-duty hammer
Colored pencils and sharpener
Erasers
Knee pads
Trammel points for swinging large radius arcs

— PREPARATIONS AND PROCEDURES—

L

et’s look at the plan of the Asa Thomson skiff and
see what we need to know to do our first lofting
job. For convenience, this plan gives detailed construction information. The three main views are the profile, plan, and sections. The profile shows us the
boat side-to in the upright position, the plan view
shows the boat as if we were looking down on it,
and the sections show the shape end-on, as if we sliced
the boat like a loaf of bread.
These three views are related in a deliberate and
important way. Notice that a given point on the boat,
say the sheer at station No. 2, has two dimensions
in the profile view: the fore-and-aft distance from

station No. 0 and the height from the baseline to the
designed waterline (DWL). The plan view shows
the same fore-and-aft length as well as the width from
the centerline. The sections show the width from the
centerline (CL) and the height from the baseline.
Notice that the same dimension appears in two different views and that this dimension must be the same
in both views. As you are lofting any boat, it is
absolutely required that you keep any dimension the
same in all views in which it appears. This is known
as keeping the lines dimensionally fair.
The two lines that we will be lofting are the sheer
and chine (or, in this case, the bottom). These two

WOODENBOAT PUBLICATIONS, INC.
P.O. Box 78 (41 WoodenBoat Lane), Brooklin, ME 04616 • Tel. 207–359–4651
www.GettingStartedinBoats.com • www.WoodenBoat.com
1–800–274–4936 (U.S. and Canada)

Subscribe to WoodenBoat Magazine: 1–800–274–4936
2

•

LOFTING BASICS

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Notes
Sheer

PROFILE

Chine

Sheer

Chine
SECTIONS
(Aft)

(Forward)
Sheer

Chine
HALF-BREADTH

PLANS DRAWN BY SPENCER LINCOLN

CL

This truncated version of the Asa Thomson skiff plan shows the boat’s table of offsets, her outboard construction plan,
aft and forward sections, and the half-breadth view.

PLAN CONVENTIONS AND QUIRKS
While most designers try to stick with certain conventions,
sometimes it makes sense to break a rule or two—and sometimes rules are broken for no apparent reason. Here are
a few of the conventions for drawn plans:
• In the profile view, the bow is usually to the right.
• Stations are usually equal divisions along the designed
waterline, beginning from the right, or forward, end of
the boat, and proceeding toward the left.
• The body plan is composed of a half-section drawn for
each station, the forward part of the hull on one side of
the centerline and the aft opposite, on the other.
• The standard layout is to show the profile view at the
top, the body plan to the right of the profile, and the plan
view aligned below the profile.
• Offsets (sets of numbers that define the boat’s shape)
are most often read in feet, inches, and eighths of an inch.
So, 1–2–3 means 1' 2 3⁄8".
• Plans can be drawn to either the inside or outside of
the planking. If they are drawn to the outside of the plank-

ing, plank thickness must be deducted from the given
dimensions when making the molds. If drawn to the inside
of the planking, this extra step is not necessary.
To see deviations from these norms, we need look no
further than the Asa Thomson skiff plan. First, her stations
begin at the left (aft) end of the boat and proceed to the
right. Next, her body plan is given in full section, rather
than half section. In fact, two renderings are made, showing her forward sections and her aft sections separately.
Finally, offsets for this plan read in feet, inches, and sixteenths of an inch.
These departures are not wrong. They are usually done
for greater clarity. Since this is often a first-time builder’s
project, these details are not excessive, and, diminutive
boats like our skiff are best described with these more
exacting offsets.
Every plan will display differences. Be sure to spend
some hours studying your plan before jumping into the
lofting process. It’s time well spent.

LOFTING BASICS

•

3

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PREPARATIONS AND PROCEDURES, continued

lines define the outside shape of the skiff, and all
other lines are derived from them. We will lay these
two lines down at their full size on the loft floor using
the dimensions given in the offset table.
Your “loft floor” or “loft board” should be a couple of feet longer than the skiff and about one foot
wider than its half-beam (half-width). Two 4'  8'
pieces of plywood laid end-to-end and fastened down
to the shop floor will work well as a loft floor. Apply
a few coats of shellac-based white or light gray primer
to make your lines easier to see and to erase.
Lofting will be easier, more accurate, and more
fun if you team up with a buddy. It’s best to have one
partner read an offset aloud and let the other repeat
it aloud as a check before marking it on the loft board.
Also, two people can set down the batten much more
easily than one. Wear knee pads and be sure to
remove your shoes!
Lines are laid out on a right-angle grid. In order
for your boat to be of the same dimensions and shape
as the Asa Thomson skiff, your grid must be laid down
accurately. Start by snapping a chalkline about 6"
from the long edge of your plywood loft floor for its
full length. Using a long straightedge, pencil in this
line, which will serve as both the baseline in the profile view and the centerline (CL) in the plan view.
This means that both the profile and plan views will
be laid down on top of each other. It may seem a little confusing, but it saves a lot of space. Remember,
in lofting, we enlarge the lines (i.e., the boat’s shape)
for building purposes—we do not attempt to make
enlarged, detailed construction drawings as found
in the plans.
Once you have laid down an accurate baseline/centerline (CL), strike a perpendicular line
about one-third of the way along the baseline (see
illustration on opposite page). This will be station
No. 2. Then, measuring along the baseline from station No. 2, lay out the remaining stations, the aft perpendicular (AP), and the forward perpendicular (FP),
and construct perpendiculars as done for station No.
2. You now have enough of a grid to start laying down
your two curved lines, they being the sheer and the
chine (bottom).
One of the most important tools you will use in
lofting is the batten. Battens can be made in many
sizes and from a variety of materials. Their function
is to help you make a curved line that is fair. This

4

•

LOFTING BASICS

STARTING THE GRID RIGHT
An inaccurate grid will cause errors that grow
exponentially over the course of the project.
Accuracy begins at the baseline. This line must
be a continuous, straight line. Loftsmen of
yore have used piano wire and turnbuckles
for striking a baseline. Some loftsmen use a
pair of ice picks to tension fishing line along
their proposed line, and then set the head of
a combination square so that it just kisses the
line, make a series of marks along the line,
and finally connect the dots. For our purposes,
a chalkline, a long straightedge, and a steady
hand will do nicely.

means that the sweep it forms has no humps, bumps,
kinks, or sudden changes in shape. A fair line is often
referred to as being “eye-sweet.” Greg Rössel prefers
battens that are made of long-grained wood such as
spruce because of their uniform stiffness. He paints
his black so they stand out against the loft floor. Some
shops use polycarbonates for even better stiffness
and durability. For our purposes, a batten made of
clear pine about 3⁄4" square and about 14' long will
work just fine.

Trammel points
strung on a
wooden strip

Trammels do the accurate work of full-sized layout
in lofting. Their use as giant dividers avoids the
mistakes made by misreading rulers.

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To strike a perpendicular at Station 2

First, sweep an arc across the baseline with compass or trammel points set outward from station
No. 2 at arbitrary radius “a.”
Next, sweep a second, longer arc of arbitrary
radius “b” outward from the crossing points of “a.”
For best accuracy make “b” two to three times
longer than “a” (commensurate with keeping “b” on
the loft floor).

Finally, draw a line upward from 2 through the
crossing of the “b” arcs. This line is perpendicular
to the baseline.

Layout of the lofting grid
After perpendicular
Station 1
Station 2
Station 3

Station 4

Forward
perpendicular

Baseline

LOFTING BASICS

•

5

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Page 6

— LOFTING THE SHEER AND CHINE—

L

et’s begin by lofting the sheerline in the profile
view. This is generally the most prominent visual
line on any boat, and we want to make sure it has eyesweet fairness.
Lay down the heights, as given in the table of offsets, for the sheer for each station and the endpoints
at the transom and stem, each time starting from the
baseline. Remember that these offsets read in feet,
inches, and sixteenths of an inch. So, the point that
defines the height of the sheer at station No. 1 is
1–9–3—that is, 1' 93⁄16". Mark that point in a clear, 90degree intersection with the station line. Continue
for each station, as well as the ends of the sheer at
the transom and stem.
Next, lay the batten on the floor and, using 2"
box nails, set the batten at station No. 2. To do this,
drive a nail into the plywood loft floor, next to the
batten on the inside of the curve, as if giving it a
place to lean. Don’t drive nails through the batten.
Position the batten so the sheerline points can be
seen on its convex (tensioned) side. This will help
you see the batten and line when you later check
for fairness. Next, fasten the batten in a similar

ALTERNATIVES TO THE
LOFT FLOOR
Lofting was traditionally done on the floor of
a boatshop’s loft. However, if you would rather
not crawl on the floor, there are alternatives.
Greg Rössel suggests stiffening the back of the
loft board and setting it on sawhorses. Sam
Manning likes to hang his loft board on his
wall. Both methods spare the back and knees.
fashion at the remaining points.
Letting the batten run straight beyond the two
endpoints can introduce some unfairness. To prevent this, continue the curve of the batten beyond
the endpoints of the boat and fasten it about 18"
from them.
Now comes the eye-sweet fairing. Get your eye
right down on the floor and sight along the convex
side of the batten, then stand back and sight along
the batten again (see cover illustration). Is it smooth
all the way along? If not, release a nail where you
think the unfairness is and see what the batten does.

Profile and half-breadth views are normally superimposed on the lofting grid to save space and minimize error by
measuring outward from (“offset” from) the same centerline/baseline and the station perpendiculars. The offset
table corrals the governing measurements. The body plan, developed within these full-sized superimposed views, is
usually laid out upon a scrive board easily moved to the construction site.

6

•

LOFTING BASICS

GS_Vol18_Lofting_FINAL.QXD

7/29/09

6:08 PM

Page 7

If it moves, the line was probably unfair at that spot.
If not, refasten it and try the adjacent station. A
good trick is to release each nail in order (except
for the end ones), see if the batten moves, then
refasten it.
It is common to see some small movement at some
stations, say between 1⁄32" and 1⁄8". If the sweep of the
batten is eye-sweet, trust it, as it wants to spring to a
naturally fair curve. Then draw the line, pressing
down on the batten between nails to keep it in position. I like to use colored pencils to help me discern
the different views. Make sure that you clearly label
each line with both its name and view (e.g.,
sheer–profile).
Repeat the process for the chine (bottom) in
profile. Then, lay out the shape of the stem profile
and transom using dimensions on the plan. In this
case, the stem offsets aren’t shown on the plan (see
illustration below).

Y

ou are now ready to lay down the sheer and chine
(bottom) in plan view. Start by laying out the half-

This distance gives the true
height of the transom.

breadth of the face of the inner stem as shown (see
illustration). Note that this is 1" aft of the profile view
of the stem station line. The station widths are measured from the same line as the station heights, but
in plan view, that line now becomes the centerline
(CL). Continue, as before, laying out the half-breadths
for each of the stations and the stem and transom
for both the sheer and bottom. Then run the batten,
check and adjust it if necessary for fairness, and draw
the lines.
In laying out the endings of the stem in plan view,
remember to keep all dimensions dimensionally fair
in every view. You can see that the fore-and-aft (longitudinal) positions of the top of the stem have to be
the same in both the profile and plan views. In order
to keep it absolutely the same in both views, use a
“pick-up stick” to pick up this dimension in the profile view and transfer it to the plan view. This illustrates a basic rule of lofting: Once a dimension is laid
down in one view, always pick it up from that view to
transfer it to all other views. Do not revisit the table
of offsets for this information.

Establishing the curve of the stem.

Curve of the stem
(not given by this offset table) is
established with measurements
taken across the curve to the
chord drawn as shown.

Four
equal
spaces

True shape of
the transom
Because the transom slopes, its depth measurement is foreshortened and inaccurate
in the half-breadth and the body plans. Its true shape must be laid out in a separate
loft view with width and depth taken as shown here with the sketched dividers.

Scale these dimensions
from the plan.

LOFTING BASICS •

7

GS_Vol18_Lofting_FINAL.QXD

7/30/09

9:01 AM

Page 8

—THE BODY PLAN—
Lofted body plan
developed on
scrive board

N

ow that the sheer and chine (bottom) are laid
down and faired in both the profile and plan
views, it is time to construct the body plan or sections
from which the building molds will be patterned. You
can lay these sections down on your plywood loft floor
using a convenient section line for the centerline (CL)
of the body plan, but you may find it less confusing
to use a scrive board. This can be a sheet of plywood
about a foot wider than the width of the skiff (about
5' 6" wide) and a foot greater in height (about 3' 6" ).
A scrive board is handy when it’s time to make molds.
Strike a baseline on your scrive board, about 6"
from its bottom edge, and then construct a CL perpendicular to it from the baseline’s midpoint. Using
pick-up sticks, transfer each station’s sheer and
chine (bottom) locations to the body plan, and connect the points at each station with straight lines,
remembering that the lines that represent the boat’s
bottom are horizontal and square with the CL. On
this boat, lines are drawn to the inside of the planking, so in making the molds there is no need to
deduct plank thickness from our sections.

The basic lofting and fairing are now done, and
it is time to make the building molds for each station. Transferring the lines to the mold stock is quick
and easy.
Now that you understand the basics, you may want
to learn more advanced techniques such as learning
how to loft a round-bottomed boat. Before long, you’ll
be developing curved, raked transoms with the
best of ’em — and your building options will be many.
Karen Wales is the associate editor for WoodenBoat.

Further Reading
Building Small Boats, by Greg Rössel
Lofting, by Allan Vaitses
Boatbuilding Manual, by Robert M. Steward
Getting Started: Volume 15, Reading Boat Plans, by Mike
O’Brien, WB No. 207
Plans for the Asa Thomson skiff are available at The WoodenBoat
Store, www.woodenboatstore.com.

Getting Started in Boats is designed and produced for the beginning boatbuilder.
Please tear out and pass along your copy to someone you know who will be interested.
Earlier volumes of Getting Started are available in past issues of WoodenBoat, and as PDF (electronic) files, from
The WoodenBoat Store. Please refer to the web pages, at: www.woodenboat.com/wbmag/getting-started

8

•

LOFTING BASICS

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September/October 2009 • 17

WB210_Pg17.indd 17

7/27/09 9:05 AM

MARK REUTEN

are plumb—or nearly so. Rake
the sternpost 45 degrees, and
you get a Zulu; round the forefoot and stem, and you get a
Scaffie. A smaller Fifie, the
45' ISABELLA FORTUNA, was
on display during the festival
in Portsoy’s old harbor (the
town has two adjacent stonewalled harbors). Launched
as ISABELLA with sails and no
engine in 1890, she gained
an engine and lost her rig
in 1928—and was renamed
FORTUNA. When in 1976 she
regained her rig and kept
A display in the Vancouver (British Columbia)
her engine, she was renamed
International Airport honors a spectacular coastISABELLA FORTUNA. She’s
line — and includes boats by Mark Reuten of
operated today by the Wick
Victoria and Orca Boats of Port Moody.
Society, which is dedicated to
preserving the heritage of the
town of Wick and its surrounds.
An even more diminutive Fifie, the
20' GIRL KATIE, is slated for a restoration that’s to begin soon. But this will be  Mark Reuten writes from Nomad
no ordinary project, for it will be accom- Boatbuilding in Victoria, British Columplished by a group of kids operating bia, to say that he will be invited to Inuunder the shingle of The Faering Proj- vik and Tuktoyaktuk in the Northwest
ect. A faering is a four-oared boat of any Territories to reintroduce the building
of a number of styles in Norway and in of a traditional type of boat called the
the Shetland islands; the kids, after cut- Inuvialuit kayak, which is indigenous to
ting their teeth on an Optimist Dinghy the Mackenzie River delta region. “If all
in 2005, have recently completed and goes well, I’ll be dipping my paddle in
launched a faering, OOR BOATIE, in the Arctic Ocean this time next year,”
Portsoy. They’re now on to an even more he says. Reuten built one of the skin-onambitious project with the restoration of frame kayaks last year, using Western red
cedar and Alaska yellow cedar, with harGIRL KATIE, built in 1934 at Sandhaven.
Led by Pete Danks and James Crombie, poon rests of caribou antler and bone.
the Faering Project participants meet That boat, however, was destined to take
on Sunday nights at Portsoy’s recently only imaginary voyages, since it will permanently hang from the ceiling in front
restored Salmon Bothy.
What in the world, you may ask, is of a photograph in the Vancouver Aira salmon bothy? It’s a combined ice­ port. (Reuten built two boats for the renhouse, equipment storehouse, and living ovation, the other being a 14' version of
accom­mo­dation for the once-thriving
salmon fishery. Portsoy’s is a nugget of
a museum, with a diminutive rigged
salmon boat housed in one churchlike
chamber, nets and gear in another, an
auditorium upstairs, and a genealogical archive occupying the former living
quarters.

Around the yards

REAPER, Scottish Fisheries Museum, St.
Ayles, Harbourhead, Anstruther, Fife, KY10
3AB, Scotland; +44 (0) 1333–310628;
www.scotfishmuseum.org.
The Swan Trust, www.swantrust.org.uk;
+44 (0)1595–695193.
The Wick Society, 18-27 Bank Row, Wick,
Caithness, KW1 5EY, Scotland; www.wick
heritage.org.
Portsoy Salmon Bothy, Links Rd., Portsoy,
Banff, AB45 2SS, Scotland; www.salmon
bothy.co.uk.

CAMBRIA TRUST

Matthew P. Murphy is editor of WoodenBoat.

The 1906 Thames barge CAMBRIA,
a 91-footer that was the last of its
type to carry a paying cargo (in
1970), is undergoing a restoration in
Faversham, England.

18 • WoodenBoat 210

Currents210_FINALwithADs.indd 18

7/28/09 11:05 AM

J.H. Rushton’s Canadian Ugo lapstrake
canoe. Orca Boats of Port Moody, British Columbia, www.orcaboats.ca, built
a strip-built kayak for the display as
well.)
Another of Reuten’s Inuvialuit kayaks
has been a bit more on the go: “Another
example, with a stand that displays the
kayak vertically, is on tour with a Vancouver company that promotes B.C.
forest products internationally. Last
I heard, it was heading to Japan.” Two
other Reuten boats are going to hell.
“We just finished building a couple of
solid cedar flat-bottomed skiffs for Fox
Network, for a historically based fantasy
film being shot in Vancouver in which,
I’m told, these boats will be transporting
the main character to the fabled Hades,”
and will be considerably roughed up in
process. And, finally, another of his constructions, an 18' Iain Oughtred John
Dory, is bound for paradise: the owner,
who has helped with the construction,
intends to cruise the B.C. coast “with his
son and a smelly, wet dog.” Nomad Boatbuilding, 1204 Clovelly Terrace, Victoria,
BC, V8P 1V6, Canada; 250–884–1577;
www.nomadboatbuilding.com.
 CAMBRIA, which in 1970 carried a
paying cargo up the River Thames and
was the last of the river barges ever to
do so under sail, is undergoing reconstruction at Standard Quay in Faversham, England. The 91' LOA barge,
with a beam of 22', was built in 1906 at
the Everards yard in Greenhithe, which
is at the head of the Thames estuary in
the Dartford district of northwest Kent.
The Cambria Trust, a registered charity
that owns the boat, is undertaking the
£1.4 ($2.3 million) project, with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and
the Swale District Council, with a goal of
running the boat for sail training and as
a sailing classroom. The work is being
done by students in a newly founded
shipwright apprenticeship program
under the National Sea Training Centre at Denton, which is connected with
the North West Kent College in nearby
Gravesend, with “key skills” program
support from the Rochester Independent College. “This training scheme
will help ensure that the skills of the
shipwright are not lost to the nation
and importantly will establish a nationally recognized qualification for young
people wishing to pursue a career in
boatbuildling,” said Rear Adm. Bruce
Richardson, chairman of the Cambria Trust. Oak is the principal timber
used in the reconstruction, and metal
fittings will be restored by students at
St. George’s School in Gravesend. The
barge will not be fitted with an engine,
since it has never had one.

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September/October 2009 • 19

Currents210_FINALwithADs.indd 19

7/28/09 10:36 AM

Offcuts

J

JOHN AYEARST

ohn Ayearst of Thunder Bay,
Ontario, found a harbor full
of wooden boats in Valparaiso,
Chile. “I was in the country
building homes for low-income
families with a Habitat for
Humanity team from Canada.
We had a day off for a trip to
the coast and I could have
spent the entire day just taking in the sights and sounds
of that historic harbor. Scores of
John Ayearst of Ontario found a riot of colorful
brightly colored wooden boats
wooden boats lying in harbor in Valparaiso, Chile.
were bobbing on the calm, blue
Pacific that day. Some were fishing boats but many offered harbor tours. The boats were a riot of color
owing boats,” Paulo Jesus writes
and design, including one called NEW
from Lisbon, Portugal, “have been
YORK, NEW YORK, which featured a sky- part of scenery of Lisbon for decades,
line mural complete with the Twin Towers. and a couple of our active rowing clubs
There was also a pirate-themed boat and are a century old. But except for a few
one with the amusing name I LOVE JENNI- blessed days, fragile racing shells have
FER and featuring a large Canadian flag. never coped too well with the choppy,
I’ve built three wooden boats myself and traffic-heavy, 2km-wide [1.24 mile]
restored others, and could truly appreci- Tagus River. So, as others did, Portuate the beauty and workmanship of the guese rowers adapted and started using
mostly lapstrake-planked yolles. Wide,
Valparaiso fleet.”

“R

comparatively heavy, strong, and
balanced, they are the perfect
boats for this river. Built either
for four or eight rowers—and
a coxswain—they have a full set
of measurements that must be
respected for racing. Length,
width, weight (minimum 90kg
[198 lb] for the fours, 150kg [330
lb] for the eights)—everything is
examined. There’s even a rule
that states that the hulls must be
built of seven planks per side.
“Maintenance of a wooden
fleet has always been a burden
for the clubs, whose members
perform most such duties. So the
early 2000s saw the introduction
of fiberglass fours, with the obvious benefits of low maintenance,
since these smaller boats are thrashed
around pretty hard by inexperienced
crews. Although these new boats seemed
to threaten the demise of wooden yolles,
they also allowed clubs to increase and
maintain their fleets, hence attracting
more rowers and reviving the sport in
the city.
“Fortunately, the passionate determination of some rowers, club managers, and, above all, the skilled hands of

20 • WoodenBoat 210

Currents210_FINALwithADs.indd 20

7/28/09 11:10 AM

last few years also saw the revival of
the yolles through the Lisboa Classic
Regatta, an international rowing event
promoted by the oldest club in the country, Associação Naval de Lisboa, established in 1856, which even attracts crews
from Oxford and Cambridge to row the
Tagus.
“These are signs to keeps us confident that wooden yolles will be around
for a while.”
For information, see www.lisboaclassic
regatta.com, www.anlremo.net (Portuguese
only), or contact Paulo Jesus +351–91–
434–71–38 or [email protected]
PAULO JESUS

A. CÂNDIDO, named for a coach and former
president of the Associação Naval de Lisboa,
António Cândido, was launched in 2001, one
of the many rowing yolles built or restored in
Portugal by Fernando Matos, left.

shipwright Mestre Fernando Matos,
rescued these beautiful ancient boats
from extinction, and even with a few
new eights leaving Master Fernando’s
boatshop in the last few years. Master
Fernando has been building and repairing rowing boats and oars for decades,
and he has created a complete set of

tools specifically for building these boats.
“Although he has embraced the era
of fiberglass, it is wooden boats that truly
brighten his eyes. To add to their magic,
no two boats are exactly the same. Every
new boat improves on the former ones,
whether in strength, usability, cost saving, or just plain aesthetic details. The

I

van Brackin was surprised to encounter the 95' 8", 1927 yacht CYNARA (exEASY GOING, ex-GWENDOLEN) while
traveling in Japan—and equally surprised by her condition. “CYNARA has
been ‘locked away’ in an area of the
world where she is one of a kind and
sails alone. In the remote marina where
she now rests unused, she sits like a temporary visitor against the outer wall of
floats, something of a misfit in a harbor
where plastic predominates. While many
of her peers have suffered the ravages of
time or neglect, not a few being rescued
from dereliction, CYNARA has sailed

September/October 2009 • 21

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7/28/09 11:57 AM

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587, built in Fairhaven, Massachusetts,
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dad, S.G. Schimenti, bought her in early
1958 and had the Minneford Yacht Yard
of City Island, New York, completely
replank and redeck her. He named her
CARMELITA after my mom and sailed
her in the 1960 Bermuda Race and
the SORC. He sold her in 1963 in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida. The broker told
him the new owner took her back to
Fairhaven, but records show she was registered to a man from Puerto Rico. Some
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IVAN BRACKIN

“She was built by Camper & Nicholson in Gosport, England, in 1927, apparently alongside the famous 214-footer
CREOLE. Apart from a few pieces of
necessary hardware being replaced and
a new teak deck five years ago, little has
been touched. From the gleam of the
rosewood paneling to the leathered
sofa, from the cast-iron gimbals beneath
the saloon table to the bronzed foldaway sink, memories of a bygone era
abound.”

through the ages with scarcely a blemish, remaining almost completely
authentic. Even more remarkable is the
fact that for the past 37 years the home
of the gaff-rigged ketch has been Japan,
which had little sailboat tradition until
the last generation. So it is even more
surprising that CYNARA found people
willing and able to look after the
demands of 115 tons of yachting history
for almost four decades and a crew who
have respected her heritage.

CARMELITA, an Alden-designed 50’
ketch, was launched at the Casey
Boat Building Co. in Fairhaven,
Massachusetts.

22 • WoodenBoat 210

Currents210_FINALwithADs.indd 22

7/28/09 10:40 AM

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 “In 1930,” Mark Ellis writes, “my father,
Joseph Ellis (1897–1958), had a William Atkin–designed, gaff-headed yawl,

named DINAH built by a Mr. Bunce in a
boatyard near the Atkin office in Huntington, New York. He sailed the boat on
Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River
out of Crescent Yacht Club, Chaumont,
New York, until 1946, when he sold her to
a Dr. Richard Day in Connecticut, where,
I believe, she was renamed HALF MOON.
I have tried without success to track her
whereabouts. I produced a 3D rendering of her (see www.markellisdesign.ca/
dinah), working from a faint print left

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MARK ELLIS

D. Diboll Jr., in New Orleans. So far, I
have not found a trace of either. I would
just like to find out what has happened
to this magnificent yacht. Carmelita
recently died, and my dad is now 82. I
know it would make him smile to see
this old flame once again.” E-mail him at
[email protected].

Mark Ellis, who did this rendering,
is looking for information about the
William Atkin–designed yawl DINAH,
design No. 228 of 1929, and also the
Huntington, New York, yard where
she and the famous Atkin yacht BEN
BOW were built.

by my father of the sail and deck plan
of a 34' 4" yawl, Design No. 228, dated
June 1929. John Atkin some years ago
informed me that most of his father’s
papers of that period were lost in the
1938 Hurricane. So, we used published
Atkin drawings of similar designs and
photos of DINAH to define dimensions,
shapes, and details for the rendering. I
am interested in knowing more about the
boatyard in Huntington where DINAH
was built, as well as what became of her. I
remember my father saying that he barely
got his yawl out of the yard before the creditors closed it, a story that is very much in
keeping with the early days of the Great
Depression.” Mark Ellis Design, Ltd., 2340
Ontario St., Oakville, ON, L6L 6P7, Canada;
905–825–0017; [email protected].

Across the bar
 Philip Cunningham Bolger, 81, May
24, 2009, Gloucester, Massachusetts.
Something of a philosopher and an
inventive, innovative, and prolific boat
designer, Phil Bolger left this life as
he had lived it—on his own terms and
in defiance of convention. Fearing the
onset of senile dementia with advancing
age, something he had witnessed among
earlier generations of his own family, he
took his own life by gunshot.
Mr. Bolger leaves a legacy of hundreds of boat designs in a staggering
variety, many of them revered by amateur boatbuilders to whom Bolger had a
vast appeal and among whom he was
considered a guru and a savant. His
designs at times defied categorization,
drawing on influences as wide-ranging
as lobsterboats, sharpies, and traditional
craft of China and Japan, where he
served in the U.S. Army after World War
II. Some of his designs—the Brick, a

24 • WoodenBoat 210

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7/28/09 10:41 AM

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August 30 – September 5 with Janet Collins

Building the Somes Sound 12 ½
September 6 – 19 with John Brooks

Hand Tool Restoration
September 6 – 12 with Janet Collins

Building the Asa Thomson Skiff
September 13 – 19
with John Karbott

Building Your Own Willow
Sea Kayak
September 20 – 26
with Bill Thomas

Building Half Models
September 20 – 26 with Eric Dow

Seamanship
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August 30 – September 5
with Havilah Hawkins

Elements of Coastal Kayaking II
August 30 – September 5
with Stan Wass

At the Chesapeake
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September 13 – 19
with Jon Strout & Jane Peterson

Building Your Own Chesapeake 17LT
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WoodenBoat School
P.O. Box 78 * Brooklin, Maine 04616
Phone: 207-359-4651 * Fax: 207-359-8920 * www.woodenboat.com

WBSchool210_FINAL.indd 25

7/30/09 9:12 AM

slab-sided box of a small craft being
arguably the most notorious example
and certainly the most aptly named—
earned the derisive nickname of “Bolger
boxes.” Many of these designs, however,
were intended to be inexpensive, to use
materials with unflinching efficiency,
and to be constructed by amateurs.
They were also safe, practical, and often
performed very well.
Many of those who built to Mr. Bolger’s designs came to believe fervently

in his approach, exemplified by the title
of one of his books, Boats with an Open
Mind. Mr. Bolger also wrote articles prolifically, in WoodenBoat and elsewhere.
With the popularity of his designs for
amateurs, his more elegant hulls were
overlooked over the years by his critics, a
situation former WoodenBoat Senior Editor Mike O’Brien helped to set right with
“Classical Bolger: Outside the box” (see
WB No. 164), a review of a dozen sailboats and powerboats shapely enough

to please any aesthete. Mr. Bolger’s body
of work covered everything from svelte
and efficiently driven powerboats to the
HMS ROSE, a modern representation of
a British frigate that was later recast and
altered (in ways of which Mr. Bolger distinctly did not approve) for use as HMS
SURPRISE in the 2003 film Master and
Commander: The Far Side of the World.
Many of his designs were solutions to
particular problems or design criteria,
in which the question was not so much
whether the boat was necessarily beautiful or elegant, but whether it was successful in the purpose for which it was
intended. It was as if he took delight in
particularly thorny puzzles involving
multiple design criteria that seemed
impossible to reconcile—for example
in developing extremely shoal-draft
boats that were also self-righting (see
WB No. 157).
Mr. Bolger was born in Gloucester
and lived much of his life in the family
home there. He graduated in history at
Bowdoin College, Maine, but then went
to work with powerboat designers, first
Lindsay Lord and later John Hacker.
He also worked for L. Francis Herreshoff, whom he admired, before returning to Gloucester to strike out on his
own. He worked there independently
for decades, until in 1994 he married
Susanne Altenburger. Their relationship
began with a correspondence regarding
boat design, and she became not only
a wife but a design partner in his later
years (and she will continue to sell Mr.
Bolger’s plans and books). Together,
they designed boats and wrote extensively but also took on causes, among
them a fuel-efficient commercial fishing
boat intended for Gloucester, an innovative landing craft for the U.S. Navy,
opposition to licensing requirements
for boat designers (see WB No. 160),
and encouraging the planting of trees to
ensure wood availability for future boatbuilders. Ultimately, however, it is his
designs and his influence on a generation of boatbuilders and designers for
which Mr. Bolger will not be forgotten.
(WoodenBoat plans to publish, in WB
No. 211, letters relating to Mr. Bolger’s
career and influence; see page 6 for
details. Also, Launchings in the current
edition, page 86, is devoted to boats
built to Bolger designs.)
  Norman C. Blanchard, 98, July 9, 2009,
Seattle, Washington. Norm Blanchard
was literally born into the boatbuilding business. His father, Norman J.
Blanchard, started his first boatyard
near Seattle in 1905, but it faltered, and
later, in 1919, he started anew on Lake
Union in the heart of the city. During
the Blanchard Boat Company’s 65-year

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run (see WB No. 94), its crews built
yachts of all sizes to the designs of Ted
Geary, Ben Seaborn, Ed Monk, Leigh
Coolidge, and many others, many of
them destined to become Pacific Northwest classics, both in power and sail. In
all, the company built about 2,000 boats.
After completing high school in 1931,
the younger Blanchard went to work
full time at the yard. His first project
was a Geary 18 (see Small Boats 2009),
which he built for himself at the same
time that the first of the economical
“flatties” were put into production by
the company. Upon his father’s death
in 1954, Mr. Blanchard became the sole
leader of the company. Five years later
a 1964 fire destroyed the yard—for the
second time in its history—and with
wooden boat construction on the wane,
Mr. Blanchard sold out, and the company lasted only a few years more. The
yard’s output over the decades is literally a who’s who of Northwest yachts,
from the legendary 38' R-boat SIR TOM
to raised-deck cruisers that started the
Lake Union Dreamboat style, to dozens of the accessible Blanchard Senior
Knockabouts and Knockabout Juniors,
to the Geary-designed schooner RED
JACKET to megayachts of their day like
the 107' MALIBU and the 90' WANDA,
both designed by Geary. In recent
years, Mr. Blanchard was a devotee of
The Center for Wooden Boats on Lake
Union, and the Norm Blanchard WOOD
Regatta is held on the lake annually. In
1999, he published a memoir (which he
wrote with Stephen Wilen), Knee-Deep in
Shavings: Memories of Early Yachting and
Boatbuilding on the West Coast. “Looking
back on my years with the Blanchard
Boat Company, I feel much satisfaction
in the knowledge that in over 60 years of
operation, Dad and I were able to build
almost 2,000 fine boats, commercial and
pleasure, power and sail, many of which
are still being used by owners who maintain them in fine condition,” he wrote.
 Samuel E. Guild, Jr., 80, April 6, 2009,
Cushing, Maine. When Mr. Guild was
a boy, his family bought Little Babson
Island, in Eggemoggin Reach (just off
what would later become the WoodenBoat waterfront in Brooklin, Maine),
an experience that intensified his interest in boats. In the 1950s, after going to
Harvard University and the U.S. Coast
Guard Academy, the native of Boston,
Massachusetts, served in the Navy. He
met and married Ann Armstrong of California in 1959, then moved to her native
state. There, he built his first wooden
boat—SAGA, a Bill Garden–designed
cat-schooner launched in Sausalito in
1960. He soon bought a boatyard in Marshall, on Tomales Bay. In 1967, he and

his wife returned east, settling in Cushing, and he bought a boatyard in Thomaston. In 1972, he launched SAMANTHE,
a 27' gaff-headed schooner that he and
his wife (and dogs) sailed on the Maine
coast for many years, and in 2008 he had
the Apprenticeshop of Rockland build
him a 23' Blue Moon yawl, TIME.
  Richard Scott-Hughes, 76, April
20, 2009, Seaview, England. Mr. ScottHughes grew up in Seaview on the Isle

of Wight, the son of author and Times
of London yachting correspondent John
Scott-Hughes. His first of many yachting trophies came when he sailed a
lapstrake-built Seaview dinghy to win
the Hard Weather Cup in 1947 at only
14. In 1960, he and his wife sailed in a
60' Alden schooner BOEKANEER to Grenada, where they set up a yacht charter
business and, later, a radio station. He
crossed the Atlantic 21 times and the
Pacific thrice.

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September/October 2009 • 27

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THE APPRENTICE’S WORKBENCH

Whetstones

Part One: Which type is best for you
by Harry Bryan
Photographs by Bryan Gagner

T

he beveled edge of a woodworking tool is brought to its
basic shape with a grinding wheel.
Although after grinding, a chisel or
plane blade may appear sharp, the
quality of the cutting edge must be
refined before the tool can do acceptable work. The process of rubbing a cutting edge against a stone
to sharpen it is called whetting.
The stone is therefore a whetstone.
Whetting is synonymous with honing, and a whetstone can be called
a hone, although the terms stone
or bench stone are most commonly
used.
Whetstones are grouped as being
natural or manmade and by the liquid used to remove sharpening residue from the surface. Waterstones
and oilstones are the two main categories, and once a craftsman becomes comfortable with one type,
he tends to use that type exclusively. The apprentice should keep
this partiality in mind as he seeks

information on the best procedure
for himself.
Boatbuilding can be tough on
tool edges. Some woods are abrasive; old paint encountered in repair
work quickly destroys an edge; and
much more often than you would
like, your plane blade will become
nicked through contact with the
head of a fastening. Therefore, I feel
that the best whetting procedure is
the one that achieves an acceptable
edge (not a perfect edge), quickly
and easily. No matter what type of
stone you choose, the sharpening
process will be easier if its surface
measures at least 2" × 8".

WATERSTONES

Largely unknown to western woodworkers until about 40 years ago,
Japanese waterstones have become a
popular choice for whetting. Natural
waterstones, although highly regarded, are expensive and difficult to find.
Most waterstones are now man-made

and are equally effective. These are
available in a wide range of “grits.”
Grit is a measure of the particle size
making up the stone; the higher the
grit number, the smaller the particle
and the finer the finish created on
the edge being honed. A 200X (200grit) stone is considered coarse and
is used in lieu of a grinding wheel to
shape or remove nicks from a blade.
Near the other end of the scale, an
8,000X stone leaves a polished finish
on the cutting edge. An acceptable
edge for any boatbuilding work can
be achieved with a single waterstone
of 1,200 grit. A combination stone
with 1,000 grit on one side and 4,000
on the other is another option and
will give as fine an edge as you will
ever need.
Waterstones need to be soaked
in water for about a half an hour
before use. Alternatively, they may
be stored in a plastic container under water, as long as the water does
not freeze. During the whetting

Above, left to right—A 6” extra-coarse (220X) diamond stone, an 8” combination (325X and 1200X) diamond stone, an 8” combination
(90X and 600X) oil stone, and an 8” (1200X) water stone.

September/October 2009 • 29

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THE APPRENTICE’S WORKBENCH

the surface has its negative side,
as the surface needs to be brought
back to a true flat fairly often. A hollowed surface on any type of whetstone risks rounding the flat side of
chisels and plane blades. This means
that narrow chisels or drill bits must
be whetted or honed with particular
care so as not to create grooves in
the stone’s surface.

Using and Maintaining
a Waterstone

Whetting a plane blade on an oilstone.

process, the surface of the stone
should be kept wet. Do not be
tempted to use any liquid except
water on a waterstone, as oils or
even antifreeze can attack the resin
bond of the stone.
The popularity of waterstones

comes largely from the speed with
which they cut. This is due to the relatively weak bond between the abrasive particles that make them up. In
use, particles break free as they are
worn, exposing the sharper particles
underneath. This wearing away of

If your stone is not stored in water,
soak it for a half hour or so before
use. Keep the surface wet during use.
Try to use the whole surface of the
stone so that it wears down evenly.
Rinse off the stone afterwards.
As soon as the stone’s surface
wears to a perceptible hollow, it
should be flattened. To that end
you will need to have a silicon-carbide truing stone or a coarse diamond bench stone. Silicon-carbide
sandpaper laid on a flat surface
will work, although the paper does
not last long (see maintaining an
oilstone on following page).

30 • WoodenBoat 210

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THE APPRENTICE’S WORKBENCH

OILSTONES

Like waterstones, oilstones can be
quarried from natural stone or created by bonding abrasives into a
block. The natural materials most often used are soft and hard Arkansas
and Washita stone. These stones are
difficult to find today and new ones
are reported to be inconsistent in
quality. They remove material slowly
and so are used only for the final
step in the sharpening process.
Far more common than the natural stones are man-made stones of either silicon carbide (carborundum)
or aluminum oxide (corundum).
Norton, the largest North American
manufacturer of man-made stones,
uses the name crystolon for its silicon-carbide stones and India for its
aluminum-oxide product. The silicon-carbide stones cut fast but do
not create as sharp a cutting edge
as the fine aluminum-oxide stones.
The popularity of waterstones
seems to have come at a cost to the
acceptance of oilstones. While the
oilstone was once nearly universal
in western woodworking practice,

my favorite woodworking catalog
now offers over 30 waterstones and
only one oilstone. That stone is a
Norton combination India stone. I
bought this same type of stone about
40 years ago, and it is still the only
stone I use on my planes, chisels,
spokeshaves, and drawknives. With
this stone and a leather strop, less
than a minute’s work will bring any
of my tool edges to a keenness that
can shave the hair from my forearm.
If an oilstone has worked so well
for me, why do oilstones have such
a bad reputation? The primary reason is the misuse of the oil that gives
these stones their name. Although
both the water used on waterstones
and the oil used on oilstones are
commonly called lubricants, a lubricant is just what you don’t want.
A lubricant is designed to keep two
surfaces from rubbing against each
other, but contact is necessary if the
wearing away of the blade is to take
place. Water is a poor lubricant on a
stone’s surface, and oil used on an
oilstone should be a poor lubricant
as well. Thus, automotive oil by itself

A badly glazed whetstone, unusable
without re-conditioning its surface.

or 3-in-1 Household Oil are poor
choices. However, some have had
good luck with WD-40.
Worse than using a viscous lubricating oil is using no oil at all. The
liquid used on a stone should keep
the particles of steel and the wornaway abrasive in suspension during
the whetting process so that it can
be periodically wiped off the stone
rather than be embedded into the

A case study in Restoration
T

he legendary 55' commuter yacht Thunderbird was
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George Whittell in 1939 by Huskins Boat Works in Bay
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Ben Huskins. In 1969, they started their own business,
manufacturing iceboats. They bought Huskins’ riverside
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September/October 2009 • 31

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7/29/09

10:52 AM

Page 32

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THE APPRENTICE’S WORKBENCH

they cannot roll. The stone’s surface can be renewed with about
five minutes’ work.

