...local foundry. The gate allows the main mast to be stepped quickly and easily. My overall impression of WAXWING underway is of gracious comfort and competence. The big rig and long waterline give her surprising speed for a 14′ boat, letting her keep company with Sea Pearls and Caledonias. The mainsail is simple to hoist, and once it’s up, its...
Product Reviews
A self-closing bag with a magnetic seal
...of air around the phone makes it difficult to operate, so the air must be squeezed out before the bag is closed. Once sealed, the bag is completely waterproof and is rated by the manufacturer for depths of up to 100 feet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRjtfFUEZJA The transparent TPU film allows full operation of the touchscreen, camera, and telephone functions of my phone....
Adventures
Bringing history back to life
...mother Elsie Mae in the sternsheets, Art proudly took his place amidships. The ensign is one Samm had made to reflect the boat’s origins, circa 1900. It has 45 stars. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_FH3EdGLtc I logged 790 hours of actual labor building ELSIE MAE. I spent at least twice that time thinking about what and how to perform each small step in the...
Technique
A guide to orderly storage and transport
...stud on the garage wall. The lifting procedure is simple: The boat goes under the strongbacks. Slings (mine are old seat-belt webbing) are slung under the strongbacks and around the boat. Then you crank on the winch, and a couple of hundred pounds of boat head for the ceiling. I have set mine up to handle a couple of boats...
Boat Profile
Inspired by pangas, in three flavors
...and camp-style sleeping room for two. It might be the least versatile of the three, but it’s the most fetching: a simple, exquisitely proportioned classic design that stands proudly aside from transient commercial trends. Neil Rabinowitz The Pelicano bassboat (foreground) is Devlin’s preferred layout; it has room for (in addition to two berths) a galley and stowage. On a crisp,...
Technique
...experience in estimating speed by using a GPS or by calculating speed between known locations under given conditions. Two other essential tools, especially for navigating in reduced visibility, are a magnetic compass and a timepiece, which can be as simple as a wristwatch. The compass should be calibrated so you are aware of its deviation. Using a compass, you can...
Technique
Four more small boat tents
...snugged down or left up for increased ventilation. The front and rear sections of the tent can be untied from the masts to open up cockpit space aft or forward. When the tent is secured all around, there is almost complete privacy. “The fabric itself is coated rip-stop nylon, a very ‘quiet’ material sold here as a guide tarp. We...
Boat Profile
From military rescue vessel to family electric launch
...this key issue. Then they laid out the remaining seating around the console, making enough room for four adults to sit comfortably in the boat. Kees Prins Kees Prins’s modifications to the Rescue Minor included a center console, seating for four adults, electric power, and flotation compartments forward and aft. The class launched NEPENTHE a couple of days before their...
MUSTELID
Icy Strait
...contours. Right angle feeds collide in sudden rip fields. Fresh water flows over saltwater, dragging across tides. Bores, rips, and whorls abound. Add winds driven by glacier cooled downdrafts from northern quarters. We’ve been learning how to sail this glorious mess over the years, one awkward passage at a time. But we slip through easy, this time. Sort of. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dW_yoTGQfM...
MUSTELID
Lynn Canal
...do blow. But we’ve been having such a great time! We hear news of a family gathering up that way, and we’re invited. It’s only 60 nautical miles distant. It’s really been unseasonably mild, right? And we know the ground. Probably sailed it a dozen times. If need be, we can duck down. So, wait… we’re gonna do what? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU0GrX0mpC4...
MUSTELID
Homeward Bound
...hop and go. Well, the forecasts falls short around here, often as not. We take what we’re offered. We pay the toll in muscle and make the crossing. We ratchet our way along Chichagof’s shore until fair wind finds us. All too soon, we round the corner that rounds the voyage. Yet we dawdle, reluctant to end our venture. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg6JKNirgIw...
MUSTELID
Epilogue
...notwithstanding—vessel after vessel, year after year? Dreams. Determination. Persistence. We all have dreams. Once we determine to pursue them, we are determined. If we persist, one measly step at a time, we will look back to find that we have the persistence we need. It’s nothing special. It’s within our reach, one and all. Come all o’ ye Dreamers! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm5jEMREbnY...
...are popular images. Customers, who have come from as far afield as Germany and New Zealand, send old photos and say, “Make it like this.” Inlays are drafted and routed on the cedar before construction, since routing on compound surfaces is too tricky. The inlay wood is about 1⁄10″ thick and glued in place. Dan Spurr The Guide is the...
