Hove to off Swan Point

All photos courtesy Russ Manheimer

There are lots of nice blogs by boatowners with nice boats out there. This one caught my eye, like the glint of a precious stone.  Nothing extravagant, or even adventurous, just an elegant little workboat/yacht in Barnegat Bay, NJ. Russ Manheimer and Sjogin like to stay in the water almost year round and sail out into the bay, heave to and enjoy the day. Sjogin lives at Beaton's Boatbuilders, a third generation boatyard in Brick, New Jersey known for their Barnegat Bay A Cats.

Sjogin is a 22' Swedish Koster fishing workboat design. She was built in 1961 in southern New Jersey. Double ended, lapstrake hull, shallow keel. And a lovely little woodstove, the Navigator

Sardine. No engine, never had one, Russ uses a sweep when necessary.

An interesting connection arose between Russ and I during the course of our communication. My friend Jasper, who owns Josie (see earlier posts) had for years a cottage in Bay Head and was fortunate enough to crew on Ghost, one of the Beaton built A Cats. Turns out Russ had taken a sabbatical to help Tom Beaton and Paul Smith build Ghost, and campaigned another of these impressive boats, Wasp, with Tom for five years.

I suspect you'll hear more about Sjogin and Russ, Tom and Beaton's in the future. Stay tuned, and in the meantime, enjoy Russ's weblog, Hove to off Swan's Point.