Man on the River, by fair means

Giacomo and the Ness Yawl somewhere along the Po.

Roland Poltock in the Art Waiting Room at Lago

Roland at his work table

Shaping planks

The molds set up in the Art Waiting Room

Silvio wields a Japanese saw



all photos courtesy Giacomo Stefano

Giacomo De Stefano was introduced to me by Michael Bogoger of DoryMan. Michael asked if I'd be interested in writing about Giacomo (as he has) and helping him along in his mission. My answer was an enthusiastic yes, but then other things...so, finally, here it is. My apologies to Giacomo for the delay.
Giacomo is planning a voyage from London to Istanbul via an Oughtred Ness yawl, sailing and rowing. His goal is to raise awareness on several fronts, but most notably clean water, low impact transportation and the destructive effects of global tourism. He made a similiar voyage last year, also in a Ness yawl, down the river Po. I've had a little correspondence w/Giacomo and I do believe he possesses the passion, intensity and poetry of a true visionary. In his own words:

"According to WTO data published in the report, Changes in Leisure Time: The Impact of Tourism*, since 1998 tourism has become the largest industry on the planet. Nothing produces more, consumes more, ejects more and wastes more. Mass tourism, the real monster, develops at a very fast rate. Is there a way ot traveling, experiencing, and eating without eroding environments and cultures? Is there a way to bring a sustainable, local economy to the river sides society? My name is Giacomo De Stefano, and I am a traveler, a man who is looking for
new ways of dealing with our complex reality. I live on a boat in Venice. I row and sail, with little or no money. With less I try do more. I want to row and sail, on a little boat from London to Istanbul. I am not alone. My colleagues and I are a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual group, and I believe we and you can be of service to each other. You can learn more about us on our web site
unaltropo.com. I am, with the help of some good friends, organizing this journey called By Fair
Means, North sea to Black Sea, to help us save two great rivers and demonstrate a way of intelligent tourism."

The photos above represent the current progress toward Giacomo's goal. Shipwright Roland Poltock and his friend Silvio have set up shop in the lobby of Lago, a Venetian design firm. The lobby is synonymous with an art gallery aptly named The Art Waiting Room where the firm brings in artists to show pieces related to waiting. "Art Waiting Room is a container of stimuli to change the experience of waiting in Lago.Inside the waiting room, young artists reinterpret in ever different content to wait. This a project in collaboration with the Foundation March." Or as Nicolo Zago explains on DoryMan's blog: "Of course as you know, our reception area has now become the famous "Art Waiting Room" where we host live installations and performances, but until now we have never seen anything like this." Thus the building of the new Ness yawl becomes a sort of performance piece. In point of fact I would label the whole of Giacomo's oeuvre as performance art, a very broad work of art encompassing not only the aesthetic but also the social, the political, the environmental and the spiritual realms. Indeed, I believe it is a gesamtkunstwerk. (Please, if you don't know what this means, link to the definition!)

Giacomo seems very open, gracious and generous, he's invited Michael and I , and I'm sure many others, to participate in his voyage, and contribute by whatever means available, be it physical, logistical, media related or financial. Find out more at his website Un altro Po.

I asked Giacomo why an Iain Oughtred boat as opposed to a more local craft from his home area. His response is enlightening:

"I decided to use a Ness Yawl because is a very versatile boat. I was so lucky that Roland Poltock lent me the boat last year and I felt in love so much with it. Maybe I am a little bit close to my Norwegian origin, dating 1079, in Sicily or maybe I love too much Iain Oughtred..I miss the Venetian boats but they would not be good to sail along the Black Sea coast, and they are too heavy. Only the MAscareta could be good , and light but not seaworthy enough.
The other Italian boat are too heavy, like all the gozzi, to be rowed upstream decently, or hauled by myself in case of danger.

After all the planet is small and I am a citizen of this small planet. We decided to use names. So Norway is here too, in my crazy mind, and Scotland too.

This is part of a circle. About rivers and seas.

DON’T LEAVE THIS PLANET TO THE STUPID. PLEASE"

I dare not add anything more.

Jumbo

Despite their constrasting size both these boats shown here were classed as 'Jumbos' and are typical of the St.Ives shape which enabled the vessel to remain upright when taking the ground. Legs would have been torn off in a crowded harbour, as shown below. The one on the right (above) and those against the quay (below) are so similar to 'Celeste' they are almost certainly from William Paynters' yard.

Photos reproduced by courtesy of The St.Ives Museum

Celeste

Jonny Nance
serving splices with Joe.

Photo; Pete Greenfield

'CelestFish Festival 31st Aug 09. photo: Colin Sanger

'Celeste' at Newlyn Fish Festival 31st Aug 09.

photo: Colin Sanger

Festival 31st Aug 09. photo: Colin Sanger

View looking forward

Photo by Peter Chesworth, courtesy of Water-Craft magazine.

Wrought iron foremast gate.

Photo by Peter Chesworth, courtesy of Water-Craft magazine.

Securing the mizzen boom

Photo by Peter Chesworth, courtesy of Water-Craft magazine.

Wrought-iron stemband and 'scud-hook'

Photo by Peter Chesworth, courtesy of Water-Craft magazine.

Photo by Peter Chesworth, courtesy of Water-Craft magazine.

Photo by Peter Chesworth, courtesy of Water-Craft magazine.

Celeste at low water

Photo: Ian Murren

Jonny Nance with Pete Goss, a finisher in the '96/'97 Vendee Globe. Pete's latest adventure was the recreation of Mystery, a Cornish Lugger which carried 7 Cornishmen to Australia in 1854/55. Upon completion of the boat, Pete and crew sailed the Mount's Bay Lugger in a recreation of the voyage. The new boat and venture was called Spirit of Mystery. I believe the occasion of this photo is Pete's purchase of a 'share' of/for the building of the new Jumbo.

photo Pete Goss

Jumbo II under construction:

all photos courtesy Jonny Nance unless otherwise noted

© THE ST.IVES JUMBO ASSOCIATION

Jonny Nance is an apostle for traditional boats and boatbuilding, and community involvement in these areas, in his native St. Ives, Cornwall,UK. He's created something called The St. Ives Jumbo Association to further these aims. And is doing a great job, as you can see at the Association's website. Celeste is his first replica and another is nearing completion. I was struck by the craftsmanship and attention to detail when first seeing the photos on the website, and paid closer attention to what was going on here, and my attention has been amply rewarded. This seems a model project.
Jumbo's were a late development in the local fisheries, a scaled down version of the larger mackerel luggers. The name arose in this way:
"To fishermen familiar with the much larger and more numerous mackerel boats the new Jumbos would have seemed particularly diminutive and so were ironically nick-named after London Zoos' famous African elephant - the biggest creature in captivity.