...Sound. Dotted inshore with mangrove-fringed islands, the Sound is fascinating for both its wildlife and its wide expanses of grassy flats, about a foot deep at low tide. MALU meets one of the most important rules regarding boat selection: Choose a design appropriate for local waters. This V-bottomed boat is reasonably stable when stepping aboard, and Jones was comfortable in...
Boat Profile
A jewel of a boat
...the Acorn, in its various sizes, remains one of Oughtred’s most popular designs. Acorns can be found from Oughtred’s native Australia to his adopted Britain, and from the West Coast of the United States to the East Coast, where its workboat roots are found. It will, no doubt, continue to be built for years to come. Back when Oughtred first...
Boat Profile
A faering for today’s oarsman
...that it would get a little ‘interesting,’ but I got through that really remarkably safely, without water coming in.” Preparing for the Blackburn Challenge rowing race in Massachusetts (see www.blackburnchallenge.com), he did a 15-mile open-water row. “I learned a lot about rowing downwind with 2′ rolling, whitecapping seas—how much work it is to keep a boat on course. When I...
Boat Profile
A runabout for adventure
...Mele said the recreational boating industry has been selling adrenaline and glory to the males, and white knuckles to the wives and children, for years. The Rambler 18 is a stable, comfortable, and economical alternative to this mass-market phenomenon. Plans and completed boats are available from Harry Bryan, Bryan Boatbuilding, 329 Mascarene Rd., Letete, NB, E5C 2P6, Canada; 506–755–2486; www.harrybryan.com....
Boat Profile
A speedy little runabout
...company’s 92 years of operation, from the mid-1950s until the company dropped wooden boats from its product line in 1969. For much of the company’s history, cedar-strip hulls were the norm. The Thomboy, one such boat, was introduced in late 1951 for the 1952 model year by Thompson Bros. Boat Mfg. Co. during the economic boom after the end of...
Boat Profile
A Norwegian motor launch descended from Viking ships
...beautiful wooden boat!” There’s hope yet. For more information, contact Andrew Wallace, Traditional Boatworks, www.traditionalboatworks.com. Andrew Wallace/Tim Estabrook Particulars: LOA 24′ Beam 8’6″ Power 22-27 hp diesel Andrew Wallace/Tim Estabrook The sailing forebears of the snekke are apparent in the lines of Andrew Wallace’s interpretation of the type. Snekker typically measure under 25’ overall, and are relatively firm-bilged and double-ended....
Boat Profile
A pedal boat with a fin drive
...stern around. Sculling by moving a boat’s rudder from side to side has always worked, but not efficiently. In a Beetle Cat, for example, this technique will get you home when the wind dies, provided home is not too far away. But with Harry’s fin drive, you can pedal for miles and go much, much faster without wearing yourself out....
Boat Profile
A performance yacht tender
...sewing as it does with traditional boatbuilding. In sewing, the curved edges of flat sheets of fabric are stitched together to yield a sometimes-complex three-dimensional shape. In stitch-and-glue boatbuilding, flat sheets of plywood are cut to precisely curving shapes, and the edges of them “sewn” together to yield a hull. The sewing is commonly done with copper wire or cable...
Boat Profile
...Under sail, the boat is steered via two push-pull tillers. Under sail, the Marsh Duck’s canoe ancestry is evident. Sailing requires you, the live ballast, to look lively. The side decks provided me a good windward perch when the sail powered up and the Marsh Duck took off. Under the 107-sq-ft mainsail, the Marsh Duck was quite sensitive to the...
Boat Profile
A Herreshoff 12 1⁄2, in miniature
...longevity,” said Paine. “I want this thing to be around 100 years from now.” If the Paine 14’s predecessor is any indication, that’s not too tall a wish. For more information, contact Chuck Paine Yacht Design, www.chuckpaine.com. The Paine 14’s sail plan is proportionally larger than the Herreshoff 12½’s, and the underbody is decidedly up-to-date with its foil-shaped keel and...
Boat Profile
A historic sharpie type— with variations
...you’re a sitting duck if the wind hits you.” Given that experience, the simplicity of the sharpie’s rig, not to mention its hull form, kept Kitchen coming back to Parker’s book. The boat would be easy to handle while sailing alone, even in comparison to his Ness yawl, which he ordinarily sails with crew. Ideas started to percolate. Rosemary Wyman...
Boat Profile
Tender, daysailer, trainer
...upside-down in a garden for a few years, and ground contact had rotted the gunwale guard. It sounded as if there was a lot of fine boat lurking under a veil of old paint. Since the planks of a glued-plywood boat don’t dry up and split when the boat spends a few summers baking in the backyard, it all seemed...