Making a Strop

Reconditioning the surface of an oilstone with 90X silicon carbide and oil on a Lexan
sheet.

stone’s surface. The primary rule in
using an oilstone is to never use the
stone without oil. So if lubricating oil
is not good, what is? Mineral oil, like
Norton’s sharpening oil, is a good
choice. So is baby oil, available at the
local drug store. Since this product
is recommended for oiling babies, it
will be nontoxic.
For years I have used three parts
mineral spirits (paint thinner) and
one part motor oil. It is splashy-thin,
yet has enough viscosity to hold
particles in suspension during the
whetting process. Advocates of waterstones worry that the oil used
on an oilstone may, by way of the
worker’s fingers, contaminate the
surface of the project being worked
on. This is a valid concern, but care

Two oilstone boxes. The cover of the
left-hand box (shown in two parts) has a
leather strop glued to it. The crosspiece
fastened to the bottom fits over the
bench edge to keep the stone from
moving during honing. The wood rim is
cut away for a right-handed person to
sharpen a pocket knife. The right-hand
box is routed from solid wood.

in cleanliness is important with either sharpening system since the
dark slurry from a waterstone would
not be welcome on a surface being
prepared for varnish.

A 600-grit India oilstone will not
produce as fine an edge as a waterstone of 4,000 or finer grit, but a
few strokes on a leather strop will
quickly narrow the gap between the
two. Leather alone will remove the
burr or wire edge created during
honing, but leather charged with a
fine abrasive such as chromium oxide will further refine the cutting
edge. The leather used should be
as hard as you can find so that the
blade will not be pressed into it and
have its edge rounded. I glue a piece
of leather to the top of the stone’s
box and rub chromium-oxide polishing compound into its surface.
In my opinion, a flat piece of wood

Using and Maintaining
an Oilstone

A new oilstone should be presoaked for several hours in the
same mineral oil or thinned oil
that will be used during honing.
From then on, apply oil to the surface before each use. If during the
whetting process the surface of
the stone seems at all dry, you
should add a bit more oil to float
the impurities, wipe the surface
clean with a rag, then apply clean
oil and continue. When you are finished honing, apply oil once again
and wipe the surface clean.
I use my stone several times a
day, and about once each year I
flatten and renew the “tooth” of
the surface. This can be done
with a coarse diamond stone or
with silicon-carbide abrasive powder. It is usually recommended to
sprinkle the powder on plate glass,
add thinned oil, and scrub the
stone back and forth. The abrasive breaks down quickly with this
method, and progress is slow. Far
better is to sprinkle the abrasive
on a sheet of thin Lexan laid on a
flat surface. This plastic (available
at any glass company) will trap the
abrasive particles in its surface so

A wooden strop on the left; a leathercovered box-top strop on the right. Both
are charged with the chromium oxide
honing compound shown between them.

charged with chromium oxide will
make just as good a strop as leather.
The subject of whetstones will be
continued in the next issue with a
detailed look at honing technique.
Harry Bryan is a contributing editor to
WoodenBoat.

Sources

Materials are available at these and
other suppliers:
• Lee Valley Tools,
www.leevalley.com
• The Japan Woodworker,
www.japanwoodworker.com
• Woodcraft, www.woodcraft.com
• Jamestown Distributors,
www.jamestowndistributors.com
September/October 2009 • 33

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7/27/09 5:00 PM

WoodenBoat and Professional BoatBuilder magazines’

Design Challenge II
WHIO © Paul Gilbert / aquapx.com

More Pleasure at 2 Gallons per Hour

Something we learned from our first design challenge
(results to be announced online and at IBEX in October)
is that there’s an increasingly popular ambition and
necessity out there in the marine market to do more
with less. As the heavy hulls of old amenity-stuffed
model lines linger unsold in dealer lots or unused in the
storage racks of service yards, there are buyers turning
to custom and semi-custom shops to produce smaller,
lighter, more efficient boats. In this soft marine market,
simpler boats are one area where there is renewed
interest and development.
A number of entrants in our modest first challenge
noted that an 18’ (5.5m) planing hull at 2 gallons per
hour is not the most efficient way to get around on the
water. So the editors of the magazines resolved to look
at a more fuel-efficient target for our second challenge.
With that in mind, we are offering a new challenge
for new powerboat designs in any material that offer
efficient cruising opportunities for a family in an attractive model with good seakeeping abilities and some
reserve power to perform above cruising speed if necessary. Once again, this is not a contest to design the
most fuel-efficient boat in the world; it is a challenge
to bring fuel efficiency to the market in a balance of
practicality, pleasure, and beauty.
We will award $1,000 prizes to each of the first-place
designs in wood, composites, and metal.

DESIGN PARAMETERS:
n

Must be trailerable for affordable launching,
over-the-road transportation, and storage.

n

Max beam 8’; max length 40’ (legal trailerable
dimensions in many states)

n

Minimum length 24’, stem to transom

n

Trailerable weight (with engine) should not
exceed 3,500 pounds

n

Must burn less than 2 gallons per hour
(7.6 l/hr), maintaining a 10-knot cruising
speed in a 2’ (0.6m) chop and 15-knot breeze
while carry­ing 800 lbs/362 kg (family of four).
Favorable consideration will be given for
continued efficient fuel consumption and
good seakeeping abilities at speeds in
excess of 10 knots

n

Must include at least Spartan overnight
accommodations (berths, head, galley) for
two adults and two children

n

Must be a new design

n

Submissions should be the designer’s
original, previously unpublished work, and
include lines, profiles, sections, table of offsets, accurate weight study, cost calculations,
and performance predictions. (All designs will
remain the property of their designers.)

Eric Jolley

Submissions should be postmarked no later
than April 20, 2010, and should be sent to

Design Challenge
WoodenBoat magazine
P.O. Box 78, Brooklin, ME 04616 USA

For more details email [email protected] or visit our Web sites at

DesignChallenge201_FINAL.indd 34

woodenboat.com

7/30/09 2:31 PM

Matthew P. Murphy

Linseed Oil

Both a primer and a finish
by Harry Bryan

T

he wood in a traditionally built boat suffers
more from varying moisture content than from
any other cause. If wood doesn’t have the protection of a surface coating, swelling will occur quickly
upon launching; likewise, shrinking will rapidly take
place upon hauling the boat at the end of the season.
Even while afloat there can be considerable change in
dimension if the boat is in a slip with one side constantly
exposed to the sun. As wood ages and its natural oils
and extractives leach out, it becomes more absorbent
and its movement is greater and more rapid. Excessive
swelling can cause permanent compression of the wood
in carvel planking, and repeated cycles strain the fastenings, and open joints, allowing water to enter and
possibly start decay.
Paint, varnish, oils, and resins have all been used to
extend the life of wooden structures exposed to the elements. Much of the effectiveness of these coatings is due
to their ability to retard the transfer of moisture. Only
resins such as epoxy actually seal the wood. However,
it is nearly impossible to coat the many pieces (most

pierced by fastenings) of a traditionally planked boat so
that no moisture enters. Once moisture gets beneath a
waterproof surface such as epoxy, it becomes trapped
and is more likely to lead to decay than if the surface
can ventilate.
Paints and varnishes are semi-porous coatings that
allow gradual movement of water vapor through them.
If these coatings are not maintained, this eventually
leads to enough movement to cause cracks at joints
in the structure, permitting water to enter and accelerating the loosening of the protective film. It would be better to use a substance that allows the passage of moisture
yet restricts wood movement. If this substance penetrates
deeply into the wood so that it cannot peel, yet provides a
compatible surface for subsequent coats of finish, then it
should be an important element in extending the life of
a wooden boat. Linseed oil can do this.
Linseed oil is oil extracted from the seeds of the flax
plant. It can be cold-pressed, hot-pressed, or separated
out with solvents. The oil “dries” by absorbing oxygen
from the air rather than by the evaporation of a solvent.

Above—Linseed oil is a time-honored finish that is still used today. Respected builders and designers such as John Gardner, Howard
Chapelle, and L. Francis Herreshoff (among others) recommend its use to prolong the life of a wooden boat.
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bryan gagner

Heated raw linseed oil is applied to the interior
of a flat-bottomed boat. If raw oil is heated to
a high temperature and held there, it becomes
what is known as boiled oil by undergoing
changes that allow it to dry more quickly. This
is not the intent here. The warmed, raw oil simply becomes thinner so that it will soak deeper.
Its slow-drying nature allows it to penetrate
even further.

This is an important consideration, as the cured rubbery
substance does not shrink but rather bulks, plugging up
the pores of the wood it has entered.
Another important consideration is that the curing
process generates heat—potentially lots of heat. Oilsoaked rags can burst into flames; indeed, stories abound
of tragedies and near tragedies caused by careless ragdisposal protocols. It’s best to hang rags outside, as you
would laundry, to dry them. Never wad them up and
throw them in the shop trash; this is courting disaster.

Linseed oil is sold as either raw or boiled.
Raw oil is simply the pressed and filtered
oil of the flax plant. It dries on its own,
but slowly, taking weeks to fully cure. In
order to hasten its curing time, the oil
can be heated and have chemical driers added to encourage the absorption
of oxygen. Oil so modified is sold as boiled linseed oil.
John Gardner was a staunch believer in multiple coats of
linseed oil applied hot to a newly finished hull. Howard
Chapelle, Waldo Howland, Pete Culler, and L. Francis
Herreshoff all speak of the virtues of linseed oil applied
to wood during construction.
The value of coating a wooden hull with linseed oil
is in the oil’s ability to penetrate deeply into the wood,
modifying the wood’s reaction to moisture for the life
of the boat. I feel that there is a significant difference

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between raw and boiled oil in achieving that penetration. The increased viscosity and quicker drying time
of boiled oil keep it on or near the surface of the wood,
while raw oil can fully penetrate small-boat planking.
In researching this article, I found a frustrating number of references advocating the use of linseed oil without
saying whether it should be raw or boiled. Nevertheless,
when one type is specified, it is almost always raw oil. It
was raw oil that was the binder in older paint recipes.
Motor Boating’s Ideal series recommended that raw oil be
painted on newly planked hulls. The British author-sailor
Claud Worth, in his book Yacht Cruising, describes soaking a dinghy’s planking with “linseed oil (not boiled oil)”
until the planks were translucent from saturation.
If the application of linseed oil is such a good idea,
why is it not used universally in traditional construction? One reason is its slow drying time. The best time
to saturate the hull is with the boat right-side up just
after the planking is completed. If the builder has not
planned ahead so there is work to do as the oil dries,

there will be three or four days of downtime until any
work can begin on the interior. This time cannot be
reduced, as it is raw oil’s slow drying that allows it to
soak to a depth where it can truly modify the wood.
Another reason why builders may choose not to use
linseed oil is that they have used it previously as the
finish of an open boat and have not liked the gradual
blackening of the surface over time. While it protects
the wood and provides a workboat finish, the builder
or customer may prefer a more yacht-like finish such
as varnish or paint. In such a case, the oil may be used
as a primer, to be coated over by a suitable paint.

Matthew P. Murphy

Some dislike the blackening that eventually occurs with a
linseed oil finish. In that case, linseed oil can be used as a
primer under a compatible paint, such as oil-based enamel
intended for use over wood. These painted floorboards
were primed with linseed oil. They contrast nicely with a
linseed oil–finished interior.

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September/October 2009 • 37

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If you decide to use linseed oil as a primer, you must
consider the type of paint to be used as a final finish.
Several years ago I saturated the planking of a new boat
with linseed oil. At least three weeks elapsed before
painting began, and I am convinced that this was plenty
of time for the oil to cure. The paint used was a onepart urethane oil-based paint that I had used for years
(but not over linseed oil) with consistently good results.
The boat was delivered in the spring, and by August the
topsides were covered with fine cracks. When the winter
cover was removed the following spring, the cracking
could not be ignored, and the whole finish had to be
removed with torch and scraper. After consulting with
the paint company, we decided that the modern urethane paint was not flexible enough to be compatible
with the linseed oil primer.
Gustav Plym in his book Yacht and Sea (Adlard Coles
Ltd., 1961) confirms that linseed oil cannot be used as a
base for modern synthetic paints. He also believes that
there is no better primer for carvel planking than as
many coats of raw linseed oil as the wood will absorb. We
have a dilemma. A whole list of builders and designers
on whom we have come to rely for traditional boatbuilding wisdom have recommended linseed oil as a primer,
yet we are not sure that the paints available to us will
work over this primer. What paint is compatible with
linseed oil?
As a general rule, stay away from anything based on

a new chemical technology and look for standard oilbased paint. You should avoid epoxies, silicones, and
anything requiring a thinner other than mineral spirits
or turpentine. Paint companies with more sophisticated
formulations typically still carry a line of paint (usually an
enamel) that is recommended for use over wood. These
are a good bet to work well with a linseed oil primer, as
they are more flexible than modern formulations.
To achieve good penetration with linseed oil, make
sure it is raw oil. Most people who advocate this procedure thin the oil with up to 50 percent turpentine. This
helps penetration and accelerates drying, but leaves a
more porous cured oil after the turpentine evaporates.
Penetration with oil alone is much improved if the oil is
heated (safely in a double boiler) and is applied when
the shop’s heat or the natural heat of the day is at its
highest. This way the oil will stay thin longer and will be
drawn farther into the wood as the structure cools.
As we plan the painting of a new boat, we are often
overwhelmed by the number of products on the market all claiming to be the best way to get the job done.
Those of us drawn to conventional methods of building
are likely to embrace similarly conventional methods of
finishing. I believe the use of linseed oil has an important role to play as we search for the best way to finish
and maintain our boats.
Harry Bryan is a contributing editor to WoodenBoat.

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An Apostle of Speed

Graham Byrnes’s simple boats are simply fast
by Bill Boyd

Photographs by Wayne Hadley

A

s the 300-nautical-mile Everglades Challenge got
underway in Florida in March 2009, veterans of
the small-craft race almost expected that a boat
designed by Graham Byrnes would win once again in
the monohull sailboats class. One did: the Everglades
Challenge 22 placed first among six competitors. The
finish reprised her 2008 victory against 14 other boats,
and for the fourth straight year wooden-hulled boats
designed by Byrnes had beaten other monohulls in the
demanding two- to four-day adventure race sponsored
by Florida-based WaterTribe (see sidebar, page 43). Considering the advanced skills of the competitors, the abundance of other good boat designs, and the difficulty of
the race, this was no small achievement.

B&B Yacht Designs, which Byrnes owns and operates in partnership with his wife, Carla, is tucked
up the Bay River along the western edge of Pamlico
Sound in North Carolina, about 50 miles west of Hatteras Island. The company is housed in a small shop
and design office in Vandemere, about 11 miles north
of Oriental, the self-proclaimed sailing capital of the
state. With outboard boats on trailers dotting the
region’s landscape and shrimp boats tied up along
nearby creeks, the main thrust of this area’s business
and thinking is clearly eastward, toward the sounds
and the ocean.
Graham, born near Brisbane, Australia, 65 years
ago, completed a five-year indentured apprenticeship

Above—With the Everglades Challenge 22, small-craft designer Graham Byrnes combined comparatively simple plywood
construction, an uncomplicated rig, and spartan accommodations in a trekking boat that has performed well in the
demanding 300-mile race from which the design derives its name.

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Byrnes and his wife, Carla, manage B&B Yacht Designs in
Vandemere, North Carolina. Byrnes studied boatbuilding
and boat design in his native Australia before departing—
in a boat of his own design and construction—on a
circumnavigation, during which he met Carla.

as a shipwright and studied boat design at Queensland
Central Technical College, with an emphasis on small
craft. As a young man, he spent 15 years circumnavigating in a double-ender of his own design, meeting
Carla along the way. They married, completed the voyage together, and then chose the North Carolina coast
as a place to settle about 25 years ago. Graham started
designing small boats that would be inexpensive and
could be built by amateurs having only basic carpentry skills—boats for anyone, not just yachtsmen. He
also liked them to be light and fast, like the prams and
dinghies he raced as a boy Down Under.
Affable and approachable, Graham works closely
with his customers and relies on their suggestions to
tweak his designs. He also teaches boatbuilding at the
local community college. Graham is, in fact, a sort of
guru for an ever-widening circle of friends, customers,
boat lovers, and neighbors.
Not all B&B boats are designed to win races. Graham’s work includes kayaks, canoes, dinghies, tenders,
beach cruisers, trailer cruisers, a catamaran, and more
recently, powerboats—about 35 different designs,
including those currently in the works. Most are built
using a folded plywood technique: a developed pattern cut out of plywood and folded together in such a
way that the ends are full and buoyant while the sides
are stitched and glued to the bottom, providing a hard

chine and good form stability. Some of the small hulls
can be built in a day.
Three of the company’s most popular non-sailing
designs are Birder, Moccasin, and Diva. Birder and Moccasin are, respectively, decked and undecked double-­
paddle canoes, and Diva is a 15' 8" solo ocean kayak.
These boats are light, very simple to build, efficient,
and graceful looking. His smallest sailing designs are

Paddle boats designed by Byrnes include, left to right, Diva, a 15’8” solo ocean kayak, and Birder and Moccasin, which are
canoes available in decked or undecked versions. The boats are light, very simple to build, efficient, and graceful. Birder and
Diva are available in kit form.

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Spindrift (top left and above right) was conceived as a yacht tender, but boats built to the design have done well in races
and have an appeal of their own as small daysailers. Built-in flotation makes them safe and easy to self-right after a capsize.
Byrnes has drawn four different versions of Catspaw, a design that dates back to the 1970s, from 6’6” to 9’, the largest two of
which can be built as nesting dinghies.

the Catspaw pram, designed in the 1970s, and Spindrift, a cat- or sloop-rigged sailing dinghy. Both are
loosely described as yacht tenders and can be built in
sizes ranging from 6' to 12' long.
Spindrift, designed in 1984 some 10 years after Catspaw, represented a design departure for Graham,
and he came to consider it the way of the future for
his design portfolio. The 10' boat was a precursor to
B&B’s larger and better-known Core Sound series of
sailboats, efficient cat-ketches that proved fast, seaworthy, and easily trailerable (see also WoodenBoat’s Small
Boats 2008).
Graham turned his attention to beach-cruising
boats with the Bay River Skiff in 1985. He has drawn
15' and 17' versions that can be built in a choice of light
or heavy construction methods. The boat is capable
of rowing, sailing with its cat-ketch rig, or motoring.
Inexpensive to build, it is narrow and has a relatively
shallow V-bottom—shallow enough for gunkholing, yet
pronounced enough for sailing without undue pounding. The BRS can be wet to sail, however, and its low
freeboard demands caution in open waters.
The Core Sound series came about when Graham
wanted a light and fast boat that was safe and comfortable

in open water yet big enough for a family. The Core
Sound 17 was the first in the series—the one that won
the Everglades Challenge in 2006 and broke the course
record in 2007. This boat also won the grueling Fourth
of July “Great Race” into Pamlico and Core Sounds two
years in a row.
The Core Sound 17 is the most popular and mosttalked-about of the series, and it is the only one of
that series that Graham offers in kit form. The qualities most often mentioned include its speed (it planes
quickly and easily); its comfort, both when sailing and
at anchor; and how much plain fun the boat is to sail. Its
roomy cockpit makes it ideal for camp-cruising, sleeping, and family outings. The boat’s shoal draft makes
it a good choice for gunkholing. The hull behaves
well in a chop, and the cat-ketch rig is easily managed
and reefed by one person. More recently, Graham has
designed a Core Sound 20, which has proven to be the
fastest of them all. The latest in the series, the Core
Sound 15, is simply a smaller version for solo sailors.
In comparison to the Bay River Skiff, Core Sound
boats are broader and have more freeboard. The developed convex forward sections give the bow more buoyancy, and the fullness in the midsection is carried aft

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The Core Sound 20 is a hard-chined daysailer
with a large, comfortable cockpit for family sailing, ample built-in flotation, and a
good turn of speed. It is built with a foldedplywood technique, which Byrnes uses in
many of his designs (and offers as a kit in the
Core Sound 17). The construction method
and simple rigging hardware make the boats
comparatively inexpensive to build and use.
With its shoal draft, centerboard, and kick-up
rudder, the boat also makes a fine gunkholer,
and it is very easily trailerable.

to a wide transom. Each of the Core Sound designs
has a foredeck and full-length side decks, making
these boats drier and more seaworthy than the BRS.
For added safety, watertight storage compartments are
built-in under the seats. These compartments limit the
amount of water that can come aboard and also prevent the water from sloshing around and destabilizing
the boat. Graham and his customers consider the Core
Sound boats to be well suited for coastal and occasional
bluewater sailing.
Graham has done two notable variations on the
standard Core Sound theme: the EC22 and the Lapwing 15. He designed the EC22 specifically to win the
monohull class of the Everglades Challenge, which it has

succeeded in doing twice. The hull of
this boat is quite different from the others in the Core Sound series, most obviously in its use of a sharp and hollow
entry—an 11-degree half-breadth entry angle—instead
of the rounded and buoyant bow. This hull can’t be
built in Graham’s usual folded-plywood technique, so
it is constructed over a jig and uses stitch-and-glued
panels in the bow. The V-bottom is more shallow and
the run aft even flatter than in the other designs—all
elements that make the boat plane more easily. With
more rocker in the bottom than the others, the boat
tacks more easily, too. Graham has also emphasized
light weight, using 5mm plywood for the topsides and
two layers of 4mm plywood for the bottom, both of
okoume, a light marine-grade plywood. Finally, the
EC22 has a protective cuddy to shelter the crew from
the elements. Graham, a savvy sailor and a gritty and

WaterTribe and the
Everglades Challenge
“The purpose of WaterTribe is to encourage the development of boats, equipment, skills, and human athletic
performance for safe and efficient coastal cruising using
minimal-impact human- and wing-powered watercraft
based on kayaks, canoes, and small sailboats.”
—Steve Isaac, WaterTribe


T

he Everglades Challenge, run every March and
sponsored by WaterTribe, a small-boat organization based in Florida, is not specifically a race
but rather an event in which participants are given a
starting and ending point and encouraged to make of
the circumstances what they will, but doing it safely,
efficiently, and with minimal environmental impact. It
starts at Tampa Bay on the west coast of Florida and
ends at Key Largo, a distance of about 300 miles.
Many participants interpret the event as a race, and
WaterTribe makes the boats’ positions known at various
required checkpoints as if a race were indeed underway.
But most see it as a stirring if not transcendental event

during which they are given an opportunity to simply
enjoy the circumstances or to test and improve their
boat, their gear, their skills, and perhaps even themselves. No contestant—or “tribal member”—comes away
from the EC without feeling better for the experience.
Some boats continue on through the night, but most
do not. The fastest boats finish in two to three days,
but there is no shame in taking up to the limit of eight
days to finish. A shark’s tooth necklace awarded to finishers is coveted as dearly as the prizes awarded to the
“winners” in each of seven boat classes. Only about 40
percent of starters actually finish.
The EC invites participation by stock small boats
yet fosters an atmosphere of innovation that has tested
and encouraged several remarkable designs, some
of them of wooden construction, including Graham
Byrnes’s Everglades Challenge 22, which was designed
specifically to win the event.
—BB
WaterTribe, Inc., 1327 Whitacre Dr., Clearwater, FL 33764; www.
WaterTribe.com.

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7/27/09 12:21 PM

EC22
Particulars
LOA
22' 0"
Beam
7' 2"
Draft (board up)
6"
(board down) 4' 6"
Sail Area
237 sq ft

GRAHAM BYRNES

An avid racing sailor,
Byrnes designed the
Everglades Challenge 22
specifically as a contender
in that grueling race’s
monohull division.

weathered competitor, is definitely the man to beat
when he’s racing the EC22. Through-the-night racing
as in the Everglades Challenge is his meat and potatoes.
He seldom loses.
The Lapwing 15 is similar to the Core Sound 15,
but its glued-lapstrake construction permits rounder
bilges, making it arguably the most graceful and
traditional-looking of B&B’s sailboats. The one I sailed
was built by Tom Layton, a friend and advisor to Graham
who builds boats to near perfection. I was struck by how
easily the boat moved in light air and how stable it was,
especially when compared to my relatively quick-dipping
Iain Oughtred–designed Caledonia Yawl.
For sailors who prefer the comforts and amenities of
an enclosed boat for cruising, B&B has designed the
Belhaven 19 and the Princess Sharpie 22 and 26.
Graham developed the Belhaven 19 directly from
the Core Sound series, using the same folded-plywood

technique for ease of construction and light weight. It
has similar performance and open-water capabilities,
plus accommodations for two or even three. The BH19
draws only 9" with the centerboard up, and at 19' long
with a beam of 7', it can be easily trailered. An unusual
innovation is that the centerboard is offset to one side
of the keel. When the centerboard is fully raised, it still
extends below the hull, and it is balanced on the oppo-

For those who prefer a bit more of an enclosure for
their weekend cruising, Byrnes used a deeper
V-bottomed hull on the Princess Sharpie (this one is
22' LOA), with an external keel that allows her to work to
windward with the centerboard up in only 12" of water.

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Lapwing
Particulars
LOA
15' 8"
Beam
5' 6 1⁄2"
Draft (board up)
7"
(board down) 3' 6"
Sail Area
104 sq ft

GRAHAM BYRNES

To develop a traditional hull appearance,
Byrnes developed the plywood-lapstrake
Lapwing design as a round-bottomed
variation on the design theme of the Core
Sound series. His building style usually
incorporates folded plywood, or an alternative in which joints are made by using
plywood shaped to interlock like a puzzle
at a hard chine, so the Lapwing was a departure both in design and construction.

site side by a bilge keel. Acting together, the two allow
the boat to remain upright when it grounds out on a falling tide. This arrangement also enhances shallow-water
launching and sailing.
The Princess Sharpies have V-bottomed sharpie
hulls. This type’s broad beam at the chine gives good
stability, and an external keel, combined with a relatively small offset centerboard, allows the boats to sail
well in shallow water or even with no board down.
All of B&B’s sailboat designs (except for the small
Catspaw and Spindrift series) utilize the cat-ketch rig,
a simple, inexpensive, and balanced rig that spreads
the sail area along the length of the boat on two masts.
Keeping the center of effort low, this rig causes less
heeling than taller rigs, while the masts, being shorter,
don’t need stays. These cat-ketches are light and easily
handled as well as efficient upwind and downwind.
Graham believes that the evolution of his designs has
led him to a point where his small sailboats, especially
the Spindrift and the Core Sound series, are among the
fastest small-craft designs currently in contention. Simultaneously, he believes the design parameters that make
them fast and safe are underappreciated in places
where long, narrow boats with wineglass transoms and
hollow aft sections tend to hold sway. Such boats, he

admits, will slip more easily through the water in light
air, and will row more effortlessly. Tradition also insists
that such boats will right themselves more surely after a
knockdown or capsize.
But Graham sees another side to this. He notes that
the trough formed amidships as traditional displacement hulls approach hull speed is often destabilizing,
causing them to sometimes broach. He believes such
boats, with their “pinched-in” sterns, are often unnecessarily heavy, limited in speed, tender, uncomfortable,
and unsafe in adverse conditions.
Graham sticks adamantly to the core principles of
his designs: that the resistance from larger wetted surfaces can be overcome by more sail power and a wider,
shallower, and lighter hull incorporating a flat run aft.
Such a hull will ride over the waves, not through them,
leaving a smooth, flattened wake, relatively devoid of
turbulence. Here is the making of a fast, comfortable
and safe boat; probably more buoyant and easier to
right after capsize than the traditional hull. In that
regard, Graham says that the Core Sound’s higher freeboard and its side decks, mixed with sensible sailing—
for example, prudent reefing—make the series no
more prone to capsize than those with rounded bilges
and wineglass transoms. He notes that in a test capsize
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a CS17 was easily righted by one person standing on the
lowered centerboard, which he believes could also be
done in rough seas. After the capsize, the water barely
covered his ankles and was easily pumped out.
These are not new ideas, and Graham points to his
having been heavily influenced by Bruce Farr, the New
Zealand designer whose first big success came in the
restricted dinghy classes during the 1960s and ’70s.
Farr’s 12' 2" centerboarder, the 3.7, for example, had a
hard chine, rounded sections, a full bow, a straight run,
generous beam, and unusually powerful stern sections.
Farr also designed the Javelin class, which uses a large

sail area on a light hull that’s strong enough to carry on
through large seas. The Core Sound series embodies
these same principles.
Today, almost all of B&B’s business is selling plans
(typically up to a dozen sets per week). The most prominent feature in Graham’s shop these days is a computercontrolled Shop-Bot CNC machine, which makes the
pieces for the kits B&B sells. He also uses the CNC
machine to experiment with innovative ways to make it
easier and faster for people to build his boats. One such
example is the “zip-chine,” which assures that the sides
and the bottom are in perfect alignment before they’re
stitched-and-glued together.
B&B’s work is not limited to
sailboats: the company has just
designed three new powerboats
emphasizing light weight and
fuel-efficiency. The Outer Banks
20 has a lobsterboat look about it,
The Ocracoke 20 design—this one
is PLATYPUS, built by Eric Baxter of
Bayboro, North Carolina—is Byrnes’s
take on a Carolina sportfisherman.
Byrnes has also designed a number of
larger sportfishermen in conjunction
with other boatyards.

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7/28/09 1:19 PM

MISS STEPHIE is an 18' V-bottomed

fantail launch launched in 2002.
The design was inspired by a client
who wanted something like Harry
Bryan's Handy Billy design with a
North Carolina flair.

although it was designed to be an
economical cruiser for a couple,
complete with two bunks forward, an ice box, and a small galley. When built, the boat planed
at 15 to 20 mph using a 25-hp
four-cycle outboard and no more than 1.5 gallons of
fuel per hour. At 20' LOA with a beam of 7' 1", the boat
weighed about 1,300 lbs including the motor. The two
other boats are of the Carolina sportfisherman style:
the Ocracoke 20, 20' LOA and carrying a 75–150-hp
motor, and the Marissa, 18' LOA , which can cruise at 21
knots with a 25-hp outboard.
B&B Yacht Designs is a place where things are happening. Graham is a successful and innovative proponent of a boat style that perhaps has not yet been
accepted in traditional circles, the Northeast in particular, and one senses an unnecessary cultural divide.
His boats—especially the Spindrift and Core Sound
series—are great performers by any standard. The fact

that so much attention has been paid to their ease of
construction, and their overall cost and quality, leads
me to believe that more and more of Graham’s designs
will be built and sailed, even in New England.
Bill Boyd lives in Topsham, Maine. He has been interested in small
boats since the day he and his family started vacationing in Maine
40 years ago. Since moving to the state full-time in the 1980s, he has
built three boats ranging in size from 16' to 20', and currently has
one “in the works” in the garage. He is also one of the planners of the
Small Reach Regatta held at WoodenBoat every summer.
B&B Yacht Designs, 196 Elm St., Vandemere, NC 28587–0206;
252–745–4793; www.bandbyachtdesigns.com.

September/October 2009 • 47

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maynard bray

Fastening Removal 101

Getting old fastenings to budge
by Doug Hylan

R

emoving fastenings during the careful disassembly of old boats can be tricky business. While many
useful tools for these jobs are available, they are
not specific to every situation. Fastenings removal, like all
of restoration, requires a lot of creative problem solving.
I have been asked to share some of the methods that
we use to remove old fastenings. We’ll begin with an
overview of techniques developed over several restorations that have proven successful for us and then move
on to some specific examples that our shop has faced
over the years.

Screw Removal
For small screws (say, No. 10 and under, maybe No. 12s
if the slot is in good shape) I like a battery-powered drill
with one of the new, hardened hex-shanked screwdriver
bits. The labels on these bits are misleading when it
comes to screw removal. One labeled for No. 14 screws
may be fine for driving a nice new screw of that size, but
is too small for removing a stubborn one. In fact, you
should use the biggest bit possible—the biggest width

that will fit into the bunghole, and the heaviest end that
will fit into the screw’s slot.
For larger screws, a good bit brace is the essential
tool, although some builders might argue in favor of
an impact driver. I have not found the tapered thickness of the bit to be a problem, as long as the taper is
not excessive, and the flat on the end is ground to give
crisp, sharp corners. With a bit brace you can develop a
feel for what is happening to the fastening in question.
Things take place a little more slowly than with an electric tool, and give you some warning if something bad
is about to happen—like destroying the screw slot or
wringing the screw’s head off. Physics may come down
on the side of the impact driver, but, over and above the
unnerving racket it makes, I just can’t seem to develop
this kind of feel with one.
Once the bung over the screw is removed, use a sharp
awl to clean out any crud that may be lurking in the
screw’s slot, and then insert the bit into the slot. Give a
sharp rap with a bronze or plastic hammer to the section
of the bit brace just behind the chuck to help seat the

Above—Doug Hylan rigged a long arm on one of his bit braces for better leverage. For extra-stubborn customers, one person
can hold the brace in line with the shaft while a second person operates the lever arm.

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(A.) This illustrates the modified bit in action. Ideally, the
width of the notch should be a little less than the length of the
bottom of the screw slot. (B.) Sharpen the screwdriver bit; give it
sharp corners while also making the end of the bit wide enough
to fill the screw slot. (C.) A smack with a plastic-faced hammer
will set the driver firmly into the slot and help jar the screw loose.

doug hylan

A

C

B

doug hylan

bit into the slot, and maybe help break the screw loose
from the wood. Make sure the driver bit is engaging as
much metal as possible. Finally, lean on the end of the
brace with as much force as you can muster, ratchet
the handle around to the most favorable position, and
then “come onto ’er.”
If you feel the bit start to cam out of the slot, stop
immediately. Go back and make sure the slot is cleaned
out and try again, making sure the axis of the bit is
the same as the axis of the screw. This is a good time
to remember that, in days of old, drilling the bunghole
and drilling the screw hole were often separate operations. This means that the screw is not necessarily in line
with the bunghole, so peer in there with one of those
wonderful LED flashlights if you suspect that this might
be the case, to ensure that you are properly lined up.
Body English is important here, and you want yours to
be aggressive. If you are working on staging, make sure
it is set up far enough away from the boat to allow you
to really lean into your work. If not, your ratio of ruined
slots to removed screws will be high. It is just about
impossible to remove stubborn fastenings while standing on a ladder—you will push yourself over backward
before you can develop enough push on the driver.

If the head of the screw is basically sound, but the
slot is shallow or rounded, we have had good luck with
a modified bit (see illustration). Smacking this bit into
the slot of a screw will forge a kind of secondary slot
on the edges of the screw head, giving a good bite out
where it will do the most good. Unfortunately, no one
seems to make the old-fashioned square-shanked screwdriver bits that I like for this kind of work (please, somebody, let me know if I am wrong about this). If you can
find some of these big, old-style bits at a yard sale, they
would be a good investment.

Case Studies
ALBACORE, an early L. Francis Herreshoff ketch, was

beautifully built in 1929 at Lawley’s, using some of the
finest teak, Douglas-fir, and white oak I have ever seen.
Unfortunately, in a lapse of logic, someone decided that
using galvanized fastenings could save a few bucks. This
would normally be a sentence to an early death, but
ALBACORE had had the good fortune of attracting doting owners, and when she came to us there was very little
sign of rusted screws or deteriorated wood surrounding
them. Her bottom had recently been refastened with
a second set of galvanized screws, driven in alongside
the originals, which, by that time, were impossible to
remove. A little investigation showed that the new bottom fastenings were still in good condition, and, lo and
behold, so were the original topside fastenings.
ALBACORE’s interior had been removed to make
way for a new layout, and this revealed that her frames
were still in excellent condition. Our plan was to remove
as many of the galvanized fastenings as possible, and
replace them with hefty new Monel screws. The only
problem was that those old screws would not budge!
Even though the slots were in good shape and the metal
was sound, we couldn’t get them to turn. We rigged up
a two-man bit brace: one man would hold the brace and
steer, the other would turn, using a sizable lever arm that
provided some impressive torque. Under this treatment,
some screws would come out, but in an unacceptable
number the head of the screw would be wrung off. It
seemed that ALBACORE had been out of the water for
some years, and her good white oak frames had dried
and become just as hard as bone, holding tenaciously to
the rough galvanized surface of the screw threads.
The solution came during one of those fitful nights
when rest is cursed by an intractable problem. So the
next morning, we covered the frames, a few at a time,
Doug’s bit collection is relatively simple, ranging from the
common, household variety for use in a drill to harder-tofind brace bits. The bottom-most one shows his notched bit
modification that precisely caps a slotted screw head and
gives excellent holding power during removal.
September/October 2009 • 49

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with plastic sheeting, and led a steam hose inside this
bag. After a few hours of gentle steaming, the galvanized fastenings could be coaxed out—not a single
screw broke off after this treatment.
AIDA was built in 1926 at the Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. When she came to us, she had never been refastened and, just as I had feared, the screw heads crumbled
when we tried to extract them. Believing her frames to be
in good condition, the only alternative seemed to be adding a second set of fastenings alongside the originals. This
is an unattractive alternative as it seriously perforates the
planking at every frame crossing.
Just to make sure that the frames were sound, we
removed a piece of ceiling at the turn of the bilge and
looked in with a mirror and flashlight. We were surprised
to find that most of AIDA’s frames were cracked or broken, even though none of the typical outward signs of this
condition were evident. Of course, this greatly expanded
the scope of the job, as there was now no choice but to
reframe the boat. The owner faced the news bravely, and
we were relieved of our dilemma. Reframing is perhaps
the most extreme way of replacing fastenings, but is a
wonderful solution if the frames are at the end of their
life span. The old frames were sawn into short chunks
and split away from the fastenings, and then the old
screws were carefully tapped out from the inside.
The reframing job took care of the great majority of
fastenings, and since we were already slated to replace
AIDA’s keel, sheerstrakes, and covering boards, most of the
remaining ones were also addressed. That left the hood
end fastenings, and for these we turned to T&L UnscrewUms. These are small tubular saws that are mounted in
an electric drill and spun in reverse. Choose an UnscrewUm with an inside diameter that is slightly smaller than
the outside diameter of the shank of the delinquent screw.
With the drill rotating in reverse, drill down over the shank
of the screw (it is usually better to drill off the head of the
screw first), removing a small amount of the shank and
the wood immediately surrounding it. A slot running the
length of the Unscrew-Um allows it to expand slightly as it
A last resort for removing stubborn iron nails in AIDA’s nonstructural ceiling was to use a shop-made holesaw to cut an
annulus around each one. This method should not be used on
hull structures as the large bung areas create weak spots.

works its way down the screw shank, eventually grabbing
the shank of the screw and backing it out (aided by the
removal of some of the surrounding wood and the heat
generated by the process).
Like most of the tools in your screw removal kit,
Unscrew-Ums are very useful, but are not a panacea.
The process is slow, and the tool does not last very long.
Generally, the hole that is left behind is too large—it
will need to be puttied with thickened epoxy or plugged
before driving a replacement screw.
Of course, the reframing operation required removing AIDA’s interior and ceiling. The ceiling had been
secured with iron nails that were definitely not going to
come out gracefully. No matter how carefully we tried
to pry the strakes of ceiling away from the frames, what
we invariably wound up with was a shattered piece of
ceiling, and a nail that was still stuck in the frame. At
that point, AIDA was one of the most original Herreshoff boats in existence, and our mandate was to keep
her that way to the greatest extent possible. That meant
reusing as much of the original ceiling as possible. After
trying several unsatisfactory methods, our final solution
was to use a big rollpin onto which we filed teeth to cut
an annulus around each nail, and bung the resulting
holes before refinishing and reinstalling the ceiling.
This is not an approach that I would want to use with
pieces that must perform a structural function, but
with ceiling, it was an acceptable method.
As you can see, choosing your screw removal methodology is a matter of choosing between the lesser of
several evils. The only good solution is to replace screws
before any of these methods becomes necessary. Waiting too long to refasten can easily quadruple the cost
of the job. For traditionally built wooden boats, as with
people, preventive medicine is the best and cheapest
way.
Doug Hylan of D.N. Hylan & Associates, designs, builds, and restores
boats in Brooklin, Maine, www.dhylanboats.com.

MAYNARD BRAY

maynard bray

On ALBACORE, extreme measures were needed to remove
galvanized screws that seemed nearly fossilized in place.
Doug bagged the area in plastic and introduced steam,
which softened the surrounding wood and loosened its grip
on the fastenings.

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Laure Warren

Another Approach

Lessons from a self-taught restorer
by Ed Harrow

W

hen I began restoring my boat, PHOENIX,
a 1938 Lawley-built S&S design (known as a
Weekender), the problem of clean screw
extraction made the project “interesting.” PHOENIX
was originally fastened with bronze screws, but I also
found a few stainless-steel screws that had been added
along the way.
There were screws that either would not budge or
spun helplessly in their holes, or whose heads were too
deteriorated for a screwdriver to successfully engage
the slot. In addition to removing hull planking, I had
also removed her interior, which posed other fastening (screw and nail) removal issues. In this project, I
made great strides in screw removal efficiency. Here
are some of my strategies that I think you’ll find helpful in your work.

Tools and Techniques That Work
The faces of most screwdrivers and bits are wedgeshaped; the faces of the bits in the Mini-Ratchet tool set

are parallel, so I prefer these for pulling smaller screws.
The Mini-Ratchet tool set consists of an internally
splined screwdriver-style handle, a 41/2" “ratchet” handle, and a 41/2" extension, which can be combined with
an available variety of precision tips. Key to successful
screw removal is the 41/2" ratchet handle. The ratchet
action is extremely fine (only 12), an advantage in
cramped spaces. Clockwise/counterclockwise action
is accomplished by inserting the tip from one side or
the other of the handle. The various components can
be combined in a variety of arrangements. For smaller
screws I usually use the ¼" and 5⁄16" hex-drive bits.
For larger fastenings such as the ones used on
PHOENIX’s planking, I like to use a bit brace in conjunction with a ¼" or 5⁄16" hex-bit adapter as appropriate.
I start my screw-removal effort by tightening the
screw slightly. With luck, this will break the bond of
the screw to the wood and any resulting damage to the
slot will be on the “tightening” faces of the slot. Once the
screw starts to turn, reverse the brace ratchet and back out

Above—Fastenings removal, a slow and sometimes frustrating job, is a necessary part of producing a seaworthy restoration.
Ed Harrow shares some of his own techniques for achieving success, one fastening at a time.
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The Extractor’s Toolbag
Item

Bit brace
Screwdriver bits for brace
1⁄4” hex-bit adapter for brace
5⁄16” hex-bit adapter for brace
Hex-drive screwdriver bits (up to size 16)
Hex-drive screwdriver impact bits (up to 1⁄ 2”)
W.F.M.C. Mini-Ratchet set
Electrician’s screwdriver
Left-hand cobalt drill bits
ScrewGrab
Scraper/pry bar
Restorer’s cat’s paw
Various small long-nosed pliers

Source

Jamestown Distributors or Hamilton Marine
Jamestown Distributors or Hamilton Marine
Lee Valley P/N 50J61.05
Lee Valley P/N 05J41.15
McMaster-Carr and others
McMaster-Carr and others
Wadsworth Falls Mfg.
Greenlee and others
McMaster-Carr and probably others
Lee Valley P/N 94K07.01
Hyde Pry-Zum
Lee Valley P/N 60K21.06
“You-do-it” Electronics

Available at hardware stores

the screw. (I find that limiting the swing of the brace, typically 90 to 120 degrees, improves removal success. Perhaps
angling it slightly in the process will help as well.)
If the screw slot is marginal, I have found that drops
of “ScrewGrab” friction gel (a gelatinous liquid containing minute diamond-shaped particles) will give
the driver bit better footing in the slot. The packaging
doesn’t say what the gel is made of, but it does say that
it increases torque by 400 percent or more and that it
is non-staining. I can attest that it does increase friction
between metal surfaces (such as a worn screw head and
a screwdriver) and has surprisingly good holding power.
For screws that spin but won’t come out, or for
screws whose heads are too damaged to accept a screwdriver bit (or for heads that have been twisted off), try
left-hand twist drill bits—small ones that are approximately the diameter of the slot’s width. I usually have
about five 1⁄8", two 3⁄16", and one ¼" left-hand cobalt bits
in my screw removal tool kit. The life of a 1⁄8" bit is
rather short as they have a tendency to break, most
often right at the tip. Bronze is sufficiently soft so
these cobalt bits don’t tend to dull easily. I have not
found any appreciable difference between using
jobber- or maintenance-length bits (the most common
type), but I always use the 135-degree split-point style.
A little finessing is required in their use. As soon as
Be sure to apply force in line with the axis of the screw. You’ll
get good results with better regularity if you concentrate on
keeping weight behind the work and backing it with force.