Jumbo had caused a storm of protest in 1882 following its controversial sale to the Barnum & Bailey Circus in the USA. "

It's Jonny's intention to race the two boats as a way of getting the community interested and involved in the skills needed to preserve and continue their local heritage. But for me he has a more interesting goal. Jonny see's the revival of these inshore fishing craft as a means of protecting local fisheries and promoting sustainable fishing, eco fishing, if you will, via a return to fishing under sail. In his words-

"When sailing the Jumbo you can readily appreciate why the lug rig remained popular for small fishing boats through to the last days of sail. To start with you've a wonderfully clear working area with the masts out of the way, and no boom to duck under. Even when close-hauled the sail and sheets are clear of the work area. This, combined with he manageable scale of the boat and rig makes the Jumbo an ideal model on which to develop skills and explore the potential of fishing for a living - under sail.

Our aim is to establish a racing class of these boats at St.Ives in order to regenerate a waterfront community in decline. How much more effective it would be if, in addition, these boats could be eventually used for the purpose for which they were designed whilst providing a seasonal income for a couple of individuals!

Clearly, there may come a time when, in addition to any green, carbon neutral credentials, a sail-operated fishery could become commercially viable or at least a natural way of conserving resources (as demonstrated by the Falmouth oyster fishery -much celebrated as the last in the world to be worked under sail). In the meantime the skills required need to be developed.

There's a growing recognition that this approach would at least address some serious issues; the sustainability of fish stocks, the rising cost of fuel, the dependence on imported goods and the lack of employment opportunities in rural areas to name a few.

And if successful, the model could be readily repeated elsewhere.

Only a few months ago such a proposal would have been dismissed as romantic fantasy. So far however, my inquiries have been met with a degree of excitement .

Stephen Perham, the Harbour Master of Clovelly, who has been working the herring season there for decades, explained he has been thinking of reviving the 'picarooner' (their Jumbo equivalent) for the purpose. It's no coincidence that a replica of this particular craft is currently under construction by students on the Traditional Boatbuilding Course at Falmouth Marine School.

Nathan De Rozarieux, the Project Director of Seafood Cornwall reckons there's sufficient public awareness to support a significant premium for 'zero-carbon' fish when sold direct to the customer. This would ensure a market for the smallest catches. This view is shared by Matthew Stevens MD of Matthew Stevens and Son, the regions leading supplier of fish and seafood based in St.Ives,who said,

"Clearly the time is right for an initiative like this. We look forward to receiving their first catch!"

Even the authorities are supportive. The Marine Fisheries Agency at Newlyn inform me that obstructive legislation has been amended to allow unlicenced (unpowered) vessels of under 10m. to land and sell fish.

Without realising it individuals from each of the contributing sectors: boatbuilders, part-time fishermen, fishing authorities, and marketting have been quietly thinking along parallel lines but as yet have not joined forces.

We are on the threshold of a revival that could see several small, inshore and engineless fleets springing up around our shores over the next decade.

The logical place to start is where we left off - and engines took over.

Sceptical? Of course - but just think where the organic industry was only 30 years ago!"

Apparently the British House of Commons is taking notice of such ideas. Other institutions are taking notice of Jonny and the Association's initiatives as well. The esteemed Tate Gallery held a fundraiser last spring to help make possible the completion of the second Jumbo.

Even an American group of descendants of the Cornwall Nance's is taking notice and appealing for help. If you can do so, please!

Matt Billey builds to a boat design collected by Christian Nielsen

Work in progress, two bow shots

Laying the deck

Forward hatch

Interior looking aft

Mast step, trunnels, and what looks to be a grown floor

Jette is certainly being well crafted

tree·nail or tre·nail also trun·nel

n.

A wooden peg that swells when wet and is used to fasten timbers, especially in shipbuilding.

all photos courtesy Matt Billey

scanned images courtesy the publisher's of Wooden Boat Designs by Christian Nielsen

The book 'Wooden Boat Designs Classic Danish Boats Measured and Described by Christian Nielsen', is a book that inspires.
Originally published in 1977 by Høst and Søns Forlag, Copenhagen, in cooperation with Handels og Søfartsmuseet. The English translation is from 1980 and inspired Jon Wilson, founder of WoodenBoat Magazine, enough that he wrote the forward to the English edition. Chuck Coles
found inspiration to build his Lynaes dinghy Moondancer. Add Matt Billey, underway (7 years worth) with the build of a replica Bornholm Boat, Haabat, to Nielsen's lines. I discovered Matt's project on Russ Manheimer's weblog about his beloved Sjogin, another Scandinavian double ended design. When I wrote Russ asking if he'd put me in touch with Matt, I had no idea the boat that Matt was so finely crafting was from the Neilsen book. In email conversation he said:

"I first discovered Christian Nielsen's book "Wooden Boat Designs: Classic Danish Boats Measured and Described" while up at the Apprenticeshop in Rockland, Maine. This is the same book that Chuck Cole got the design for the Lynaes Dinghy he built. Of all the boats in the book, I loved the Bornholm Island boat "Haabet" the most. I am especially interested in the hull shape and the construction method. For some reason, I seem to like ancient double-enders that have slightly wider shoulders than hips. I've built a Maine sailing peapod that has that same "cod head, mackerel tail" sheer. Joggled frames and trunnels have always fascinated me and I wanted to have some first hand experience with them.

There are a few sentences in the Nielsen book that really peaked my curiousity. ......

"Since the boats from Bornholm, even with their small size, were superior to the Belt and Sound boats as far as seaworthiness was concerned, the local fishermen in the Langeland Belt became interested in this type, and in the period down to 1920 a considerable number of Bornholm boats were sold to them. Thus, until World War I, once could see both Sound and Kattegat boats, Belt boats and Bornholm boats, such as Haabet of Listed, in the same area catching the same kind of fish. They were all sharp-sterned shoal-draft vessels; as far as their construction was concerned, they must be said to belong to the same group, but their local feaures indicated that they had been built in different places in Denmark."

I guess I want to find out what makes the Bornholm boats so seaworthy. So, it has always been my plan to build the hull using traditional materials and construction method, build the rig as drawn in the plans, but change the deck layout so as to be more comfortable for coastal cruising. As you can see from the pics, "Jette" will have wide side decks, a small cabin and a cockpit for passengers. The only thing I'm retaining from the original deck plan is the footwell aft for the helmsman."

He's well on his way, building slowly and meticulously, as you can see. He seems to know what he's doing. I will look forward to the launch, and hopefully manage to get aboard.

I originally found this book while researching a Nielsen drawing of a 'Norwegian' pram I'd found in Thomas Gillmer's A History of Working Watercraft Of The Western World. The boat in question is not in Neilsen's book, but an inquiry to the Danish museum turned up a CD which has all the Nielsen drawings along with his commentary (the comments are in Danish, but w/Google translator, that should pose no problems). They also have the book, in Danish. The English version is, I believe, out of print. I found a second market copy on line. To inquire about ordering the CD, write to : info@maritime-museum.dk or click my title bar for the museum store, the CD is just under the book. I have a copy on the way.

Tim Robison's 'Resting Dinghies' @ The Peregrine Sea

All photos courtesy Tim Robison

Tim Robison is, among other things, a sailor and a photographer. Rather a good photographer, I'd say. His website Pergrine Sea, named after his boat Peregrina, has several galleries, one of which is pictured above. It's called 'Resting Dinghies', a name suggested by Tim's friend, Webb Chiles, who wrote to me about Tim. Tim explains:
This is a collection of photographs taken at the Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle, Washington. The small boats, their beautiful details of there construction, and the setting at the south end of Lake Union with still water, make for some interesting photography. These photographs are a combination of recent digital photos and scans of slides from years ago.
My friend Webb Chiles, after viewing several of these images suggested the photographs were “compositions of resting dinghies.” I had not not thought of the the collection that way .......


This is just a sliver of the collections on tap at Tim's well crafted website, most of them related to sailing and sailing adventure. Tim and Sandra live aboard their 40' sailboat and wander when they can, and their wanders and journeys are chronicled at their site. There's lots here, and lots to like. Take a look, dig in, you'll find much to enjoy.

Orkney Yole Calendar

Arriving home yesterday I found a very welcome surprise! I had reserved a calendar with the Orkney Yole Association, but hadn't got round to sending my payment. Nonetheless, there it was, air mailed through the Royal Mail. And it's delightful! The Association is doing some great things up there at the ends of the earth. They may still have a calendar or two left as well, inquire through their website. Member Len Wilson politely reminded me that the Orcadians are not Gaels, but have Viking heritage. Their boats were imported to the more western Islands, however, which may explain the similarities. I'll likely be writing more about this group soon, but in the meantime, give yourself a treat and visit the website. And maybe there's still a calendar for you (great photo's, but I've given away enough here).

Ok, ok, I'm sending the payment. Thanks, Len.

Bell Seagull: with a little help from my friends

Two rare birds 'Sabine' and 'Steffi' (alas no longer with us)
rafted up, Scottish West Coast May 1991,
and
Sabine dried out Piel Is Aug 1992 An attempt to show hull profile
courtesy Edwin Dewhirste

Sabine under sail in Caernarfon Bay 2007 cruise
courtesy Edwin Dewhirst

Beating down the Sound of Raasey with the windvane doing the work
May 2009 cruise
courtesy Edwin Dewhirst

Sabine back in Tobermory Harbour
May cruise 2009
courtesy Edwin Dewhirst

Sabine moored in the river bed in Cemaes harbour . Anglessey Very sheltered in the harbour but plenty of wind outside
August 2009 cruise
courtesy Edwin Dewhirst

Chris Fretz's Seagull, first sail
courtesy Chris Fretz

Chris Fretz's Seagull, first sail
courtesy Chris Fretz

Chris' 'Gull
courtesy Chris Fretz

Chris Fretz and his Seagull at home
photo Thomas Armstrong

Chris' Seagull
photo Thomas Armstrong

This will be a post about one small boat but will shoot off in several directions, so please pay attention. The design in question is the Bell Woodworking kit boat, the Seagull. A product of the boom in postwar Britain of small, trailerable family cruisers, most originally built in the amazing 'new' material, plywood. I found this design while researching the postwar phenomenon of dinghies and family cruisers which revolutionized yachting and brought it within reach of 'everyman'. Bell Woodworking of Leicester, UK, was a producer of many kit boats, beginning in the early 1950's. Ian Proctor, of Wayfarer fame, designed at least three of their offerings, and he was in good company. Bell also commissioned legends Jack Holt, Percy Blanford and Uffa Fox to draw boats for them. One of Mr. Proctor' designs has quite caught my attention. I love a well drawn reverse sheer, and this, along with a well proportioned cabintop and nicely done hard chines, drew me to the Seagull. Bermuda rigged, small for a cruiser at 18'6" LOA, she has spacious accommodations for her size, and has a retractable fin bulb keel which enables her for both shoal and deep water sailing. The Seagull was a popular design in her day, with over 300 kits being sold, and early on an active and enthusiastic owners group. As times progressed and fiberglass or GRP boats began to replace the owner built ply boats, the Seagull waned in popularity. Today there are only about twenty or so owners clustered around Edwin Dewhirst's forum for both the Seagull and her larger sister the Seamew. Edwin also maintains a website on these boats where he recounts his cruises in his beloved Seagull Sabine as well as providing essential information on both the Seagull and Seamew.
Through Edwin's forum I was able to locate and contact an owner of a Seagull, fortunately about 20 minutes drive from my home in Phoenixville , PA. I made contact with Chris Fretz and found him affable and forthcoming, with a beautiful story about his 'Gull. Chris is a passionate sailor and campaigns his e Scow on the New Jersey coast. Genetic. Chris' grandfather, Harold Pelham, built several of the Bell kits. A pram, the GP 14 (Jack Holt) and finally the Seagull. When his grandfather passed, Chris discovered the Gull, the basic structure was complete but lacked fittings and finish. Chris fell to and completed his new/old Seagull. He'd had the boat in the water for about four seasons, sailing from his base which was his Grand's shore house in NJ, when a road accident while trailing the boat back to PA for the winter sidelined the Seagull. She needs some work and I have offered help, to get the boat back in the water next summer. Knowing that there are no extant plans available for this boat, I approached Chris with an idea. If we could take lines off we could build a table of offsets and rescue the design from obscurity. Chris is enthusiastic, and when I explained that John Brady at the Independence Seaport Museum has a laser and a jig for taking the measurements, Chris offered to trailer his Seagull down to Philly, and suggested that John might want to build a class around the taking off of lines. Great! The next step was to approach John with the idea, and I found him enthusiastic also, with the caveat that we would need to have an appropriate number for a class, at least five bodies, and he'd like to open such a class up to help survey some of the boats in the Museums study collection. Wow, this is great, I thought. So here's a call to all my readers within striking distance of Philadelphia. If you'd like to learn how to survey an old boat and take her measurements, please raise your hand by emailing me or John.