• 1⁄4” or 3⁄8” socket drive extension
• Forstner bit(s)
• Hammers—one stout, one plastic
• Soldering gun
• Sander
• Vacuum
• Lighting
• LED flashlight

the screw starts turning, begin to ease pressure and pull
back on the drill. The first few times you may lose the
screw, but try, try again—and try not to slip off to the side
and slice into the surrounding wood.
If the screw spins so easily that the drill bit cannot
drill into the screw, try using an awl, a small screwdriver,
or the corner of a flexible putty knife to keep the screw
from turning until the bit grabs it.

Interior Fastening Removal
Locating and removing screws from PHOENIX’s interior was often more difficult than those in her planking.

Laure Warren

• Metal detector
• Various screwdrivers
• Fein MultiMaster
• Safety glasses
• Reversible drill-driver
• Dremel tool
• Awl
• Various putty knives
• Punches—center and flat-ended

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Bung Removal

Use a thin,
flexible putty
knife to get
between pieces
that are nailed
together; then,
using a restorer’s
cat’s paw, gently
lever the pieces
apart. Finally,
slip a hacksaw
blade into the
opening and cut
the nail.

Laure Warren

On her planks the bungs (mostly) telegraphed their
position, even through multiple layers of bottom paint.
But this was not the case belowdecks, where bronze (and
sometimes steel) finish nails were used and expertly
hidden with putty that had hardened to nearly the consistency of granite, then covered by multiple coats of
paint. Eventually I became adept at “knowing” where
there would be a screw by subtle variations in the surface, but most often my metal detector was what I used
to seek out fastenings. A metal detector can announce
the presence of a screw or nail, but it takes time to pinpoint the location of the fastening’s head—sometimes
as long as 10 minutes. Once you have the general location, removing paint with a sharp scraper may uncover
the head or reveal the putty.
When all else fails, sliding the blade of a flexible
putty knife into the joint may help to locate the fastening. In some cases, once the putty knife has been
worked into the joint, a fine-bladed pry bar, like the
restorer’s cat’s paw, can be used to apply pressure to
the putty knife right at the joint. This is an effective
way to ease joinery apart and to determine the nature,
location, and direction of the fastening.
Once I located the head of the fastening (screw or
nail), I used an awl, sometimes backed up with a plasticheaded hammer, to chip out the putty, which usually
popped right out. If the fastening was a nail, my usual

here are probably
as many methods
employed in removing
bungs as there are for
screws. I used only two.
The first makes use of
twist drills in various
sizes to drill out the
bulk of the bung, and
then an awl to collapse
what remains in on
itself. I found it to be
safe, if a bit tedious.
The second way was to
use a Forstner bit slightly
smaller than the bung An awl and a plastic hamitself. The key here is to mer are useful for “chiseluse one with no center ing” dried epoxy from an
spur, making aligning aged screw’s slot.
the bit with the bung
much easier, and to use
a bit that’s enough smaller so a slight misalignment won’t damage the plank.
An additional complication I faced on PHOENIX
was that some bungs were securely glued in and
wouldn’t simply pop out. Further, the screw slots
under them were filled with the adhesive, usually
hardened epoxy. For these, after drilling away the
bung, I used an awl and plastic hammer to cleanly
“chisel” the epoxy out of the screw slot. (A heat
gun or soldering gun proved useful in softening
the epoxy.) Don’t glue in your bungs! Someday,
—EH
someone will thank you.

Laure Warren

A left-handed drill
bit, driven into a
screw in reverse
gear, can bite into a
severely damaged
screw head and
then, with a little
finessing, ease it
out of its hole.

Laure Warren

T

technique was to employ my Fein MultiMaster to cut the
nail at the joint between the two items (a hacksaw blade
will work, too). This was both neater and easier than
attempting to remove it by prying it out. If at all possible
I cut the nail so that there was at least a nub of its lower
portion above the surface to enable me to latch onto it
with Vise-Grip pliers and remove it.
For me, the Mini-Ratchet set was nearly indispensable for removing ceiling screws—but there will always
be the occasional screw that refuses to budge. As these
are mostly No. 6 screws, I was concerned about breaking
them. For these, I found that a hefty soldering gun supplied sufficient heat to soften the wood (and glue, if it
was used) to remove the screws without difficulty.
Have patience. If a fastening doesn’t respond to your
initial tactic, step back, have a cup of tea, and consider
alternative courses of action. The objective is to remove
the fastening cleanly, using the best means possible.
Ed Harrow is a freelance writer and technical educator who grew up
sailing a Lawley-built, gaff-headed yawl. He and his wife, Sheryl, live
in Woodville, Massachusetts.
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Above—PYGMY BOATS

The Sum of
Its Parts
Starting with a kit can
demystify boatbuilding
by David D. Platt

CHESAPEAKE LIGHT CRAFT

T

he idea of building something from a kit dates to
the 18th century, when ingenious people learned
how to reproduce a shape exactly, over and over
again, to make interchangeable parts. It became possible to assemble a flintlock rifle or a timepiece from
a pile of metal parts cast in molds or milled to precise
shapes. Today, the end product might be a musical
instrument, a piece of furniture—or a wooden boat.
We don’t often think of boats this way. In our minds,
they are more one-off, more artisanal, more individual.
But in many cases, the keel, bulkheads, beveled transom, and a thousand other pieces that make up a finished boat can, in theory at least, be mass-produced.
Most important for today’s thriving kit-building firms,
such boats can be assembled by amateurs without
specialized woodworking skills.
“Boatbuilding is just a series of problem-solving
events,” says Michael Vermouth of New Hampshire–
based Newfound Woodworks, a producer of kits for more
than a dozen different kayaks, canoes, and rowboats
built of either cedar strips or stitch-and-glue plywood.
Precision-cut jigs and panels, ready-made cedar strips,
gunwales, seats, and other pieces are all manufactured
on Vermouth’s sophisticated equipment so the home
builder can have as easy a time as possible with a project.
At James-Craft Marine Services in eastern Penn­sylvania,

Top—Kit boats, like the new 13' Pinquino multi-chine kayak
from Pygmy Boats of Port Townsend, Washington, bring home
builders not only the beauty of wood construction but also
excellent performance. Above—Computer-controlled cutting
of pieces, like these for Chesapeake Light Craft in Annapolis,
Maryland, has revolutionized kit-boat production.

which makes kits for runabouts and other small craft
based on designs developed 60 years ago by Chris-Craft,
the approach is somewhat different. “We build each of
our kits by hand,” company president A.J. Biscontini

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DAVID PLATT (BOTH)

Left—James-Craft, of Nescopeck, Pennsylvania,
reproduces (by permission) a vintage Chris-Craft
powerboat kit like the one built by the author in
the 1950s. Above—Pieces for the traditionally built
James-Craft boats are assembled one boat at a
time.

DAVID PLATT (BOTH)

says. He and his two employees cut out and shape plywood panels and mahogany parts from patterns. JamesCraft developed the kits with Chris-Craft’s permission by
“reverse-engineering” the company’s original kit boats
from the 1950s. A lot has changed in boatbuilding since
then, with more sophisticated shop machinery and power
tools available to the home woodworker, and JamesCraft takes advantage of contemporary fiberglass-andepoxy techniques and modern finishes. But a lot has not
changed from what a kit-builder would have encountered
in, say, 1955.
I know from personal experience: in the mid-1950s,
my father ordered a Chris-Craft kit for a Penguin sailboat, and he and I proceeded to build the boat on a
sun porch at our house in Columbus, Ohio. The project
took about two years, the pace of work largely determined by Pop’s busy schedule as a tax lawyer, not to

mention our relative inexperience as boatbuilders. He
liked to think each operation through before attempting it, he’d tell me as I waited impatiently for the day
we’d go sailing. We used resorcinol glue and Reed &
Prince bronze screws. I still have the special screwdriver
that came with the kit, and lots of little C-clamps as
well. We did a certain amount of final-shaping with a
sander or a small block plane, but the boat wasn’t finished in a fancy way—all paint, no varnish. Fiberglass
and epoxy weren’t part of the picture at all. The hull
leaked when we first launched it, but we fixed that with
some caulking. Although the project was certainly fun
(and memorable—ask anyone in my family, and they’ll
tell you about the bow sticking into the living room), it
proceeded at a pace that seemed glacial to me. But we
finally finished the boat and enjoyed sailing it, so I’d
have to count the whole thing as a success.

Above—Michael Vermouth of Newfound Woodworks, New Hampshire, produces not only canoes and kayaks but kits that allow
amateurs to construct other traditional types such as Whitehalls,
Adirondack guideboats, and Rangeley Lake boats using strip-planking.
Left—The accuracy of mold setup is crucial to the success of stripplanking, and kit construction makes this task very simple.
September/October 2009 • 55

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Kit Builders Large and Small

T

he world of wooden boat kit makers is a wide
one and seems to be getting wider all the time.
The building methods range from traditional
construction to lapstrake plywood to strip-built hulls
for a variety of designs. The kits have in common an
emphasis on ease of construction, clear instructions,
accurately pre-cut pieces, well-designed building jigs,
and the like. In the kit business, the happy builder is a
potential repeat customer. Here’s an overview of firms
and contact information, starting with the four builders
mentioned in the main article:
PYGMY BOATS INC.—P.O. Box 1529, 355 Hudson St.,
Port Townsend, WA 98368; 360–385–6143; www.pygmy
boats.com.
NEWFOUND WOODWORKS—67 Danforth Brook Rd.,
Bristol, NH 03222; 603–744–6872; www.newfound.com.
CHESAPEAKE LIGHT CRAFT—1805 George Ave.,
Annapolis, MD 21401; 410–267–0137; www.clcboats.com.
JAMES-CRAFT MARINE SERVICES—14 Diana’s Cove
Rd., Nescopeck, PA 18635; 570–759–1290; www.jamescraft
boats.com.
JORDAN BOATS—Based in Scotland, Jordan Boats
builds plywood kits “for almost any boat design.” The
firm specializes in kits for designs by Iain Oughtred,
Dudley Dix, and Selway Fisher for canoes, dinghies, rowing skiffs, dories, and small sailing boats. Jordan Boats
also creates plywood kits “for almost any boat design,”

DAVID PLATT

Kit manufacturing has changed dramatically since
then. Since the 1980s, Pygmy Boats of Port Townsend,
Washington, has been making precut kits and was the
first to use computer-guided cutting methods to make
them. John Lockwood, who started Pygmy in 1981 and
runs it today, brought extensive software engineering
experience to his business, and today he describes his

according to its web site. In the past six years, the company has made up kits for nearly 50 different designs.
8 School Wynd, East Wemyss, Kircaldy, Ky1 4RN, Scotland;
+44–0–1592–460162; www.jordanboats.co.uk.
SWALLOW BOATS—Based in the United Kingdom,
Swallow Boats builds traditional dinghies and daysailers
“with an emphasis on performance, safety, and aesthetics.” Some of the boats are offered in kit form; Swallow
estimates that its Storm 15, a handsome double-ender
based on Scandinavian types, can be completed in
three to four months by a home builder. Gwbert Rd.,
Cardigan, Wales, SA43 1PN; +44–0–1239–615482; www.
swallow boats.co.uk.
EMERALD MARINE CARPENTRY—In Anacortes,
Washington, James McMullen and Andy Stewart operate Emerald Marine Carpentry. “Recently, we started
doing retail sales,” McMullen says, “taking orders from
home builders for supplies like marine plywood, lumber, epoxy, and bronze fastenings—also, unofficially,
we’d put together a materials package for someone
who wanted to build a particular boat. Essentially we
are in the kit business, but we don’t do whole kits
in advance.” The response so far, McMullen says, has
been good, and customers have ranged from “the guy
who wanted to restore an old Comet—we were able
to supply lumber, Dynel, and epoxy” to the home
builder of a strip-built Cosine Wherry. “We machined
all the lumber for him,” McMullen said. 703 30th St.,
Anacortes, WA 98221; 360–293–4161; www.emeraldmarine.com.

firm as “the largest and oldest manufacturer of precision precut wood kayak kits in North America.” The
company offers kits for 13 sea kayaks, many of them
multi-chined, ranging from 13' to 20' long; a 14' Wineglass Wherry; and a 17' canoe. All are built of okoume
plywood.
Pygmy’s web site, one of the deepest and most
detailed of the various kit builders, includes discussions of topics such as the relative merits of the hardchined and multi-chined boats in its stable of designs.
Lockwood named his company for the African Pygmy
(Mbuti) people, free-ranging hunter-gatherers in the
rainforest—a metaphor for his own solo rangings in
the Pacific Northwest, about which he writes on the web
site as well.
Newfound Woodworks, like almost all kit manufacturers today, also uses computer-guided routers to precut many of its pieces. Designs for particular boats—all
pictured in the firm’s catalog and on its web site—are
For Newfound Woodworks and most other kit boat companies,
the computer is an essential tool in designing, perfecting, and
producing boat kits.

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BARTENDER BOATS

Above left—The George Calkins–designed Bartender has been a popular and seaworthy plywood-hulled powerboat since its
inception in the 1950s. This is a 19-footer, built from one of two frame kits available. Above right—The Bartender company’s frame
kits greatly simplify hull construction for amateurs.

DRIFT BOAT MAKERS—McKenzie River drift boats have
long been popular for running rivers and for fly fishing.
Several builders supply kits. TATMAN WOODEN
BOATS (49209 McKenzie Hwy., Vida, OR 97488; 541–
221–5201; www.mckenziedriftboat.com) offers a 17'6"
double-ender in three types of plywood. The company
also makes kits for a rowboat and a pram. RAY’S RIVER
DORIES (Woodrow, Inc., P.O. Box 19954, Portland, OR
97280; 503–244–3608; www.raysriverdories.com) makes
kits for square-end drift boats in three sizes; two types
of dories designed for outboards; 8' and 10' prams; and
Rogue River boats in three sizes. At MONTANA BOAT
BUILDERS (26 Pine Meadow Rd., Livingston, MT 59047;
406–222–2791; www.montanaboatbuilders.com), which builds

many finished boats, the primary pre-cut kit boat is its
16' Kingfisher. The boats have comfortable-looking seats
and curved braces for fly fishing. In addition to its kits,
the company offers detailed instructions on making
some of the suggested options.
BARTENDER FRAME KITS—In 2004, Bill and Sandy
Childs took over Bartender, venerable builders of a
1950s design by George Calkins that “would safely han­
dle rough sea conditions while crossing the river bars
off the Northwest coast.” Today, Bartender Boats LLC
uses a CNC router to cut frame kits for these plywood
hulls. Cut in one piece from 18mm plywood, each frame
mates with a slotted jig rail supplied with the kit. They

stored digitally. When a customer orders, say, an Abe­
naki canoe or an Adirondack guideboat, specifications
are loaded into the router’s memory and the machine
cuts out a series of bulkheads to precise shapes. The
boat will be built over these bulkheads, each of which
is also numbered by the router and designed to be
notched into a strongback during setup.
Newfound Woodworks is also very focused on the
home builder’s experience. At Newfound, a “prototype
shop” occupies most of a floor in the old barn where Ver­
mouth and two other staff members work. “You have to
have a prototype to make kits,” Vermouth says as he shows
off the variety of canoes and kayaks in the shop. Plans for
each may have been developed using a computer-assisted
design program, but it’s the actual prototypes—handbuilt by Vermouth himself or an assistant—that reveal the
real-life problems a builder would be likely to encoun­
ter. “I don’t want to send something out [to a customer]
without first building a prototype,” he says.

DAVID PLATT

The James-Craft company revived a classic kit, originally
offered by Chris-Craft, giving amateur builders an opportunity
to have a classic varnished runabout of their own.

Vermouth came to boatbuilding from the furniture
business and before that, the printing business. Along
the way, he developed an engineer’s appreciation for
problems—large and small—that crop up in any com­
plex project. Over the years, he’s made a specialty of
solving them beforehand, so he can make each of his
boat kits as glitch-free as possible. What he calls the
“Newfound Ladder–LOC Strongback,” for example,
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WOODENBOAT SCHOOL

DUDLEY DIX

Dudley Dix’s design for a Mini-Transat race
competitor opens the world of small-boat
ocean racing to home builders.

WoodenBoat Publications offers several kit boats, including popular Shellback
dinghies.

have temporary cross spalls to provide stability. Each kit
includes a stem and sternpost, patterns for laminated
chines and sheer clamps, breasthooks for the bow and
stern, plans and instructions, and a three-hour instructional video. P.O. Box 31385, Bellingham, WA 98228-3385;
360–647–2260; www.bartenderboats.com.
GLEN-L MARINE DESIGNS—Glen-L Marine Designs
of California, which has made kits since 1953, recently
ceased production. “The same man made them for all
that time,” says Glen Witt, the company’s founder, “and
we never had a single complaint. So when he left, we
decided to discontinue. We still sell stock plans, supplies,
spars, and sails.” Glen-L also still has an extensive plans
catalog, provides extensive consulting services for builders on its web site, and sells marine hardware. Some of
its remaining frame kits are still available. 9152 Rosecrans
Ave., Bellflower, CA 90706; 562–630–6258; www.glen-L.com.
reduces the assembly time for a kayak’s building jig from
more than eight hours to less than two, “greatly simplifying the process and eliminating a large amount of
error.” If the boat is to be stitch-and-glue plywood, Newfound Woodworks supplies beveled panels, drilled for
the short wires that hold the panels together as they’re
fiberglassed. In place of having the builder make tricky
scarf joints in plywood panels, the company supplies
sheets with pre-cut “puzzle-part joints” that fit together
precisely, having been cut by the computer-controlled
router. The goal is to save the builder time.
While James-Craft’s Biscontini is as concerned as
Vermouth about the home builder’s time and experience, his kits reflect his own background and the type
of boat he builds. Schooled at The Landing School in
Arundel, Maine, Biscontini spent time at the International Yacht Restoration School in Newport, Rhode
Island, and at the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton,
New York. After working on large-boat projects in
Seattle, Washington, he bought James-Craft from Jim
Shotwell, who had founded the company not far from

DUDLEY DIX YACHT DESIGN—This firm, based
in South Africa and Virginia Beach, Virginia, supplies
plans for a wide variety of Dix’s designs, plus plywood
(and also metal) kits for a few of them. The wooden
boat kits are cut using CNC routers by firms in numerous countries that contract with Dix to make kits to
order and ship them to customers. He offers kits for two
wooden dinghies, the Dixi and the Argie 10, and the
Paper Jet 14 raceboat. He also has a kit for a 21' ocean
racer designed for the Mini-Transat race from France
to Brazil, which Dix describes as “the only kitted mini
design in the world made out of wood.” 1340–1272 N.
Great Neck Rd., No. 343, Virginia Beach, VA 23454–2230;
757–962–9273; www.dixdesign.com.
D.N. HYLAN & ASSOCIATES—Based in Brooklin,
Maine, this company, www.dhylanboats.com, which
has wide-ranging experience in boat construction and
the Biscontini family home in Pennsylvania.
Kevin Hess, a James-Craft veteran, took me through
the kit-production process for a 16' Hornet runabout
from Chris-Craft’s old inventory. Mahogany frames for
this hard-chined design are cut, beveled, and assembled
with plywood gussets. Their centerlines are marked,
and a temporary fir cross spall holds the shape of each
frame until the decks are in place. Hess and a helper
temporarily dry-fit the pieces and prepare other elements of the construction jig. The stem is laminated
with glued gussets and appropriately beveled. Side
panels are cut from okoume plywood using patterns
and jigs. Deckbeams, cut from 3/4" mahogany stock, are
made from patterns and jigs as well. Each kit includes a
box of bronze screws, the appropriate screwdriver bit,
epoxy, and other materials for assembling and finishing
the hull, the inside of which is to be sealed with clear,
penetrating epoxy.
It takes about a week for James-Craft to make a kit.
The whole package, disassembled, goes into a long
crate and is shipped to the buyer by common carrier.

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MAYNARD BRAY

Above left—Professional boatbuilders at D.N. Hylan & Associates build kits to order, simplifying traditional construction of the
classic N.G. Herreshoff–designed Coquina (see WB No. 187). The company has also created kits for other boats to order, too,
among them L.F. Herreshoff’s double-ended Rozinante (see WB No. 123). Above right—A kit-built Coquina gives a builder the
chance to create and sail a classic boat that may have been just outside his experience without the kit.

restoration, builds kits for two small boats: the 16' 8"
Nathanael Greene Herreshoff–designed Coquina, and
Doug Hylan’s own 13' Beach Pea design. Neither are
meant to be complete kits (they don’t include glue,
fastenings, or sails, for instance) but rather a “jumpstart” on a boatbuilding project, including precut
planks, backbone timbers, and the like. The company,
which makes kits to order, has also assembled a kit for
the L. Francis Herreshoff Rozinante design for a client.
53 Benjamin River Dr., Brooklin, ME 04616; 207–359–
9807; www.dhylanboats.com.
WOODENBOAT KITS—The WoodenBoat Store sells
kits for the Nutshell pram, the Shellback dinghy, and
the Babson 14. The Nutshell and the Shellback, both
The instructions call for building the hull upside down.
Once the seams are reinforced with 3" fiberglass tape
and the hull covered with 8-oz fiberglass cloth set in epoxy,
the hull is turned right-side up to receive deckbeams and
decking, and then it can be finished out. Some decks
are made of plywood sheathed with ’glass and epoxy
and painted; others are finished with mahogany routed
to resemble a bright-finished, caulked deck. Additional
options are an interior ceiling of mahogany strips, split
seats, glove boxes, and custom steering wheels, usually
reflecting the retro designs of these boats.
“No new boats yet,” Biscontini responds when asked
if the firm has branched out from Chris-Craft’s originals. “We’d love to do a center-console boat.” For now,
most of his business involves runabouts ranging from
10' to 16'. A kit for an 18-footer is in the works for next
year. There’s even interest, Biscontini says, in re-creating
a Penguin-class sailing dinghy kit like the one Pop and I
built all those years ago.
Kit-making, like any business in which the quantities
produced are relatively small and the customers tend

designed by Joel White, are variations on a theme.
The Nutshell is a pram in two sizes, 7' 7" and 9' 6",
with the customary flat bow. The Shellback is 11' 2"
LOA and has a pointed bow. Sailing rigs are available
for both. WoodenBoat has updated these kits with
a slotted “ladder frame” and CNC router-cut parts
for easier building. The recommended plywood is
sapele, but other types could be used as well. The
Babson 14, a new addition to the lineup, is a flatbottomed rowing skiff designed by Tom Hill and
WoodenBoat founder Jon Wilson. Like the smaller
kits, it’s designed to be built in plywood, with okoume
being the recommended type. P.O. Box 78, Brooklin,
ME 04616; 800–273–7447; www.woodenboatstore.com

—DDP
to be individualistic, is as varied as the builders and
buyers want to make it. John C. Harris, proprietor of
Chesapeake Light Craft (CLC) in Annapolis, Maryland,
takes a high-tech approach in his wide-ranging line of
canoes, kayaks, rowing boats, dinghies, and small sailboats. The company went “all digital” in 1997, Harris
says. CLC once offered more than 50 designs at a time,
but in recent years has pruned its catalog to about 20
in the name of production efficiency. “Now that we’re
digitized, it’s easier to call up anything we’ve made.”
To be worth spending time on, a boat has to be “great
looking,” Harris says. “We think the boat you build ought
to be a work of sculpture.” The company’s appeal is aesthetic, but it’s also meant to be inviting and reassuring to
the amateur builder.

Materials
Materials are a concern for any craftsman, particularly the boatbuilder. A boat built using teak, cedar,
oak, or mahogany will outlast one made from scrap
lumber scrounged from a house-construction site, but
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such woods can be expensive
and hard to find. Kit producers
have to consider cost, weight,
and whether the wood meets
the needs of relatively inexperienced woodworkers. The wood
must also be compatible with the
fiberglass-and-epoxy construction
style that these designs—small
kayaks, canoes, rowing boats, runabouts—usually call for. Finally,
the materials have to be available.
The high-quality, void-free Douglas-fir plywood that
Chris-Craft used for kits in the 1950s has been replaced
by more exotic materials such as okoume plywood.
At Newfound Woodworks, Vermouth uses okoume
plywood for his stitch-and-glue and hybrid designs, but
most of his hulls are built entirely of cedar strips. He
uses white cedar from the Northeast and, for contrasting color, Western red cedar from British Columbia.
Vermouth buys ash for seats and gunwales in Vermont.
James-Craft uses Philippine mahogany boards from
M.L. Condon Lumber in White Plains, New York, and
okoume plywood from Harbor Sales in Baltimore,
Maryland. The plywood sheets have pre-milled scarfs on
the ends that simplify exact alignment during glue-up
so that amateur builders can easily make the necessary
end-to-end joints.
Harris, of CLC, believes epoxies have changed
everything when it comes to materials and woodworking skills. “We really wouldn’t be doing this without
epoxy,” he says, counting wood-epoxy construction
as even more important than computer-controlled routers. Older kits were “fairly demanding on joinery,” while
epoxy joints can be less exact but still strong. These
days, Harris says, “we have to bring people along with
epoxy.” Concerned about forest sustainability, Harris
doesn’t use any mahogany in his kits. Okoume, he says,
“is pretty responsibly harvested, but we watch it closely.”
Some of his boats are built of cedar strips that come
from the Pacific Northwest or Canada, but with epoxy
it’s possible, he notes, to build a strong boat out of white
pine, juniper, or cypress.

The Experience
From the amateur’s point of view, the experience of putting together a kit boat is likely to be as memorable as
actually using the finished boat. I certainly have more
memories of building our Penguin than of sailing it.
Had the kit been badly designed, not well thought-out
for a novice, or unclear in its instructions, the whole
deal could have gone sour. As it was, we were able to
solve problems that arose. By our standards, at least, the
project was a success.

“They are doing this because
they can build a boat, use it, and
be very proud,” Vermouth says of
his customers. “Most are interested as much in the building
process as in using the boats—
some builders consider the experience almost spiritual. Many
who have never built anything
before have completed beautiful
boats and find that this experience allows them to approach
other areas of their life with a
similar problem-solving attitude.
Our aim is to keep the builder
out of unnecessary situations, like
unfair hulls, epoxy problems, and
poor finishes.”
Biscontini lists pride, a sense
of accomplishment, and “a good
time” among the things he hopes his customers will
experience. He also wonders, from his own observation, if people today possess the woodworking skills of
earlier generations. “I don’t know if people today have
[carpentry skills],” he says, “but building a boat from a
kit is a good way for someone with minimal knowledge
to learn.”
Over the years, literally thousands of amateurs have
built boats from kits. Nearly 60 years ago, Glen-L started
selling frame kits—which included precut materials to
get the builder through the hardest part of the construction involving the shape of the frames and structural
timbers—to woodworkers all over the United States.
Chris-Craft marketed similar kits, many of them based
on boats it also built on a production basis, for nearly
a decade. Pygmy introduced computer-guided cutting into the process a quarter-century ago, and today
Pygmy, CLC, Newfound Woodworks, and other makers
have been putting out a steady stream of kits for two
decades, all the while interacting with builders in person, on the phone, and via the Internet. So it’s easy to
find someone who has completed one or more of these
projects; it’s less easy to know if his or her experiences
reflect those of others.
Jim Devine, an enthusiastic sea kayaker who manages port facilities on Staten Island, New York, is as
good an example as any. In fact, he has built boats from
both CLC and Newfound. His 17' Chesapeake kayak
from CLC was his first kit-boat project, and he found
it “relatively straightforward.” The kit went together, he
says, in somewhere around the 70 hours Harris says it
should take. He called the company’s video on building
and finishing clear and helpful, and the boat seemed
designed with easy construction in mind. Newfound’s
Sea Wolf, which Devine tackled next, was “not as much
of a kit” as the CLC boat, meaning it left more for him to
do on his own. “It was considerably harder,” Devine says,
and the 180 hours it’s supposed to take turned out to
be “understated.” The most difficult part, he reports, is
that portion of the hull-stripping that Vermouth refers
to as “the football patch,” meaning the oval-shaped final
portion of the bottom. “I bought myself a surveyor’s
CHESAPEAKE LIGHT CRAFT

For amateur builders, finding
suitable boatbuilding materials can be
a daunting task. By providing proper
woods (like this lumber stacked
at Chesapeake Light Craft), the kit
makers remove that hassle.

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laser,” Devine says,
explaining that the
ability to sight along
a beam of light made
lining up the frames
and keeping things symmetrical much easier for him.
Both companies supplied Devine with high-quality
wood and epoxy that cured at moderate speed, which
was helpful. The much-admired finish on his CLC boat
“reflects a large amount of sanding,” Devine says, but
the work came as no surprise because Harris made it
clear in his video that lots of sanding would be needed
for the best result. As of this writing, Devine was moving
into the final stages on the Newfound boat project and
expected to do just as much sanding before he’s done.

Instructions
Half of the kit-making equation is the builder, of course.
Companies connect with their customers as effectively
as they can. In the 1950s, Chris-Craft relied on printed
instructions and artists’ renderings. Some makers provided full-scale plans, but most assumed that the customer had basic woodworking skills and—like my
father—could figure things out even if it took a while.
Any manufacturer had to expect phone calls from customers who made mistakes or became confused; most
used the feedback to update their instructions regularly.
The same is true today: CLC’s spiral-bound instruction
book for its Arctic Sea Hawk kayak is 457 pages long,
and one for the Mill Creek kayak is 212 pages. “If you
think you can make an instruction manual everyone’s
going to understand, you’re psychotic,” Harris says.
“We’ll never be perfect.”
Everything changed in the 1990s with the coming of
video technology and the Internet. All of the kit makers put up web sites, first for marketing and later as an
interactive source of information for customers. Today,
even though Glen-L has stopped making its frame kits,
the company still offers plentiful advice to builders via
its extensive web site and encourages those who have
bought its designs to ask questions via e-mail.
Before the 1960s most customers had basic experience, had built from plans before, and could interpret
instruction manuals. Today’s customer tends to be less
experienced and more dependent on expert advice and
clear instructions. Kit builders now have to pay greater
attention than ever to their instructions.
For Vermouth at Newfound Woodworks, assisting the far-flung, part-time builders who buy his kits
also means helping them solve problems by phone

CHESAPEAKE LIGHT CRAFT

Although paper plans
(like these at
Chesapeake Light
Craft) are still crucial,
instruction manuals,
videos, and customer
support are also
important to kit buyers
who are finding their
way in boatbuilding.

or e-mail. Newfound has produced videos on
strip-building, how to apply epoxy and fiberglass, and also stands ready to answer any
question that comes in.
Virtually all kit manufacturers spend time at
boat shows, less for actual sales than for answering people’s questions and reminding them
that building a boat from a kit can be fun and
rewarding.

Technique, Tradition, and the Amateur
CLC produced a video stressing that putting
together a boat using plywood panels, copper
wires, and lots of epoxy and fiberglass cloth is
something anyone can do.
At Newfound Woodworks, the emphasis is
slightly different. Again and again in his videos,
Vermouth emphasizes the care and caution he believes
are integral to boatbuilding; strip-built boats with beadand-cove edges aren’t necessarily for the rank beginner,
even if they are easier to put together than a plankon-frame boat. If “anyone” can build a Pygmy, CLC,
or Newfound Woodworks stitch-and-glue plywood kit,
then “almost anyone,” it would be safe to say, can work
through one of Newfound’s strip-built boats.
James-Craft is in yet another place, it seems. Although
its kits are also designed with ease of construction in
mind, the frames, chines, knees, gussets, and other
aspects of a re-created Chris-Craft kit from the 1950s
should appeal to the more traditionally minded, just
like the boats themselves.
The question for these firms, and others like them, is
the same: is the number of customers for these boats sufficient to keep the companies in business? The answer
seems to be yes. Although none of the companies seems
eager to give out the number of kits it sold last year,
the pace of work at each company remains brisk, and
their interest in adding new models and reaching new
customers is high. Some bank on a growing number of
retirees with time on their hands; others take pride in
a high number of repeat customers; still others speak
enthusiastically about boatbuilding projects for kids.
Building a boat, even a simple one, can teach many lessons. Building one from a kit that’s been designed to
reassure the first-timer can bring new participants into
boatbuilding.
My father didn’t build another boat after our Penguin; he moved on to other interests for his leisure time.
But I was changed by the experience. I learned a new
set of woodworking skills, not to mention a great deal
about tools and materials and how to relate to an adult
in a way that was different from everyday life. I later
assembled a harpsichord from a kit; I’ve become a capable house carpenter and adept at maintaining boats.
I know the difference between a gusset and a chine, a
knee and a breasthook. If a shop full of tools and smelling of glue and freshly sawn cedar feels like home to me,
it’s because of the experience I had on the sun porch a
half-century ago.
For many years, David D. Platt edited Working Waterfront, a
monthly newspaper of the Island Institute of Rockland, Maine.
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High
Tea

by
Ingrid Code

richard speck

An
enduring
beauty

HIGH TEA is a classic motor cruiser that was built in 1929 by Ditchburn Boats,

in Orillia, Ontario, Canada. She is one of the few remaining Ditchburn boats
still in existence and is a stunning representative of her heritage.

W

hen Blake and Donna Banky bought HIGH
TEA in 2004, they were not looking to take on

a restoration project. A dinner cruise earlier
that year aboard the LIBERTÉ (a 56' Chris-Craft motor­
yacht from the 1950s) in Bay Head, New Jersey, had set
them dreaming and, in the red streaks of sunset, Donna
had said, “Wouldn’t it be exciting to own a classic like
this!” The fancy quickly became reality, as HIGH TEA
happened to be available. She was hauled out at Alden
Yachts in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.
HIGH TEA is the type of yacht that takes us a step back
in time—back to the glamour of the jazz age, the
Hollywood of Greta Garbo, and the Gatsby-like extravagance of moneyed elegance. When the 80-year-old
motoryacht was originally commissioned, Prohibition
was ending and it seemed the growth and expansion of
the ’20s would continue indefinitely.
In 1929, HIGH TEA was 58' of the finest floating luxury
money could buy. She was double-planked in mahogany
over cedar on oak and ash frames and was powered with
twin six-cylinder Kermath gasoline engines. Originally
named HOOSIER II, she was custom-designed and -built
by Ditchburn Boats at Orillia in Ontario, Canada, for
62 • WoodenBoat 210

Hanson A. Brown, the vice president and general
manager of General Motors of Canada in Oshawa.
Although a Canadian resident, Brown was a U.S. citizen
and, in what must have been an annoying complication
for Americans, archaic laws of the British Commonwealth prevented his owning a vessel in Canada. George
Wellington Hezzelwood, secretary to R.S. McLaughlin,
president of General Motors of Canada, kindly obliged
by signing his name to all the relevant documents. Here
was the beginning of a long and complex history that
spans 80 years, 12 owners, five names, one wreck, and
three extensive restorations.
In 1938, Brown sold HIGH TEA to McLaughlin’s sonin-law, Col. William Eric Phillips. She changed hands
again when George Boyd Webster, a mining engineer,
bought her in 1940 for $6,200. Renamed ANDAUD, she
stayed with the Webster family for 27 years. As with so
many older vessels, there is no record of how she was
enjoyed, but we might assume there were many good
times aboard.
In September 1967, John Rosenfeld, president of Rigid
Flex of Canada (an electric circuit board manufacturer)
purchased ANDAUD with the idea of chartering her as

RICHARD SPECK

HIGH TEA has an LOA of 58’5”, a beam of 13’4”, draws 3’6”, and displaces over 25 tons. Her plumb bow, raised

foredeck, fine lines, and well-balanced arrangement—marks of a high pedigree—might cause one to infer that
she has lived in the lap of luxury. But she has endured more than her fair share of hardships, being brought back
from the brink of destruction three times over the course of her 80-year life.

began taking on water. By morning, still afloat but listing
badly, she was towed ashore for repairs—and quickly written off by Rigid Flex.
In January 1968, Benjamin Stremos of Chata Management took on the immense task of putting her back
together. Repaired, repainted, and with a new pair of
Cummins diesels installed, she was renamed PENGUIN.
Some say Stremos ran her down to Florida each year.
But the renaissance was short-lived, for Stremos came
up against hard times and the boat was forgotten.

RICHARD SPECK

part of his Florida-based six-boat fleet. But it wasn’t to be.
In late October of that same year, under Capt. John T.
Conners, she came to the aid of a 17' boat in distress in an
unexpected storm off Bronte Harbor at Oakville—on the
shores of Lake Ontario. Capt. Conners successfully saved
three children and two adults, but then when his steering
cable snapped he went aground on a bar outside the harbor. ANDAUD stuck fast and as the hours passed, all but
the captain were taken off in small boats. Throughout the
night, ANDAUD was pounded by the waves and ultimately

September/October 2009 • 63

DITCHBURN BOATS

D

itchburn Boats began in the early 1870s as a
small operation—four brothers building rowboats and canoes to supply the needs of tourists at the recently developed luxury hotels in Canada’s
Muskoka Lakes, a remote region north of Toronto.
William, Henry, John, and Arthur Ditchburn had emigrated from England in 1869, lured by the promise of
free grant land offered by the government. However, the
rough pioneer life, combined with rocky and acidic soil,
dense woods, mosquitoes, blackflies, and bears, proved
formidable for the young English gentlemen. The boys
turned to boatbuilding, a family heritage. Two of the
boys had sailed the world as midshipmen and John had
apprenticed to a naval architect. By 1874, they had created a livery of 24 rowboats. Tourism increased and so
did the demand for boats, which they supplied to resorts
throughout the lakes.

Ditchburn in Its Heyday
In 1890, Henry established what became the primary
boatshop at the Muskoka Wharf in Gravenhurst, the
new terminus for the Grand Trunk Railway where all
tourists to the region disembarked. Besides hotels,
cottages were being built; vacationers had become
summer residents, and boats were needed both for
transportation and pleasure. With the advent of the
internal-combustion engine, a new market opened up
and by 1898, Ditchburn Boat Manufacturing was selling gasoline-powered launches, as well as rowboats and
canoes. With hundreds of boats being produced, local
workers were recruited and trained. Among them was
Henry’s nephew, Herbert, who in 1904, at the age of 22,
bought out his uncle’s business. In 1907, he incorporated H. Ditchburn Boat Manufacturing Co. Ltd. with
himself as president, and with his brother Alfred and
Thomas Greavette as directors.
After a fire in 1915 destroyed the original shop, a new
and larger brick building was constructed in its place.
(In its stead today is the Muskoka Boat and Heritage
Center’s Grace and Speed Museum, a beautiful tribute
to the people and boats of the region.) That same year,

The Long Road Back
As beautiful as she is today, it is hard to imagine that
HIGH TEA might have been a candidate for WoodenBoat’s
Save a Classic page—one of those half-forgotten yachts
shown in fields and barns on the back page of each
issue, waiting to be saved. Found derelict in 1987 in an
overgrown Canadian field, long weathered by sun and
elements, and weighed down at times with winter ice
and snow, HIGH TEA was almost beyond repair. Twelve
years of neglect had taken their toll. Her paint was flaking off, her varnish long gone. Water had found its way
inside and the drip, drip of slow death had begun. Her
keel was twisted, the hull beginning to hog, and she was
nearly sold for parts.
But HIGH TEA was one of the lucky ones. Her restoration to glamorous yacht did not occur through some
64 • WoodenBoat 210

an order from department store magnate Sir John Eaton
for the 73' luxury motor cruiser KAWANDAG II, designed
by Bowes & Mower of Philadelphia, launched Ditchburn into a new market that was to become the mainstay
of its enterprise. War years intervened, but Ditchburn’s
reputation for powerful, fast, and able vessels brought a
commission from the British Navy during WWI to build
“crash boats” to rescue downed flyers in English coastal
waters. And in 1919, A.H. “Bert” Hawker, just back from
the war, joined Ditchburn Boats as designer and production chief and remained there until the company’s
closing in 1938.
Meticulous care, skilled craftsmanship, and the finest
materials made Ditchburn’s launches, runabouts, and
sumptuous motor cruisers among the most desirable
boats on the water. Orders poured in from wealthy and
influential families throughout North America. Ditchburn gained further international acclaim with the striking successes of the RAINBOW series of raceboats built
for Harry B. Greening, who sped to fame in 1920 with
RAINBOW I, winning all three heats of the Fisher-Allison
Cup in Miami. By 1923, Ditchburn Boats employed 30
people, a second cruiser had been built for the Eaton
family, and the Hacker-designed RAINBOW III was setting a new endurance world record for speed, covering
1,064 miles in 24 hours. In 1924, the work force doubled with the creation of an auxiliary yard for larger
vessels at Orillia on the Trent Severn Canal. Access to
the Great Lakes meant Ditchburn boats were no longer
constrained by the dimensions of a railway flatcar—only
by the locks in the canal. The first yacht to slip down the
ways and make use of the canal was the 100' GANNET,
commissioned by Commander J.K.L. Ross of Montréal.
By the late 1920s, Ditchburn Boats was the premier boat manufacturer in all of Canada, producing
40 percent of the market in terms of value for the
entire industry and exporting more than half its production to the United States, with some boats even
going to England. In 1926, the Canadian government
ordered six 38' high-speed patrol boats to chase rumrunners on the Atlantic seaboard. In 1928, RAINBOW
neat sequence of planned stages. Instead, it evolved over
years and through a series of owners with their differing
concepts and desires, each contributing something vital
to the survival of HIGH TEA. She has undergone a complete transformation, a triple restoration in two decades,
and a renewal to stately and elegant yacht condition.
That HIGH TEA still exists at all can be credited to her
next owners, Bill and Myra Grand, in partnership with
Ivan and Claire Rempel. When Bill and Myra discovered
HIGH TEA behind Quinte Bay Marine in Deseronto,
Ontario, “she was a total mess,” Grand confessed. She
was also swarming with hundreds of wasps that had built
their nests inside her cabins. Grand, along with Ivan
Rempel and two other partners, had recently restored
ADJIE, a 1907 Davis Dry Dock Co. steam launch on Lake
Muskoka, where they had summer cottages. They’d had

courtesy of the muskoka boat and heritage center, gravenhurst, ontario, canada (both)

The H. Ditchburn Boat Manufacturing Co. Ltd. was incorporated in 1907.
The company trained local laborers
to become boatbuilders and brought
prosperity to the area. Herb Ditchburn’s
vision to build world-class boats and
yachts started with the production of
small fishermen’s skiffs and advanced
to the creation of refined, luxury motor­­­­­
yachts up to 100’ in length in its Orillia
and Gravenhurst (shown) facilities.