There's a glitch, though. I would like to be able to offer plans to members of Edwin's group, and others interested in the Seagull. I have even contacted Paul Fischer of Selway Fisher, a British designer known for rescuing traditional boat designs and reworking them for modern homebuilding techniques. He expresses interest also, but only if copyright issues could be met and dealt with. And there's the rub. According to Edwin, although the boat was designed by Ian Procter, he was working on commission for Bell Woodworking, so the plans belonged to Bell. Folks who bought the kits received a set of construction drawings, but not a full set of plans. Bell Woodworking closed it's doors some years ago, leaving little to trace the copyright holders down, at least through the internet. My endeavors have been futile, including requests to the University of Leicester Library (Bell was located in Leicester). So I'm putting out a second call to my readers. Especially those in central England. If you know of the Bell heirs, or those holding their copyright, or if you are the holder, please help me out here. We could all benefit.

Please visit Edwin's website here.

Michael Richey, 1917-2009

courtesy Billy Black

courtesy Jester Challenge

courtesy Billy Black

courtesy Jester Challenge

courtesy Jester Challenge

courtesy the Gypsy Moth collection

A life well lived and very rich indeed. I do not mourn the passing of Michael Richey, but rather wish to celebrate the life of a man who lived his life to the fullest with a great many significant achievements. Mike passed away on Tuesday, December 22, 2009, leaving a rich legacy for all sailors who aspire to adventure. A veteran seaman who saw action in WWII, Mike later followed his passion for navigation to became one of the founding members of the Royal Institute of Navigation. Mike was also the inheritor of Jester, Blondie Hasler's seminal junkrig conversion Folkboat which inaugurated the OSTAR transatlantic races, and it's his dogged participation in these races, all of them, after acquiring Jester from Blondie in 1964, which interests me. Mike was persuaded to buy Jester upon her return from the second Ostar and he and Jester participated in every one of these races until she was lost in the '88 race. A new cold molded Jester was created with the help of a trust organized by Nigel Rowe, and Michael continued to make these crossings. Over the years the race grew more and more competitive, with larger, faster, hugely funded racers quickly betraying the Corinthian( (dated),(nautical) An amateur yachtsman who sails his own yacht without a professional skipper ) origins of the event. Michael seems to have joined the race for reasons other than winning , seemingly it was the journey that mattered. He and Jester last participated in 2000, when a special dispensation was granted to allow the 26' boat to enter as the minimum length had been raised to 30'. In total Mike crossed the Atlantic single handed a whopping 28 times!, nine of which were Ostar's. One source reports: 'He confessed that coming in perfectly last became his objective, since it wasn’t so much the sailing that interested him, rather the navigating. He would often sail with centuries-old Portuguese, Phoenician, Chinese and Spanish navigational instruments borrowed from local maritime museums. ' Mike celebrated his July 5th birthday many times at sea, alone, surrounded by his books and good wine, including his 80th.

Truly a man all can admire, and a life all can celebrate.

There is a great obituary here.
A lovely reminiscence here.
A timely tribute here.
And the Jester Challenge biography here.
Take a look at Mike's articles for the Jester Challenge page here.
There is also a very good article on Jester, and Michael, in WoodenBoat #113, by Sheila McCurdy.

Return of the Oak King

photo courtesy David Coulter

This is basically my holiday greeting card to all who read this weblog. Dave Coulter is a horticulturist and environmental blogger in the Chicago area. While I almost never post about non sailing or boat related blogs, I feel David deserves your attention. His writing often obliquely addresses large issues. This single photo is an example. On the surface a simple reference to the pagan celebration of the Solstice, I think, on reflection, it has several layers of meaning. His website, osage +orange, is full of such insight. Informative, sensitive, sometimes poignant, he never screams his message, but it's there, and addresses issues we all face. This is a subtle website with a calm surface but a subtext that is a call to awareness. Thanks, Dave.

And wishing you all a sublime Solstice Season!

Roger Taylor on Furled Sails

all images courtesy Roger Taylor
altered versions © Thomas Armstrong

Furled Sails, the sailing podcast, has a two part interview with one of my favorite twosomes, Roger Taylor and Mingming. I posted earlier on their summer voyage to the Arctic Ocean, specifically Jan Mayen Island. The images above are screen shots from one of Roger's videos taken during the voyage while he was sailing through bergy bits. I highly recommend the Furled Sails interview with Roger, and Furled Sails in general... Noel and Christie are doing a great job and there' s an overwhelming array of great interviews with sailing personalities, with an emphasis on small boat adventurers. I also urge you to visit Roger's website for his articles and videos. Roger's book, 'Voyages of a Simple Sailor' is a must read for anyone who enjoys this weblog. It's available from Roger directly or from my bookstore on the right of this page. Roger is preparing Mingming for the 2010 Jester Challenge, and I'll be writing about that soon.