VII raced to victory in the Lipton Cup with eight people on board, and the popular 27' Viking model, a
hard-chined, stepped-hull hydroplane, was zooming
about the lakes at 40–45 mph in increasing numbers.
In the same year, MISS VANCOUVER steamed all the way
to Vancouver on her own bottom by way of the Panama Canal. In 1929, Ditchburn doubled the plant at
Gravenhurst for a second time, employing upwards of
130 men in both plants.

Hard Times
The shock of the stock market crash was not immediately
felt in this remote region, but the impact was ultimately
devastating. Orders for grand motoryachts, which had
become the staple of Ditchburn’s business, fell off and
by 1931 two-thirds of the work force had been laid off.
In a significant blow, Tom Greavette left to start his own
line of boats aimed at a lower-priced market. Had it not
been for the recent expansions and a propensity for
underpricing, Ditchburn might have pulled through—
but it was not to be. In 1930, Canada had produced $1.5
million worth of boats; two years later the projected
value was $185,000.
In 1933, on a much-reduced scale, Ditchburn Boat
& Yachting Co., Ltd. was set up to produce 18' to 24'
stock boats at the Gravenhurst plant. A couple of cruisers were also built. Three years later the company saw a
final reorganization as Ditchburn Boat and Aircraft Co.,
Ltd. In 1937, the 40' cruiser DUCHESS was built, and
fun working on it and Grand was looking for another
project. HIGH TEA was certainly a classic, and he knew
that as a Ditchburn Boat she had to be well built.
But it was more than that. HIGH TEA wasn’t just any
boat, she was one of few remaining among Ditchburn’s
motor cruisers, and this was a rare opportunity to save
another piece of Muskoka heritage. Moreover, as a
luxury pleasure yacht of 1929, she represented Ditchburn at their finest hour. Grand consulted with Robert “Spike” Burns, who had worked on ADJIE (another
Grand and Rempel restoration) at Clifts Marine. Burns
thought she was salvageable, and since he was interested
in going into business on his own, Grand hired him to
do the job. They knew it would be a tremendous undertaking, but there was much about her that seemed to be
in good shape, including her engines. Within a month,

although business was picking up in 1938, the bank called
in a $10,000 loan and Ditchburn was forced to declare
bankruptcy. It was the final blow. Ditchburn Boats closed.
Given a few more years, and the war contracts that would
have been awarded, Ditchburn would almost certainly
have pulled through. Herbert Ditchburn lost everything,
including his house. He subsequently moved to Trenton,
Ontario, where he worked with Gar Wood designing
hospital ships and overseeing the production of the 260
steel tugs built for the British Navy during WWII. Herbert
Ditchburn died in 1950 at age 69, “still in harness,” just as
—IC
he had always hoped.
The story of Ditchburn Boats has been brought back to life through the
writings of Harold Shield in his book, Ditchburn Boats: A Muskoka
Legacy (2002) and in The Boatbuilders of Muskoka (1985) by
A.H. Duke and W.M. Gray.

Grand had trucked HIGH TEA to a warehouse he rented
south of Gravenhurst, after first carefully removing the
pilothouse to cope with height restrictions en route.
Grand and Rempel established ground rules from
the outset: to save as much of the original materials as
possible (a decision that would shape the scope of their
restoration, and ultimately necessitate complex structural repairs in later years) and to maintain historical
accuracy. At the same time, Grand told me in a recent
call, “We wanted to be able to use the boat—we wanted
it to be functional, not a museum piece.”
The slow transformation began. The keel had to be
straightened and a series of block-and-tackles were set
up to pull the boat back into shape. The hull was gutted entirely, all the pieces being carefully labeled and
stored. Burns found the bilge stringers were completely
September/October 2009 • 65

BILL GRAND
BILL GRAND

BILL GRAND

Haggard and appearing about ready to break in half, HIGH TEA
(or PENGUIN, as she was called at the time this photo was
taken) had her closest brush with demolition in 1984. Had not
Bill and Myra Grand and Ivan and Claire Rempel resurrected
her, she would have been sold for parts at this juncture.

broken in two below the engine beds and had to be
replaced. “The whole side on the bottom by the waterline was rotten,” Spike explained. “We replaced several
planks and part of the keel, the stem at the front, and
several ribs at the back.” Approximately half the frames
were sistered, a new mahogany transom built, the single
centerline rudder replaced, and the decks replanked
with Brazilian mahogany over a plywood subdeck. New
deckhouse roofs of fir plywood were covered with canvas and painted, and four skylights added forward. The
pilothouse was too badly damaged to be saved, so a new
one was built duplicating the original but giving it a
few extra inches of headroom to accommodate Rempel’s 6' 5" stature. The pilothouse sole was also lowered
accordingly.
Attention then turned to the interior and the systems. While the twin staterooms aft were satisfactory,
the forward saloon and galley configuration was not
going to work. Original plans for the vessel could not be
located, but Grand found plans for similar Ditchburns
through his friend James Woodruff of The Antique &
Classic Boat Society. By incorporating elements of these,
he was able to create a design that answered their needs
while honoring the heritage of the boat. When the
Grands had first gone aboard, they had found a small
66 • WoodenBoat 210

galley along the port side of the saloon and what might
have been crew quarters forward. Grand and Rempel wouldn’t need bunks forward, and they wanted a
saloon that was more suitable for today’s style of entertaining. The galley was moved forward into the V-space
at the bow and the saloon spread out forward of the
pilothouse (there is a roomy deckhouse forward of
the pilothouse).
Modern comforts and conveniences were skillfully
blended with the vintage style of the interior, which was
finished in varnished mahogany paneling. The original
bathtub was re-enameled and reinstalled, and of course
there were acres of painting and varnishing, and all the
freshly chromed hardware to reinstall. The work must
have seemed endless at times, but Grand and Rempel persevered. Finally in June 1991, they were ready to launch.
But first, they needed a new name for the boat. None of
them liked the name PENGUIN. They reached a consensus, and HIGH TEA was lowered onto Lake Muskoka by
crane, her new pilothouse installed after she was afloat.
Now, when fun should begin and endless summer
afternoons should fall into blue night amid cocktails
and laughter, Grand realized the engines would have
to be replaced after all. Twin 250-hp Volvos were subsequently installed. Gleaming with chrome and varnish,
HIGH TEA appeared in the Port Carling Boat Show.
“The fun of the boat,” Rempel recalled, “is to take a
whole bunch of people out for a cocktail party on
a sunny day in July or August. We’d take about 15 people
out. It’s a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.” After
only a couple of seasons on land-locked Lake Muskoka,
HIGH TEA’s pilothouse was again removed and the boat
moved overland to Toronto. A few more years, and she
headed south on a three-week voyage down the waterway to West Palm Beach in Florida, where she would be
closer to Grand’s year-round home in Atlanta, Georgia.
Before long, however, HIGH TEA was for sale.

More Ups and Downs
In 2000, British entrepreneur Peter de Savary, a longtime yachtsman and challenger of the 1983 AMERICA’s
Cup, discovered HIGH TEA in Fort Lauderdale and

PAT ABRECHT

TOM POTTER

Left—In 2002, extensive repairs were made to HIGH TEA (then known as HIGH TEE). Right—In 2005, she was renamed HIGH TEA
and given a stem-to-stern upgrade, including a refurbished interior and upgraded systems. Her twin 250-hp Volvo engines
were given a complete overhaul, and a period-matched console was built to disguise some of her new, state-of-the-art
navigation equipment.

and the plywood subdeck extended to eliminate the
continuous seam. The pilothouse and deckhouses were
then bedded properly, as were all through-deck fittings,
and the decks repayed. The torn canvas coach roofs
were replaced with Dynel set in epoxy and painted to a
smooth gloss finish, while new trim pieces were added
to replace those removed for sheathing. New mahogany
skylight frames were constructed and provided with
gutters for rainwater.
Potter found the hull also needed attention, particularly around the shaftlogs where rot had begun its insidious work. The hull was faired, the seams recaulked, and
the whole hull painted. And finally, much of the exterior brightwork, which was cracked and peeling, was
stripped to bare wood and five coats of varnish applied.
After all this work, HIGH TEE was looking sharp when
Barker listed her with Bartram & Brakenhoff in Newport, Rhode Island, for sale. And it was here that Blake
and Donna Banky found her.

RICHARD SPECK

brought her to Newport, Rhode Island, to serve as the
“little flagship” for his Carnegie Abbey Club, renaming her HIGH TEE. Two years later, he passed her on to
fellow Englishman John Barker in a barter transaction
involving a cottage in England and Barker’s 73' oceancruising sloop. “She was beautiful really in a way,” says
Barker of HIGH TEE. But, having acquired her more as
a means of selling his sloop, he had little personal interest in the vessel. “I guess I had an interest initially and
on the surface of things she looked great,” explained
Barker when I reached him by phone in England, “but
underneath there were a lot of problems, which I had
to put right.” To his credit, he did. A survey revealed
extensive damage due to leaking, particularly problematic where the pilothouse meets the deck, and Barker
directed the New England Shipyard in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, to “fix it properly.”
More than a dozen years had passed since HIGH
TEA’s restoration in Canada, and the effects of time and
age were accumulating. “As we opened her up to begin
repairs, we found more and more problems,” Tom Potter, owner of New England Shipyard, explained. The
pilothouse, which was designed to be removed, was
held on by only four rusted through-bolts, and excess
movement of the pilothouse structure and cabin-todeck seams had allowed fresh water to seep through the
joints, rotting the wood and rusting the fastenings, in
turn causing more movement as the holes around the
fastenings became enlarged.
Potter made extensive repairs to cure the problems
associated with leaking. The pilothouse and both deckhouses were blocked up, the half deckbeams sistered and
mortised to new carlins port and starboard, the full deckbeam between the pilothouse and aft cabin replaced,
The pilothouse's central location allows HIGH TEA’s captain
to easily interact with passengers on the aft deck and
below, making her the ultimate family cruiser.

September/October 2009 • 67

A New Home
“She was like a work of art,” Blake remembered. Blake
and Donna bought HIGH TEA as their 20th anniversary
gift to each other. Besides the romance of owning a historic wooden boat with all her lovely brightwork, there
was another aspect of HIGH TEA that was important
to Blake. “When you’re in the pilothouse, you’re connected to all parts of the boat,” he said. “You can see the
aft deck, you can see the forward deck, you can keep an
eye on the kids. You feel that you’re still connected to
what’s happening with your guests. On some boats the
captain is isolated from the guests, which probably goes
back to the days when a hired captain would have run
the boat.” But Blake likes to run the boat himself. Inside
her elegant saloon, Blake discovered a leather photo
album which details the extensive restoration work
performed by Burns Wooden Boat at Severn Bridge,
Ontario, 15 years earlier.
Reinstating the name HIGH TEA in 2005, the Bankys
embarked on a full-scale refit at Alden Yachts under
the guidance of Pat Abrecht. All the ship’s systems were
upgraded, the interior refurbished, the engines overhauled, and a new, period-matched console was built to
accommodate updated navigation equipment. And, of
course, there was the ubiquitous paint, varnish, and polish. “We wanted everything to be just right,”
said Blake.
The first indication for Blake that there
might be underlying problems with the
boat’s structure came when he, Pat Abrecht
of Alden Yachts, and Capt. Russ Gehweiler
were taking HIGH TEA down to her new
home in Bay Head on Barnegat Bay in New
Jersey. Their run down Long Island Sound
had been fine, but as they rounded Sandy
Hook for the run down the Jersey shore, a
Mahogany paneling gives the interior a feeling of
warmth. In the main saloon, a leatherbound photo
album that chronicles one of HIGH TEA’s previous
restorations is placed near the spot where current
owner Blake Banky first spotted it at the onset
of the boat's most recent makeover.

68 • WoodenBoat 210

nasty cross-sea confronted them. Gehweiler
felt they would be okay once they reached
deeper water, but as they rolled and the
waves danced out from under them, Abrecht could feel the hull twisting and moving.
“I knew then that we had to do something
with the structure of the boat,” he told me,
“particularly if she were going to be used
offshore, rather than on the lakes and protected inland waters to which she was accustomed.”
When Blake Banky returned to Alden Yachts for
the second winter, New England Shipyard was subcontracted to handle the more involved structural work that
had become necessary. Potter was not surprised by what
he found when he came to examine the hull closely.
“You could see the seams in [open joints along] the
keel,” he noted, “and you could see it didn’t look good.”
The keel was almost in three separate pieces, and when
they went to move HIGH TEA at one point, “she flexed
like crazy,” Potter told me.
He had also detected a line of “hard spots” along the
hull, an indication of broken frames. With her mahogany paneling and built-in bunks, cabinets, and settee, it
was difficult to access the internal structure of the hull
to examine it, and much of the previous year’s work
had to be removed and stored, the interior carefully
taken apart and the sole taken up. Potter, who was short
on manpower, subcontracted Jim Titus of Mount Hope
Boat Works for part of this job. None of the frames was
rotten, only cracked or broken. Titus scarfed-in new
steam-bent frames of 1¾" • 2" white oak that ran from
high above the break on down to the keel, rather than
replacing them altogether.
The oak stem and forward part of the keel that had

RICHARD SPECK

RICHARD SPECK

Nothing about HIGH TEA is commonplace. Staterooms are luxurious while still providing for the
movement of a seagoing vessel. The tops of the
built-in drawer units are bordered with fiddles and
spindled fiddle rails to keep hats and other favorite
items in place while under way.

been replaced in Canada were in good shape. Potter
replaced the remaining two-thirds of the keel with solid
white oak traditionally scarfed and through-bolted.
While this was going on, HIGH TEA was supported by
6" • 6" poppets shored against doubled 2" • 8" stringers that ran along the outside of the hull on each side.
“This formed a temporary cradle,” explained Potter.
“The boat is used to resting on its keel, so it needs a lot
of support to hold everything up,” he continued. The
new keel, which was constructed alongside HIGH TEA,
was maneuvered carefully into place after the old one
was removed.
The garboards and first broadstrakes that had
been removed to facilitate work on the keel, were also
replaced. The garboards, which are one layer of solid
Honduras mahogany, fit snugly against the keel on their
lower edge. A rabbet was cut along their upper edge to
accept the adjoining double-planking of 1" mahogany
over 3⁄8" cedar. Both layers of planking were then fastened with bronze screws into the frames and the cedar
planking back-fastened to the mahogany from the
inside out.
Finally whole again, freshly painted and varnished,
on this trip HIGH TEA had an easy run down to the Barnegat. It was summer and time for friends and cocktails
and sunsets afloat. Blake entered HIGH TEA in the 2006
Barnegat Bay chapter of The Antique & Classic Boat
Society Boat Show and was amply rewarded for his many
hours of care and diligence. HIGH TEA charmed the
crowds and came away with a slew of awards: People’s
Choice, Judges’ Choice, Best in Class, and, in a special

RICHARD SPECK (BOTH)

Blake Banky (right) and his wife, Donna, persevered to give HIGH
TEA the best possible restoration, even after learning that the boat
was in harder shape than specified by her survey. This year she won
the “Most Beautiful Commuter Award” at the Robert H. Tiedmann
Classic Boat Rally in Newport, Rhode Island. It looks like HIGH TEA
has arrived—again.

new category, Best Dock Box. It would seem nothing
about HIGH TEA is commonplace. Her dock box is a
beautiful mahogany affair built by Blake’s father, Adrian
Banky. “An unbelievable amount of hours went into it,”
says Blake.
HIGH TEA continues to be the talk of the harbor. In
for regular maintenance at de Rouville’s Boat Shop on
Barnegat Bay, where she is routinely hauled, her hull no
longer sags and a small crowd gathers on a sunny afternoon to admire her. “I wonder what her story is!” marvels an older gentleman, shaking his head. “My, she’s
beautiful!”
Ingrid Code is a freelance writer and first mate aboard the Joel White–
built scow schooner NINA.
September/October 2009 • 69

Build the Jericho Bay
Lobster Skiff
PART ONE
A Maine Coast classic redesigned
by Tom Hill
for strip-planking
Photographs by Matthew P. Murphy

T

his little gem of a skiff first caught my eye a couple of years ago as she sat on a trailer in a field
at WoodenBoat. She belonged to Aaron Porter,
managing editor of Professional BoatBuilder magazine,
and he’d purchased her from a man on nearby Deer
Isle. Built of cedar on oak, carvel-planked, the boat had
been sitting in a garage for the previous 15 years, and
Aaron brought her back to life, bending-in some new
frames, refastening, recaulking, and painting. Aaron also
added a small, slightly off-center console for a steering
wheel (the boat was originally tiller-steered).
Small outboard skiffs have a lot of appeal. They are
challenging to design, but you don’t have to be an
expert to build one. They can be carvel, lapstrake, or
strip planked and built and stored in a small garage at
a price affordable to many. Small skiffs can easily reach

speeds over 20 mph with 20 horsepower or less, with
fuel efficient, four-stroke outboards. They can cover a
lot of territory in a day of fishing or sightseeing on less
than five gallons of gas, and can be used as workboats
for commercial fishermen or yacht tenders.
Joel White designed Aaron’s boat and Jimmy Steele,
the legendary peapod builder, built at least two of them
in the mid-1970s. The overall length is 15' 6" and the
beam is 5' 4"; the 1:3 beam-to-length ratio works well
in small outboard-powered boats. Above the waterline,
with her flared bow, and tumblehome transom, she
looks like a well-proportioned Downeast lobsterboat of
the 1950s or ’60s, only smaller. Thirty or so years ago,
skiffs of this shape were common; they seem to be a
rarity these days.
Underwater, the boat has flat after sections, allowing

Above—With her near-’midship console, the Jericho Bay Lobster Skiff’s center of gravity is well forward of that of a tiller-steered
skiff, whose helmsman, batteries, motor, and fuel all occupy the stern. Shifting the weight forward allows for quicker planing and,
ultimately, greater efficiency.

70 • WoodenBoat 210

JerichoBay_FINAL.indd 70

7/30/09 12:01 PM

TOM HILL (AFTER JOEL WHITE)

STA.

FP

Sheer 471⁄4
B3
—
B2
—
B1
—
Rabbet
Stem
0
Profile

KATE HOLDEN

Sheer
36
30
24
12
12
Diag.

1

2
3
4
5
6
7
Heights Above Base
407⁄8 37 343⁄8 329⁄16 317⁄16 307⁄8 3011⁄16
— 2111⁄16 137⁄8 12 113⁄8 1011⁄16 915⁄16
305⁄8 145⁄8 119⁄16 105⁄8 107⁄16 103⁄16 95⁄8
18
11 101⁄16 93⁄4 97⁄8
93⁄4 91⁄2
10 87⁄8 91⁄4 93⁄8 99⁄16 95⁄8 93⁄8
WL 6 WL 112
19 10 ⁄16

WL1 8
6 ⁄4

WL 24 WL30
4
21⁄2

WL36
17⁄16

T
30
93⁄16
93⁄16
93⁄16
93⁄16

WL42
3
⁄16

Half Breadths from Centerline
167⁄16 255⁄8 30 315⁄8 319⁄16 301⁄16 271⁄8 2311⁄16
143⁄8 251⁄8 30
—
—
—
—
—
113⁄4 223⁄8 281⁄4 307⁄8 315⁄16 301⁄16 275⁄8 2311⁄16
91⁄8 195⁄16 253⁄4 29 303⁄16 2911⁄16 273⁄4 253⁄4
61⁄16 153⁄4 229⁄16 269⁄16 281⁄2 2811⁄162715⁄16 261⁄4
21⁄4 713⁄16 131⁄2 173⁄4 211⁄4 24 251⁄4 243⁄4
1013⁄161913⁄16 255⁄8 2811⁄16 307⁄16 313⁄8 311⁄8 2911⁄16

Above and opposite page—The Jericho Bay Lobster Skiff has a sweet sheerline and generous tumblehome aft, with a 10-degree
transom rake that’s perfect for mounting an outboard motor. The stem profile is similar to those of designer Joel White’s larger
lobsterboats. Above—The boat from which these lines were taken was built by Jimmy Steele in Brooklin, Maine, in the 1970s.

for quick planing; moderate deadrise (or V-shaped sections) forward minimizes pounding. In profile view, the
bottom is slightly concave. “Hog” is the term describing the condition of older wooden boats whose keels
have been deformed into a similar concavity, either by
improper storage on land, or simply by the passage of
time. At first, I thought this hull had become hogged
from being stored upside down on sawhorses for all those
years, but Jimmy Steele’s son, Jeff, dispelled this notion.
He had owned this boat when new, and he confirmed
that Joel drew her this way—and he thought that was one
reason the skiff performed so well. Occasionally, designers incorporate such a curve into their powerboats, the
idea being that this slightly reversing curve will cause a
planing hull to level out faster than will a straight bottom, and hold the bow down afterwards—not unlike the
dynamics of a pair of hydraulically actuated trim tabs.
Tiller-steered outboard skiffs tend to be stern heavy
because the helmsman, motor, fuel tank, and sometimes
a battery, are all located aft. Such boats need all the help
they can get to run level, and working skiffs often have
clam hods, bait boxes, or traps placed forward to weigh
down the bow. Aaron’s reconfigured skiff, because of its

near-’midship console, jumps up on plane and levels off
faster than most. Her high, full, and flared bow makes
for a surprisingly dry ride to windward in a chop. Running downwind, her gentle stem curve, moderate deadrise, and round bilges make her forgiving and steady,
without sudden jerks or rooting, even at 24 mph in a
one-and-a-half-foot chop.
On a calm, sunny day after a storm last summer,
Aaron’s almost 40-year-old skiff decided she was tired
of being tethered to her mooring; she chewed through
her line, drifted off, and nestled up alongside a granite
boulder on a falling tide. She was quickly spotted and
retrieved, with only scratches to show for her junket.
On a different day or in different weather conditions
this skiff could have been lost forever with no record
of her lines, for Joel’s plans have gone missing. So with
the skiff safely back on her mooring, it seemed more
important than ever to record her shape and draw plans
so others could build this great little boat.
With the permission of Joel White’s son Steve, we
measured the boat last winter. Aaron was interested
in owning an upgraded version because he wanted
to trailer the boat over the road occasionally and had
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W

Taking Off Lines Using Eric Dow’s Method

ithout plans, the only way
with the stem and transom. Next, we
to replicate a hull shape is
shimmed them until they were level
to take the lines from the
fore-and-aft and athwartships and
existing hull. I’d never had occascrewed them to the floor.
sion to do this before, despite 38
Then we made a three-sided
years of boatbuilding. Traditionally,
square frame from 1• 8 pine, gusa baseline is set up under larger
seted at the corners with plywood,
boats, stations are ticked off along
the width equaling the spacing of
this baseline, and perfectly vertical
our 2 • 8s on the floor. This frame,
uprights are set up at these stations.
standing like a big inverted U,
Then, using a spirit level and rule,
would span the upside-down hull
horizontal measurements are taken
and be located at each station
along the curve of each station.
marks on the 2• 8s on the floor
On a small boat with round
for alignment. With braces holding
bilges and a nearly flat bottom, horthe frame plumb, we temporarily
izontal measurements are more
screwed 1" • 1" pointed sticks to the
oblique toward the bottom, and the
frame, starting at the rail and runslightest adjustment of the bubble
ning across the hull to the keel rabin the level makes a big difference
bet, one stick at the center of each
in where the level touches the hull
plank. We did this for only one side
and thus the length of the measureof the hull, to assure symmetry, for
ment taken. When I lofted the
the shape of an old boat is likely to
resulting lines using this method, I
vary from side to side. The frame
had difficulty fairing them—particwas then lifted from the hull and
ularly the buttocks—and soon
placed on the lofting board on the
became frustrated with my inaccu- To measure a hull’s sections, pointer sticks floor. A tick mark at the end of each
racy. I consulted my colleague Eric are screwed to a U-shaped framework (top); pointed stick was made and then a
the shape they describe is then transferred
Dow who suggested another way.
finish nail driven into the mark. A
The first step with Eric’s method to the loft floor. The resulting sections will limber oak batten bent around the
was to turn the skiff upside down be measured to develop the table of
nails described the curve.
on the floor and then to level the offsets.
This method proved to be beautihull fore-and-aft and athwartships
fully accurate. We were able to copy
with blocking and shims. Then we
the shape of the hull to the outside
marked two 15'6" straight 2• 8 spruce planks at equal of the planking at every station and create a body plan
station divisions, which came to 23 ¼" for this boat. We and full lofting with little fuss. The full-sized mold patlaid the planks flat on the floor and parallel to each terns shown on the plans have been adjusted for use by
—TH
other on either side of the hull with their ends even deducting the plank thickness.

concerns about the carvel-planked original boat drying
out. And so we decided to replicate the boat with some
changes in construction.
Because there is a lot of shape in this hull, particularly at the turn of the bilge aft, carvel-planking would
be a challenge for any builder. Planks here must
be milled thicker, backed out on the inside,
and faired off on the outside. Maybe that’s why
Jimmy Steele built only a few of these boats.
Because of this, and because we wanted a boat
that could spend protracted periods out of the
water and not suffer the rigors of trailer travel, we
agreed on strip-planked construction, sheathed
both inside and out in fiberglass. In the following
pages, I’ll walk you through the construction of
the resulting Jericho Bay Lobster Skiff.

strongback is a basic ladder frame made of two 15'
straight 2• 8 spruce planks and three 36" 2 • 8 “rungs,”
one at each end and one in the center. Cut a notch in
the center of the middle rung to allow a taut string representing the boat’s center­line to pass through. Make a

Strongback
The first order of business is to make the strongback on which to erect the molds (photo 1). The

Photo 1

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Photo 2

Photo 3

saw kerf 1⁄8" deep in the centers of the end rungs so the
centerline string can clear the molds after they’re in
place (photo 2 inset).
Assemble the strongback by connecting the long
pieces to the rungs with 3" drywall screws or similar fastenings, and temporarily set it on sawhorses or blocking
to a good working height. Square it [photo 3] by taking
diagonal measurements and shim it level fore-and-aft
and side-to-side. With the strongback square and level,
make six legs to stabilize it, one in each corner and two
in the center. Screw the legs to the inside of the strongback and to the floor. Add diagonal braces to help to
stiffen it, but keep in mind that you will have to crawl
under the setup to fasten the keel and occasionally to
retrieve a dropped tool.

Molds and Building Jig
The plans for the Jericho Bay Lobster Skiff include
full-sized patterns for the molds and stem, so the

Photo 4

most straightforward approach is to carefully transfer these onto your mold stock by making closely
spaced awl pricks through the drawing and then connecting the dots with a flexible batten. (However, if
you’re familiar with lofting and are so inclined, you
could develop the molds from the table of offsets.)
The centerline and sheer must be clearly drawn on
each mold.
For molds, I used MDO (medium-density overlay) plywood. It has a smooth paper face, allowing for accurate
drawing. Next, cut out all the molds and the stem and
transom profiles and attach 2 • 4 mold cleats to the bottoms of the molds. The cleat lengths must be equal to
the width of the strongback—in this case, 39 ½".
Once the strongback is complete, you can set up the
station molds. But first, fasten the stem profile to station
mold No. 1 and set it on the strongback, allowing the
stem profile to protrude past the end rung by 1". Align
the centerline drawn on the mold with the taut string;

Photo 5
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Photo 6

then, using a framing square, check that the mold is
square with the string. Screw the profile to the strongback’s end rung and, using 3" drywall screws, fasten
mold No. 1 to the strongback (photo 4). Next set up
molds 2 through 6, spaced according to the plan (photo
5). As you did with the stem, attach the two transom
profiles to mold No. 7 before you mount it to the strongback. Then toe-screw the transom profiles to the aft
strongback rung. The ½" plywood jig transom can now
be mounted on the transom profiles. Make a batten
long enough to reach from the stem profile aft over the
tops of the molds to station No. 7, and temporarily tack
it to the stem with a finish nail. Starting at station No. 2,
plumb each mold and temporarily tack it to the batten,
until enough of the strip planking has been laid to take
over and hold the molds plumb. Now the building jig is
complete, and it’s time to begin building the actual
boat.

Photo 7

The Transom
The transom is glued up from two pieces of clear vertical-grain mahogany. The finished thickness is 13/4".
There is a full-sized pattern on the plans; again, you can
use it, or develop your own. Sheathe the inside surface
with 10-oz fiberglass set in epoxy before installing the
transom on the jig (photo 8). After the initial wetout
cures, apply three more coats of epoxy to fill the weave
of the cloth. (It’s much easier to ’glass and sand the
transom while it’s lying horizontal on sawhorses than
when it’s been installed.) When the epoxy has cured,

Building the Stem and Transom
The stem is the first piece to make. It is laminated, and it
consists of two pieces: an inner stem to which the planking is fastened, and an outer stem applied after the hull
has been planked. Laminate the inner stem first. To do
this, make a simple jig from ½" plywood scrap left over
from the molds (photo 6). (You can use the pattern for
this jig on the plans, or you can develop one from your
lofting.)
Both stem pieces are made from 1/4" × 21/4" laminates
of clear, vertical-grain mahogany. Mill 16 strips. Eight
of these are for the inner stem and six for the outer
stem, leaving two extra strips. For each of the two separate laminations, cover one of the two extra strips with
clear packing tape, turn it toward the laminate bundle,
and use it as a continuous clamp pad (photo 7). When
the glue has fully cured, dress the inner stem to its
finished width of 2". Then temporarily screw it to the
stem profile, ready for shaping. The outer stem will be
laminated in place after the hull is planked.

Photo 8

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Photo 9

Photo 10

wash off its waxy amine blush, if there is any, with water
and sand the surface with 80-grit paper. The inside face
is now ready for paint. Mount the transom onto the jig
transom with a couple of temporary screws and clamps.

Shaping the Stem
After the stem has been sided to 2" and temporarily fastened to the jig, use a ballpoint pen to draw a
centerline on its face and two lines ¼" away on either
side with a ballpoint pen. For beveling, I work with a
spokeshave from the drawn line (photo 9), carefully
cutting and frequently checking the developing bevel
with a piece of planking stock held along a few molds
and reaching to the stem (photo 10). If you go slowly
and check often, there is less chance of over-beveling.
Take your time and do one complete side, then the
other using the first side as a reference but still checking often with planking stock, as before. Pay particular

Photo 11

attention at the sheer, making sure that both bevels are
exactly the same and correct here. Elsewhere, a bit of
over-beveling can be corrected with thickened epoxy
and a promise to do better next time, but such surgery
will be visible at the top of the stem.

Beveling the Transom
As with the stem, the transom’s edges must be beveled
to accept the planking. Draw a line with a ballpoint pen
all the way along the inboard corner as close to the edge
as possible. There is only a slight bevel on this boat’s
transom, about ¼" all around. With your combination
square set to a depth of ¼", draw a line on the transom’s
outboard face as a guide, then start to plane outward
from boat’s centerline, working toward the sheer, using
a low-angle block plane (photo 11).
As with the stem, have handy a batten that can span
several molds for checking the bevel as you go. The

Photo 12
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Photo 13

Photo 14

Photo 15

bevel becomes more difficult to cut as you round the
corner at the turn of the bilge and encounter end-grain;
here, a sharp spokeshave (photo 12) will cut better than
a block plane. I use a wet rag to soak the end-grain (photos 11 and 12), which makes it much easier to work. Cut
a small chamfer at the sheer to avoid chipping off the
transom’s corner.

 Planking the Hull
I planked this hull with clear, vertical-grain Alaska yellow cedar, and highly recommend it. Northern white
cedar or juniper would be good substitutes. I had the
½" • 1" strips milled with a bead-and-cove profile, and
because almost all the stock was 17' long, no scarfing
was needed. The hull requires about 90 strips. Stripplanking is a tedious task; working alone, I averaged
about fourteen strips a day, seven per side. I started at
the sheer and planked toward the centerline.
Temporarily screw the planks (cove side up) to
each mold through a short strip of ¼" plywood (photo
13). The plywood strips protect the planks from being
dented by the screws and help align the planks as well
as hold them to the molds. The planks are permanently
glued and screwed to the stem and transom with 1¼"
No. 8 bronze wood screws. Between the molds I used
sliding bar clamps to draw the planks together and
then shot 3⁄8" staples, straddling the plank seam, with an
electric staple gun to hold them until the epoxy cured
(photo 14). This system worked reasonably well, and I
used about 6,000 staples.
Another great time-saver was thickened epoxy sold
in a caulking-gun tube that mixes the resin and hardener as it is dispensed (photo 15). Designed especially
for gluing, with no fillers required, such products are
available from epoxy manufacturers like Gougeon

Brothers and System Three. Cut the tip to the size you
need and squeeze a bead of epoxy into the cove edge of
the already-hung plank. Smooth it out with a small glue
brush, and you’re ready to set the next plank in place.
Be as neat as possible, and clean off all the squeezedout glue inside of the hull and out using a sharp putty
knife and rags slightly dampened with white vinegar. I
use vinegar to clean the epoxy off tools, particularly the
staple gun.

Filling and Sanding
After the hull is planked you can trim the plank ends
flush with the inner stem and transom with a block
plane. Use thickened epoxy to fill the screw holes
(photo 16) and cracks between planks—which are
inevitable at the turn of the bilge. Mix low-density fairing powder into the epoxy until the consistency is like
toothpaste, then pack it into any such voids. Scrape off
any excess. Neatness here will make sanding easier later

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Photo 17

Photo 16
on. Since epoxy shrinks a little when it cures, filling is
often a two-step process.
I sanded the hull three times, first with 80-grit sandpaper using a random-orbit sander attached to a dust
collector, taking care to keep the machine moving at all
times to prevent hollow spots from occurring. This tool
works well for removing excess glue and knocking down
high spots (photo 17).
Next comes board-sanding. My shop-made board is
of ¼" plywood and I used 3" sticky-back 80-grit sandpaper, board-sanding the entire hull, working diagonally
in one direction at about a 45-degree angle to the planking, and then back in the opposite direction (photo 18).
The final step is block-sanding fore-and-aft with the grain
(photo 19). In the photograph, I’m using yellow foam
sanding blocks with sticky-back 80-grit paper. I begin with
a hard block and finish with a soft one.

Photo 18

 
Tom Hill is WoodenBoat’s technical projects manager.

In the next issue, we’ll fiberglass the hull’s exterior, add the outer
stem and keel, and remove the boat from the building jig for final
details and painting.
The 15-page plans set for the Jericho Bay Lobster Skiff
includes the full-sized mold patterns mentioned above,
making it well within reach of ambitious amateur builders. Also included is a corrected table of offsets for
builders who prefer to start from scratch with a fullsized drawing, or lofting, of their own. Order from The
WoodenBoat Store, P.O. Box 78, Brooklin, ME 04616;
800–273–7447; www.woodenboatstore.com.

Photo 19
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thena webster

Marine Art Meets Boat Preservation

Above—Artist Kathy Bray has made a career of drawing classic boats and vessels. Her carefully colored and shaded outboard profiles reveal hull shapes, rigs, and deck details in a style that blends detailed documentation with subtle artistry.

by Matthew P. Murphy

“W

hen I was 19, WoodenBoat gave me my first
job,” says Kathy Bray. “I took my portfolio
to [founding editor] Jon Wilson. It was full
of portraits of Bob Dylan.” That was in the late 1970s.
Today, Kathy Bray is a renowned marine illustrator
and artist. She is best known for her portraits of classic
boats—color profiles that, with their fine shading and
carefully chosen colors, seem to leap off the page like a
two-dimensional rigged model. She came to this subject
inspired by the work of artist Melbourne Smith, who
created a series of paintings of historic sailing vessels
that illustrated two years’ worth of covers of the late
Skipper magazine.
“I think of it less as artwork and more as documenting these boats in a consistent fashion,” says Kathy of

her sail plan renderings. Indeed, each of her profiles is
carefully researched for accuracy of hull shape, color,
and rig details. “I want every little bit of backup information,” she says. “I spend a lot of time on shading.
That’s my favorite part…to look at the lines plan and
say, ‘Okay, she needs a little hollow here.’” Her renderings thus reveal sail shape and details, the subtle hollow
and curves of a hull, and underwater appendages. “In
real life,” says Kathy, “you’d never be able to see all of
this detail at once.”
Kathy comes honestly by her fascination with good
boats and their subtleties: Her father, Maynard, is this
magazine’s longtime technical editor and an acclaimed
historian of the Herreshoff Mfg. Co.; her mother, Anne,
is the magazine’s research librarian. Kathy attended the

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The drawings of Kathy Bray

A solid-fuel heater is connected to its
smoke head through a deck aperture
deliberately designed to trap cooling water.
We also see here a bronze ventilator meant
to grow hot in the sun, drawing warm
air from the cabin and, in turn, pulling
cooler air through the companionway and
down below.

A Concordia yawl’s
afterdeck is a study in good
organization. Folding seatbacks may
be erected when comfort is desired,
and laid flat when not in use. The
tiller is tied off to the mizzenmast
when not in use. No winch is required for the small mizzen’s halyard;
rather, a sway hook at the base of the
mast turns the halyard and allows
for easy tightening of the luff.

Winch handles lie conveniently under a Concordia’s removable
forward seat top which, when removed, creates space for a forward-facing
sheet trimmer’s legs. The sheet, winch, and cleat (right) lie close to hand.
There’s space in the adjacent box for docklines and fenders, and the
outboard lockers also open into the cabin.
Kathy Bray made these drawings of the famous Concordia yawl in the mid-1980s for the book, A Life in Boats: The Concordia Years, by
Waldo Howland (1988). There are two versions of this design, one 39' 10" LOA and the other 41'. The sail plan at center is for the more
common 39' 10" version. One hundred three of these yawls were built—three by Casey Boat Building Co., in Fairhaven, Massachusetts,
one by George Lawley & Son of Neponset, Massachusetts, and the remainder by Abeking & Rasmussen of Lemwerder, Germany.

Rhode Island School of Design, where studies in airbrush techniques gave her confidence. She was inclined
toward sculpture, she says, recalling that she “liked to
see how things fit together.” And she grew up sketching, as her father, a former shipyard engineer, would
bring home drafting pens that Kathy would use to draw
on shingles or any available surface. Kathy’s work is
informed by real-life experience with boats. She worked
at Mystic Seaport Museum—as well as at several boatyards—for four years, painting and varnishing. After a
brief stint as proprietor of an art supply shop in Camden, Maine, she returned to the Seaport for another
four-and-a-half years, documenting the restoration of
the whaleship CHARLES W. MORGAN.
Several years ago, Kathy had a grueling around-the

clock freelance assignment. “I spent the season of that
job cat-napping,” she says. At the end of it, she was
burned out and laid down her sketchbook. Seeking to
simplify, she moved to an island off the Maine coast and
built a small house, where today she lives off the electrical grid, atop a hill. For a spell, she took a break from
illustrating, doing decorative painting for houses and
creating hand-painted floor cloths. “I get tired of doing
the same thing,” she says. Recently, she’s picked up her
sketchbook and begun building an inventory of prints
for sale. And she’s turned her attention to the early
designs of Capt. N.G. Herreshoff. The aim of this project is to showcase the series of boats that gave rise to the
better-known Herreshoff boats. A sampling of Kathy’s
work appears on the following pages.
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Workboats
ALICE S. WENTWORTH (80' )
The coasting schooner ALICE S. WENT­
WORTH was built in 1863 in Norwalk,
Connecticut, and originally named the
LIZZIE A. TOLLES. In her early career,
she hauled coal, lumber, and salt. After
a 1904 rebuilding, she was rechristened
the ALICE S. WENTWORTH.
Capt. Zeb Tilton fell in love with the
schooner in 1906, and soon after that
became her captain. Zeb purchased the
WENTWORTH in 1921 and ran her for
the next 21 years, after which she went to
Maine, where she was owned by F.B. Guild
and then Havilah Hawkins, and was in
the charter trade. Sold to a Massachusetts
owner and tied alongside a restaurant in
Boston in 1974, the WENT­WORTH was
destroyed in a storm.

Friendship Sloop (34' )
In their heyday, boats of the type we see
here were simply called “sloop-boats”—
today, they’re called Friendship sloops,
in honor of the Maine town that popu­
larized them in the late 19th century.
Friendship sloops are still being built
and sailed as yachts, and they are all now
popularly called Friendship sloops, no
matter where they’re built. The type is
distinguished by its bow form: a straight
stem topped by a gammon knee that
leads the eye along a curve from the
raking stem to the horizontal bowsprit.
Another distinctive feature is the gaff rig
placed well forward, and the long bow­
sprit. Despite their apparent complexity
to the modern eye, Friendship sloops
are actually quite forgiving sailers; they
were meant to lie-to when the helm is
dropped, so their short-handed crews
could tend lobster traps.

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The drawings of Kathy Bray

JACOB PIKE (83' )
Newbert and Wallace of Thomaston, Maine, built the JACOB
PIKE in 1949. An icon along the coast of Maine, the vessel
is widely considered the best-looking, stoutest sardine carrier ever built. She is nearly original today. After a long working life, she recently was donated to the Penobscot Marine
Museum of Searsport, Maine, which is seeking a way to secure
her future.

Jonesport Lobsterboat (36' )
A high bow giving way to a sleek lowsloping sheerline; minimal freeboard aft
for easy trap tending; a flat run aft with
a deep skeg; a distinctive, jaunty steadying sail; and diamond-shaped lights in
the trunk cabin: These are among the
distinctive features of the Jonesport lobsterboat. Jonesport boats were known
for their speed—because of both the flat
run aft and the big, converted automotive
engines that drove them. In this rendering, one can almost hear the throaty growl
through the roof-mounted exhaust.

UNITY B (34' )
The Bahamian smack UNITY B was
launched at Mangrove Cay, Bahamas, in
1950. She is a conch-harvesting boat—
the fishing done from small dinghies
equipped with glass-bottomed buckets while the smack lies at anchor. Five
thousand conchs make a full load for a
boat the size of UNITY B.

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One-Designs

Bird-Class Sloop (30' 1")
San Francisco sailors were struggling to get yachting back on
its feet in the post-WWI economy. To meet the need, naval
architect Fred Brewer drew sketches for this raised-deck sloop
under the direction of the Pacific Inter–Club Yacht Association. The design was then sent to John Alden’s office in Boston,
for revision and recommendations. The result was the Birdclass sloop. The first one was launched in 1921, and the last
in 1947, by various builders. The class has raced continuously
since its inception.

Bear-Class Sloop (23' )

Alden Triangle (28' 5")
In 1926, the first eight Triangle-class
sloops were launched by the James E.
Graves yard in Marblehead, Massachusetts. A group of Marblehead yachtsmen representing the Boston, Eastern,
and Corinthian Yacht Clubs (the points
of the Triangle) sought a boat they
could race locally, as well as farther
away against both the Sound Interclubs
of New York and the Bermuda OneDesigns of Bermuda. The Triangle fleet
eventually numbered in the 50s.
The Triangle’s numbers have dwindled, though there are still a few sailing.
At least one is in Marblehead; others are
scattered around the United States—in
Maine, New Hampshire, Maryland, and
Wisconsin. A derelict one was shipped
from Marblehead to Kotka, Finland, in
the mid-1990s and beautifully restored
there.

Just as the Bird-class sloop (above) was launched into a sour
economy in 1921, so the Bear class was similarly introduced
in 1930. The idea of the Bear, as of the Bird, was to create an
economical boat that could be afforded by the day’s strained
budgets. It worked: By the mid-1950s, the Bear was the most
popular one-design on San Francisco Bay. Many are still sailing
today.

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The drawings of Kathy Bray

O-Boat (18' 3")
The John Alden–designed O-boat was introduced in the early
1920s to address a waning interest in sailing among young
people. An estimated 600 or more have been built since
then—some in recent years. In addition to once being a popular racing class, they were also handy camp-cruisers. In a 1927
essay, Dwight Simpson, an associate of designer Alden’s, wrote
“…it is not a rare thing to find them with their young owners
on a cruise, snug in some harbor with a tent over the boom,
or scooting down on the New England Coast fifty or seventy
miles from their home port.”

Atlantic Class (30' )
W. Starling Burgess designed the Atlantic Coast One-Design, and promoted
hull No. 1 on an exhibition cruise on
Long Island Sound in 1928. He gathered
80 orders that summer, and the fledgling fleet was built by the German yard
Abeking & Rasmusseun. The following
year, the class formally organized—and
shortened the name to Atlantic.
In 1953, the Atlantic became one of
the first one-designs to be built of fiberglass. Since its inception, well over 100
boats have been built to this design.
Fleets remain active in Blue Hill, Maine;
Cedar Point, Connecticut; Cold Spring
Harbor, New York; and Niantic Bay,
Connecticut.

Luders 16 (26'4" )
The Luders 16 class (below), so named
for its waterline length, began life as the
carvel-planked Fishers Island L class,
which was introduced by the Luders
Marine Construction Co. in 1933. The
initial 10-boat order helped pull the
Luders Company through the Great
Depression. In 1944, the boat’s shape was
slightly modified and the hull construction changed to a laminated, hot-molded
structure. (“Hot-molding” is distinct
from cold-molding in that the thermosetting Bakelite glue used in these boats
required that their hulls be baked in a
giant oven, or autoclave.)
The Luders class is still active in Chicago; Mount Desert, Maine; and New
Orleans.

Yankee One-Design (30' 6")
The Yankee One-Design class was
designed by Starling Burgess and
launched in 1937, the selection of a
design committee headed by Waldo H.
Brown. It was meant to replace a onedesign—the M-B class, sailed on Buzzards Bay and at Marblehead. The M-B,
however, was reputedly ill-suited to Buzzards Bay’s regular steep chop, and so
the search began for a replacement.
Brown was impressed with the new
boat’s ability to accelerate quickly and
to carry her way in stays.
The first Yankee One-Design was lofted
and faired at Bath Iron Works in Maine,
where Burgess was connected at the time,
and the resulting molds were shipped off
to the Britt Bros. of Saugus, Massachusetts, who built the boat. Although the racing fleet is now scattered, several of these
boats are still going strong—at least three
in the Seattle area.

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A Few Early N.G. Herreshoff Designs

K

athy Bray’s most recent work celebrates N.G.
Herreshoff’s diversity of design—from steam
launches to steam yachts to catboats. “All of this
was going on at the same time,” says Kathy of Herreshoff’s diverse output, “which is just astounding to me.”
These boats are documented in the Herres­hoff archives,
but not in a standardized form by which one can compare and contrast boats. Kathy’s aim was to do some-

thing about that “so you can see them all together. It’s
so interesting to see these boats represented the same
way, to scale. You can read in a book that one boat’s 16'
and one’s 98', but when they’re drawn and compared to
scale, even an untrained eye can appreciate the difference.
“N.G. Herreshoff’s my favorite designer. I guess that
comes with the genes of a Bray.” Kathy’s father, Maynard,
—MPM
wrote the captions for the following series.

TARANTELLA (33', 1877)
After experimenting with one of his own, NGH tried building catamarans commercially, feeling they had great promise.
They proved too expensive, so the endeavor was abandoned
after only a few like TARANTELLA were turned out. Had yacht
clubs not barred them from racing, yachting might have taken
on an entirely different character.

SABRINA (16'3", 1878)
JULIET (45', 1881)
At first the newly formed Herreshoff Mfg. Co. specialized in
steam-powered craft, a natural outcome of NGH’s schooling
and employment. They ranged from 140' steam yachts down
to 20' open launches, the awning-topped JULIET being one
example.

NGH’s blind brother John had been
building boats for several years before
the brothers joined forces to form the
Herreshoff Mfg. Co. in late 1878. Catboats like SABRINA were one of his specialties. Her extreme hollow entrance
and saucer-like midbody echoes the
sandbagger sloops of New York.

STILETTO (94', 1885)
NGH’s genius for lightweight steam plants and slippery hull forms, along with his brother’s promotional talent,
prompted them to build this swift yacht to demonstrate their ability. By running a circle around the 300' Hudson
River sidewheeler MARY POWELL, then considered the area’s fastest vessel, STILETTO made front-page news—
and made the name Herreshoff famous from then on.

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The drawings of Kathy Bray

CLARA (35' 3", 1887)
Desiring a cruiser to replace his earlier
cat-yawl CONSUELO, NGH designed
CLARA, named after his wife. Deep
and narrow, but with a heavy mast way
forward like the catboats NGH had
grown up with, CLARA pitched excessively; as a result, NGH began to favor
sloops with overhanging bows. CLARA,
recently restored, is displayed at Herreshoff Marine Museum in Bristol, Rhode
Island.

WASP (72', 1892)
WASP was meant to be an improvement

on the famous breakthrough cutter
GLORIANA, launched by the Herreshoffs the previous year. WASP had a
bulb keel that lowered her lead ballast
for increased stability and a shallower
forefoot for more responsive steering.
This underwater profile became the
accepted shape for full-keel yachts for
decades thereafter.

DILEMMA (38', 1891)
NGH invented fin-keeled yachts with
separated rudders, DILEMMA being

his first of many. She is shown here as
she looked in 1892 afer NGH added a
bowsprit and enlarged the rig. You’ll
see DILEMMA today at The Mariners’
Museum in Newport News, Virginia.

You can view more of Kathy Bray’s work at www.brayprints.com—and order prints.

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LAUNCHINGS
Edited by Karen Wales

T

susANNE ALTENBURGER

hese pages are dedicated to sharing news of recently
launched new boats and “relaunched” (that is,
restored or substantially rebuilt) craft. Please send color
photographs of your projects to: Launchings, WoodenBoat, P.O. Box 78, Brooklin, ME 04616, or e-mail us
at [email protected].
Include the following information: (1) length on
deck; (2) beam; (3) type, class, or rig; (4) boat’s name;
(5) names and contact information (include e-mail or
phone) of designer, builder, photographer, and owner;
(6) port or place of intended use; (7) date of launching
(should be within the past year); (8) brief description of
construction or restoration.

carolyn grill

Dear friends,

Gerard Schwab

Above—Phil would no doubt appreciate this rendition of his
Gloucester Gull design that Alan Grill adapted for sliding-seat
rowing. Alan built the hull with plywood, and then sheathed it
in epoxy and ’glass. Outriggers are of soldered copper tubing.
Oars were found and refurbished. Alan rows his boat on the
Willamette River in Portland, Oregon.

Above—Here is Phil’s Plywood 12½, a modern plywood version
of the famous Herreshoff 12½. Builder Gerard Schwab built
this one in about 10 months (part-time). She is 16' 2" LOA
with an LWL of 12'6" and a 5'10" beam. She displaces 1,500 lbs
and draws 2' 9". Gerard keeps her in Wickford Harbor, Rhode
Island. Read more in Phil’s book Boats with an Open Mind.

86 • WoodenBoat 210

P hil Bolger (and his beloved wife, Susanne) inspired
many of us, particularly those of us with little or no
boatbuilding experience, to build simple and practical
boats. Phil and Susanne’s longtime friend, advocate,
and former editor of Launchings, Mike O’Brien,
offers these words about Phil’s many contributions:
“Phil Bolger drew more than 680 boat designs.
His best-known boats were classified by critics,
admirers, and occasionally by the designer
himself as ‘Bolger Boxes.’ Quick and easy to
build, these straight-sided monuments to logic
perform well…sometimes better than their more
shapely counterparts.
“When free from the constraints of sheet
plywood and simple construction, Phil created
classically striking boats… Friendship sloops,
express cruisers, fantail launches, schooners, and
a 115' frigate.
“Not all of Phil’s plywood boats are rectilinear.
His much-admired 15' 6" Light Dory shows us
strong flare and as fine a sheerline as we’ll see
along any waterfront. The designer, at times his
own harshest critic, observed that this striking
pulling boat might well be his ticket into Heaven.”
—M.O’B.
In tribute, we present to you an all-Bolger-inspired
Launchings section. Thank you, Phil, for introducing
so many of us to the world of boatbuilding. We’ll miss
you—but we pledge that your work will live on.—K.W.

dave stutzman

Below—Larry and Nancy Sapp of Fancy Nancy’s Boatworks
in Brunswick, Georgia, built this gaff-rigged catboat to Phil’s
Bobcat plans found in the book Building the Instant Catboat,
by Harold Payson. Her marine plywood hull has an LOA of
12'3" and a 6' beam. The rudder has the horizontal foot
and hollowed trailing edge as designed by Bolger, giving the
blade more bite and improving her agility.

NANCY SAPP

Above—Dave Stutzman chose the Bolger Sneakeasy for her classic
looks. She has an LOA of 26½' and a 4' beam. Dave built the hull
in marine plywood, sheathed in epoxy and ’glass, decked her
in plywood and mahogany, and then trimmed her in mahogany
and spruce. While she brings Dave a lot of praise, he credits the
designer for making her “simple enough for almost anyone to
achieve.”

susi butler

Right—The Diablo is a favorite design among many Phil Bolger
fans. Joe Butler built and outfitted his for use on the Illinois River
and various other fishing holes near his Princeville, Illinois, home.
She has an LOA of 15' and a 5' beam. He constructed her hull
in marine-grade plywood, built the transom from white oak, and
then sheathed the boat in epoxy and ’glass.

Below—California-based boatbuilder John Tuma built INSPECTOR
CLOUSEAU, a cat-yawl that is a unique interpretation of Phil

Above—Michigan boatbuilder Mike Kiefer built this lake cruiser
based on Phil’s Shivaree design. Mike designed the cabin to
accommodate a tall customer. The boat is powered by a 50-hp,
four-stroke engine. Her owners enjoy running her near their
northern Michigan home at Onekama on Portage Lake. Contact
Mike Kiefer, 269–637–6805.

MARTHA TUMA

MIKE KIEFER

Bolger’s Chebacco 20 design. Instead of a centerboard, she has
a long, shallow keel. The hull is strip-planked in cedar; decks are
plywood. John reports that she is one of the most comfortable
boats he has ever sailed. Contact John Tuma, 510–366–1476.

September/October 2009 • 87

LAUNCHINGS

MARY McGuIRE

Left—Ed McGuire reports that parishioners gathered at St.
Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Addison County, Vermont, to
build this “honey of a boat” which was then raffled to raise
money for local organizations. Using Phil’s Gypsy design (LOA
15', beam 5' ), the group put in about 350 hours on the plywoodconstructed boat. She netted $9,400 for her community.

craig wilson

Right—Inspired by Phil Bolger’s philosophy, Craig Wilson designed and
built this simple, 8' plywood canoe for his grandchildren to enjoy near
his Groveland, California, home. The canoe was constructed using two
4' • 8' sheets of 1⁄8" plywood, fastened with dowels, ’glass, and epoxy, plus
carriage bolts to attach the seat. That, and a little paint, makes her ready
for years of summertime pleasure.

matThys mocke

Above—POPTI (Papa’s Opti) is based on the Rubens
Nymph plan. She has a 7' 9" LOA and a 4'6" beam. Sail rig
is from a Skimmer iceboat. Allen Ward cleverly built her
with a folding rudder and a retracting centerboard so that
his son and grandson could comfortably sail her in the
shallows of Pleasant Bay (near Chatham), Massachusetts.

88 • WoodenBoat 210

STANLEY WOODWARD

allen ward

Below—David Judson built this gentleman’s launch for Stanley
Woodward, who runs her near his Charlottesville, Virginia, home.
TAXI has an LOA of 24'8" and a 7' beam. She draws 9" and displaces
2,300 lbs. TAXI has a cold-molded Western red-cedar hull and is powered by a 70-hp Evinrude. Contact David Judson, 804–725–6467.

Left—STEPHANIE was built from Phil’s Light Dory
Type V design. She has an LOA of 15'6" and a 4'
beam. Michael Parkin constructed her using okoume
marine plywood over iroko frames. He finished the
hull with two-part automotive polyurethane paint.
Michael and his wife row STEPHANIE on Langebaan
Lagoon, not far from Cape Town, South Africa.

LAUNCHINGS

peter lemon

Below— UTILIS is the first known rendition of the
Whalewatcher design. She is 29' (LOA) and has a 6'6"
beam. She displaces up to 4,700 lbs including 900 lbs
of water ballast. UTILIS carries 410 sq ft of sail with a
balanced-lug main sail and sprit-boom gaff mizzen. Her
owner enjoys sailing her on Lake Erie and other waterways from the Great Lakes to the Eastern Seaboard.

stanley woodward

mason smith

Above—PELICAN is a “Micro,” a cat-yawl cruiser for two with an LOA of
15'4" and a 6' beam. She draws 1' 9" and weighs about 850 lbs. Mason
Smith bought her unfinished and added her ballast keel, spars, sails,
and flotation, to Phil’s specifications. Mason sails her in the Adirondack
region and beyond. You can reach Mason at Adirondack Goodboats,
518–624–6398.

Right—A love of Bolger designs runs deep within this family. Ken
Woodward, the grandson of Stanley Woodward (see TAXI), built this
speedy and able skiff to Phil’s Diablo design, as a high school project.
The stitch-and-glue plywood boat is powered by a 9.9-hp Evinrude
and can attain speeds of 16.5 knots without breathing hard.

susanne altenburger

Hints for taking good photos of your boat:

Above—ROBIN JEAN is the first boat ever built by brothers
Dave and Dan Mero of West Gloucester, Massachusetts. Built
to the Monitor No. 679 design, she has an LOA of 30'8" and
a beam of 7'8". She can be built as an overnighter, as shown
here, or with a large cockpit and small wheelhouse and
cuddy layout to carry forty 2' • 3' lobster traps.

1. If you use a digital camera, please shoot to the highest resolution
and largest size possible. Send no more than five unretouched
images on a CD, and include rough prints of all images. We also
accept transparencies and high-quality prints.
2. Clean the boat. Stow fenders and extraneous gear below. Properly
ship or stow oars, and give the sails a good harbor furl if you’re
at anchor.
3.  Schedule the photo session for early, or late, in the day to take
advantage of low-angle sunlight. Avoid shooting at high noon and
on overcast days.
4. Be certain that the horizon appears level in your viewfinder.
5. Keep the background simple and/or scenic. On a flat page, objects
in the middle distance can appear to become part of your boat.
Take care that it doesn’t sprout trees, flagpoles, smokestacks, or
additional masts and crew members.
6. Take many photos, and send us several. Include some action shots
and some of the boat at rest. For a few of the pictures, turn the
camera on its side to create a vertical format.

We enjoy learning of your work—it affirms the vitality of the wooden boat
community. Unfortunately, a lack of space prevents our publishing all the
material submitted. If you wish to have your photos returned, please include
appropriate postage. 

September/October 2009 • 89

Fairing by Machine

A retrofitted grinder eases this arduous task
by Damian McLaughlin
Illustrations by Robert LaPointe

M

ost boatbuilders have little tricks that make a
job go faster or better. Fairing a 40' hull is an
arduous task often accomplished by two-man
teams wielding fairing boards—which, appropriately,
are often called “torture boards.”
In my shop, we do 90 percent of the work of fairing with a grinding device, saving the torture boards
for a final pass and for hard-to-reach areas. A grinder
removes a substantial amount of material, quickly. The
trick is in controlling that removal. We use a common,

heavy-duty 0–6,000-rpm sander-polisher retrofitted with
a shop-made pad. The pad is a 9" • 11" rectangular piece
of fiberglass or Lexan glued to a standard round foam
backing pad. Using this setup, we find it is virtually
impossible to ding the surface being faired.
I didn’t invent this device, but I have done a fair
amount to optimize its effectiveness. The rectangular
pads are used for fairing both convex and concave surfaces. For convex surfaces we mount a sheet of fiberglass about 0.095" thick onto a very stiff foam pad. The

Above—A flexible fiberglass backing glued to a grinder’s foam pad is all that’s needed to convert the tool into an efficient fairing
device.

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A grinder retrofitted with a fiberglass backing plate removes a
lot of material, fast, from convex surfaces. The machine must
move diagonally across the surface. It’s a good idea to practice
in order to learn the machine’s nuances.

fiberglass sheet is commercially
available, but the best approach is to
make it in the shop; the off-the-shelf
material is a bit more dense and therefore heavier than preferred. To create your
own, lay them up on a pane of glass placed on a
perfectly flat surface. Standard mold-release wax assures
removal of the finished piece from the glass. I use
three layers of double-bias 12-oz non-woven fiberglass
sandwiched between single layers of 6-oz woven cloth
and unthickened epoxy. I allow the laminate to sit for
several days to ensure that the cure is complete.
If you don’t want to make your own rectangular pads, the fiberglass sheets for them may be
purchased from industrial suppliers such as
Manhattan Supply Co. (www.mscdirect.com).
Concave surfaces are addressed with
a sheet of 1⁄16"-thick Lexan attached to a
very soft pad—a more flexible arrangement than the one previously described.
The stiff foam pads we use in my shop
are from 3M and are called Stikit disc
pads; the part number is 05579. The soft
pads for fairing concavities are from
Ferro and the part number is 808D.

T

he rectangular pad is the exact
size of a sheet of production
paper. Care must be taken to
attach the foam disc to the pad’s exact
center in order to avoid balance distortions. I carefully locate the center with fine pencil lines crossing the
rectangle from opposite corners. Also,
I cut the corners of the rectangular
pad to a 2" radius and sand all edges, for safety.
Mark the center with a centerpunch; and with
pencil dividers make a circle the exact size of the
A soft foam pad and very flexible sheet of Lexan
allow this tool to fair inside curves, too.

pad’s diameter. This is the glue line. Then make a concentric ring 1⁄8" larger than the pad’s diameter. This is
the actual reference line, as the epoxy will squeeze out
and obscure the first circle you drew. Both surfaces to
be glued must first be abraded with coarse sandpaper—
except the Ferro pads, which have a cloth layer glued to
their surface, which improves adhesion. Use two thin,
level coats of epoxy on each gluing surface. Clamp the
whole affair together by laying four 1•4 boards across it
and weighting them with 4-lb lead weights, or something
similar. Make sure the surface under the rectangular
pad is flat; otherwise, the pad may become permanently
distorted. Likewise, never store the pad on its face with
the machine attached to it, for it will be rendered useless
from foam distortion.
One must be careful in using this tool—both for the
safety of the operator, and for those in the vicinity. Eye
protection is a must. The thought of this rectangle zinging around at 3,000 rpm is a bit scary, but in practice
and with ample caution you will find it very safe and
easy to use. A beginner will figure out its nuances after
some practice, but there are some operational tips to
help you get started.
First, the optimal speed seems to be about 3,000
rpm. If you’re using a variable-speed machine, slower
speeds will help you to gain confidence. Second, constant diagonal movement across the surface is essential.
Never move fore-and-aft along a waterline. Third, move
your feet 3" to 4" for every pair of arm passes; areas
that require you to be on your knees or reaching out
still require constant motion. Multiple passes, removing
small amounts of material on each pass, is the best procedure. As the job progresses, the visual perception of
irregularities will disappear. We dust off the hull often
and inspect visually and with our hands. Using the flat
of a pencil, we mark imperfections. In addition to
marking these trouble spots, we also use multiple
S-shaped scrawls across the whole surface so we
don’t lose track of where we’ve been.
The soft-foam-and-Lexan version (we call it
the “Superflex”) has some quirks of its own,
as it is used on concave surfaces. Its handling
characteristics will become obvious with some
practice, but know that heavy pressure will
allow contortion of the pad into tight areas
and, even with this pressure, the pad will still
do a good job of fairing.
I’ve found many uses for these fairing devices
over the 35 years I’ve been using them, and I
hope this article will similarly ease your work
while improving your results.
Seeking a challenge, Damian McLaughlin left his job as a carpenter and cabinetmaker 40 years ago and began building boats.
After 34 custom and over 100 rowing boats and daysailers, he is
still enjoying the challenge. His shop is in Falmouth, Massachusetts.
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IN FOCUS

In New Zealand, several Maori canoes participate in New Zealand’s annual Waitangi Day
Celebration commemorating a treaty with English settlers. The gentleman-warriors are saluting
the photographer’s canoe, which also bears New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and canoe
carver Hekenukumai “Hector” Busby. The inset photograph is a stemhead carving of Tumatauenga,
Maori god of war.

Boats of the World
Photographs by Ellen Tynan

W

orking as an environmental specialist for the
World Bank, photographer Ellen Tynan has
developed a strong concern for the plight of
coastal communities worldwide. “I know from my environmental work,” she says, “of the stresses on coastal
communities and forests. What does this mean for boatbuilding?” she asks, almost rhetorically. “I’m interested
in saving it…but not from a technical standpoint.”
Rather, her aim is to document indigenous watercraft
before they’re gone. “I want to show the beauty of
wooden boats in use.”
Ellen’s Boat Lines project is an attempt to capture not
only the beauty of some of the world’s last indigenous
boats, “but also something about the people who build,

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sail, and paddle them. I wanted to understand more
about how boats connected people with their environment, their ancestors, their culture.” This was the rough
framework for the project: coverage of at least one boat
in six major regions of the world. Three of the chosen
countries would be where boats were still being used
for their original purpose of fishing or shipping goods;
the remainder would be places where boats had been
lost for traditional use, but revived by some passionate
person or group.
And so Ellen took a yearlong sabbatical from her
job and traveled the world photographing wooden
boats. “There was so much serendipity,” she says of
the project. Traveling through Newport, Rhode

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Page 93

In Jakarta, Indonesia, a
fleet of pinisis lies at the
old wharf. Pinisis are
much changed by time
and technology; they
were once blunt-bowed
sailing vessels but are
now sharp-bowed
motorboats with vestigial rigs. Says Tynan:
“They carry rice, timber,
concrete mix—you
name it,” among
Indonesia’s islands.

In Ireland, Tynan set out
to photograph currachs
(following page) but fell in
love with Galway hookers.
NAOMH AISLING is a hooker
owned by Patrick Flaherty
and built by Pat Folan. “It’s
one of the most beautiful
boats I’ve ever seen under
sail,” Tynan says.

Island, three summers ago with little more than the
idea, she happened upon The WoodenBoat Show.
There she met boatbuilder Geoff Kerr, WoodenBoat
School instructor and occasional author for this
magazine, who told her of the school’s marine photography class. Attending that class in the fall of
2007 was her first step. “It sounds sort of corny,” says
Ellen, “but people kept telling me that if I followed

my passion, doors would open. And they did. ”
In fact, Ellen recalls that she didn’t have a clear itinerary when she embarked on the project. “In a sense,” she
says, “I guess the boats found me.” The six locations covered in Boat Lines are New Zealand, British Columbia,
Peru, Ireland, Egypt, and Indonesia. On the following
pages is a sampling of thousands of images from the
—MPM
project.

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IN FOCUS

Currachs such as these in Rossmuck, County Galway, Ireland, have wooden frames and skins of tarred, stretched
canvas. They’re raced regularly; in fact, these two are bound for the starting line. “These boats have helped to
keep many Irish people connected to their heritage—and to each other,” Tynan says.

Native canoes like this one in British Columbia are carved out of single red cedar logs, which are then filled with water
that is heated until the sides are pliable enough to bend outward, further accentuating the high ends and sweeping sheer.
The boat shown here, MAXWALA’OGWA, was carved by Calvin Hunt and family in memory of his late mother, Emma Hunt;
it is being paddled by a team from Vancouver Island University.

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Owned by Hussein el Bedu, these diminutive lateen-rigged fishing boats of Lake Borollus are among the last working sailing craft in Egypt. “These are probably the most threatened boats I saw in my travels,” says Tynan, for the lake is polluted
and silting up. These boats, usually used for fishing, were photographed in the off-season; here they are piled with reeds
that will be woven into mats and wind breaks.

In Huanchaco, Peru, a caballito de totora—little horse of reeds—is paddled through surf to crab-fishing
grounds; traps are lashed in the boat’s stern. “These guys are the last of the coastal fishermen who use
reed boats,” Tynan says. The paddle is made from a single cane of quayaquil—a local type of bamboo.

View more images from the Boat Lines project at www.ellentynan.com.

September/October 2009

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95

DESIGNS

SIRI

An 18' canoe yawl
Design by Doug Hylan
Commentary by Mike O’Brien
Particulars
LOA 
LWL
Beam
Draft (board up)
(board down)
(keel version)
Displacement
Sail area

T

18'
17' 4"
5' 6"
1' 3"
3' 0"
2' 7"
1,800 lbs
200 sq ft

his striking canoe yawl will take
us daysailing and beach cruising to all the best places, and she’ll
look fine along the way. SIRI and
her cousins evolved from English
sailing canoes of the late 19th
century. The husky double-ended
yawls, more robust and commodious than their slender canoe
forebears, earned a reputation as
able daysailers and coastal cruisers. Here we have an 18-footer that
offers great romantic appeal combined with honest practicality…

and a skilled amateur can build
this boat at home.
In 1887 near Hull, England, J.A.
Akester built a highly regarded 18'
canoe yawl named IRIS. To the good
fortune of posterity (us), her lines
are preserved in the August 2, 1888,
edition of Forest and Stream magazine
and in W.P. Stephens’s Canoe and
Boat Building for Amateurs, among
other places. Those drawings have
inspired at least one similar canoe,
HALF MOON, which resides at Mystic

Seaport. In 2008 boatbuilder Eric
Jacobssen, much taken with IRIS
(and having seen HALF MOON),
asked Doug Hylan to create plans
for a cold-molded version of the old
boat. The designer obliged with an
unusually complete set of drawings
that includes several full-sized patterns for mold stations and stems.
Although lofting will not be absolutely necessary, I’ll suggest that we
go ahead and lay down the lines at
full scale on the floor. The process
aids in understanding the design,

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Starting with the 19th-century canoe yawl IRIS, Doug Hylan tweaked the hull lines, added a centerboard, and made other alterations.
He specifies cold-molded construction for the new SIRI, but the plans also detail plank-on-frame and glued-lapstrake options.

and some of us consider it to be
good fun.
Hylan likes IRIS (who would
not?), but he notes areas that might
be improved: “Lovely as she is, IRIS
has some shortcomings. Like many
of her sailing canoe sisters, she is
too narrow to stand up to her generous rig. With this, and the lack
of a centerboard, her windward
performance would be quite compromised. Perhaps ‘gentlemen do
not sail to windward,’ but nowadays
they don’t like to row there either,

particularly in an 1,800-lb boat.” In
defense of IRIS, we should say that
relatively large sailing rigs were common before the advent of internalcombustion auxiliary machinery. In
1888, if supper lay to windward in a
fading breeze, the skipper could not
simply turn an ignition key. When
the wind came on strong, the old
fellows likely reefed early and often.
The new canoe yawl, SIRI, almost
certainly will prove stiffer and faster
to windward than old IRIS. Hylan
has given her an additional 5" of

breadth, slightly firmer bilges, a centerboard, and more ballast (900 lbs,
all outside). Her predecessor carried only 450 lbs of lead on her keel
and about 250 lbs of ballast in her
bilges. The new boat also appears
to have slightly stronger quarters.
She’ll have plenty of bearing and
bottom to lean on when beating
into a stiff breeze. I’ll wager that
her ultimate speed off the wind will
be increased as well. Double-enders
of this conformation seem to persuade the water that their hulls are
September/October 2009 • 97

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7/29/09 9:02 AM

DESIGNS

This construction profile describes SIRI’s alternative traditional plank-on-frame construction.

longer than the measuring tape
might suggest.
SIRI’s lug-yawl rig offers easy
handling and precise control. The
tiny (22-sq-ft) mizzen will hold the
boat head-to-wind forever, while
we deal with other matters. Let’s
cut that swatch of Dacron flat as a
bed sheet. In concert with the large
and powerful mainsail, the mizzen will allow us to fine-tune helm
balance. And we’ll be able to show
off by threading our way through

a crowded harbor and then backing down into the slip. To ensure
its power, that big mainsail should
be given adequate draft. This, combined with full-length battens of
proper and variable flexibility, will
get us to windward in good shape.
SIRI’s lack of standing rigging saves
money and simplifies life.
During the design process, Hylan
“became so taken” with SIRI that he
saw more potential in her. In addition
to the commissioned cold-molded

construction, the well-detailed plans
now describe a glued-lapstrake hull.
And he drew a traditional plankon-frame version as well, for builders “who love working with shavings
rather than glue.”
For sailors who have “no concerns about shallow water,” the
designer created a deeper-keel variant of SIRI, with a cutaway forefoot
and larger sloop rig that he predicts
will give her a sports-car personality.
Folks who can leave the rig standing

98 • WoodenBoat 210

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7/23/09 2:21 PM

DESIGNS

be to the choice of individual owners. What a fine one-design fleet
for racing…and with boats that also
work well as comfortable daysailers.
It might happen that picnic sails will
prove more popular than Saturday
afternoon races.
For those of us who prefer solitude, I’ll suggest the glued-lapstrake
centerboard hull combined with the
original lug-yawl rig. And let’s carry at
least one good oar…to be employed
when the bay goes slick-calm as
evening comes on.

If we can leave SIRI’s mast
standing all season, the gaff-sloop
rig might be appropriate. The
deeper-keel variant will work for
sailors who have no concerns about
shallow water. This drawing shows
the glued-lapstrake hull.

Mike O’Brien is boat design editor for
WoodenBoat.
Plans for SIRI are available from D.N.
Hylan & Associates, Inc., Boatbuilders, 53
Benjamin River Dr., Brooklin, ME 04616;
207–359–9807; [email protected];
www.DHylanBoats.com.

all season might consider giving
their boats the gaff-sloop rig, which
also appears in the plans.
Of course, we can mix and match.

Sailors at the yacht club might consider building a number of the
deeper-keel hulls fitted with the gaffsloop rigs. Hull construction would

Builder Eric Jacobssen does business as North
Brooklin Boats, 704 Bay Rd., Brooklin, ME 04616;
207–359–6550; [email protected];
www.northbrooklinboats.com.

The Carpenter’s Boat Shop

Yacht Sails
Rigging
BUILDERS OF HIGH-QUALITY HAND-FINISHED SAILS
Full-service sail and rigging loft
P.O. Box 71, Lincoln St., East Boothbay, Maine 04544
(207) 633-5071

Building boats, nurturing lives,
helping others for 30 years.
www.carpentersboatshop.org
September/October 2009 • 99

Designs210_FINAL.indd 99

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Going Green Means Getting Tougher
by Richard Jagels
eorge Hayeck of Framingham,
Mass­achusetts, writes: “I am in the
process of replacing the rotted backbone of my daysailer (LOA 25' 7", LWL
17' 0" ). I want to use a rot-resistant
wood with good gluing properties. I
would like to use purpleheart (amaranth species in the genus Peltogyne).
According to the Wood Handbook,
printed in 1999 by the Forest Products Society, purpleheart meets the
strength and adhesive characteristics I
am looking for in a wood. When in its
‘green’ state, purpleheart has a Modulus of Rupture [MOR] that is extremely
low (9,400 kPa [or kilopascals, a measure of force per unit area]) as compared to white oak (57,000 kPa).
However, once at a moisture content
of 12%, purpleheart is extremely
strong (132,400 kPa). My questions:
(1) If I use purpleheart as the new
backbone, as the moisture content in
the wood increases during the sailing
season (and possibly gets closer to the
moisture content of the ‘green’ state),
will the purpleheart lose its strength?
(2) Is the ‘green’ state something that
wood can never return to once it has
been dried, even though it might get
resaturated?”
Typically for the bending test, the
increase in strength between green
and dry wood (12% moisture content,
or MC) is roughly ±40%. That is, if dry
wood had a MOR of 100,000 kPa, you
would expect that in the green state
(above 30% MC) the MOR would be
around 60,000 kPa.
But in this case, the green MOR
value (9,400 kPa) is less than 1% of
the value for dry purpleheart—a very
suspicious number. So I went to some
other references to check this out. It
turns out that the Wood Handbook has
a misprint in table 4-5a on page 80.1
The MOR number should be 94,000
kPa (not 9,400). The same error is
carried over to table 4-5b (p. 84),
where purpleheart’s MOR for the
green state is listed as 1,370 lb/in2.
With these corrected numbers, dry
purpleheart is about 32% stronger
than the green wood, well within the
range of expectation.
Both the green and dry values ex­ceed
comparable bending MOR values for
white oak, and even exceed those
for live oak—a gold standard for
heavy boat framing.

Static and Dynamic Bending Test Values of Green and Dry Wood
Wood Species
White oak
(Quercus alba)

Overcup oak
(Quercus lyrata)

Yellow poplar
(Liriodendron tulipfera)

Pignut hickory
(Carya glabra)

Loblolly pine
(Pinus taeda)

Eastern white pine
(Pinus strobus)

Douglas-fir
(Pseudotsuga menziessi)

MC
(kPa)

Static
Modulus of Rupture
(mm)

green
12%
green
12%
green
12%
green
12%
green
12%
green
12%
green
12%

57,000
105,000
55,000
87,000
41,000
70,000
81,000
139,000
50,000
88,000
34,000
59,000
53,000
85,000

Dynamic
Impact Bending Toughness
(joules)
1,070
940
1,120
970
660
610
2,260
1,880
760
760
430
460
660
790

no values
11,900
5,500
4,900
3,400
11,400
10,100
5,000
2,600
2,000
1,800
3,400
3,300

RICHARD JAGELS

G

Measures of strength vary in green versus dry wood. Although static loading using a
slow, steady application of force shows that dry wood resists failure better than green
wood, the reverse is true in tests for toughness using dynamic loading, in which the
force is more like a sharp blow. The toughness variance is greater among hardwoods
than softwoods.

Now to Mr. Hayeck’s questions
1 and 2. When wood is resaturated,
MOR values fall to levels roughly the
same as those seen in the original
green condition. The numbers will
likely not be perfectly coincident
due to differences between absorption and desorption curves for moisture uptake and loss, a phenomenon
known as hysteresis. For all practical
purposes, however, we can state that as
the wood reabsorbs water, it will have
progressively lower MOR values. In a
large keel timber, the MC of the interior may never reach or exceed 30%,
hence the MOR in bending may be
some value between dry and green.

MOR vs. Toughness
Although MOR in bending is the
strength property most commonly
cited when comparing different
woods, it is not always the most useful
measure of mechanical properties for
boatbuilders. This is particularly true
when considering wood framing that
may have varying MCs.
MOR in bending is determined
under what is known as “static loading”
conditions. Basically, this means that a
force is applied extremely slowly until
the test beam fails by rupturing. As we

all know, boats are often subjected to
pounding in rough seas or coming in
to a dock too quickly. These are examples of “dynamic loading.” Mechanical engineers working with wood have
developed two different tests to simulate dynamic loading. The one that
is used most often is called “impact
bending” and is included in the same
strength properties tables where
we find the MOR values in the Wood
Handbook. The test involves dropping
a hammer of given weight on a beam
from ever increasing heights until rupture occurs or the beam deflects more
than 6". The number in the table represents the height in millimeters from
which the falling weight finally caused
rupture.
Of course, each time the weight
is dropped without causing rupture,
some residual damage still occurs. So
the values are rather imprecise. However, they provide a way of comparing
our wood to another one, and green
wood to dry wood.
A better but seldom-used test for
dynamic loading is the “toughness
test.” A special machine with a weighted
pendulum applies a rapid load to a
beam, causing complete failure. The
energy required to cause rupture

100 • WoodenBoat 210

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7/23/09 1:04 PM

therefore, the dry and green strength
values for dynamic loading are similar.
The simple lesson from this long
explanation is that boats built with
hardwoods by traditional methods will
tolerate even greater dynamic loads as
the boat reaches its equilibrium moisture content. For softwoods, the difference will be smaller or apparently
unchanged. For wood/epoxy or other
sandwich construction where water

is excluded, dynamic strength will be
unchanged after immersion. 
Dr. Richard Jagels is a professor of forest biology at the University of Maine, Orono. Please
send correspondence to Dr. Jagels to the care of
WoodenBoat.

1 This page number is from the reprinted
version of the Wood Handbook by Lee Valley
Tools, www.leevalley.com; the table number is
the same in both versions.

If you ever tire of looking at this gorgeous calendar, let us know
and we’ll call the doctor. Since 1983, it has featured the always
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photographs by Benjamin Mendlowitz. Opens to 12˝ x 24˝.

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is calculated from the difference
between the initial and final angles
of the pendulum. The Wood Handbook has toughness values for a few
woods in tables 4-8 and 4-9. Many labs
lack a toughness testing machine, so
published values for toughness are rare.
In the table I have produced here,
I have combined selected values from
the Wood Handbook for three bending
tests: MOR, impact bending, and
tough­ness, for both green and dry
wood.
If we first examine the MOR column, we see that values for green
wood are consistently less than for
dry wood and the differential is
roughly 35% to 40%. If we now look
at impact bending, we see that the values are reversed and the height of the
dropped weight is greater for green
wood than for dry wood—except for
the softwoods. Here, the differential
is either lacking, as in the case of loblolly pine, or slightly favoring the dry
wood, as with Douglas-fir and Eastern
white pine.
We should expect toughness values
to be similar to impact values, and we
are not disappointed. Here, the softwoods follow the same trend as the
hardwoods, but the differential is less,
or, in the case of Douglas-fir, seemingly
lacking. Thus, for dynamically applied
loads, hardwoods are stronger when
green than when dry. Natural selection
over millions of years has maximized
dynamic strength at the MC of a living
tree so that it can withstand natural
stresses such as high winds.
Why are the impact and toughness values not consistent for the softwoods? An examination of both impact
and toughness values for all of the softwoods in the Wood Handbook reveal the
same kinds of inconsistencies. I don’t
have a ready explanation, but one possibility may be related to the different kinds of lignin in hardwoods and
softwoods. Softwoods evolved earlier
than hardwoods and contain a lignin
that is chemically different from that
in hardwoods. For comparable densities, both green and dry softwoods
are generally stiffer (meaning they
have a higher modulus of elasticity,
or MOE) than hardwoods. This suggests that the lignin in softwoods may
not soften as readily with increases
in wood moisture. Instead of absorbing a large component of a rapidly
applied load by bending before rupturing, as green hardwoods do, softwoods remain stiffer when green and,

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Spokeshaves
Rabbet Plane
Another “good
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If you plan to use a spokeshave more than just occasionally, consider
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WBStoreWB210_1-2.indd 2

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Designed for removing paint, glue, varnish,
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7/20/09 5:28:20 PM

DuoSharp Bench Stones
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Taper Drills Boxed Set
Set of 5 taper (pointy, not
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Reduces hand fatigue and evens-out blade pressure.
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REVIEW

PRODUCTS • BOOKS • VIDEOS • STUFF

Live Yankees:

The Sewalls and Their
Ships
Live Yankees: The Sewalls and Their Ships, by W.H. Bunting. Tilbury House Publishers (Gardiner, Maine) and
Maine Maritime Museum (Bath, Maine), 2009. Hardcover, 496 pp., ISBN 978–0–88448–315–1. $30.