Mary Ellen has been sold!

courtesy Mick King

Intrepid voyager Roger Taylor has been the subject of several posts on 70.8%. One of those articles revealed that Roger was willing to part with his classic gaffer Mary Ellen. It's my pleasure to announce that Roger has sold his boat, and done so through a connection made with the help of 70.8%. It took awhile, the original offering of the boat was put up in May, and the sale finalized, I think, in October. Both buyer and seller are reportedly happy. If you have a classic wooden boat, a traditonal small craft or a plastic classic you'd like to move, please write me with some details and maybe we can sell your boat as well. My email is listed to the right. Let me hear from you.

courtesy Hugh Bourne

courtesy Roger Taylor

Roger Taylor, skipper of Mingming, and author of Voyages of a Simple Sailor is reluctantly offering his 1934 Gaff Cutter Mary Ellen for sale. Roger is preparing to leave shortly for the Arctic Ocean on Mingming, and gearing up for the 2010 Jester Challenge. Here's the lowdown:

Mary Ellen was built in 1934 by Kidby and Sons, Brightlingsea, Essex. They were builders of fast smacks and built her to their own design as a gentleman's yacht for a local farmer. The hull shape is that of an Essex smack, but with a spoon bow and a transom stern.

LOA 38'

LOD 30'

Beam9'

Draft3'3"

Heavily double sawn oak frames, pitch pine planking, solid mahogany interior, all original. She displaces approximatly 7 tons, has 4 berths in 2 cabins, and a Vestus c.550.

Since 2000, Roger has been making steady improvements, including:

Refastening the hull with bronze screws.

A new hollow spruce mast and yard.

A new Douglas fir boom and bowsprit

New sails by James Lawrence of Brightlingsea

New hand spliced standing rigging

New blocks and running rigging

Roger has an extensive archive on the yacht, which has been cruised as far as St. Petersburg.

Asking £12,000. GBP, or just under $19,500. US.

Interested parties should contact me via email (available at the top of this page) and I'll put you in touch with Roger.

Sgoth Arcach, ' Gobhlan Gaoithe' aka Swallow, an Orkney Yole on the Isle of Skye

"The rebuilding of an Orkney Yole from the 1920's. Work done in Camuscross from 2002 onwards, mostly by Fergus Walker between 2004 and 2007, with timely help from family and friends."

Building

Good lines

Boat in 2003 after several planks put in by Gus MacLean

Lots to do

The boat would be ritually taken out every year to make way for hay into the hayloft. Sometimes she even blew over in gales.

Night light

This is the boat after I had spent a summer replacing the planks on the starboard side.

New plank

The work done here was as done at the end of the summer of 2006. New material was a while in coming - this is it having arrived in about May 2007!

Progress

Having been ill for two months, the arrival of Tjerand (fellow student from boatbuilding in Norway) and Paul - the both of them being students at the Chippendale furniture school near Edinburgh - was a godsend! Just about on the mend, the work they did was a real kick start

Celebrating a good day's work

Tjeand and Paul at the local

Hard at work

Tjerand removes most of the stem

One strake up

6th strake ( one full plank length of boat) all done

Not a patch on the old plank!?

Screwing patches onto joins (scarphs) of a strake made up of dodgy short bits stops it losing shape when you remove it

Frames

Sawn frames fitted on the port side.

Floorboards begin

Middle floorboard section resting on beams fixed to the sawn frames

Marking floorboards

Fergus uses skills learnt at Bunnpris, Coop and Rimi in Norway

Floorboards finished!

High speed tarring

Tar mixture is 1/3 pine tar, 2/3 linseed oil and a bit of turps on the inside.

The smell of tar

Susan and Malcolm

Getting tanned

Fergus and Jared

Arrgh the midges!

Jared scratches, Fergus sensibly has his shirt on




THE LAUNCH

"The launch, on the 11th August 2007, turned out to be brilliant day, with crowds of people from Camuscross and beyond, as far as Norway, Germany and the Netherlands, coming to see the spectacle and join in in their boats. A dance was held with Fergie MAcDonald afterwords at Duisdale hall."

The boat sets off

Heave ho





Beannachdadh

Sea blessing from Carmina Gaedelica by Ian Urquhart. The boat is named "Gobhlan Gaoithe" - Swallow

Og båten går å hoooiiiiii!

Only the intrepid Fosen people remain in the water





Sailing well

Having come through the dornie, heading for Eilean Iarmain Pier



TRIPS

"All trips are sunny on Gobhlan Gaoithe. The camera never lies."

An Cuiltheann

An Cuiltheann is a sawtooth range of mountains on Skye (ed.)

Machiel and Fergus

Easy sailing





On watch

Gavin, Fergus, Machiel

Beach

Malcolm

Turas gu Loch na Beiste

Fergus with makeshift boom

Through the Kylerea narrows

Jared

Gabhan

Malcolm a streap

all photos, titles, headers and captions courtesy Fergus Walker except where indicated

Here's a story that 'warmed the cockles of me heart'. An Orkney yole restoration on the Isle of Skye . A young Fergus Walker is the main protagonist in this story, with supporting roles from his father and other members of his local community. The boat was purchased in 1997 by Fergus and his father from a man who'd been working in Caithness, said he'd bought the boat there. Built, he said c. 1920, rigged with a single lug sail and jib, but later Fergus discovered a mast step forward and figures she was originally rigged in the traditional manner of these boats, two masted sprit rigs with a jib tacked to a bowsprit. Fergus suspects she's a Stroma Yole. They sailed her, Fergus and his dad, for a couple of seasons, then the leaks got so bad they abandoned her ashore for a decade or so, until Mom threatened to burn the boat if they didn't do something with it. Moved into a shed, they had a local boatbuilder replace a few of the worst planks. Fergus then went off to Norway, attending the renowned folk/craft school Fosen Folkhøgskole, where he built the local craft (the Åfjords Boat) and learned traditional Norwegian boatbuilding skills which would prove useful in his endeavor to recreate his boat. Upon his return he commenced his restoration. As you can see from the photo essay, Fergus had lots of help from family and friends. The boat was christened 'Swallow' or Gobhlan Gaoithe in Gaelic, for the birds that took up nest in the shed during the rebuilding. The literal translation of the Gaelic is 'fork in the sky'. Fergus reports that as they launched the boat, a flight of swallows careened above the boat. You'll find more about his journey through this process on Fergus' weblog about the renovation accompanied by his photo log on Flickr. I've asked if there are drawings, did they take off lines, but have yet to hear from Fergus about that. I'll let you know.