Reviewed by Niles Parker

L

ive Yankees: The Sewalls and Their Ships, by Maine
historian W.H. Bunting, is a gem of a book. While
it’s a compilation of numerous stories, letters, and
accounts of one of the most influential shipping families (and shipping towns) of the 19th and early 20th
centuries, Bunting’s arrangement and interpretation of
this material results in a colorful tapestry of the realities of 19th-century American maritime commerce and
society. Bunting had rich source material. The Sewall
family papers are a treasure trove—an assemblage of
documents now in the collection of the Maine Maritime
Museum in Bath that span nearly two centuries. Thanks
to the care of the Sewall family and the museum staff,
the collections have been well preserved and archived
but little used. Bunting’s charge was to create a story
that was “both readable and able to withstand scholarly
scrutiny.” He has succeeded.
Bunting’s task was a tall one: As he explains in his
foreword, “Writing a book such as this is fundamentally a
matter of selecting certain information while excluding
a great deal more. Not only is subjectivity unavoidable,
but it is precisely what the author is supposed to bring to
the table.” While one might wonder about some of the
materials that must have been omitted given the sheer
volume of the Sewall family papers and the diversity of
the records from which Bunting had to choose, one can
only find pleasure in those selections that he has chosen
and analyzed here.

Over the course of the past 100 years, 19th-century
maritime New England has, for many, taken on a popular romantic gloss, with images of square-rigged ships
and exciting tales of glory from around the globe. What
has been less understood is the “make a buck at any
cost,” hyper-competitive business practices that dominated the maritime and shipping interests at that time.
This book and the analysis of these records does a great
service by allowing the reader to see just beneath the
commonly accepted veneer of genteel 19th-century society and better comprehend the realities of business in a
very complex network of industries. It was this business
ethic, so evident in many of the stories cited here, that
was the inspiration for the title. As the author explains,
September/October 2009 • 105

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7/28/09 4:20 PM

Woodenboat Review

Creating The Ship’s Half Model ...

“‘Live Yankees were a 19th-century strain of New Englander known for their enterprising hustle in the pursuit of the almighty dollar. The extreme clipper ship
LIVE YANKEE, built at Rockland, Maine, in 1853, was the
most notable of the vessels named in their honor.”
Bunting’s thorough analysis of the Sewall family
records and business papers reveals wonderfully entertaining stories that allow a glimpse into their 19thcentury world—a remarkably competitive one that
demanded profits often achieved through Yankee stubbornness, determination, manipulation, and sometimes
worse. Several generations of the Sewall family worked
to establish a vertically integrated business structure
that took advantage of opportunities whenever possible.
Bunting cites documents and excerpts from contracts
that refer to the family’s involvement in shipbuilding,
railroads, ice companies, coal delivery, lumber, guano,
and real estate, among other industries. This diverse
portfolio of enterprises protected them in economic
downturns or the shifting of specific markets. As Bunting notes, “The Sewalls preferred to keep their ships at
work; in the 1870s they sent them into the guano trade,
and in the 1880s put them into the difficult coal trade
from British Columbia. Even if the ships were earning
little or no profit for their owners, as managers, the
Sewalls continued to make money from fees and commissions, and the ships did not dry out. Also, they sold
ships and built bigger ones to replace them.”
Some of the most fascinating reading comes not from
the words of the ship owners (though their Letters of
Instruction to the captains and other responses regarding terms of payment are very revealing) but from the
letters written by the captains themselves. Experiences
described range from discipline problems with the crew,
to mutiny, sickness, interactions with natives of the Solomon Islands, storms, problems with the ships, or discrepancies about payments or lack thereof. These writings,
when considered as reports back to their bosses, are
particularly interesting. And, as is the case with many
ROANOKE, launched in 1892 at the Arthur Sewall & Co. shipyard in Bath, Maine, was 345’ LOA, the largest square-rigger
ever built.

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Seattle, WA 98117
(206) 789-3713
www.halfhull.com

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Since 1790 the
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Today it has become
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cherished a lifetime.

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Maine Maritime Museum

Woodenboat Review

Bales of cotton await loading on Atlantic Wharf in Charleston,
South Carolina, after the Civil War. Cotton was one of many
commodities carried in Sewall ships.

family businesses, personal relationships can often
come into play, complicating the operations; Sewall
family members involved in the wide-ranging business
did not always see eye to eye. The back-and-forth letters
in the spring of 1894 between cousins Capt. Joe Sewall
and ship owner Arthur Sewall highlight the growing
rift between owner and captain. Joe Sewall had physical
changes made to the bark SUSQUEHANNA while in Liverpool without approval of the owners. The subsequent
letters from both men reveal a classic management conflict, and business, not family, was the priority. Live Yankees, indeed.
Letters like these throughout the book make for
enlightening and entertaining reading; the author’s
research and interpretation are illuminating, as are his
explanations of certain terms in his endnotes/appendices. A number of wonderful photographs identify the
individual Sewalls and their ships. From this compilation emerges an understanding of a family empire that
used all of its means to maintain and promote its interests. Aboard their fleet of wooden-hulled, square-rigged
ships they carried Maine, and American, maritime
interests through the 19th century into the dawn of the
modern industrial age.
Live Yankees provides insight not only into the details of
the Sewall family enterprises, but into the far larger story
of Yankee tenacity and economic drive that, for better
and for worse, shaped American business practices and
commerce well into the 20th century.
Niles Parker is executive director of the Penobscot Marine Museum in
Searsport, Maine.

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September/October 2009 • 107

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Woodenboat Review

Flotsam and
Jetsam
Flotsam and Jetsam: The Collected Adventures, Opinions,
and Wisdom from a Life Spent Messing About in Boats, by
Robb White. Breakaway Books (Halcottsville, New York,
www.breakawaybooks.com), 2009. Paperback, 568 pp.,
ISBN 978–1–891369–83–4. US $19.95 / CAN $21.95.

Reviewed by Bob Hicks

T

If You DesIgn Boats or KIts,
We’D LIKe to Hear from You
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and for our readers
We are building a directory at woodenboat.com

with all commercially available plans
and kits. It is our hope that, with your
help, we will have a vast online database: To help our readers find their next
boat to build, and to help you sell your
plans and kits.
You must have full ownership of these plans.

You will be able to post profile, accommodation, and midsection plans, and
photos of your boat (if she has been
built). And you may post as many plans
and kits as you want.
please email
[email protected] and I will give
you access to the site. Once we build
sufficient volume, we will make this
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If this appeals to you,

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hree years ago this spring, our small-boat world lost
Robb White in his prime, a sad event for all who
knew him in person or through his writing. While his
loss was most grievous for his family and closest friends,
Robb, building boats and writing from his home in
Georgia, had established a wide-ranging connection
with many who read and enjoyed his work.
Over the course of nine years, Robb’s writing appeared
in every issue of Messing About in Boats—209 essays in all.
His pieces were also published in this magazine, in Maine
Boats, Homes, & Harbors, in Smithsonian magazine, and
in a book, How to Build a Tin Canoe (Hyperion, 2004).
I never got to meet Robb; the 1,200 miles between our
homes were never bridged, and we talked only a couple
of times on the phone. Instead, we carried on correspondence, as neither of us were online. Through our letters,
we realized we shared a penchant for unhurried, enjoyably paced lives; as we were both self-employed without
employees, such an approach to life was possible. I was
looking forward to, at last, meeting Robb at the MidAtlantic Small Craft Festival in Maryland in the fall of
2006 when he was scheduled to be the featured speaker;
sadly he was gone by then.
Aware of how many people treasured and enjoyed his
views on the topics (not always only about boats) he
chose to discuss over the years in his published essays,
his family has joined with Breakaway Books to put
together a compilation of Robb’s best work. The book,
Flotsam and Jetsam, includes over 100 of his best essays in
one handy 568-page paperback. And for those who may
have heard of Robb but came too late on the scene
to have read his work, it is sure to be a revelation—The
Collected Adventures, Opinions, and Wisdom from a Life Spent
Messing About in Boats.
Garth Battista, publisher of Breakaway Books, sent
along a long list of words that Robb had used in his
writings that challenged their human copy-editor/
proofreader in her efforts to be sure they were consistently spelled right in the text when it was typeset. This
is not uncommon when a subject has so much jargon
familiar only to those who pursue it, and boating has
a lot of jargon. But many of Robb’s words were pure
Robb; here are a few of the over 250 on Garth’s list:
Bejesus, butt-head skiff, button bush, campecheinsis
quahog, cattywompus, choke rig, doodad, doohickey,
epoxify, goddamighty, jackleg, jimmy-john, Joe-harrow,

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Woodenboat Review

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limesink, mis-lick, mumbleypeg, pelecypod, redbellies,
re-stomped, skeedaddle, skiffboat, stagger bush, whichaway, wigglework wo-outy. You knew what he meant when
you encountered these words in context, and they enlivened his writing style. Robb’s writing was that sort that
comes across like he is right there talking to you, and
you find yourself wanting to respond to his remarks.
When you read (or reread) the essays in Flotsam and Jetsam, see if you don’t find yourself wanting to do just that,
respond, talk with Robb about what he has to say.
Robb’s wife, Jane, dedicated the book to “messers
everywhere who have learned that the important thing
ain’t comfort, it’s joy.” There are many more such philosophical views on life scattered amongst his stories
throughout the book. My own favorite appears in his
“Dead Man’s Boat,” a story about a last-minute specialorder boat for an elderly man who died just before
Robb could deliver the boat. The family asked him to
complete it so they could use it to float a grandchild
out on their pond to scatter Gramp’s ashes. Robb came
through, but the special varnish the old man had specified didn’t quite dry, and quite a lot of Gramp came off
the pond still on the boat. Robb’s “moral” to this tale
was, “Don’t wait until you are dead to do your messing.”
Robb is gone, but his writing lives on in this book, a
valuable legacy for all of us who enjoy messing about in
boats.

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Orono, Maine 04473 • 207-866-4867

Bob Hicks is founder and editor of Messing About in Boats magazine.
He lives in Wenham, Massachusetts.

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Woodenboat Review

HOW TO
REACH US
TO ORDER FROM OUR STORE:
To order back issues, books, plans, model kits, clothing, or our
catalog, call The WoodenBoat Store, Toll-Free, Monday through
Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. EST (Saturdays, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00
p.m. EST.)

1-800-273-SHIP (7447) (U.S. & CANADA)
207-359-4647 (Overseas)
24-Hour FAX 207-359-2058
Internet: http://www.woodenboatstore.com
Email: [email protected]

ON-LINE SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES:
Internet: http://www.woodenboat.com
At www.woodenboat.com follow the link to WoodenBoat
Subscriptions to order, give a gift, renew, change address, or check
your subscription status (payment, expiration date).

TO ORDER A SUBSCRIPTION:
To order a subscription (new, renewal, gift) call Toll-Free,
Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., CT
Saturday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., CT:

1-800-877-5284 (U.S. and Canada)
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Internet: http://www.woodenboat.com

TO CALL ABOUT YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:
If you have a question about your subscription, an address
change, or a missing or damaged issue, call Toll-Free,
Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., CT
Saturday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., CT:

1-800-877-5284 (U.S. & CANADA)
1-386-246-0192 (Overseas)

TO CHANGE YOUR ADDRESS:
Either call 1-800-877-5284 or write to our subscription department (address below) AS SOON AS YOU KNOW YOUR NEW
ADDRESS. Please don’t depend on your post office to notify us.
Please give us your old address as well as your new when you
notify us, and the date your new address becomes effective.

TO CALL OUR EDITORIAL, ADVERTISING,
AND BOAT SCHOOL OFFICES:
Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., EST:

207-359-4651; FAX 207-359-8920

TO WRITE:
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For anything else:

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<[email protected]>

OVERSEAS SUBSCRIPTION OFFICES:
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The Netherlands
(CE tax included)
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Email: [email protected]
Website: www.evecom.eu

FeatherBow
A featherboard you’ll
actually use
Reviewed by Karen Wales

F

eatherboards, those feather-edged, usually wooden
guides that steady a board as it is fed through a
tablesaw or router table, are like the seatbelts of the
woodworking shop. No one will dispute that they promote safety, and yet while many shops have an array of
featherboards, these important safety devices often go
unused. In the field, there can be pressure to gallop
through a job. In the home shop, trying to figure out
the best featherboard designs for the greatest utility can
seem like a time-waster. If you appreciate what a featherboard can do for you but are sometimes (or often)
neglectful of using one, the easy-to-use FeatherBow may
be a good alternative for you. It’s a featherboard that
you’ll actually use.
Among the problems with shop-made featherboards (and why some of us fail to use them as often
as we should) are that they are time-consuming to set
up and dial in, sometimes requiring fussy fore-and-aft
alignment between the mating edges of the featherboard and the wood. Because the FeatherBow’s friction surface forms an arc, it does not require this fine
adjustment; simply abut it to the board’s edge and rip
(or rout). The FeatherBow will adapt to a variety of ripping (or routing) jobs, so you may opt to leave it on
the machine between operations. If you must remove it
from the table, it will be quick work to reinstall, locking
handily into a standard (3⁄8" deep • 3⁄4" wide) miter track.
The main body of the unit (the green part) is composed of Celcon plastic, which gives the “bow” excellent
stiffness while retaining enough flexibility to adapt to a
variety of friction levels. Tightening the bow feels a little
like flattening a water balloon. The friction-producing
surface spreads out slightly as the device becomes
tighter, increasing its purchase on the board’s edge. Be

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Woodenboat Review

sure to use the rounded edge against the wood—never
the feathered edge.
An accessory worth consideration, though not a part
of this review, is the FeatherBow Jr. This is a set of two,
smaller bows that can be mounted vertically on a modified fence for added stability as the board passes alongside the fence.
While I admire the thinking behind the FeatherBow
and FeatherBow Jr. units, I’m less enthusiastic about
their accompanying push-sticks. While any push-stick is
usually better than no push-stick, the ones included in
this package are thin, hard plastic (potentially slippery)
ones. Let’s just say that I wouldn’t run uphill for them. A
company spokesman reported that they are considering
dropping them.
Some of my good old wooden featherboards still
have a place in my shop, but they won’t see the day-today action that the FeatherBow will. After all, the best
safety device is the one that gets used. Remember, when
all is said and done, we still want to be able to count to
“ten” at five o’clock.
The FeatherBow is available for $29.95 from Mystic Works
LLC, 137 Trout Stream Dr., Vernon, CT 06066; 860–209–
5786; www.featherbow.com.
Karen Wales is WoodenBoat’s associate editor.

Books Received
Building the PT Boats, by Frank J. Andruss, Sr. Published by Nimble Books, 1521 Martha Ave., Ann Arbor,
MI 48103, www.nimblebooks.com. 192 pp., paperback, $37.00, ISBN–13: 978–1–934840–85–6, ISBN–10:
1–934840–85–8. Over 150 photographs show the construction processes of PT boats by the Elco Naval Division, Higgins
Industries, and Huckins Yacht Corporation.
Waterline Dioramas: A Modelbuilder’s Artform, by Justin F.
Camarata. Published by SeaWatchBooks, LLC, 19 Sea
Watch Place, Florence, OR 97439. 228 pp., hardcover,
$50. ISBN: 978–0–9820579–2–6. Another treasure for model
builders from Sea Watch Books; see Tom Jackson’s review of
VALKENISSE in WB No. 208.
*Chris-Craft Boats, by Anthony Mollica, Jr. and Jack Savage. Published by Voyageur Press, Quayside Publishing
Group, 400 First Ave. North, Suite 300, Minneapolis,
MN 55401. 192 pp., just reprinted, now in paperback,
$24.99. ISBN: 978–0–7603–3631–1. If you never get tired
of looking at meticulously varnished runabouts, you’ll want
this book.
The Barge Coast of Suffolk, Essex, and Kent, by Robert Simper. Published by Creekside Publishing, Plumtree Hall,
Ramsholt, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3AD, England;
www.creeksidepublishing.co.uk. 128 pp., hardcover,
$16.95. ISBN; 0–953–85068–4. Volume 4 of the “Coast in
the Past” series, which covers all manner of historic craft of the
United Kingdom.

Separate classes in ALL events:
Racing and Cruising.
All wooden boats are now competitive.
Sponsored by:

H Heritage Marine Insurance and
WoodenBoat magazine H
Aug. 21-23 Herreshoff Rendezvous & Regatta
Herreshoff Museum, Bristol, RI;
Sara Watson; [email protected];
401-253-5000, x. 220

Sept. 5-6 Classic Yacht Regatta
I.Y.R.S./Museum of Yachting,
Newport, RI;
Susan Daly; [email protected];
401-848-5777

Sept. 11-12 Race Rock Regatta
Stonington, CT;
Jim Cassidy; jim@heritagemarine
insurance.com; 860-572-5908

Sept. 18-19 Greenport Classic Yacht Regatta
Greenport, NY;
Jeff Goubeaud; [email protected];
631-871-2588

Sept. 25-26 Governor’s Cup Regatta
Connecticut River Museum, Essex, CT;
Lance Senning; [email protected];
860-388-7942

Oct. 2-3 Heritage Cup Regatta
Glen Cove, NY;
Mike Emmert; [email protected];
516-647-3105

Oct. 10 New York Classic Week Regatta
Manhattan, NY;
Michael Fortenbaugh; [email protected];
212-786-3323
It is not possible to enter the Series as a single entry;
you must enter each event individually.
General questions should be addressed to Bill Doyle at
[email protected]; 401-848-0111.

September/October 2009 • 111

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Woodenboat Review

The Annotated Sailing Alone Around the World, by Joshua
Slocum, annotated by Rod Scher. Published by Sheridan
House, Inc., 145 Palisade St., Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522.
212 pp., paperback, $19.95. ISBN: 978–1–57409–275–2.
Scher explains Slocum’s text paragraph by paragraph, defining
nautical terms, offering news of Slocum’s day, and locating
geographic points on his journey.
Power Boating for Dummies, by Randy Vance. Wiley
Publishing, Inc., 111 River St., Hoboken, NJ 07030,
www.wiley.com. 368 pp., paperback, $21.99. ISBN: 978–
0–470–40956–5. Like the other books in the “Dummies” series,
this covers the basics: How to tie up to a dock, choose an anchor,
turn off an engine, and much more.

Caddell Dry Dock: 100 Years Harborside, by Erin Urban. Published by Noble Maritime Collection, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY 10301. 115 pp., hardcover, $40.00.
ISBN: 978–0–96230–173–5. A photographic history of one of the
last remaining shipyards in New York Harbor.

New from WoodenBoat Books

Whiskey Gulf: A Charlie Noble Suspense Novel, by Clyde
Ford. Published by Vanguard Press, 387 Park Ave. South,
New York, NY 10016. 288 pp., paperback, $24.95. ISBN:
978–159315–485–1. Private investigator Charlie Noble and
his partner, Raven, solve another crime in the waters around
Washington’s San Juan Islands. In this mystery, he investigates the disappearance of a sailboat.
Best of Bar Harbor, by Greg Hartford. Published by
Down East Books, P.O. Box 79, Camden, ME 04843,
www.downeast.com. 64 pp., hardcover, $15.95. ISBN:
978–0–89272–794–0. Pictures of Bar Harbor and other parts
of Mount Desert Island create a pleasant memento of a trip to
Maine’s most famous island.
A Field Guide to Seashells and Shellfish of the Pacific Northwest, by Rick Harbo. Published by Harbour Publishing,
P.O. Box 219, Madeira Park, BC, V0N 2H0, Canada;
www.harbourpublishing.com. 8-page laminated pamphlet, $7.95. ISBN–13: 978–1–55017–417–5, ISBN–10:
1–55017–417–7. Photographs and facts about the bivalves
and univalves of the Northwest.
American Coastal Rescue Craft: A Design History of Coastal
Rescue Craft Used by the United States Life-Saving Service and
United States Coast Guard, by William D. Wilkinson and
Cmdr. Timothy R. Dring, Ret. Published by University Press
of Florida, 15 Northwest 15th St., Gainesville, FL. 185 pp.,
hardcover. ISBN: 978–0–8130–3334–1. A well-documented
history of the variations in design and use of rescue craft.
Handbook of Offshore Cruising: The Dream and Reality
of Modern Ocean Cruising, by Jim Howard. Revised and
Updated by Charles J. Doane. Published by Sheridan
House, Inc., 145 Palisade St., Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522.
448 pp., paperback, $29.95. ISBN 978–1–57409–279–0.
An up-to-date edition of the 1994 book considered one of the most
complete guides for those sailing offshore. Covers the boat, its systems, the voyage, and times in port.
Monhegan: A Guide to Maine’s Fabled Island, by Mark
Warner. Published by Down East Books, P.O. Box
679, Camden, ME 04843. 56 pp., paperback, $14.95.
ISBN: 978–0–89272–721–6. The many photographs in this
book will serve as both a guide to and keepsake of a visit to
Monhegan Island.

*Rowable Classics: Wooden Single Sculling Boats &
Oars, by Darryl J. Strickler. WoodenBoat Books,
P.O. Box 78, Brooklin, ME 04616, www.woodenboat
store.com. 141 pp., hardcover, $29.95. ISBN–13:
978–0–937822–96–8, ISBN–10: 0–937822–96–5. The
fine rowing craft of several builders from England and continental Europe, Australia, the United States, and Canada
are profiled, along with a comprehensive discussion of oars.
From the book: “For many owners of wooden sculling boats,
the boat itself is the destination.... The visceral experience
created by wind and water, wood and varnish, and the
glide and recovery is more than enough to bring the owners
back again and again.”

DVDs
Finishing Techniques for Wooden Boats, with Gary Lowell. Produced by Gary Lowell, Lowell Boats, 708 Guilford Ave., Greensboro, NC 27401; www.lowell.to/boat.
$24.95. This how-to by a WoodenBoat School instructor and
North Carolina boatbuilder recently won an Aegis Award
and has been accredited by ABYC.
* Sailors’ Knots & Splices. Published by WoodenBoat Books,
P.O. Box 78, Brooklin, ME 04616, www.woodenboatstore.
com. $19.95. A DVD remake of the popular video created in 1987.
* How to Build the Nutshell Pram. Published by Wooden­
Boat Books, P.O. Box 78, Brooklin, ME 04616, www.
woodenboatstore.com. $21.95. This DVD remake of the
1985 video complements the Nutshell Pram kit.
* Available from The WoodenBoat Store, www.woodenboatstore.com.

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Compiled by Robin Jettinghoff

Continuing through October 3
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
Events
St. Michaels, Maryland
The 12th Annual Boat Auction,
offering all kinds of boats for auction,
is on September 5. The Boating Party,
the museum’s fall gala fundraiser, is
on September 12. The Mid-Atlantic
Small Craft Festival, a premier smallcraft event, is on October 3 from 10
a.m. to 5 p.m. Chesapeake Bay Maritime
Museum, P.O. Box 636, St. Michaels, MD
21663; 410–745–2916 ext. 136;
www.cbmm.org.
Continuing through October 10
WoodenBoat Classic Regatta Series
Various locations, Connecticut
and New York
On September 25 and 26, the
Governor’s Cup Regatta will be
held in Essex, Connecticut. Glen
Cove, New York, hosts the Heritage
Cup Regatta on October 2 and 3.
The season closes in Manhattan on
October 10 with the New York Classic
Week Regatta. Event information, Bill
Doyle, [email protected].
WoodenBoat Classic Regatta Series,
P.O. Box 188, Mystic, CT 06355.
Continuing through October 13
Lecture Series
Bristol, Rhode Island
The Herreshoff Marine Museum’s
monthly lecture series continues on
September 8 and October 13. Both
lectures are at 7 p.m. The museum
closes for the season on October 31.
Herreshoff Marine Museum, 1 Burnside
St., Bristol, RI 02809–0450;
401–253–5000; www.herreshoff.org.
Continuing through January 3, 2010
Pirates, Privateers, and Freebooters
Montréal, Québec, Canada
Learn about the history of pirates in
North America. Event information,
Catherine Roberge, croberge@pacmusee.
qc.ca. Montréal Museum of Archaeology
and History, 350 Place Royale, Old
Montréal, QC, H2Y 3Y5, Canada;
514–872–9150; www.pacmusee.qc.ca.

September
16–19 Wolfeboro Vintage Race Boat Regatta
Wolfeboro, New Hampshire
Held at the public docks. Follow it up
with the Annual Fall Foliage Cruise
on Saturday October 10.
Event information, Regatta: Bill John,
603–569–5824 or John1948@metrocast.
net. Cruise: Charlie Train,
603–569–4265 or tdanmar288@aol.
com. Sponsored by New England Chapter,
Antique & Classic Boat Society,
www.necacbs.org.
19 Classic and Wooden Boat Show
Point Pleasant, New Jersey
At the New Jersey Museum of Boating
(building 12), Johnson Brothers
Boat Yard, at the foot of Bay Avenue.
ACBS-judged show, free admission
and parking. Stu Sherk, 610–296–4878
or Bob O’Brien, 732–295–2072.

Anthony Leone

East

On October 10 and 11, 2009, the Madisonville (Louisiana) Wooden Boat Festival will
celebrate 20 years on the banks of the Tchefuncte River. Presented by the Lake
Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum, this event attracts over one hundred classic
boats and more than 30,000 spectators.

Barnegat Bay Chapter, Antique & Classic
Boat Society, P.O. Box 155, Bay Head, NJ
08742–0155; 610–296–4878.

October


3 Fall Boat Show and River Cruise
Wrightsville, Pennsylvania
An annual event, now in its 11th year,
to be held at the Long Level Marina.
Event information, Brian Gagnon, 856–
727–9264, or bgagnon@globalindustries.
com. Sponsored by Philadelphia Chapter,
ACBS, c/o Brian Gagnon, 737 Mill St.,
Moorestown, NJ 08057; www.acbsphl.org.
13–17 Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race
Baltimore, Maryland
About 35 schooners are expected
for this annual race, dedicated to
the Bay’s maritime heritage and
preservation of natural resources,
and which runs from Baltimore,
Maryland, to Portsmouth, Virginia.
The Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race,
P.O. Box 8176, Norfolk, VA 23503;
757–362–0001; www.schoonerrace.org.
17 Bithell Cup R/C VM Invitational
Regatta
Marblehead, Massachusetts
Radio-controlled model yacht racing
at Redd’s Pond. Event information, John
Snow, 781–631–4203, jsnowj@comcast.
net. U.S. Vintage Model Yacht Group,
78 East Orchard St., Marblehead, MA
01945; www.swcp.com/usvmyg.

November


7 East Coast Open Water Rowing
Championships
Plymouth, Massachusetts
Open to fixed- or sliding-seat racers
on a course of less than four miles
with three hard turns. Classes for

every type of rowing boat as well as
separate classes for men and women,
but no junior class and no paddlers.
Plan to stay for the medals ceremony
and party afterwards at the East Bay
Grill under the tent next to the town
ramp. Event information, Peter Smith,
Saquish Rowing Education Society,
Plymouth, MA; 508–888–6658;
[email protected].

South
Continuing through May 2, 2010
Exhibit: “Workboats of Core Sound”
Raleigh, North Carolina
An exhibit featuring the photographs
of Lawrence S. Earley, looking at the
boatbuilders and traditions of the
Core Sound region. Susan Lamb at
[email protected]. North Carolina
Museum of History, 5 East Edenton St.,
4650 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC
27699–4650; 919–807–7900; www.
ncmuseumofhistory.org.

September
25–26 Antique and Classic Boat Show
Raleigh, North Carolina
Sponsored by the Triangle Chapter
of the Antique & Classic Boat
Society, of the Raleigh, Durham,
and Chapel Hill areas, the in-thewater show will be at Lake Wheeler
in Raleigh. Event information, Kevin
Leiner, 919–368–3412, kevin.leiner@
gmail.com, or www.vintageboat.org.
Triangle Chapter, Antique & Classic
Boat Society, 919–449–0535.
27–October 4 Tennessee River Cruise
Upper Tennessee River, Tennessee
A biennial river excursion, starting at
Chickamauga Lake and cruising the

September/October 2009 • 113

CALENDAR

Tennessee River as far as Pickwick.
Participants may travel one-way or
round trip. Event information, Ned
Smith, 901–767–1635 or nedsmithtn@
cs.com. Sponsored Dixieland Chapter,
Antique & Classic Boat Society, 3293
Hoot Owl Ln., Birmingham, AL 35210;
205–956–9304.

October
9–11 Blue Ridge Chapter Annual Meeting
and Show
Clarkesville, Georgia
At LaPrades Marina on Lake Burton.
Event information, Tom Riggle,
770–287–7737, 770–654–8939, or
[email protected]. Blue Ridge Chapter,
Antique & Classic Boat Society, 123
Mr. Johns Choice Rd., Hartwell, GA
30643–2365.
10–11 Madisonville Wooden Boat Festival
Madisonville, Louisiana
The festival, now in its 20th year, has
been billed as the largest gathering
of historic, antique, classic, and
contemporary wooden sail, power,
rowing, and steam watercraft in
the South. Presented by the Lake
Pontchartrain Basin Maritime
Museum, this event attracts over 100
classic boats, hundreds of spectator
boats, and over 30,000 wooden
boat and music enthusiasts. Event
information, contact Melanie Waddell or
Jill Stoltz, 985–845–9200, or wbf@lpbmm.
org., or see www.woodenboatfest.org for
more information. Lake Pontchartrain
Basin Maritime Museum, 133 Mabel Dr.,
Madisonville, LA 70447; www.lpbmm.org.
17 Georgetown Wooden Boat Show
Georgetown, South Carolina
Teams from Beaufort, North Carolina,
and Georgetown, South Carolina, will

Photographer Larry S.
Earley has spent the last
four years documenting
fishing boats used in
the communities of
North Carolina. His
photo­graphs are on
exhibit at the North
Carolina Museum of
History in Raleigh until
May of 2010.

compete in the National Boat Building
Challenge. For Wooden Boat Show
information, Sally Swineford,
[email protected]. National Boat
Building Challenge information, Susan
Hibbs, [email protected].
Georgetown Wooden Boat Show,
P.O. Box 2228, Georgetown, SC 29442;
877–285–3888; www.woodenboatshow.com.
23–25 Gathering of Boatbuilders
Guntersville, Alabama
Organized and carried out by
members of the Glen-L forum. Open
to home-built boats of all types. Event
information, Gayle Brantuk at Gayle@
Glen-L.com. Glen-L Marine Designs,
9152 Rosecrans Ave., Bellflower, CA
90706; 562–630–6258;
www.Glen-L.com.
23–25 Pickwick State Park Rendezvous and
Boat Show
Pickwick Dam, Tennessee
Festivities held at the Pickwick
Landing State Park Lodge beginning
Friday at 8 a.m. and continuing
until Sunday night at 11 p.m. Event
information, Ned Smith, 901–767–1635
or [email protected]. Sponsored by
Dixieland Chapter, Antique & Classic
Boat Society, 3293 Hoot Owl Ln.,
Birmingham, AL 35210; 205–956–9304.

Central
September
11–13 Michigan Schooner Festival
Traverse City, Michigan
Schooners, classic yachts, food, music,
tours, boat rides, grand parade of
sail, cannon shooting, and other
merriment. Jenn Toteff, Events North,
10248 Fishers Run, Traverse City, MI

49864; 231–392–6258;
[email protected].
20–26 34th Annual Meeting and
International Boat Show
Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada
Events all week sponsored by the
Toronto ACBS Chapter. Antique &
Classic Boat Society, Toronto, P.O. Box
675 Canada Post, 169 The Donway West,
Don Mills, ON, M3C 2T8, Canada;
416–299–3311; www.acbs.ca.
25–27 Geneva Lakes Boat Show
Fontana, Wisconsin
At the Abbey Resort. Event information,
Matt Byrne, 630–802–2698,
[email protected], or look at www.
GenevaLakesBoatShow.com. Sponsored by
Blackhawk Chapter, Antique & Classic
Boat Society, www.blackhawkacbs.com.

West
Continuing through November 7
Ancient Mariners Sailing Society
Events
San Diego, California
The San Diego to Ensenada Race is
on October 2, and the last three 20
Guinea Cup races will be held on
September 5 and October 10 and
November 7. Ancient Mariners Sailing
Society, P.O. Box 6484, San Diego, CA
92166; 619–688–6961; www.amss.us.

September
18–20 WCHA Northwest Chapter Fall Meet
Naches, Washington
A gathering of canoe owners and
enthusiasts for a full weekend
immersed in all things canoe. Held at
Camp Dudley on Clear Lake, 14830
Tieton Rd, Naches. Wooden Canoe
Heritage Association, Northwest Chapter,
1097 Jackson Way, Tsawwassen Delta,
BC, V4L 1W5, Canada; 604–943–3052;
www.geocities.com/nwwoodencanoe.
25–27 Norm Blanchard WOOD Regatta
Seattle, Washington
Held on Lake Union, the regatta
typically draws more than 50 boats.
WOOD stands for Wood, Open, OneDesign boats. Vern Velez, www.cwb.org.
The Center for Wooden Boats, 1010 Valley
St., Seattle, WA 98109; 206–382–2628.
25–27 West Coast Sea Kayak Symposium
Port Townsend, Washington
Located at Fort Worden State Park
Conference Center. Classes in kayak
techniques, gear swap, and more.
Contact Nikki Rekman, P.O. Box 243,
Milner, BC, V0X 1T0, Canada;
800–755–5228, [email protected],
www.wcsks.org. Cape Falcon Kayak,
P.O. Box 582, Manzanita, OR 97130;
503–368–3044;
www.capefalconkayak.com.

October
17–18 Jessica Cup
San Francisco, California
Sponsored by the St. Francis Yacht
Club. Event information, Terry Klaus,
[email protected]. Master
Mariners Benevolent Association, San
Francisco, CA 94109; 415–364–1656;
www.mastermariners.org.

114 • WoodenBoat 210

September/October 2009 • 114

SEDGWICK — Caterpillar Hill

An amazing 30 acres with breathtaking, panoramic
views of Walker’s Pond and the islands of Penobscot
Bay. Added bonus, frontage on Walker’s Pond.
MLS#831088
$1,495,000

STONINGTON — Harborside
Mansard Victorian set on the edge of the harbor.
Nice water views and access to all maritime activities. A short walk to the village.
MLS#935997
$650,000

BLUE HILL — Commercial
Excellent opportunity to purchase an established
restaurant and building in a prime village location.
Second floor apartment for additional revenue.
MLS#936223
$498,000

BROOKSVILLE — Village Setting

Warm, inviting, large sun filled rooms, an expansive modern kitchen and cozy screened in porch
welcome you. Newly renovated Colonial with an attached barn. MLS#906514
$385,000

BROOKLIN — Blue Hill Bay

Architect designed home on 5 private acres,
within feet of a fine sandy beach. Extensive views
overlooking the bay to the mountains of Acadia.
MLS#936111
$925,000

BROOKLIN — Oceanfront Acreage
Located on beautiful Naskeag Point is 26+ acres with
1,065’ on Herrick Bay. Includes a large beach and
scenic point of land.
MLS# 835220
$598,000

SEDGWICK — Caterpillar Hill
Set on 11.6 acres is a charming shingled architect
designed cottage. Enjoy absolutely breathtaking
westerly views of the island studded Penobscot Bay.
MLS#886151
$495,000

BLUE HILL — Bayview Acreage

An extraordinary 67 nicely elevated wooded acres,
once partly used as a granite quarry. Within walking distance to the Yacht Club and harbor activities.
MLS#833862
$345,000

BROOKLIN — Waterfront Home with Acreage

Vintage oceanfront property on 25 wooded acres
with 410’ of shorefrontage. Sweeping views of Blue
Hill Lighthouse and beyond.
MLS#878174
$795,000

BROOKLIN — Waterfront Home
A new sunny kitchen opens to a screened porch
overlooking the picturesque Salt Pond. Lovingly
updated and set on 9.3 nicely landscaped acres.
MLS#934861
$548,000

BROOKLIN — Naskeag Point
Lovingly renovated classic home nicely positioned
on 5 acres. A short distance from Brooklin town center, public landing, and beach.
MLS#940347
$385,000

BROOKLIN — Oceanfront Land

Lovely 2-1/2 acres of spruce, pine, and hardwood
trees with a south-easterly exposure over tranquil
Herrick Bay.
MLS#930293
$198,000

Blue Hill, ME • [email protected] • (207) 374-2321

DowneastProperties210.indd 115

7/29/09 10:09 AM

BOATBROKERS
These fine companies have specific expertise
in the care and maintenance of Riva boats.

Sales, Service and Parts

Alan Weinstein Associates Inc.
Alan Weinstein ·7490 NW 42nd Court
Lauderhill, FL 33319 · 954-747-1851
e-mail: [email protected] www.rivaguru.net

St. Lawrence Restoration Co. Inc.
Don Price · 411 Franklin St. · Clayton, NY 13624
315-686-5950 · e-mail: [email protected]
www.boatrestoration.com

Sierra Boat Co. Inc.
Herb Hall · 5146 N. Lake Blvd. · Carnelian Bay, CA 96140
530-546-2551 · e-mail: [email protected]
www.sierraboat.com

Brokerage of quality used Rivas is available.

PAGE TRADITIONAL BOATS
30 SPRING LANE ~ CUSHING, ME 04563
Tel: 207-354-8111 ~ Fax: 207-354-6297
www.PageTraditionalBoats.com

BURMA—57'6" Motorsailer – built to highest quality standards by
Nevins, 1950. Richard Davis (who drew the lines of the Hand motorsailers)
designed BURMA for maximum comfort at sea. He developed a carefully
engineered double-planked hull with a particularly handsome round
stern and with a moderate-sized sail rig that both assists the engine
and dampens roll in beam seas. BURMA’S spacious deckhouse gives
complete shelter, yet with it’s large windows provides excellent visibility.
The beautifully finished below-deck accommodations are un-crowded, with
berths for five to six, two toilet rooms, a well laid-out generous galley,
and a good full-sized engine room with GM 6-71 power, installed new 1962.
Ease of handling was another important criteria. Her original owner,
Frank Bissel, for whom she was designed and built, owned BURMA 32
years and ran her by himself some 30,000 miles.
The present owner, also a very experienced seaman, has owned BURMA
23 years and has continued to maintain her in impeccable condition, with
much attention to detail. See WB issue #97 (Nov/Dec ’90) for an article
by the owner concerning BURMA, and the design work of R.O. Davis while
with the Wm. Hand office for 15 years, and then the in-house designer
at the Henry B. Nevins Yard, during which time BURMA was built. We’ve
known BURMA for many years, and recommend her very highly.
Offering price: $375,000.

Please call Bill Page for more details, and view our website for the vessel’s
complete description with full photographs. www.PageTraditionalBoats.com
116 • WoodenBoat 210

WB210Brokers.indd 116

7/29/09 2:58 PM

33 High Street
Poole BH15 1AB, England
Tel: +44 (0) 1202 330077

92' Gentleman’s Twin Screw
Motor Schooner 1907

The epitome of dignified timeless elegance, ILONA OF
KYLESKU has an impressive naval service record & fascinating eclectic civilian history – currently owned by the
Duke of Westminster she has undergone an intensive
restoration with no expense spared and she once again
exudes the charm & finesse of an aristocratic Edwardian Lady. A spectacular yacht and opportunity with her
owner motivated to sell.

75' Fred Shepherd Gaff Schooner 1902 

CORAL is a devastatingly beautiful yacht – a “sleeping
beauty” whose 40 year period as a house boat saved
her from the whims and new fashions that developed
to spoil the character of such vessels from the 1950’s
onward and thus she remains a magnificent example of
her genre – lovingly and generously brought back to life
by her current owner over the last 18 years.

£750,000 Lying Cape Town

£1.4m Lying Spain

70' Laurent Giles Motor Yacht 1948

The sweeping elegant simplicity of WOODPECKER
is certainly memorable – her semi-displacement hull
probably represents a pinnacle in this hull form and
she has been listed as the “beau ideal” among medium
sized fast motor cruisers. A full restoration 5 years ago
ensured her original character was retained with modifications to enhance practicality as a family cruising
yacht – stunning classic contemporary interior.

€650,000

Lying Spain

58' Ed Burnett Schooner 2007

AMELIA is a supremely elegant schooner launched in
2007 – beautiful, fast and seaworthy; Burnett succeeds in
creating a yacht in the style of an earlier age whilst achieving
interior volume and retaining the subtlety that lends
performance and grace. The owner wanted a yacht that
could be sailed with family and friends in comfort - special
attention was given to some particular aspects such as
wide berths and generous space on deck to seat 6 for al
fresco dining. Her condition is faultless and her inventory
complete. It would be hard to find a yacht as ready.

60' Gannon & Benjamin Schooner 2001

Designed by Nat Benjamin and built by Gannon & Benjamin of Martha’s Vineyard whose yachts are famous for
their speed, seaworthiness, practicality and simplicity –
accommodation for 8 in four cabins she displays
superb craftsmanship both above and below deck.
REBECCA was conceived as his “dream yacht” by
her designer to combine blue water cruising with
classic racing.

£695,000 Lying UK

£875,000 Lying Spain

50' Fred Shepherd Yawl 1939

Fred Shepherd designed yachts were renowned not only
for their great beauty but more spacious accommodation than could be had in most boats of the 1930s - and
perfectly demonstrated in this case. In his book ‘Oyster
River’ George Millar gives a wonderful account of his
short-tacking AMOKURA with ease up the narrow tidal
channels and rivers of Morbihan in the 1960s - she has
moreover been maintained in beautiful condition with
appropriate refits and updates ranging from bronze
floors and refastening, all of which are well documented.

46' Philip Rhodes Yawl 1947 

63' William Fife Gaff Staysail Schooner 1911

£255,000 Lying Rhode Island

£350,000 Lying France

INFANTA has very recently taken 1st prize  in the Vintage Class at the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta 2009
as well as 2nd in their Concours d’Elegance – proving
that Rhodes boats are moderate in all aspects except
their beauty and performance. INFANTA is equipped to
cross an ocean or for a crew of 2 to day sail. It is hard
to imagine a better or easier boat for regattas crewed
by family and friends.

Rescued from neglect by her current owners in 1992
and lovingly and generously rebuilt over a four year
period – her new oak interior allows her to be enjoyed
and easily used as a family yacht; with 3 double cabins,
an extremely large galley and a saloon that sits 10
people! ELISE has a sail plan close to her original and
has proved extremely manageable both on long passage and day sailing with this configuration.