Fergus pointed me to the Orkney Yole Association, where I found a new boat, Lily, under construction, and, surprise, it's been built in the traditional Norwegian way, right side up, though they did use molds.

Fergus has finished his course in Product design at Dundee University. His 'Degree Piece' , a sort of thesis project, is the Human Powered Flour Mill, found here.

Jigsaw 2.0, addendum

Mike, Phillipa and Kate, with Jigsaw in the background, all at an' earlier stage of development'.

construction photos of Jigsaw

"Clouds of sail"




all photos courtesy Mike Harrison

Mike Harrison, resident on the Channel Island Jersey, sent me some additional material on Jigsaw (see previous post). Mike says:

"I learned about traditional Jersey Fishing boats as a child crewing for Bob Kempster, an old Le Rocque fisherman, and also Reg Nicholle, my sailing master at Victoria College. He was an amazing character who used to tell us tales of the La Rocque Boats, racing under "clouds of sail" (photo attached) and how they fished the Ecrehous and Minquiers reefs under sail and oar.
It was by chance that Mike Jackson was restoring the Volunteer for the Jersey Museum when I was looking for a "handy boat" for day sailing and fishing with my young family.

Volunteer would have been built as a sprit cutter and later changed to lug. Different rigs were used according to the type of fishing that the boat was doing. It was not unusual for a boat to have three mast steps."

Chuck Cole: Sunspirit

This book ultimately brought Chuck to my attention.

Chuck Cole

Deb, seen here sailing Moondancer, is a recent addition to Chuck's crew, in the role of first mate.

Chuck built his Lynaes dinghy Moondancer from the book above, adapting the drawings to his needs.

She has traditional pine tar finish, though the lug rig is Chuck's adaptation.

The first Sunspirit was a 22' Block Island 'Cowhorn' (Chapelle)or Double Ender (Block Islanders),
*see Chuck's comment below

The boat appeared in Block Island: The Land by Robert M Downie

Chuck's sail loft in a yurt

Spar construction for the more recent, larger Cowhorn, with what looks suspiciously like a Hobbit dwelling in the background.

The larger, newer (building commenced in 1983) boat is a 37' Block Island double-ended cat schooner, built lapstrake with white cedar on black locust.

I said 37' lapstrake! Double-ender!

Could Chuck Cole be a reincarnated Viking?

Trying the rudder

From the stern

From the cockpit before...

and after stepping the masts



all photos courtesy Chuck Coles

Living off the grid, in yurts, heating with wood, building traditional boats by traditional methods, using wood felled and milled on his property in Wellfleet, Cape Cod, Chuck Cole is living a life that many of us would envy! (Maybe not all of us.)
I found Chuck on a WoodenBoat thread while searching out info on Christian Neilsen, a Danish traditional boatbuilder and historian. I'm not going to say a lot more other than to refer you to the thread and discover Chuck for yourselves, except to add that in recent email conversation Chuck reports that he's found his ship/mate, Deb, and that they hope to launch the 'cowhorn' sometime in 2010 and to begin cruising more southerly climes. I wish them godspeed in doing so, but not before I can arrange a visit to Wellfleet, maybe for the launch!

Charlie Hussey, Boatbuilder

Charlie Hussey

Harlequin, Clyde 17/19 Lugger

'No photos of Katydid from this period have come to light but another 17/19 Clyde Lugger was the subject of a photographic supplement from The Yachtsman and gives an impression what it must have been like to race these boats.'

Katydid as Charlie found her

With Katydid in his shop, Charlie questions the originality of her deck. His intention is to restore he to her to 'look and sail as she did when launched in 1892'.
This entails a bit of detective work.

Garboard off

Sighting down the keel

Keel shot

Heavy Metal

Katydid opened up

all photos courtesy Charlie Hussey

Charlie Hussey is an interesting boat builder, with an interesting weblog. He is apparently meticulous and exacting in his work and has an artists eye that shows in his photography and the presentation of his blog. I like his attitude: "Let’s get one think straight. This blog is not a chronological account of work as it gets done. It is selective, irregular and completely biased in favour of the colourful aspects of what I do." And so it is. You can see from the evidence above that Charlie's got a real sense for color and proportion in his photographs. One gets a sense of Charlie's keen observation, sense of proportion, his discerning approach to his work and his process in this statement about Katydid, relating to her photo in profile view.

'This entry is more or less all about Katydid’s profile – the way that she looks when viewed from the side. There’s lots more to say about her ‘end-on’ view but that will have to wait.

More or less the first thing that I did once Katydid was moved into the shed was to level and measure her. Together with the design offsets provided by Fairlie Restorations from the Fife archive I had enough information to compare Katydid as designed and Katydid as she is now. While the tables of offsets and raw measurements were adequate to confirm a few basic facts I decided to create CAD models of Katydid’s hullform in order to investigate how and to what extent there are differences. The whole process was, for me, amazingly illuminating. I really don’t think that I would have got very far at all in interpreting the history of Katydid’s hull form without the use of CAD. For those of a technical inclination I am using PolyCAD for this work.

Katydid’s sheerline is a bit flat (and bumpy). The weight of the coach roof on the deck structures has nipped her in at the waist and paradoxically, lifted her sheerline amidships, contributing to her rather flat looking sheer. The damage that the running backstays have done to the beamshelf and frames where they attach also indicates that her hullform has been pulled about a fair bit over time. This photo, of Katydid on the water (probably in the 1970’s) gives a general impression of what she most recently looked like afloat.

(note that she is a bit fine in the stern and not really designed to carry weight in the cruising cockpit – hence the nose-up attitude)"...read the full article here.

Charlie reports to me that much of his current work is what he calls 'boat joinery', ie: making glass boats look better. I suspect he'd prefer some more challenging work, say a commission for a wood boat, or another classic restoration. Based in Edinburgh (UK), Charlie can be contacted at 07870 104471 or by email at charlie.hussey@gmail.com. If you have a building or restoration project, I suggest you could do worse than to give Charlie a call.

Jack Tar Calendar

Meegan in her foul weather gear

Lia

Captain Amanda Rose




Images courtesy Jack Tar Magazine

Kim Carver over at Jack Tar has put together her 2010 Calendar. As before, it's stunning, and remember these are all working sailors. Kim is doing her best to help folks bridge the gap between learning and preserving traditional sailing skills aboard tall ships and having a viable life in today's economic world, which is a stretch. We may all need these skills or those who have them very soon so I'm urging you to support Kim in her endeavors. I've offered a couple of 'teasers' here, but go to Kim's site to buy the calendar and catch up on her projects. The calendar is definitely on my wish list.

70.8%'s Mailbag

Anna Elisabeth

Anna Elisabeth

Tekening Amals

From time to time I receive unsolicited emails from folks wanting to know if I am interested in their material. I always am. Here's a couple of recent grabs from my mailbag.





These photos and the drawing come from a Dutchman who wishes to remain anonymous. He originally sent the material to Dylan Winter, of Keep Turning Left, who forwarded them to me as he figured I am the most eclectic sail blogger on the internet, a tag I'll gladly accept.This boat is described by the sender in this way :

VD 93 is a "Markerrondbouw "named "Anna Elisabeth " build in 1936 inMakkumin Holland.She is made of steel and designed as a sailing fishing vessel for theIJsselmeer .Lenght 10,5 m beam 3.8 m deep 0.9 and a displacement of +/- 11m ton .


All material,courtesy 'anonymous'

Howard Potts sent me these photos of his work building skin on frame canoes.

all canoe photos courtesy Harold Potts

Harold Potts sent me a couple of photos of his

skin on frame canoes which intrigued me, and I wrote back requesting he respond with his design brief and a bit of his passion. I give you Howard's response:

Thomas,

I'm glad that I have sparked your interest in my canoes. Boat
building can be a solitary activity much of the time, and it's often a hit-and-miss process communicating to others what is behind the process,so I'm happy to send you details of my work.

As regards photos I have a collection running into several hundred,
so choosing what to send is not easy. There is also the limitation in the size of the packet of information that can be sent at one time to consider. In view of this it is often the case that physical
transmission is the quickest when large amounts are involved - say a CD or memory stick. [ It's been remarked that transmission by carrier
pigeon can still a viable alternative depending on the amount of data and the point to point locations ].

Regarding who and what I am: I am a professional engineer, who
retired early in 1991. Part of my career was spent in naval
engineering. At the outset of my retirement I started building model
ships - an activity I still indulge in from time to time. This led to aiding a friend in design and construction of model yachts -
specifically in the US One meter class. This in turn led me on to the realization that now that computation costs about one thousandth what it did 40 years ago, the time had come to introduce mathematics into hull design. Over the last 15 years or so I have been engaged in this process. Basically it solves the age-old problem of drawing hull lines which can be accurately and simply reproduced, as well as ensuring that the lines are " fair " - that is do not incorporated wiggles in the surface.

Having been part of the design and construction process, it was a
natural transition to start building small boats. Being Canadian it was natural to choose to build a canoe. My first attempt was in 2006 and I started building a double-skinned monocoque of my own design of 3 meters length in my garage. Like many first attempts it ended in disaster. In 2008 I had the opportunity to rent my own workshop, and since June of last year I have built 3 skin-on-frame canoes - each one different from the other, and all to my own design.

The first boat was put in the water this year. It appears in the bottom photo, and shows a friend paddling. You will note the almost flat sheer
line. It is constructed of ash wood and covered with treated hemp
cloth. Note also the series of bumps on the hull surface - these are
the lashings which hold the stringers and frames together. My later
boats use less material in the lashings and are therefore less
prominent. This canoe - called " Little Bear " weighs 50 lb.

The next photo shows " Little Bear " alongside the next build
which I refer to as " Archie ". Little Bear has the solid plywood
floor, and Archie the lathe floor. The name Archie refers to how the
hull is constructed: each stringer is a circular arc. Archie also has a more pronounced sheer line than Little Bear.

The photo above this shows Archie in the showroom along with some manufactured kayaks. And the first photo shows Archie under construction - specifically with the gunwale strap being glued in place. The third boat [ a photo of which you already have ] - provisionally named " Sparrow ", after a sparrow flew into the shop and perched on it - good omen I think. She is also designed using circular arc stringers and has a prominent sheer and what I think is a natty bow/stern profile. The main difference that Sparrow has is the use of circular section stringers - the others use a square-section. To incorporate a square stringer it is necessary to twist it between the main section and the bow/stern positions, so that one side of the stringer remains tangential to the hull surface. Use of circular sections obviates this and makes for easier construction.

Each of the 3 canoes is 14 ft overall length, and their weight is
progressively less each time. Sparrow's frame is at present 30lb, but the finished boat will be maybe 5lb heavier. This ensures that old codgers like me can handle them fairly easily. They have good secondary stability and are intended for recreational use on lakes, and would not do well in most river settings due to the hemp covering. Being wood and canvas they are not exactly maintenance free, but will appeal to lovers of wooden craft, free of synthetic material, and incorporating no metal except bronze pad-eyes.

My latest design uses a parametric function for mainframe and
stem/stern profiles which is the result of about 15 years research intothe problem of hull form mathematics. Using these forms, stringers are deployed between them according to a simple formula: recall that 3 defined points in 3-space will define both a plane and a circular arc in that plane. So, defining points on the stem and stern post as well as on the main frame will define a circular arc to which the stringer is bent. Another design feature is that all the stringers on one side lie in parallel planes. The form of the sections, or ribs, is therefore theresultant of the stringer configuration. The diagram I sent you last time illustrates this and also demonstrates that a fair shape results.

I hope this answers some of you questions. Please feel free to stay
in touch.

Best Regards,

Hal Potts.