£245,000 Lying Spain

63' Camper & Nicholson Yawl 1936

Once owned by the British Royal Family and designed
by Charles E Nicholson at the height of his powers.
BLOODHOUND is the yacht Prince Charles and
Princess Anne learned to sail on – she has an enviable
pre-war racing record with victory in the 1939 Fastnet
race. After an impressive 3 year rebuild her structure is
arguably stronger than ever and the genius of this design
combines attributes of the delicate 12 Metre class with
the more rugged characteristics of an offshore boat.

£885,000 Lying UK

30' William Fife Cork One Design 1897

Designed by William Fife III and immaculately restored
by Fairlie Restorations in 2002 – a much admired yacht
with her powerful rig and generous freeboard she has
successfully taken on the cream of the Mediterranean
gaff class and won! JAP is always stored in her own
40’ container and must be the ultimate in easy regatta
participation - or she could be a Fife to fit on a super
yacht perhaps?

£215,000 Lying UK

57' Sparkman & Stephens Yawl 1954

The CCA rating rule, S&S with Abeking & Rasmussen
came together to create IMPALA – even in an era noted
for creation of fine boats, she was considered a particular
beauty. In a tribute to the late Olin Stephens, the current
owner of 18 years wrote; “…I have sailed her now a long
time and a long way, and through each watch and over
each mile she has protected with her strength, calmed
with her simplicity, comforted with her gentle helm and
inspired with her beauty…” need we say more?

$900,000 Lying US

41' G.L Watson Sloop 1961

Built out of teak by Moody’s in 1961 when they were
at the height of their powers! It is a joy to see an all
varnished yacht when that is what the builder always
intended – built to a 1930s design; Yachting World
commented on her conservative style and emphasis on
comfort; a great all round performer without ever putting
any great demands on her crew. VAREN has benefitted
from long and loving ownerships!

£160,000 Lying UK

42' William Fife Gaff Cutter 1903

William Fife III designed EVA to the Second Linear
Rating Rule, but she has the dimensions of an
International 8 Metre. Sympathetically restored for her
re-launch in 2003 and well known on the Mediterranean
Classic Circuit – adored by lovers of classic yachts;
sometimes winning her class and always in the running
for the Trophee au plus beau. EVA is an exquisite
example of a vintage yacht.

€440,000 Lying Spain

30' Ed Burnett Gaff Cutter 1998

Ed Burnett, in association with Nigel Irens, designed and
built by the Elephant Boatyard in 1998 ZINNIA may owe
her easy lines not a little to West Country pilot boats with
maybe just a hint of Laurent Giles and Harrison Butler. Her
extremely experienced owners wanted a yacht for offshore
and coastal sailing as sure footed and well mannered as
her looks imply and fast enough to win at gaffer events
with embarrassing ease - her condition is hard to fault.

£130,000 Lying UK

60' Alfred Mylne International 12-Metre 2006

KATE has the lines and sail plan of her 1909 sistership
JAVOTTE, but a modern construction plan engineered
by Ian Nicolson with the approval of the 12 Metre Class
– she has the instant magic of a 12-Metre, beautifully
crafted bronze hardware other stunning detail. It is the
power and simplicity of this yacht that is breathtaking
– it takes an incredible amount of planning and
understanding to get simplicity right!

$437,500 Lying Caribbean

52' Johan Anker flush deck cutter 1937

Johan Anker was an artist in yacht design and was
greatly concerned with the beauty of lines – BOJAR fails
to disappoint; in fact she is a yacht of such breathtaking
and effortless beauty, she genuinely lifts the human spirit and perhaps even defines the term “classic yacht”.
The same ownership for 28 years, short Norwegian
seasons and the quality of her timber and original build
make her truly exceptional.

€800,000 Lying Norway

email: [email protected] • www.sandemanyachtcompany.co.uk

Sandeman210.indd 117

7/30/09 2:39 PM

BOATBROKERS

– Special Announcement –

MISTRAL will become available for purchase in September 2009!

MISTRAL, the Original 64‘ on deck L.F. Herreshoff Schooner
built in 1938 at Britt Brothers, Ma., USA. 19,40 x 4,60 x 2,50m –
25 m over all. She comes from a fully documented 2-year rebuild
and a 1-year shakedown race-n‘-cruise to the Caribbean, along the
US-coast and Canada to be back for delivery in northern Europe
in September 2009. She sleeps 8 in four cabins. Fully equipped for
offshore cruising and racing, stronger than ever!
Price €uro 1,3 mil. Please call for specs and viewing details.

Baum & König Hamburg | www.classic-yachts.de | Tel +49.40.366 702 | [email protected]

Y.B.A.A.
MEMBER

Cannell, Payne
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P.O. Box 1208
Camden, Maine 04843
207–236–2383 Email: [email protected]

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e

Page
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Further details and more listings at

s

www.cppyacht.com

52' Lawley Q-Boat, 1930/2007. Extensively rebuilt &
restored by first-class builder, with new rig, sails, & a
proven successful race record. Highly recommended. ME.

PHOENIX--65' Olin Stephens Commuter by Consolidated, 1937. Twin GM diesels. Recent restoration.
Impeccable pedigree in classic motoryacht. West Coast.

BARUNA--72' S&S/Quincy Adams Yawl, 1938. 2-time
Bermuda Race overall winner. Restored. Iconic
American classic yacht. Highly recommended. West
Coast. Price reduction.

50' Kennebec Custom Long-Range Trawler/MS, 1966.
Mahogany/oak/bronze. Comfortable, nicely equipped,
& very well maintained. Rare offering. NY.

BERYL W--40' Alden/Morse Trawler Yacht, 1969.
Mahogany/oak. Cummins. Sleeps 5. Well-maintained
trawler yacht recommended as able cruiser. CT. Recent
price reduction. $70,000.

DELILAH--47' Alden LADY HELENE Ketch, 1964,
American Marine. Mahogany/oak/bronze. Sleeps 4
in roomy interior. Handsome, able yacht. MA. Asking
$300,000.

36' Ohlson 36 Yawl, 1962. Mahogany/oak/copper/
bronze. New diesel. Outstanding example of popular
design. Well maintained. NY.

42' Wheeler Motoryacht, 1956. Twin Marine Power
gas. Mahogany/oak/bronze. Spacious, very well
maintained. MD.

20' Riva Super Florida (Hull 403), 1959. Concourse
winner at the Lake Tahoe show. OK. $67,500.

NEW LISTINGS WELCOME • MORE LISTINGS AVAILABLE ON REQUEST

118 • WoodenBoat 210

WB210Brokers.indd 118

7/27/09 12:09 PM

Offers These Boats For Sale

$10,000

The proceeds from
these generously
AZURA
44' Fisher’s Island 29 by
Herreshoff
Complete refit, fast and elegant.
$98,000

donated boats will
support the many
youth-related
outreach programs
conducted by the
New Hampshire

WINTERWOOD
54' Topsail Schooner, 1964
Fast, sea kindly, professional
refit.
$190,000

1950 30 Ft. Chris-Craft Express
T- 130 HP MBL/MSO’s. 2009 Survey
Sleeps 4. Custom Trailer

$12,000

Boat Museum in

BOATBROKERS

NEW HAMPSHIRE BOAT MUSEUM

Wolfeboro, New
Hampshire.
Contact us at:
603-569-4554 or

HOPE
28' Gannon & Benjamin Yawl,
2001
Two available from $48,000

www.nhbm.org
1964 38 Ft. Chris-Craft
Challenger Salon Cruiser
T - 327 CC’s. 2006 Survey
Fore & Aft Staterooms
Sleeps 6

PO Box 1195
Wolfeboro Falls,
NH 03896

Ged Delaney – Broker, Ext. 125
Doug Weber – Broker, Ext. 124
1 (508) 563-7136

One Shipyard Lane / PO Box 408
Cataumet (Cape Cod), MA 02534
www.KingmanYachtCenter.com

C U S TO M BU I L D I N G

DESIGN

The New Hampshire Boat
Museum is a 501(c)3nonprofit
educational organization
focusing on boating heritage
and life on the lakes and rivers
of New Hampshire

R E S TO R AT I O N

These boats will be auctioned on
E-Bay in the Fall of 2009; subject
to prior sale.

B RO K E R AG E

“SEA HAWK”

“INTUITION”

Well maintained and continually
upgraded. Located: Brooklin, ME.
Asking $120,000

Fast & easy to handle. Located: Brooklin, Classic daysailer with trailer.
ME. Asking $489,000
Located: Brooklin, ME. Asking $28,000

1965, Concordia 41 yawl, 41'

2006, Modern classic sloop, 43'

“WHISPER”

“SEARENITY”

Buzzards Bay 15 includes new trailer.
Located: FL/ME. Asking $29,000

Bill Tripp design cruiser.
Located: ME. Asking $32,000

1993, Herreshoff E-Boat, 25'

DESIGN

207-359-2594
[email protected]

1959, Vineland Sloop, 32'

“DOUCE AMIE”

“KITHERA”

1947, Phil Rhodes designed daysailer, 26' 1981, Herreshoff Alerion, 26'

Spectacularly maintained, immaculate.
Located: Mount Desert, ME.
Asking $123,000

CAMDEN CLASS KNOCKABOUT HAVEN 121⁄2S

.

2009, Modern classic daysailer, 28' 1995, Joel White Havens, 16'
Newly launched & ready to go.
Located: WI. Asking $145,000

NEW CONSTRUCTION, SERVICE & RESTORATION
207-359-2236
[email protected]

Three identical gaff-rigged Havens with
trailers. Located: Mount Desert, ME.
Asking $33,000 (ea)

BROKERAGE

207-359-2193
[email protected]

P.O. Box 143, Center Harbor • Brooklin, ME 04616 USA • www.brooklinboatyard.com
September/October 2009 • 119

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Classic Wooden Boats
P.O. Box 898, Rockport, ME 04856
207-236-7048 Fax 207-230-0177 Email: [email protected]

www.davidjonesclassics.com

© Benjamin Mendlowitz

BOATBROKERS

David Jones Yacht Brokerage

Sign up for our

FREE
E-Newsletter!
Simply go to

www.woodenboat.com

and enter your email address in
the box on the right.

1938/2000 Nicholas Potter N-Class sloop 62'. Admired for her beauty
and elegance as well as her fast lines, speed and power, SERENADE
is in exemplary condition. Current survey available $880,000 (CT).

METINIC
YACHT
BROKERS

Stay in touch
with ALL we do!

EMERALD
BACCHANT
Member

124 Horseshoe Cove Rd., Harborside, Maine 04642 • 207–326–4411
— Located at Seal Cove Boatyard —

Contact: Jim Mattingly

75 SQUARE METER
Designer: Knud Reimers.
Builder: Plyms, 1936.
MINT. Cruise/race sail inventory.

YACHT-SHIP GROUP
4930 Chester Lane, #6
Racine, WI 53402
Telephone: 262/681-0600
Fax: 262/681-0601

www.emeraldyachtship.com

OLYMPIAN

GARDEN DESIGN - P CLASS SLOOP
Builder: Wood and McClure
Restoration: Brooklin Boat Yard
2006 survey.

WOODEN BOATS
FOR SALE ONLINE

1938 Concordia Yawl - Hull #1. A unique listing of “Java”,
the original Casey built Concordia yawl. Completely
rebuilt in 2003, carefully preserving the original interior
and such parts of the hull as were sound. In many ways,
this is a hull in “like new” condition. Original rig is
completely refurbished. Offered at $195,000.

www.woodenboats4sale.com

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BOATBUILDERS
Elegant & fast – no wake
Your choice of deck and cabin layout

Rumery’s Boat Yard

Rumery’s 38

Biddeford, Maine 04005
(207)282-0408
www.rumerys.com
A full service boatyard
Inside storage, custom construction
Repairs & restoration of wooden &
composite boats to 50 feet

1200 Years of

Excellence
AD 830
Designed for battle

AD 1000
Discovered America

AD 2009
Built for World Cruising

LS 55, a 55’ piece of art. By Skipavik, building ships for the North Atlantic since 1928.

www.langskip.com
September/October 2009 • 121

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BOATBUILDERS
122 • WoodenBoat 210

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Now in our 54th year!

One of the more experienced crews on the East Coast.
The result is quality workmanship.

STORAGE • REPAIRS • RESTORATION

28' Herreshoff “S-Boat” –
Brightwork and painting

48' Schooner: Murray Peterson design
– Deck & spar repairs

24.5' Custom Runabout –
Yard built & maintained

BOATBUILDERS

42' Aage Nielsen Centerboard Yawl –
Annual maintenance

Wet Winter Storage Available in Our Marina
• WOODEN BOAT SPECIALISTS •
• HULL REPAIR and
MODIFICATIONS
• PAINTING and
REFINISHING
• REPOWERING

• RIGGING CHANGES
• RAIL and LIFELINE
INSTALLATION
• AWLGRIP
• REWIRING

• ELECTRONIC
INSTALLATION
• CUSTOM FIBERGLASS
WORK
• PEDESTAL STEERING

Visit us or call. Your boat is our first concern.
70 MAPLE STREET • BRANFORD, CT 06405
(203) 488–9000 [email protected]
Visit us at: www.dutchwharf.com
September/October 2009 • 123

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a Passion for the Classics
What’s in the Boatshop at Hall’s
Complete Restorations:

 1899 32’ Electric Elco Launch
 1929 26’ Chris-Craft Triple Cockpit
Minor Repairs and Refinishing:

 Adirondack Guideboat
 1956 19’ Chris-Craft Capri
Recently Completed:
Complete restoration/repower of a
1928 22’ Chris-Craft Runabout

BOATBUILDERS

Caring for classic wooden boats
and their owners since 1928

9 Front Street • Lake George, NY

518-668-5437 www.hallsboat.com
©2009 Hall’s Boat Corporation. All rights reserved.

CUTTS & CASE
SHIPYARD
a full-service boatyard

DESIGNERS & BUILDERS
OF
FINE WOODEN YACHTS

SINCE

1927

P.O. BOX 9
TOWN CREEK
OXFORD, MD 21654
410-226-5416
124 • WoodenBoat 210

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Gannon & Benjamin
Custom designs, traditional construction, repair,
restoration, custom bronze hardware

Denys Wortman

Holmes Hole 29,
june launch

other Projects:

• 28' sloop, new construction
• 9' sailing dinghy, new construction
• 25' sloop, new frames
• 44' sloop in progress

BOATBUILDERS

Weekly updates! Check out these projects and more at

www.gannonandbenjamin.com

e-mail: [email protected]

P.O. Box 1095 • 30A Beach Rd. • Vineyard Haven, MA 02568
(508) 693–4658 • Fax (508) 693–1818

~ Beta marine enGine dealer ~

Beetle Cat® Boat Shop
Sole Builder of the Beetle Cat Boat

28' Hanley Catboat KATHLEEN on her Maiden Voyage

Custom wooden boat building and restoration from
traditional rowing craft to 30' power and sailboats.

WE OFFER:

Beetle Cat & NEW Beetle 14' Catboat

• New Boats
• Used Boats
• Storage
• Parts
• Repairs
• Maintenance

Beetle, Inc.
3 Thatcher Lane • Wareham, MA 02571
Telephone 508.295.8585 • Fax 508.295.8949

www.beetlecat.com
September/October 2009 • 125

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Seal Cove Boatyard, Inc.
BOX 99 / HARBORSIDE, MAINE 04642
TEL: 207-326-4422 / FAX 207-326-4411

You Will Find Us
Personable, Knowledgeable
and Skilled in a Broad
Range of Services

Same
Folks...It’s the
That’s Right,
Railway
She’s Off the

Boat.

COVEY ISLAND BOATWORKS
CUSTOM YACHTS FOR THE WORLD SINCE 1979

• Another exciting Nigel Irens design
• Diesel /electric hybrid drive

• Free standing, unique schooner rig

DESPERATE LARK - Herreshoff, 1903.
In Our Care for Over 40 Years

• 'Green' recycled hull materials

Come visit us at the Newport International
& Annapolis Boat Shows

E-mail: [email protected] • www.sealcoveboatyard.com

www.coveyisland.com

TRADITIONAL BOAT WORKS, INC.
New construction & repairs on wooden boats only.
Masts and spars a specialty.

Superb craftsmanship by skilled professionals, at reasonable rates,
in one of the few quality West Coast wooden boat yards.
Fully insured, references.
Current Projects include:
• PC – PUFF
• Rhodes 33 – THERAPY
• 55' mast for WHISPER
• Several classic projects available
(please inquire)

Douglas Jones
3665 Hancock Street
San Diego, CA. 92110
Phone or Fax: 619-542-1229
[email protected]
www.traditionalboatworks.net

CROCKER’S BOAT YARD, Inc.
Manchester, Massachusetts • 888–332–6604

Offering a full range of
services since 1946

1952 Huckins -

Our latest refit and winner of first prize for
best professionally restored power boat at
the 2009 WoodenBoat show

www.crockersboatyard.com

P

Christopher Dalton

BOATBUILDERS

WE’RE BACK!

PACIFICA–49' S & S yawl built by HB Nevins in 1947.
Rebuilt by TBW in 2005-2007.

E N D L E T O

YACHT•YARD

N

R e b u i l d e r s o f C l a s s i c Ya c h t s
525 Pendleton Point Rd. • Islesboro, ME 04848
(207) 734-6728 • www.pendletonyachtyard.com

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MP&G L.L.C.

Custom Hardware for SPARTAN

929 Flanders Rd.,
Mystic, CT 06355
860–572–7710
Fax 860–536–4180

Mike Kiefer, Boatbuilder

GREAT LAKES BOATBUILDING CO.

FRENCH

8', 10' and 12' Lapstrake Dinghies

W E B B

7066 103 Ave., South Haven, MI 49090 • 269–637–6805
www.greatwoodboats.com

Call today to reserve yours!

12' Boat

BOATBUILDERS

Wood
Boatbuilding &
Yacht Restoration

This dinghy can be
used as a cottage boat,
fishing boat or yacht
tender and is designed
for oars and a small
outboard motor.

8'  4' 6"
10'  4' 6"
12'  4' 8"

& COMPANY, INC.

BOATBUILDING

&

CUSTOM JOINERY
21 F RONT S TREET
B ELFAST, M AINE 04915
207~338~6706
fax 207~338~6709

www.frenchwebb.com
September/October 2009 • 127

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• LOVE SCHOONERS?
• OWN ONE?
• DREAM OF OWNING ONE?
• OR DO YOU JUST HAVE AN
AVID INTEREST IN TRADITIONAL
VESSELS?
The American Schooner Association invites you to join us.
We hold annual meetings, annual rendezvous, publish a
quarterly newsletter, “Wing & Wing” with news of
schooner activities in the U.S. and around the world and
sponsor an annual award for the person or organization
whose efforts best exemplify our goals. Be part of all this.
JOIN US!

Please copy and return to address below:

Name _______________________________________________________
Address______________________________________________________

Recent Projects Include:

City, State ______________________________ ZIP _______________

• A total re-framing and redecking of the 1923 R Boat
“Nayada” (pictured left)
• Continuing restoration of the
1931 65' Chesapeake Bay Buy
Boat “The Mary Jemison”

Phone (H) _______________________ (W) _________________________

BOATBUILDERS

FAX ________________________________________________________
Vessel _______________________________________________________
LOA ______________________ Rig:______________________________
Designer ___________________ Builder: _________________________
Year: _____________ Homeport: ________________________________

❏ Full membership: Electronic delivery $25/yr;
❏ Postal delivery $35/yr. ❏ Junior membership $10/yr.
Mail to: A.S.A., P.O. Box 484, Mystic, CT 06355

Email: [email protected] www.AMSchooner.org

• Total restorations of: 1936 Chris-Craft Utility, 1940 Chris-Craft
Barrelback, 1955 Chris-Craft Capri, 1955 Century Speedboat
• And many more projects in our two locations. Please call or e-mail to
inquire about the boat that you love
• These and other fine boats can be seen at www.cwbw.com

435 Old Taughannock Blvd., Ithaca, NY 14850 607.272.1581
This 21' gaff cutter was built
to our design in the traditional
fashion: cedar over oak. We
specialize in custom building,
repair and restoration for both
sail and power. We can build to
our design or yours.
Computer Plotting and Lofting
PO Box 458, 102 Clark Pt. Rd.
Southwest Harbor, ME 04679
(207)244-3795
www.ralphstanleyboats.com
[email protected]

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KITS & PLANS

the best boats you can build.™
Plans and Kits for Kayaks, Canoes, Rowing Craft, Dinghies, Sailboats, and More!
Stitch & Glue – Strip Planked – Guillemot Kayaks – Boat Building Supplies and Accessories
ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND

| 410.267.0137 |

www.clc boats.com
September/October 2009 • 129

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Viking - 22' x 92" Beam. Center Console Fishing Boat.
Trailerable, Inboard, Outboard, Stern Drive. Plans &
Patterns $105, postpaid. # PB 226 CC. Pre-Cut Kit Available.

KITS & PLANS

Wetback - 10' x 58" Beam. A Race Proven Real 3 Point
Hydroplane. For Competition or Just Fun. Class A, B, or C.
Speeds up to 70 mph with 30 hp. Plans & Patterns $45,
postpaid. Boat Kit $895, plus shipping. #CU 42.

Bobcat - 8' 5" x 56" Beam. Fast Little Hydroplane.
Easy to build. For adults or kids. All your friends will
want to run this hydro. Up to 15 hp. Plans & Patterns
$39, postpaid. Boat Kit $625, plus shipping. #SR 1.

Cedar Strip Designs -We have everything you need to
build a cedar strip canoe, kayak or dinghy.
Plans & Patterns, station molds, cedar strips, epoxy, fiberglass and more. Order our Boat Kit
catalog for further details.

Mongoose -19' 8" x 86" Beam. Deep V racer. Speeds
over 60 mph with 200 hp. Excellent for racing or skiing.
Plans & Patterns $72, postpaid. #KS 198. Pre-Cut Kit
Available. (Cuddy cabin version also available.)

Catalog of Boat Kits & Plans:
$5.00 — USA
$6.00 — Canada
$10.00 — Overseas Priority
Our Catalog of Boatbuilding Supplies is free.
Epoxy resins & glues, fiberglass, paints, flotation
foam, bronze and stainless fasteners, cable steering,
books, and more.

Bel Aire - 24' or 26' x 8' Beam. Modern Deep V Hull Form. Ideal for
High Speeds in rough, choppy water. Plans & Patterns $130, postpaid. #PB
248X. Pre-Cut Kit Available.

Crown Cruiser - 24' or 26' x 8' Beam. A Classic Trailerable
Model. Plans & Patterns $154, postpaid. #PB 70-72X.
Pre-Cut Boat Kit Available.

Hartley 16 - Length 16' 5" x 88" Beam. Hull Depth 27".
Draft 49". Plans & Patterns $49, postpaid. Frame Kit $380
(plus UPS). #C 30. (Other versions available from 12' to 28'.)

Pram/Dinghy - 6' x 42" or 8' x 48". Makes a fine rowboat, power up to 3 hp
or an excellent sailboat. Plans & Patterns: 6' row $27; 8' row or sail $29,
postpaid. Boat Kits: 6' – $435 (plus UPS), or 8' – $645; 8' Sail version –
$960, includes mast, boom & rigging, less sail, plus shipping.

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KITS & PLANS
September/October 2009 • 131

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360-299-8500

KITS & PLANS

www.FineEdge.com/boats

Jordan Wood Boats
P.O. Box 194 • South Beach, OR 97366 • 541-867-3141

www.jordanwoodboats.com
Distinctive
Boat Designs

********************
Plans for heirloom
Cradle Boats
& Watercraft
********************

RC Sailing
at its best

Meticulously developed
and drawn
For the amateur Builder

CRadle BOat
BaBy tendeR

FOOtlOOSe
15' BeaCh CRuiSeR

All wood kits - RC Gear included
www.modelsailboat.com

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JERICHO BAY
LOBSTER SKIFF

Designed by Joel White, the original boat was built plank-on-frame by Jimmy
Steele (of “peapod” fame), but complete plans were not available-until now.
Tom Hill and Eric Dow have taken lines off the original boat and Tom built
the prototype and has drawn a very detailed set of plans for strip construction,
including full-sized mold patterns. No lofting is required!
LOA: 15'6", Beam: 5' 2½" Power: 15-20 hp outboard, Weight: 400 lbs

Plans Now Available: #400-145 $90.00 (plus shipping)

The

WoodenBoat

STORE

PO Box 78
Brooklin, ME 04616
Order Toll-Free
1.800.273.SHIP (7447)

Order On-line: www.woodenboatstore.com

KITS & PLANS
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CLASSIFIED
To place a Classified Ad, visit our website <www.woodenboat.com>
or call our Classified Ad Manager at (207) 359–4651.
Deadline for the November/December issue: September 8, 2009

www.innerbayboats.com

REPAIR, RESTORATION, STORAGE,
and SURVEYS. Low overhead and low
rates, 35 years experience. MICHAEL
WARR BOATWORKS, Stonington,
ME, 207–367–2360.

22' Streamliner

HUNTER BAY WOODWORKING—
Custom building to 45', traditional
& modern construction. Instructor
for Hunter Bay Boat Project (see
WB No.195). Lyle Hess 32' Bristol
Channel Cutter under construction.
Lopez Island, WA, 360–468–2915,
<www.hunterbaywoodworking.com>.

Custom built boats in modern
or traditional building
techniques. We work on sail
or power in a modern
facility near Long Point,
Ontario, Canada.

NORTH BROOKLIN BOATS “Sunshine” 10' 6" dinghy/yacht tender.
Cold-molded or traditional lapstrake
construction. Rowing and sailing
models. Visit the website for more
photos and information. <www.north
brooklinboats.com>, 207– 359–6550.

Visit our website for kits, new
builds, restoration service
and more.
27 East 1/4 Line Road
St. Williams, Ontario,
Canada N0E 1P0
519-512-0269

THE DORY SHOP—Custom-built
small boats and Lunenburg dories
since 1917. Oars and paddles, too.
Call 902–640–3005 or visit <www.
doryshop.com>.
LOWELL BOATS—Complete wooden
boat restoration services and marine
surveying. GARY LOWELL, Greensboro, NC, 336–274–0892. <www. BUDSIN WOOD CRAFT electric boats.
Quiet elegance. Low-maintenance,
lowell.to/boats>.
cold-molded construction. P.O. Box
279, Marshallberg, NC 28553. 252–
729–1540. Updated web site <www.
budsin.com>.
JOHN M. KARBOTT BOATBUILDING. Custom wooden boat building
and repair. Lobsterboat styles a speciality. WoodenBoat School instructor. Member Massachusetts Marine
Trades Association. 789 Rocky Hill
Rd, Plymouth, MA 02360. Phone/
fax 508–224–3709, <www.by-the-sea.
com/karbottboatbuilding>.

S.N. SMITH & SON, boatwright/
timber framer. Annual maintenance,
restoration, and building to 45'. Our
goal is to make wooden boat ownership predictable and enjoyable. P.O.
Box 724, Eastham, MA 02642, 978– MIAMI, FT. LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA
290–3957, <www.snsmithandson.com>. KEYS. 30 years experience building,
repairing, and restoring vintage and
REDD’S POND BOATWORKS, Thad modern boats. Nice people, quality
Danielson, 1 Norman St., Marblehead, workmanship, reasonable rates. Please
MA 01945. 1–888–686–3443, 781–631– call 305–634–4263, <rmiller35@bell
3443. Classic wooden boats, traditional south.net>, or visit our webpage <www.
materials. <www.reddspondboatworks. millermarinesystems.com>.
com>, <[email protected]>.
CLASSIC YACHT RESTORATIONS.
TARPON RIVER BOATSHOP. 25 years “Highest Quality Hand Craftsmanship
experience. Custom work, design, with an Artisan’s Eye.” Serving CT and
restoration. South Florida. Competitive RI shoreline. Mike Terry, 860–514–
7766, <www.yachtrestorations.com>.
pricing. 561–706–8337.

SCHLEIFF BOATWORKS, LLC.
Traditional boats, custom built with
modern materials for lowest maintenance. Just launched a 22' Atkin
Ninigret. Contact: Timm Schleiff,
304–667–1090 or 497–2012, <www.
schleiffboatworks.com>.
NORSEBOAT SAILING/ROWING
CRUISERS—Swiss Army knife of
HADDEN BOAT CO. Wooden boat boats! High performance, classic
construction and repair to any size; sail lines. Kits available. <www.norse
and power. 11 Tibbetts Lane, George- boat.com>. 902–659–2790.
town, ME 04548, 207–371–2662.
REPAIR, RESTORE, BUILD. Structural and cosmetic repairs, interior
and exterior. Call CT, 860–828–3832,
ask for Fred Harrington.
AMERICAN KITBOAT SERVICE—
kit completion services, handcrafted
rowing dories and paddlecraft. <www.
amkitboatsvc.com>, 203–441–8129.

101⁄2' & 12' SKIFFS—Traditional handcrafted plywood/oak, epoxy bonded,
stainless-steel screws. Rugged but
lightweight. Easy rowing and towing.
Stable underfoot. $1,100 & $1,400.
Maxwell’s Boatshop, Rockland, ME
207–594–5492.
NOMAD BOATBUILDING. Building, repair, and restoration to 20'.
Traditional and modern construc- SAIL MAINE ABOARD MAINE’S
tion. Victoria, BC, 250–884–1577, OLDEST WINDJAMMER, “Lewis R.
<www.nomadboatbuilding.com>.
French.” Enjoy great sailing, lobsters,
new friends, and fresh air (no smoking).
SATTER’S RESTORATION—Traditional Sailing from Camden, 3-, 4-, and 6-day
wooden canoes and boats restored. cruises with only 22 guests, May–
Quality woodwork, brightwork, repairs. October. Capt. Garth Wells, P.O. Box
Branchville, NJ, 973–948–5242, <www. 992 W, Camden, ME 04843. 800–469–
sattersrestoration.com>.
4635. <www.schoonerfrench.com>.

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CLASSIFIEDS

Sam Devlin’s STITCH-AND-GLUE designs
bring together the beauty of wood & the
durability of composites. An already easy
construction method is made easier with
the help of Devlin’sWooden Boat Building
book and Wooden Boat Building video.

REBUILT CHRIS-CRAFT 6-cyl engines,
parts, manifolds, pistons, and bearings. Also a few Chris V-8s. MITCH
LAPOINTE’S <www.classicboat.com>,
www.DevlinBoat.com
CNC PRECISION-CUT MOLDS from
952–471–3300.
your plans that are quick and easy to
Devlin Designing Boatbuilders
assemble. Self-aligning, self-plumbing,
2424 Gravelly Beach Loop NW
Olympia,WA
notched, and numbered with builtHERCULES ENGINE PARTS in strongback. For both amateur and
98502
Model M, ML, MBL, K, KL
professional boatbuilders. CNC Rout­
T: (360) 866-0164
ing & Design, Camden, ME, 207–
HERCANO PROPULSION, LLC
542–4753 or <tim@cncroutingand
Business Hours: M-F 8:30-4:30 EST
design.com>. Please visit our website: PAUL GARTSIDE, LTD. Boat plans
RATTY’S CELEBRATED QUOTATION
Phone: 740-745-1475
<www.cncroutinganddesign.com>.
for home builders. New catalog of
with original illustrations featured on
Fax: 740-745-2475
wooden boats $10 US or CND. Masour shirts and bags. Toll-free 877–637–
terCard/Visa. P.O. Box 1575, Shel7464. <www.MessingAbout.com>.
burne, NS, B0T 1W0, Canada. <www.
SABB AMERICA EAST, INC. Your
gartsideboats.com>.
OUR FAMOUS 60s-STYLE “Down- supply center for new engines and
Maine” hand-loomed lawn-tennis, parts for all Sabb engines from NorNor­wegian ski and classic yacht club way. 119 Lake Shore Circle, Leessweaters. All sweaters custom made to burg, FL 34788. Phone 352–589–2882
order (Kids sizes 8–14 also available). or 888–301–1706, fax 352–589–7722.
Since 1982, supplier to N. America’s
premier private club clientele. Contact: GRAYMARINE, CHRIS-CRAFT, CHRY­
GRASS COURT COLLECTION, Han­ SLER engines remanufactured to the
over, NH. USA; 800–829–3412. Online highest standards. All engines are test
store: <www.grasscourt.com>.
run at our facility and come with a written warranty. We stock many models
including the Gray 4–112 and the Sea
Scout 91. We also have a large parts
GRACE’S TENDER is a great introdepartment with parts for above
duction to boatbuilding, sailing, and
engines, also Zenith carburetors, Pararowing. 8', 55 lbs. Plans, DVD, kits
gon, Borg Warner, AC and Carter fuel
available. Arch Davis Designs. 207–930–
pumps. Van Ness Engineering, 252 Lin9873. <www.archdavisdesigns.com>.
coln Ave., Ridgewood, NJ 07450, 201–
NAVTECH MARINE SURVEYORS’ 445–8685, fax 201–445–3099.
COURSE. Surveying recreational/
commercial vessels. U.S. Surveyors
Association, Master Marine Surveyor
program. FL, 800–245–4425.

DO YOU HAVE A SET OF
HULL MOLDS?
Are they taking up valuable shop
space? Can’t bear to burn them
after all of that careful work?
Would you like to sell them to
another builder? If so, advertise
them in our classified advertising
section, Molds for Sale! Please
visit our website, or contact
Wendy for more information.

WoodenBoat Classifieds
P.O. Box 78
Brooklin, ME 04616
Phone: 207–359–4651
Fax: 207–359–8920
[email protected]
www.woodenboat.com

BOAT KITS—PLANS—PATTERNS.
World’s best selection of 200+ designs.
Catalog $5. Boatbuilding supplies—
easy-to-use 50/50 epoxy resins/glues,
fasteners, and much more. Free catalog. CLARKCRAFT, 16-42 Aqualane,
THE FINEST wooden pond sailers. Tonawanda, NY 14150. 716–873–2640,
Free brochure: 1–800–206–0006. <www.clarkcraft.com>.
<www.modelsailboat.com>.
HANKINSON DESIGNS—Barrelbacks,
ELEGANT SCALE MODELS. Indi- tugs, cruisers. Available exclusively from
vidually handcrafted custom scale Glen-L Marine. Free online catalog at
model boats. JEAN PRECKEL, <www. <www.BoatDesigns.com>.
preckelboats.com>, 304–432–7202.

OUR SCOOTER KIT contains everything you need to create your own
memory of an earlier time. Call or
visit for our catalog of over 60 model
kits, fittings, tools, and books. Open
all year long. Also specializing in
custom models and antique model
restorations/repairs. BlueJacket Ship
Crafters, 160 E. Main St., Searsport,
ME 04974, 800-448-5567. <www.blue
jacketinc.com>.

NO BAILOUT NEEDED! Your boat
will float and won’t add to the national
debt when you build it yourself. GlenL’s proven plans and full-size patterns
make economical sense. You save time,
money AND will have a boat you can
be proud of. Send $9.95 today for
NEW Catalog plus FREE dinghy plans,
<www.Glen-L.com/offer9> Glen-L,
9152 Rosecrans Ave./WB, Bellflower,
CA 90706. 888–700–5007.
September/October 2009 •

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CLASSIFIEDS
WOODENBOAT No. 1–208, $250. Upick-up. Central New Jersey. Call Ed,
908–234–4405.

ATKIN ILLUSTRATED CATALOG—
135 pages, with more than 300 Atkin
designs. Famed Atkin double-enders,
rowing/sailing dinghies, houseboats,
and more. $15 U.S. and Canada ($22
US for overseas orders). Payment:
U.S. dollars payable through a U.S.
bank. ATKIN BOAT PLANS, P.O.
JAMES WHARRAM DESIGNS—Easy- Box 3005WB, Noroton, CT 06820.
to-follow plans for the amateur builder. <[email protected]>, <www.atkinboat
Safe, seaworthy, catamarans 14' –63' plans.com>.
in plywood/epoxy/’glass. Design Book
$28.50, including p&p (Canada $32).
Tel: +(44) 1872 864792, Webshop:
<www.wharram.com>.

CAROLINA WATERFRONT. Great
sailing! Great fishing! Great people!
Near Pamlico Sound on ICW. Spectacular views! Homes, lots, acreage,
on protected deepwater. Affordable
prices, low taxes! Call for free information. CENTURY 21 Sail Loft
Realty, Oriental, NC. 800–327–4189,
<www.sailloftrealty.com>.
COTTAGE WITH DOCK, deepwater,
Friendship, Maine. Two bedrooms,
two bathrooms with den (1,400 sq ft),
$240,000. Great shape, some water
views, one acre. 75 yards to dock,
with right-of-way to water. <tscott@
wpahs.org> or 412–389–7680.
BROOKLIN—5.6 wooded acres, with
access to Eggemoggin Reach, small
lovely cabin, organic garden. $115,000,
ME. 207–359–6815.

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION plans
from the National Watercraft Collection, H.I. Chapelle drawings, Historic
American Merchant Marine Survey,
etc. Send $20 check to SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION for 250-page catalog to: Smithsonian Ship Plans, P.O.
Box 37012, NMAH-5004/MRC 628,
Washington, DC 20013-7012. <www.
americanhistory.si.edu/csr/shipplan.
htm>.

MAINE OCEANFRONT, 7.42 acres,
near Bar Harbor, owner financing.
MUST SELL. $168,000. Electric, perked,
asphalt. MA, 978–897–2516, <elisha_
[email protected]>.

PIROGUE KIT $59.50, includes plans,
precut cypress stems and ribs. Price
includes shipping; Louisiana residents
add 4% sales tax. Sailing skiff and
jon boat plans. Boats designed for the
novice builder. UNCLE JOHN’S, 5229
Choupique Rd., Sulphur, LA 70665.
Visa/MC, 337–527–9696. Visit our site
<http://www.unclejohns.com>.
CLASSIC BOATING MAGAZINE—The
most popular and complete publication on antique and classic boats.
Sub­scription $28, Canada $36 USD,
overseas $78. Samples $6, Canada
$7.50, overseas $12.50. CLASSIC BOATING, 280-D Lac La Belle Drive, Ocono­
mowoc, WI 53066. 262–567–4800.

28 DESIGNS in our $12 brochure—
row, sail, power, 8'–26'. Free driftboat
plans. 503–982–5062, <www.swanboat
design.com>.
LEARN HOW TO BUILD your own
cedar-stripped boat. Plans for dinghies, canoes, row, sail, paddle, outboard. <www.compumarine.com>.
AZ, 520–281–2901.
VISIT <www.gaboats.com>. Monfort
Associates. 25 designs. Plans, partial
kits, VHS or DVD. ME, 207–882–5504.
CATALOG OF 40 SIMPLE PLYWOOD boats, $4. JIM MICHALAK,
118 E. Randle, Lebanon, IL 62254.
<www.jimsboats.com>.

LIVING ABOARD magazine, dedicated to enjoying your time aboard—
weekend, month, lifetime! $18/year
(6 issues). Free sample issue. 800–
BUILD N.G. HERRESHOFF’S 927–6905, <www.livingaboard.com>.
COQUINA, 16' 8" sailing and rowing
boat. Under license from MIT’s Hart NAUTICAL BOOKS. Used, rare,
Nautical Collection, Maynard Bray new—maritime, yachting, naval suband Doug Hylan have produced a jects. Free bimonthly catalog. Open
builder’s package for both amateur store. Columbia Trading Co., 1022
and professional builders. PLANS— Main Str., West Barnstable, MA
11 sheets of detailed drawings for both 02668. 508–362–1500, <columbia
cedar and glued-plywood lapstrake trading.com>.
construction. $200 + $10 S&H U.S.
($30 international). CD—550 pho- WOODENBOAT COMPLETE SET,
tos and text describing all aspects of all full-color originals, excellent
construction. $50 + $10 S&H U.S. condition. $400 plus shipping. WA,
($20 international). Free download- 360–779–5893.
able study plans and information
about kits, bare hulls, and com- OLD BOATING MAGAZINES, 1910–
pleted boats are available at <www. 1967. Some as low as $2 each, send
dhylanboats.com>. Send check or $1 for six-page list. Donald W. Petermoney order to: Coquina, 53 Benja- son, 4501 Addy St. 45, Washougal,
min River Dr., Brooklin, ME 04616. WA 98671.

JASPER & BAILEY SAILMAKERS.
Estab­lished 1972. Offshore, one-design,
and traditional sails. Sail repairs, recuts,
conversions, washing and storage. Usedsail brokers. 64 Halsey St., P.O. Box
852, Newport, RI 02840; 401–847–
8796. <www.jasperandbailey.com>.
FREE CATALOG of sailmaking and
canvas fabric, hardware, and supplies. SAILMAKER’S SUPPLY, toll
free, 877–374–SAIL. <www.sailmakers
supply.com>.
NEW AND USED SURPLUS SAILS—
custom sails. Furling packages. Discount
Sunbrella. Unbeatable guarantee! Cash
for sails. Sarasota, FL, <porpoisesailing.
com> or 1–800–507–0119.

136 • WoodenBoat 210

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CLASSIFIEDS

SHAW & TENNEY, Orono, Maine—
Trad­itionally handcrafted spruce
masts and spars since 1858. 1–800–
240–4867, <www.shawandtenney.com>. SOFT COTTON FENDERS and classic
knotwork. For catalog, send SASE to:
TRADITIONAL WOODEN MASTS THE KNOTTED LINE, 9908 168th
and spars, solid or hollow. All shapes Ave. N.E., Redmond, WA 98052-3122,
and construction. Custom oars call 425–885–2457. <www.theknotted­
W W W. D A B B L E R S A I L S . C O M . hand­crafted in Sitka spruce or fir. line.com>.
Specializing in small-craft and cruis- BC, 250–743–3837, <www.classicyacht
ing sails. P.O. Box 235, Wicomico services. com>.
Church, VA 22579. Ph/fax 804–580–
8723. <[email protected]>.

COPPER FASTENERS and riveting
tools, Norwegian and English boat
nails, roves/rivets, rose and flathead, clench, threaded, decoration,
and more. 50+ sizes and types, 3⁄8"
to 6". Your leading source since
1987. FAERING DESIGN, Dept. W,
P.O. Box 322, East Middlebury, VT
05740, 1–800–505–8692, <faering@
together.net>, <www.faeringdesigninc.
SILICON BRONZE—Corrosion resis- com>.
tant. Excellent for boat repair, keel,
frames, ribs, and chainplates. Plate, TARRED HEMP MARLINE. Several
rod, bar. ATLAS METAL, Denver, CO, styles; hanks, balls, spools. American
800–662–0143, <www.atlasmetal.com>. Rope & Tar, 1–877–965–1800 or
<tarsmell.com>.