Jigsaw, replica of an 1889 Jersey La Rocque spritsail cutter

Jigsaw

Jigsaw's progenitors in La Rocque harbor c.1890's

Jigsaw's original rig and later adaptation

Her hull lines as taken off The Volunteer by Mike Harrison with help from Alan Buchanan, Mike Jackson and Russell Wyness from Jackson's Yacht Services while lying at the quay in St. Aubin on the Gulf of Saint-Malo.

Jigsaw



All images courtesy Mike Harrison

While researching lug sails I ran across an image of this little gem and was immediately struck by that stunning topsail. I managed to contact her owner Mike Harrison and get some background. Launched in 1992, Jigsaw is a replica of a Jersey Oyster skiff, traditionally built of pine on oak. She was built to lines taken off a Jersey La Rocque spritsail cutter, The Volunteer, built 1889, by Mike and some friends. She's only 13' with a 5' beam and draws 21". The original boats were rigged double masted with a standing lug but Mike opted for a single mast standing lug with a jib forward. Initially he found the boat the boat a bit sluggish in light air, and after much experimentation solved the problem by adding that beautiful topsail, and reports her performance greatly improved.
There is a more detailed article on Jigsaw in the April 2007 issue of Classic Boat magazine. Initial contact with Mike was through the Woodenboat Forum. Much thanks to Mike and his daughter Phillipa for their ready assistance.

Oyster stuffing, anyone? Happy Thanksgiving.

A VOYAGE OF PLEASURE: the Log of Bernard Gilboy’s Transpacific Cruise in the Boat, “Pacific” 1882-1883

Webb Chiles, author of several books on his sailing adventures may be best known to my readers for his near circumnavigation in an open Drascombe Lugger, chronicled in The Open Boat and which I wrote about here. Webb is an intelligent and gifted writer, poet and photographer, and you can access much of his work at his website. Webb has the laudable distinction of making several of his books available in PDF for free download. Others may be accessed via my amazon bookstore in the sidebar. Today he graciously sent me a heads up about this latest post in his Journal:

Evanston: fools

Monday, November 23, 2009

I seldom read sailing books any more; but recently a small boat sailor and reader of this journal generously sent me a copy of A VOYAGE OF PLEASURE: the Log of Bernard Gilboy’s Transpacific Cruise in the Boat, “Pacific” 1882-1883.

I had read this slight volume of only 64 pages several decades ago. Naturally I had forgotten many details and found interest and pleasure in rereading it, particularly from the perspective of greater years and experience.

In 1876 Alfred Johnson made the first solo Atlantic crossing in a 20’ dory, sailing from Gloucester, Massachusetts, to Abercastle, Wales, in just under two months, with a brief stop in Nova Scotia.

Johnson named his boat, CENTENNIAL, and said his voyage was to commemorate the nation’s first hundred years.

When I completed my first circumnavigation in 1976, a journalist wanted me to claim that I had done so to honor the Bicentennial. As readers of STORM PASSAGE know, this was not true and I refused.

Inspired by Johnson, Bernard Gilboy, a professional seaman, had an 18‘ schooner built in San Francisco specifically for his voyage at a cost of $400. He considered this the smallest boat capable of holding provisions for the five months he thought his non-stop passage would take.

Her length of 18‘ and beam of 6‘ were almost identical to those of my open boat, CHIDIOCK TICHBORNE; but the PACIFIC had a keel and a draft of 2‘ 6”, as apposed to unballasted CHIDIOCK TICHBORNE’s 12” draft with her centerboard up and 4‘ with it down.

Gilboy somehow squeezed into his craft: “14 ten-gallon casks, read more...


Thanks, Webb.

Bernard Gilboy's story is also featured in Bill Longyard's 'A Speck on the Sea'.


Is anyone competent enough to comment on this rig?

Small Craft Advisor

I am pleased to announce that 70.8% has been invited to contribute to the Small Craft Advisor's weblog. I will be sharing many of my blogposts with them, hopefully concurrently. If you are not familiar with the magazine, you owe it to yourself to visit their website, but really, this is a magazine best experienced in print. We share many interests, and most readers of 70.8% will find engaging material in their pages. Editors Craig Wagner and Josh Colvin are doing good work (and have been doing so since their beginning in 2000) and the magazine is obviously a labor of love. The primary focus of the magazine is on small trailerable craft with articles that range from how to's, improvements and maintenance, to boat reviews, cruising grounds and readers voyages, with a great group of contributing editors returning in each issue with new columns. If you like small boats... Enjoy!

'Fear is a Giant Octopus': Onawind Blue's Passage

Arrival at Javea

the ramp

Departure

During the first night out, Onawind's rudder was damaged,

causing some distress,

but successfully replaced using an oar.

The wind picks up and Ben shakes out a reef.

And is sailing in earnest.

The approach to Ibiza


These still's are video captures by Thomas Armstrong, original materials courtesy Ben Crenshaw

Onawind Blue is a Gavin Atkin design, a light trow built by Ben Crawshaw in Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. She carries a balanced lug yawl rig and is inspired by British workboat history, but as with all of Gavin's designs, adapted for modern materials and building techniques. Ben's build and subsequent adventures are chronicled on his weblog, The Invisible Workshop. This summer Ben and Onawind cruised from Javea to Ibiza and back again. Ben was able to chronicle his journey on video and has assembled six episodes documenting the trip. Having viewed four of these serially posted episodes, I am compelled to write about them and share my impressions, as I feel they are exceptional.

Ben begins by sharing his trepidations about the journey at the launch. The night before he'd dreamed of a giant octopus dragging him and Onawind down to the depths, and he is candid about his fears.

Watching these short vignettes of the cruise I was entranced. There is a mystical and slightly surreal quality to them, an intimacy which pulls the viewer into another world, the world of the mythic voyage. The mood is set early and enhanced by the mesmerizing and slightly eerie music of Mónica Oca. The somber tone of her piece contrasts sharply with the bright sunlit Mediteranean Sea. Ben has, for me at least, managed with simple and spare means to raise the cruising documentary to the level of art. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I am.

Thanks to Ben and Onawind Blue, and thanks to Gavin both for designing such a smart small craft and for posting Ben's videos at intheboatshed.