DOUGLAS FOWLER SAILMAKER.
Highest-quality, full-seam curve sails
since 1977. Traditional sails a specialty.
White, colors, and Egyptian Dacron
in stock. 1182 East Shore Dr., Ithaca,
NY 14850. 607–277–0041.
FINELY CRAFTED wooden spars;
hollow or solid. Any type of construction. ELK SPARS, 577 Norway
Drive, Bar Harbor, ME, 04609, 207–
288–9045.

STARS AND STRIPES PENNANTS.
Authentic historical design exquisitely handcrafted in the most durable fabrics. 4', 6', 8' and 12' sizes in
stock—other sizes and designs by
custom order. Custom design and
fabrication is our specialty. Also in
stock, all sizes U.S., state, foreign,
historical, marine, and decorative
flags, banners, pennants, and accessories. 77 Forest St., New Bedford,
MA 02740. 508–996–6006, <www.
brewerbanner.com>.
THIS 20' CHRIS-CRAFT WAS
STRIPPED in four man-hours. Environmentally friendly paint stripper.
For more information, call 800–726–
4319, e-mail us at <[email protected]>,
or visit our website <www.starten.com>.

THE BOAT INSURANCE STORE.
Insurance program for wooden boats.
LAWRENCE FOX AGENCY, 1–800–
553–7661. Our 50th year. <www.boat CANVAS FOR DECKS and canoes.
insurancestore.com>.
Natural, untreated. No. 10, 15 oz., TRADITIONAL BOAT SUPPLIES for
96", $17.50/yard; 84", 14.50/yard, traditional boatbuilding tools. Take a
72", $12/yard; 60", $9.50/yard. Min- look at <www.tradboats.com>.
imum five yards, prepaid only. FABRIC WORKS, 148 Pine St., Waltham,
BRONZE WING-TIP NAVIGATION
MA 02453, 781–642–8558.
LIGHTS with glass globe. Top and
side mount, stern and steaming. For
our free catalog, contact us at J.M.
Reineck & Son, 781–925–3312, <JM
Beautiful Varnish
[email protected]>.

Naturally Easy

HAVE TOOLS WILL TRAVEL.
Wooden boat builder will build,
rebuild, or repair your project on
site or in my shop. $20/hour. MA,
413–586–2007; VT, 802–365–7823.

American Rope & Tar
FEATURING PORT LIGHTS in 316
stainless steel, bronze, and co-polymers
starting at $109.95. 5 • 12 in bronze or
stainless only $199.95. See website for
several new sizes, including our new
elliptical 5 • 15. Check out NFM ports’
unsurpassed features and engineering at many boat shows around the
country. Call toll-free: 888–437–5512
or 360–385–3315 or e-mail to <nfm@
newfoundmetals.com>.

www.tarsmell.com
toll free: 1-877-965-1800

CANOE HARDWARE: 1⁄2", 11⁄16", 7⁄8"
canoe tacks; 3⁄8" oval brass stembands; clenching irons; 3⁄16" bronze
carriage bolts; canoe plans; clear
white cedar. Catalog $1. NORTHWOODS CANOE CO., 336 Range
Rd., Atkinson, ME 04426. Order,
phone 888–564–2710, fax 207–564–
3667.

HAVEN 12 1⁄2 complete high-quality
bronze hardware sets. See our display ad elsewhere in the issue. For
our free catalog, contact us at J.M.
Reineck & Son, 781–925–3312,
<[email protected]>.
September/October 2009 •

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CLASSIFIEDS

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NO ODORS! NO THRU HULLS! NO
HOLDING TANKS! <www.airhead
toilet.com>, <wboat@airheadtoilet.
com>, 740–392–3642, P.O. Box 5, Mt.
Vernon, OH 43050.

SLOW-GROWING, OLD-GROWTH
white oak (Quercus alba), up to 50'
long and 42" wide. Longleaf pine
(Pinus pilustrus) out to 50' long. Oldgrowth white pine, 22'–28'. Black
locust, American elm, and larch.
NEW ENGLAND NAVAL TIMBERS,
CT, 860–693–8425.

WOODEN BOAT FOUNDATION
CHANDLERY, Port Townsend, Wash­
ing­ton, <www.woodenboat.org>. Davey
& Co hardware, copper, bronze fasten­
ers, oakum, cotton, boatbuilding tools,
etc. 360–385–3628, ext. 101 or <chand
[email protected]>.
MODERN MANILA. New Leoflex-X.
The latest rope technology. Looks CAULKING IRONS. Traditional, hamgreat, works hard. American Rope & mer-forged irons of any size or pattern.
Tar, 1–877–965–1800 or <tarsmell.com>. GENUINE FORGERY, 1126 Broadway, Hanover, MA 02339. Phone/fax:
CLASSICBOATCONNECTION.COM— 781–826–8931.
Your one stop source for all your
classic boat restoration needs. Call
507–344–8024, or e-mail <mail@classic
boatconnection.com> for free catalog.
STOCKHOLM TAR. Genuine kilnburnt pine tar. It’s the Real Stuff.
American Rope & Tar, 1–877–965–
1800 or <tarsmell.com>.
THE BROOKLIN INN, year-round
lodging and fine dining. Town center. Organic menu, local ingredients. Deep wine list. Winter getaway
specials. <www.brooklininn.com>. ME,
207–359–2777.

GENUINELY MARINE LED LIGHTS,
made by Bebi Electronics. <www.
bebi-electronics.com>, <[email protected]>. US Agent—R. Ford,
727–289–4992, <rogersf@bebi-electron
PLANER-SCARFER ATTACHMENT.
ics.com>.
Convert your Makita 1900B, 1912B
to easy-to-use 8:1 scarfer in minutes.
Cut 3⁄8" plywood with 31⁄4" planer; 1⁄2"
with 43⁄8" planer. Complete units
available. JOHN HENRY, INC., P.O.
Box 7473-WB, Spanish Fort, AL
36577. 251–626–2288. <information@
johnhenryinc.com>, <www.johnhenry
inc.com>.

SWEDISH NAVAL ARCHITECT Lage
Eklund’s Neptun 12, complete set of
construction plans. Email <klemme@
email.dk>.

UNSCREW-UMS, BROKEN-SCREW
EXTRACTORS. Remove damaged
fastenings. Minimal damage to wood.
Hollow tool uses stub as guide. Sizes
to remove screws from No. 2 to No.
24, lags, nails, and drifts. T & L
TOOLS, <www.tltools.com>. CT, phone
860–464–9485, <unscrew-ums@tltools.
com>, fax 860–464–9709.

PREMIUM SITKA SPRUCE aircraft,
mast, and spar grade. Old growth
Douglas fir, yellow cedar (cypress
pine), and red cedar. Custom milling
to order. Cold-molded veneer, stripplank bead-and-cove. Classic Yacht
Services, 250–743–3837, fax 250–
733–2046, e-mail <beanest@telus.
net>.

SUPPLIES FOR TRADITIONAL and
modern craft. Exceptional range of
fittings, fasteners, repair and building materials, oars and rowing accessories, Tufnol sailing blocks, boat kits,
classic boat builders’ decals, apparel,
and catalogues. <www.tendercraftboats.
com> or call toll-free: 800–588–4682.

ATLANTIC AND NORTHERN WHITE
CEDAR, flitch-sawn, boat planking,
spe­cial orders. Long lengths, wide
boards, premium quality, fair prices.
CT, 203–245–1781. <www.whitecedar.
com>.

C. RAYMOND HUNT—Information
about his life, designs, and existing
boats. Contact <[email protected]>.

BOULTER PLYWOOD—marine plywood 4' • 8' to 16', 5' • 10' to 20'—1⁄8"
to 1" okoume, sapele, meranti, teak, ash,
khaya, teak and holly, teak and rubber. Lumber—Sitka spruce, teak,
mahogany, green oak, ash, cypress,
fir, Spanish and red cedar, teak decking—lengths up to 20'. Milling services.
Nationwide delivery. <www.boul­ter­
plywood.com>, 888–4BOULTER.

138 • WoodenBoat 210

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7/29/09 2:31 PM

CLASSIFIEDS
DOUGLAS-FIR, kiln-dried 11⁄16" • 13⁄8"
• 3,680 linear feet. Athens, GA. 706–
783–3165, Tim.
TEAK, MAHOGANY, PADAUK,
purpleheart, white oak, teak decking,
starboard. Complete molding millwork facilities. Marine plywood. Custom swim platforms. SOUTH JERSEY LUMBERMAN’S INC., 6268 Holly
St., Mays Landing, NJ 08330. 609–965–
1411. <www.sjlumbermans.com>.
TEAK LUMBER AND DECKING.
Large selection to fit your budget.
Excellent pricing on 3⁄8" • 11⁄2" decking. New World Teak. CA, 805–901–
5333, <newworldteak.com>.
TEAK LUMBER FROM $7.50/bf
and teak decking from $.99/lf. Call
ASI, 1–800–677–1614 or e-mail your
requirements to <rogerstevens@asi
hardwood.com>.
BOAT-QUALITY FLITCH-SAWN, ⁄4,
⁄4, and 6⁄4 Vermont white cedar. Peter
Kitonis, Box 5, Elmore, VT 05657,
802–888–4807.
4

5

33' NATHANAEL HERRESHOFF–
designed Buzzards Bay 25. New, professionally built cold-molded con­
struction. Ready for your choice of
rig. Visit <www.buzzardsbay25.com>
for more information, or call Peter
at WA, 360–887–3015.

ATTENTION
Boats for Sale

AdvertiSerS

Get a $25 Credit!!
Easy as 1, 2, 3...

1
2
3

Place a Boats for Sale
classified ad in WoodenBoat
magazine
Post a Boats For Sale ad
online at our website www.
woodenboats4sale.com
Receive your credit when your
online ad has been verified

26' SPIDSGATTER—38 square-meter
“Bout.” M.S.J. Hansen design. Bristol condition: crossed Pacific Ocean
singlehanded. Winner many races
and boat shows. $35,000. In San
Diego, CA. Phone, 619–224–7255;
1936 CHRIS-CRAFT, hull #25047. e-mail, <[email protected]>.
Exceptional, maintained original. 25',
three cockpits, dual windshields. See
Brass Bell, Spring 2007 article. Owner
since 1965, Jean Vincent. An earlier
owner, J.P. Morgan, Jr. $133,000.
Mount Dora, FL, 352–385–1666.

Call Wendy at 207–359–4651
1976 FENWICK WILLIAMS CATBOAT, 25' strip-planked cedar. 1991
Yanmar diesel. Hull, engine, mast,
spars painted. Varnished areas all in
good condition. Large cockpit, featured in book Cape Cod Catboats.
LOA 26'4"; BEAM 7'10"; draft 30" $25,000. Located in Greenport, NY.
CB up, 60" CB down. Wooden hull, 516–365–7949. E-mail <catboat3@
incomplete; built as retirement proj- verizon.net>.
ect to replicate “Alerion” (N. Herreshoff 1912–14). Western cedar on white
oak; stainless-steel fastenings; on
2,450-lb. lead keel from Mars. Location Ottawa, Canada. Open to fivefigure bids until October 15. Please
phone 613–521–3637 or e-mail <chic
[email protected]>.
21' GAFF AUXILIARY SLOOP, cedar
on oak, 1987. Alden/Fenwick Williams, 6.5-hp Yanmar diesel. $17,000.
Offers encouraged. MA, 617–876–
0071.

THE WEB’S LARGEST SELECTION
of Fossil Ivory marlinspike knives—
all hand-etched with your favorite
boat and name. Personalized wine
openers, nautical instruments, 14 kt
nautical jewelry, desk accessories, registered scrim­shawed whale’s teeth.
Find your perfect nautical gift on our
extensive website! Rated Top Service
by Yahoo!

39' RHODES NEW WEEKENDER,
1946. Wood hull, sheathed in epoxy,
aluminum spars, furling jib and mainsail, diesel engine, pressure water. Hull
sound, seakindly. $35,000. Staten Island,
NY, 718–967–9147, <m.jorgenson@
verizon.net>.

TWO STAINLESS-STEEL balanced
rudders with gudgeons from 30'
wooden catamaran. Best offer. Excellent condition. MD, 301–464–8497.

L.F. HERRESHOFF leeboard ketch,
46' 6" x 11' x 2' 8", 1985. Mahogany
on oak, Sitka, twin Yanmar/Max prop.
Turnkey. $69,000. <www.beautiful
dreamer.com>. FL, 813–244–2511.

AUTHENTIC 1912, 22' SUNFLOWER
fantail launch. Elco electric power,
original engine available. Perfect
restoration. In WI, 715–845–7727.
1905 FAY AND BOWEN 20' launch,
fully restored. Repowered 8-hp Farymann diesel. Asking $35,000. Call
Norman in PA, 215–923–3000.

1937, 32' RICHARDSON CRUISABOUT,
Chrysler Crown engine, hull #3277,
completely refinished interior and
exterior 2008, new canvas on decks,
all systems new or rebuilt, immaculate condition. Located Ottawa County,
1929, 46' ELCO FLAT TOP classic OH. $64,000. Dwight Davis, 419–684–
motoryacht. Full survey/appraisal in 9804.
2007 at $220,000. Excellent condition. Contact Alex G. Clarke at 203– 1949 18' CHRIS-CRAFT Sportsman
722–3047 or <[email protected]>. utility. Good project. $5,000 or best
Listing price $185,000. Located in offer. Contact George at WI, 715–
Miami, FL.
617–4546.
September/October 2009 •

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CLASSIFIEDS
CHRIS-CRAFT COBRA 21' fully
restored, mint condition with original Cadillac V8. Interested? Visit
<www.cobra21.ch>.

1949, 35' RHODES 24 SLOOP. Yanmar diesel, mahogany on oak, solid.
$4,000, NJ. Call for details, 609–433–
9832.

52' JOHN ALDEN MALABAR VI
Schooner “Liberty,” 1924. Classic,
historically significant, manageable
maintenance, numerous sail combinations. Powerful and fast; beautiful.
Requesting $180,000 USD, serious
offers considered. Contact: Robin
Clair Pitts, St. John, VI. Website:
<www.coralbaystjohn.com/Liberty.
htm>. Telephone: 340–779–4994, fax:
340–776–6136, e-mail: <randfpitts@
yahoo.com>.

38' P&J CORPS OF ENGINEERS
proto­type tug, 1938. 2" cypress on
oak, diesel, woodstove, beveled glass,
fire-fighting cannon, yacht interior,
$99,000. MI, 231–271–3153.

H-55 HERRESHOFF MARCO POLO.
Mahogany, oak, Sitka, teak, bronze.
14 knots, 6,000-mile diesel range.
$215,000 or best offer. CT, 860–434–
9414.

1971, 42' GRAND BANKS USCGinspected vessel. 40 passengers. St.
John, USVI. Commissioned by Laurence Rockefeller. Excellent condition.
Twin 3208 Cats. $125,000, <www. motor
yachtcinnamonbay.com>, <dristuc@
aol.com>. Dan, 340–998–3219.

CUSTOM 1991 26' BROOKINS TripleCockpit Runabout. Classic, barrelback,
double hatch, swimstep. Crusader
engine. Warehouse kept, meticulously maintained, beautiful. Roadready trailer. Friday Harbor, WA.
See details at <www.YachtFlyers.com/
brookins26>.

M/Y ROMOLA, 85' (26m) Camper &
Nicholson 1903 Gentleman’s Motor
yacht. MCA compliant, with a success­
ful charter history in the Mediterranean.
Lovingly restored, a true Edward­ian
experience. Major refit 2009: new teak
deck, new engines, etc. Member of
The Monaco Yacht Club’s “Belle Classe.”
Will consider part ownership. For
further boat details see <www.classic
chartercompany.com>. Currently lying
in Turkey. Price 1,500,000 Euros. Con­
tact Neil Roberts, 00 33 (0) 610 55 43
14, email <neiljohnroberts@google
mail.com>; or Fred Multon, 00 44
(0) 771 182 47 01.

CLASSIC CROSBY CAT “Storm King.”
Extensively rebuilt in 1970s, and new
Palmer engine installed; Porta-Potti;
Dacron sail by Manchester; wooden
spars; fiberglass decks, new rudder,
2008; new sheer plank, moldings,
NEW PROTHERO CLASSIC gaff
caulking, and paint, 2009. Launchcutter, 32' LOA. Traditional rigging.
ready, RI, <[email protected]>.
Cedar on sawn fir frames, spruce
mast, laid fir deck. Yanmar diesel.
17' WITTHOLZ CATBOAT with trailer
Standing headroom, sleeps three.
and outboard engine. In excellent
$68,000. Anacortes, WA. <seabird@
condition. $9,000. Located Brooklin,
wavecable.com>. 360–707–0588.
ME. NJ, 201–569–3787 or 201–568–
1441.
22' FOX ISLAND CLASS doubleended sailboat, ready for planking.
Includes jig, frames, plans, rudder
shaft and tube, photos, two stems.
$2500. ME, <charles.rooney@myfair
point.net>.

65' CLASSIC WORKBOAT, 1939, heavybuilt ex-trawler. Would make excellent conversion. GMC 12-71, 12-kW
generator, full electronics. $112,000.
CA, 707–964–5423, <ancona@mcn.
org>.

2006 REARDON LAUNCH, 17', cedar
on oak, epoxy encapsulated. 10-hp 1933 OLD TOWN CANOE 16' Otca,
Nissan, 2008 trailer, cover, canopy, original condtion. $5,500, best offer.
condition as new. $6,000, TX. 817– Contact NY, 518–533–8317.
579–0936.
FULL RESTORATION OF custom-built
1958, 24' CHRIS-CRAFT CAVALIER 1962 International 500, 32' mahog­
cuddy cabin. White hull, natural wood any sloop. Over $140,000 invested,
decking, new cockpit curtain, 6-cyl completion in spring 2009. May
gasoline engine. Stored inside, receives consider selling when complete;
annual maintenance. Asking $13,500 WILL sell now to someone to comor best offer, Indiana. For pictures plete restoration and get exactly what
and additional information, contact they want. Visit <www.WhiteHawkFor
Tom Huser at <[email protected]>. Sale.com> for info.

32' ON DECK, 44' OVERALL, 1933
Puget Sound, Leigh Coolidge gaff
yawl “Aeolus.” Diesel. Clear fir on oak
frames. Very good condition, lively
performer. $25,500. WA, 206–755–
0187. See web site: <www.svaeolus.
com>.

FULLY RESTORED HERRESHOFF
27' 6", 1926 S-class boat. Meticulous
restoration by IYRS in 2006, true to
historical guidelines and contemporary shipwright skills. Perfect condition. New sails. Completely equipped,
ready to sail this season and many
more. RI. $75,000. Contact A.J. Evans
at S&S, 401–847–5449.
38.5' COLD-MOLDED MAHOGANY
Yawl. Perkins diesel. Many up­grades
2006/2007. Excellent condition.
Ap­praised $100,000, sacrificing
$64,500, or reasonable offer. Canada. Health forces sale. Phone NL,
709–834–1451/277–2462 or e-mail
<[email protected]>.

30' KETCHAM PICNIC LAUNCH
1947. Rebuilt stem to stern. Relaunched
2005. Cedar on oak frames. Original
Buda 85-hp engine. $35,000. Contact <customboatservice@sbcglobal.
net>, 262–389–0535, or <www.custom
boatservice.com>.

140 • WoodenBoat 210

WBClass210_FINAL.indd 140

7/29/09 2:33 PM

CLASSIFIEDS
42' CUSTOM SLOOP, wood/epoxy,
wing decks, 15' beam, 7.5' draft,
30-hp. $40,000. See <windwalker2.
com>. GA, 912–826–1497.

2009, 20' West Point Skiff with 2009
50-hp Evinrude E-TEC outboard,
center console, and bilge pump.
Exhibited at The WoodenBoat Show
in Mystic, CT. Turnkey operation
ready for the water now. Trailer is CLASSIC SAILING DINGHY, 9' 4"
extra. $26,000. See <www.westpoint overall. Handmade 1982. White cedar
lapstrake, mahogany trim, oak ribs,
skiff.com> for more information.
bronze rivets, painted white topsides,
gray interior. Great condition, $3,900.
CT, <[email protected]>.

35' JOEL WHITE/GORDON SWIFT
Cutter, “Forthright,” 1985. One of the
builder’s finest achievements offer­ing
superior construction, custom cast
hardware, all Harken roller-furling
sails, updated electronics and electrical. Accommodations for 4–5. Ideal performance and layout for the serious
cruising couple. Just listed. $145,000.
Gray & Gray, Inc. 207–363–7997 <www.
grayandgrayyachts.com>.
DAY SAILOR, small cabin, 161⁄2' • 6.5'
beam. Retractable centerboard, 5-hp
Mercury three years old, NJ. Call Bob 44' CANOE-STERNED KETCH 1974.
at 973–467–3485.
Edson Schock design. Recent: Yanmar, roller furling, autopilot, windlass, wiring, e-panels, refastened, full
cover. $119,000. Photos/specs, <peter
craneyachts.com>. 805–963–8000.

1928 CHRIS-CRAFT 24' Model 3
Runabout—with original factory top,
green leather upholstery, wooden
steering wheel, Boat #2139. Chrysler
Imperial 6-cyl Silver Dome, all orig­
inal. Spotlight, two mooring covers,
custom tandem trailer. $60,000. Always
boathouse-kept in Wisconsin. Call Wil,
262–695–2994. Email <[email protected].
com>.
LYLE HESS BCC Cutter, 31' 10", cold- HAVEN 121⁄2. Gaff-rigged, oak frames,
molded and bronze. 27-hp Yanmar. cedar planking, built 2007. Bronze
hardware by Jim Reineck. $12,000.
New sails. $45,000. 734–475–8556.
Long Island, NY, 516–221–5699.
32' CHRIS-CRAFT CONSTELLATION
Express-style cabin cruiser, 1968. PENN YAN 14' TRAIL BOAT, model
Good condition. Stored inside. Orig- GTO (1956) Open Flier. Have origiinal owner. On Long Island, NY, nal specifications. Nicely restored,
$950, MD. 301–904–0727.
$24,999. Please call 617–306–6188.

UNIQUE CLASSIC—1934 Rhinelander 16' guideboat. One owner.
Wine­glass stern. Original oars with
copper tips, newly refinished. Smooth
hull, not lapstrake. Original manufacturer’s plate in bow. $15,000, IL.
815–455–0441.

50' SEA FEVER, mahogany over oak,
Maine-style lobsterboat, built by Sonny
Hodgson, designed by Iggy Nielsen,
1972. Cat-powered. Easily con­verted to
lobster yacht. $85,000. Contact Dave
at 781–956–5518.

2008 25' FISH BROTHERS SPORTSMAN. This boat has less than 50 hours
on the engine. The Mercruiser 350
is 315-hp and the boat has fresh­
water cooling. Comes with 2 batteries,
halon fire extinguisher, chart lighter,
and mahogany engine box. Has a
2008 Searra trailer with dual axles.
Green upholstery. Asking $90,000.
Contact: <[email protected]>,
513–242–0808.

1988 FENWICK WILLIAMS CUTTER,
33' strip-planked mahogany on oak
frames. Marinized Diamler-Benz 34-hp
diesel with new Paragon 33 transmission. Edson pedestal with teak wheel,
Garmin 178C chart plotter/sounder,
cockpit rebuilt 2006. Hull, rigging,
sails in excellent condition. Just bought
a bigger boat. $29,500 or best offer.
Contact Don in ME, 207–570–5255.

1984 SKIFF CRAFT, Amish-built. 20
hours on new motors, freshwater
cooled. New transmissions, shafts, Cut­
less bearings, props, dripless packings. Digitally synchronized, custom
paint and interior. Clean, dry, and
solid. A real head-turner! Free delivery within U.S. for $49,000. For more
photos and video, email <yachtex
[email protected]> or call 941–545–
7179.

1965, 121⁄2' INBOARD LAUNCH. Car­
vel planked, varnished interior and
forward deck. Engine probably needs
replacement. $3,500. ME, 207–367–
2285, email <[email protected]>.

23' JOEL WHITE DESIGN, 1995. Coldmolded hull, AwlGrip finish. Carbonfiber spars. Centerboard. Ex­cell­ent
condition. Built and maintained by
Zimmerman Marine. $38,000. 800–
397–3442 or <yachts@zimmerman
marine.com>.
21' GRADY WHITE 1964, cedar lapstrake hull, 125-hp motor, tandem
trailer. This is a perfect boat. Private
CLASSIC 32', 1922 6-METER racing seller. ME, $9,000, 207–862–5707.
sloop “Sakie,” historic US #1. Lawleybuilt, Payne/Burgess design. Regis- 1966 LYMAN 28' EXPRESS CRUISER.
tered in Lloyd’s Registry of Yachts. Recent work includes: partial keel
Mahog­any on cedar hull, teak trim. replacement, some new frames, rebuilt
Very well maintained and sailed reg- freshwater-cooled 318 Chrysler engines.
ularly by same owners for past 10 Entire boat refinished inside and out.
years. Moored in Vineyard Haven Garmin GPS, depthsounder included.
Harbor, Martha’s Vineyard, MA. Boat in excellent condition. $35,000,
$29,500. Call Richard, 774–994– offers. Located Edgecomb, ME, 207–
882–5038.
1589, or Michael, 508–560–1269.
September/October 2009 •

WBClass210_FINAL.indd 141

141

7/29/09 2:34 PM

CLASSIFIEDS
GEORGE STADEL SLOOP, built
1937. A very pretty gaff-rigged sloop
that now requires some structural
repairs. We’ve owned and loved this
boat for over 40 years and would
now like to pass her on to someone
with the skills and interest to restore
her. This pretty sloop deserves to be
saved. Boat located Sea Cliff, Long
Island, NY. For further info and photos, please contact <LPHurley@
optonline.net> or 516–671–8538.

15' original catboat with trailer,
teak deck. Poor condition, $600,
negotiable. Aaron, 860–242–9958.
1966 CENTURY RESORTER. Completely restored with 5200 bottom,
with trailer. $17,000 or best offer. Contact George at WI, 715–617–4546.

1931 JAMES SILVER 63' gentleman’s
motoryacht. Built on the Clyde, Scot­
land, and seen a lot since - from
Dunkirk to last Bond movie filmed
in the Bahamas. New engines, gener­
ator systems, electronics, etc. Same
ownership for the past 37 years.
Needs good home. Best offer by
end of September. 954–495–8814,
<[email protected]>.

1936 NARRASKETUCK #5, free to a
good home. New Banks racing sails,
8-year-old trailer used twice for
launching. Needs some cosmetics and
a committed owner. Located eastern
Long Island, NY. 516–383–2390.
15' POULSBO BOAT. Needs stem,
deadwood. Includes shaft, prop,
rudder. WA, 360–271–1120.

CLASSIFIED AD
Order Form
Expires November 5, 2009

23' 5" BLUENOSE SLOOP, fast, classic
racer built in Nova Scotia. Cedar on
oak, reframed and planked late ’90s.
Out of the water four years, full set of
new sails, complete hardware. Needs
deck canvas over recently installed
marine ply deck, refasten several planks,
caulking, paint and finish. I have a
long commute and no time to rehab
or sail. To a good home and someone
who has the time and interest to do it
right and sail a classic beauty. In the
cradle, Seacoast NH, 603–557–3893,
<[email protected]>.

35' ARNO DAY LOBSTERBOAT,
needs frames. Ford V-8, mahogany
topsides, cedar bottom. Too pretty
to cut up. MA. Call 508–758–9240.
A CLASSIC OLD CONTROVERSY,
this 24' Amphibiette named “Passe­
par­tout” is looking for a new owner
who would restore her to her old
glory, and then enjoy many years of
sailing and cruising. This boat was
designed by Cyrus Hamlin and Farnham Butler and built by Farnham
Butler at the Mt. Desert Yacht Yard in
Somesville in 1956. Great opportun­
ity for the handy person who knows
boats. You finish the restoration on
this solid and fast boat, then take us
for a sail. For more information, con­
tact Maria Van Dusen, 617–784–7522,
[email protected].

Please circle the issue(s) in which this ad is to appear
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Issue:
Deadline: Jan 5

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Mar 5

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Jul 6
Sept 8, 09 Nov 5

Ads received after the deadline
will be placed in the following issue.

• Boats advertised for sale must
have wooden hulls
• One boat per ad.
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Please print clearly—WoodenBoat is not responsible for errors due to illegible copy.
Phone number = one word; all else: a word is a word. Each word in an email or web address is one word,
excluding @ and .com. WoodenBoat does not use abbreviation such as OBO, FWC, etc. Please use proper punctuation.

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display classified advertising information.)

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WOODENBOAT CLASSIFIEDS

P.O. Box 78 • Brooklin, Maine 04616
Phone: 207-359-4651 • Fax: 207-359-8920
Email: [email protected]
Place your ad online at www.woodenboat.com

142 • WoodenBoat 210

WBClass210_FINAL.indd 142

7/29/09 3:20 PM

Index to Advertisers
Adhesives & Coatings
C Tech Marine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Epifanes North America . . . . . . .
Interlux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
System Three Resins, Inc. . . . . . .
West System Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

www.bristolfinish.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
www.epifanes.com . . . . . . . . . . Cover II
www.yachtpaint.com . . . . . . . . Cover IV
www.systemthree.com . . . . . . . Cover III
www.westsystem.com . . . . . . . . . . 21, 31

Boatbuilders
Adirondack Guide Boat . . . . . . . .
Beetle, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Billings Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Boatsmith, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Bristol Seacraft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Cayuga Wooden Boatworks . . . . .
Choptank Boatworks . . . . . . . . . .
Concordia Yacht Sales . . . . . . . . .
Covey Island Boatworks . . . . . . . .
Crocker’s Boat Yard, Inc. . . . . . . .
Cutts & Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dutch Wharf Marina . . . . . . . . . .
Edgecomb Boat Works . . . . . . . . .
French & Webb . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Gannon & Benjamin . . . . . . . . . .
Great Lakes Boat Building Co. . . . .
Guillemot Kayaks . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hall’s Boat Corporation . . . . . . .
Haven Boatworks, LLC . . . . . . . .
Langskip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Laughing Loon . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Moores Marine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
MP&G, L.L.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Parker Marine Enterprises . . . . .
Pease Boatworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pendleton Yacht Yard . . . . . . . . . .
Ralph W. Stanley, Inc. . . . . . . . . .
Richard S. Pulsifer, Boatbuilder . . .
Rockport Marine . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Rumery’s Boat Yard . . . . . . . . . . .
Seal Cove Boatyard . . . . . . . . . . .
Shaw & Tenney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Stonington Boat Works, LLC . . .
Traditional Boat Works . . . . . . . .
Van Dam Wood Craft . . . . . . . . . .
Ventura Historic Ships . . . . . . . . .
Wooden Boat Shop . . . . . . . . . . .
YNOT Yachts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

www.adirondack-guide-boat.com . . 122
www.beetlecat.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
www.billingsmarine.com . . . . . . . . . . 39
www.boatsmithfl.com . . . . . . . . . . . 122
www.bristolseacraft.com . . . . . . . . . 128
www.cwbw.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
www.choptankboatworks.com . . . . 124
www.concordiaboats.com . . . . . . . . 126
www.coveyisland.com . . . . . . . . . . . 126
www.crockersboatyard.com . . . . . . . 126
www.cuttsandcase.com . . . . . . . . . . 124
www.dutchwharf.com . . . . . . . . . . . 123
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
www.frenchwebb.com . . . . . . . . . . . 125
www.gannonandbenjamin.com . . . 125
www.greatwoodboats.com . . . . . . . . 126
www.kayakplans.com/w . . . . . . . . . 128
www.hallsboat.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
www.havenboatworks.com . . . . . . . 128
www.langskip.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
www.laughingloon.com . . . . . . . . . . 128
www.woodenboatrepair.com . . . . . . 125
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
www.parker-marine.com . . . . . . . . . 127
www.peaseboatworks.com . . . . . . . . 125
www.pendletonyachtyard.com . . . . 126
www.ralphstanleyboats.com . . . . . . 128
www.pulsiferhampton.com . . . . . . . 126
www.rockportmarine.com . . . . . . . . 124
www.rumerys.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
www.sealcoveboatyard.com . . . . . . . 126
www.shawandtenney.com . . . . . . . . . 98
www.stoningtonboatworks.com . . . 125
www.traditionalboatworks.net . . . . 127
www.vandamboats.com . . . . . . . . . . 122
www.wood-boat.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
www.woodenboatshopinc.com . . . . 127
www.ynotyachts.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Brokers
Baum & Konig Gmbh . . . . . . . . .
Brooklin Boat Yard . . . . . . . . . . . .
Cannell, Payne & Page
Yacht Brokers . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
David Jones Yacht Broker . . . . . .
Emerald Yacht-Ship . . . . . . . . . . .
Kingman Yacht Center . . . . . . . . .
Metinic Yacht Brokers . . . . . . . . .
New Hampshire Boat Museum . . .
Page Traditional Boats . . . . . . . . .
Sandeman Yacht Company . . . . .
Sierra Boat Co. Inc. . . . . . . . . . . .
Wooden Boats For Sale Online . . .

www.classic-yachts.de . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
www.brooklinboatyard.com . . . . . . 119
www.cppyacht.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
www.davidjonesclassics.com . . . . . . 120
www.emeraldyachtship.com . . . . . . 120
www.kingmanyachtcenter.com . . . . 119
www.yachtworld.com/metinic . . . . 120
www.nhbm.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
www.pagetraditionalboats.com . . . . 116
www.sandemanyachtcompany.co.uk . 117
www.sierraboat.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
www.woodenboats4sale.com . . . 17, 120

Events
Design Challenge . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.woodenboat.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Georgetown Wooden Boat Show www.woodenboatshow.com . . . . . . . . 37
Madisonville Wooden Boat Festival . www.lpbmaritimemuseum.org . . . . . . . . 26
Newport International Boat Show . www.newportboatshow.com . . . . . . . . 10
Ocean Reef Club/Vintage
Weekend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.oceanreef.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
United States Yacht Shows, Inc. . . . www.usboat.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Wooden Boat Festival . . . . . . . . . . www.woodenboat.org . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Wooden Boat Regatta Series . . . . www.woodenboat.com . . . . . . . . . . . 111
WoodenBoat Show . . . . . . . . . . . . www.thewoodenboatshow.com . . . . . 8-9

Hardware & Accessories
Atlas Metal Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Barkley Sound Oar & Paddle Ltd. .
ccfasteners.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hamilton Marine . . . . . . . . . . . . .

www.atlasmetal.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
www.barkleysoundoar.com . . . . . . . . . 38
www.ccfasteners.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
www.hamiltonmarine.com . . . . . . . . 22

J.M. Reineck & Son . . . . . . . . . . .
Jamestown Distributors . . . . . . . .
Keystone Spike Corporation . . . .
Port Townsend Foundry LLC . . .
R&W Traditional Rigging &
Outfitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Shaw & Tenney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Top Notch Fasteners . . . . . . . . . .
Wooden Boat Foundation
Chandlery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

www.bronzeblocks.com . . . . . . . . . . .
www.jamestowndistributors.com . . .
www.keystonespikes.com . . . . . . . . . .
www.porttownsendfoundry.com . . . .

www.rwrope.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
www.shawandtenney.com . . . . . . . . 109
www.tnfasteners.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
www.woodenboat.org/chandlery/ . . 12

Kits & Plans
Aero Cat Marine, Inc. . . . . . . . . . www.aerocatmarine.com . . . . . . . . .
Arch Davis Design . . . . . . . . . . . . www.archdavisdesigns.com . . . . . . .
Benford Design Group . . . . . . . . www.benford.us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chesapeake Light Craft, LLC . . . www.clcboats.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Clark Craft Boat Co. . . . . . . . . . . . www.clarkcraft.com . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dudley Dix Yacht Design . . . . . . . www.dixdesign.com . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fine Edge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.fineedge.com/boats . . . . . . . .
Francois Vivier Architecte Naval . www.vivierboats.com . . . . . . . . . . . .
Glen-L-Marine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.glen-l.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Jericho Bay Lobster Skiff/
WoodenBoat Store . . . . . . . . . . www.woodenboatstore.com . . . . . .
Jordan Wood Boats . . . . . . . . . . . www.jordanwoodboats.com . . . . . .
Noah’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.noahsmarine.com . . . . . . . . . .
Plans & Kits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.woodenboat.com . . . . . . . . . . .
Pygmy Boats Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.pygmyboats.com . . . . . . . . . . .
Redfish Custom Kayak &
Canoe Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.redfishkayak.com . . . . . . . . . .
The Newfound Woodworks Inc. . . . . . www.newfound.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tippecanoe Boats, Ltd. . . . . . . . . www.modelsailboat.com . . . . . . . . .
Waters Dancing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.watersdancing.com . . . . . . . . .

130
132
133
129
130
132
132
132
131
133
132
133
108
131
132
131
132
130

Museums
Maritime & Seafood
Industry Museum . . . . . . . . . . . www.maritimemuseum.org . . . . . . . . 30

Prints & Publications
Bray Prints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Calendar of Wooden Boats . . . . . . . .
Getting Started In Boats . . . . . . . . .
Tiller Publishing . . . . . . . . . . . . .
WoodenBoat E-Newsletter . . . . . .
WoodenBoat Subscription . . . . . . .

www.brayprints.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
www.woodenboatstore.com . . . . . . 101
www.woodenboat.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
www.tillerbooks.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
www.woodenboat.com . . . . . . . . . . . 120
www.woodenboat.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Sails
Doyle Sailmakers, Inc. . . . . . . . . .
E.S. Bohndell & Co. . . . . . . . . . . .
Gambell & Hunter . . . . . . . . . . . .
Nathaniel S. Wilson, Sailmaker . .
North Sails Cloth . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sailrite Enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . .

www.doylesails.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
www.gambellandhunter.net . . . . . . 107
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
www.northsails.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
www.sailrite.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Schools & Associations
American Schooner Association . . .
Atlantic Challenge . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Boat School/NESCOM . . . .
Carpenter’s Boat Shop . . . . . . . . .
Great Lakes Boat Building
School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
HCC METC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
International Yacht
Restoration School . . . . . . . . . .
The Landing School . . . . . . . . . .
Northwest School of Wooden
Boatbuilding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sail & Life Training Society . . . . .
Westlawn Institute of Marine
Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
WoodenBoat School . . . . . . . . . .

www.amschooner.org . . . . . . . . . . . 128
www.atlanticchallenge.com . . . . . . . . 46
www.husson.edu/theboatschool . . . 19
www.carpentersboatshop.org . . . . . . 99
www.greatlakesboatbuilding.org . . 106
honolulu.hawaii.edu . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
www.iyrs.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
www.landingschool.edu . . . . . . . . . . 38
www.nwboatschool.org . . . . . . . . . . 107
www.salts.ca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
www.westlawn.edu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
www.thewoodenboatschool.com . . . 25

Miscellaneous
Downeast Properties . . . . . . . . . .
Hagerty Marine Insurance . . . . .
Half-Hull Classics . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Heritage Marine Insurance . . . . .
Port of Port Townsend . . . . . . . . .
Pusser’s West Indies . . . . . . . . . . .
Panerai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
WoodenBoat Store . . . . . . . . . . . .

www.downeastproperties.com . . . . 115
www.hagertymarine.com . . . . . . . . . . 39
www.halfhull.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
www.heritagemarineinsurance.com . 24
www.portofpt.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-15
www.pussers.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
www.panerai.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
www.woodenboatstore.com . . . 103-105

September/October 2009 •

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Page 144

SAVE A CLASSIC

A 26' x 9 ' 1949 Cruising Sloop by Crocker

MICHAEL SPOLLEN

WENDY

by Maynard Bray

Designed by Sam Crocker, WENDY had a single
owner for many years. A new owner willing to
take on a worthy project could take her into the
next phase of her life.

W

ENDY could be saved without astronomical expense,
if you yourself provided the labor instead of a commercial builder whose hourly rate would drive the cost
well beyond her fair market value. The work calls for skill
and experience; this is not a project for a rank amateur.
Her needs are many, according to a 2005 sur vey, with
planking, fastenings, backbone, and rudder among the
items mentioned. But she’s definitely an appealing design,
a salty looker for sure. Her drawings are featured in the
book Sam Crocker’s Boats , written by the designer’s son (and
WENDY’s builder), S. Sturgis Crocker. She’s design No.

HOLIDAY

248, known as the Marion 26. Weighing but 6,000 lbs,
drawing only 3' 6" , and without the complexity of a centerboard, WENDY is well within one’s ability to launch,
haul, and store, thus diminishing the usual expense. The
death of her longtime owner—who was a wooden boat
fanatic if ever there was one—and the impending sale of
his New Jersey home where WENDY is stored, makes her
available.
For more information, contact Michael Spollen, 703–360–6385 or
[email protected].

A 29' x 8' 1946 Hinckley 21 Sloop

T

o keep the crew busy and to meet the pent-up demand
after the World War II government contracts petered
out, the Hinckley Company built 20 of these Alden/Albergdesigned keel sloops in a single year, starting them on speculation and soon selling all. They and the builder’s other
postwar offerings were production boats, but they were reasonably well built and, as HOLIDAY has proven, with consistent care have lasted well. HOLIDAY, in fact, was sailing just
last year—her 62nd. She’s been in the same family since new,
but age has caught up with her and it’s time for a major
rebuild. She’s essentially original, although she has a fiveyear-old mast. But she didn’t pass this season’s insurance survey—thus her availability. I expect her needs are much like
WENDY’s, described above, although without the drying out.

144

•

WoodenBoat 210

ERIC LUSTY

At 29’ overall and 21’ on the waterline, the Hinckley 21 HOLIDAY
would make a fine cruising boat
after the completion of the
considerable restoration work
that is necessary.

And the restorative skills would be similar, both boats requiring experience and judgment as to how far to go and how to
replace such pieces as steam-bent frames and carvel planking. Some of her drawings are shown in the book John G.
Alden and His Yacht Designs, and I believe all of the full-scale
ones are now at MIT’s Hart Nautical Collections.
HOLIDAY is located in York, Maine. For more information, contact

Eric Lusty, 866–380–3602 or [email protected].
Maynard Bray is WoodenBoat’s technical editor.
Send candidates for “Save a Classic” to Maynard Bray, WoodenBoat,
P.O. Box 78, Brooklin, ME 04616.

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