New Transom

 13 Feb 26:

We used 5/4 S4S (1 1/4" Surfaced 4 Sides) lumber which measured just over one inch for the new hunk of transom. We took a measurement off the 1921 photo to get an estimate of the transom curve height, then freehanded an arc and cut it with a jigsaw. Left it a bit proud on top for a bevel. The new piece was fastened to the old piece with Pettit Flexpoxy.

Cutting New Frames and Nylon Brush

 12 Feb 26:

Here's a lookback to 2016. We were excited to cut the first few replacement frames and add structure back to the boat. We also made quite a bit of headway on removing old coatings and dirt with a rotary nylon brush, scraper and a HEPA filtered shop vac to collect the dust. 

12 Feb 16:

She'll come back together frame by frame. We'll fill the holes topside on the way towards the bow and flip her to get the bottomside last.

Working on the transom curve and sculling notch.

Nylon brushing the floorboards and using vacuum to catch dirt as it comes off.

Tuesday Tools of the Week -

 11 Feb 26:

Okay, so it's not Tuesday, but these tools deserve a shout out. This is the suite of tools that we used to remove old fasteners, some of thes square nails could be pried out and others were so embedded that we punched them through the planking. The little socket was just the right size to use as a ram.

It's best to remove these old iron fasteners, if they are left they will continue to corrode and damage the surrounding wood fibers.

Little Bits of Boat

10 Feb 26:

We'll come across a lot of interesting things when we restore a boat, this little chunk from BARBASHELA was interesting, it is the remnant of a frame that was sandwiched between the two truss floors shown behind. This skiff was built to last, a derivation of a Mississippi River Yawl meant for recreational use on the Mississippi Sound and Oyster Bayou off of Biloxi by Ms. Winnie Davis.

BARBASHELA Restoration Tips

09 Feb 26:

A few notes on BARBASHELA, as we got into cutting and shaping the first few 2016 pieces, and then attaching them.

1) You can never have too many clamps, and sometimes you build your own clamps. We were able to reuse the lapstrake clamps that we made to build our Penobscot 14, they had decently long throats to reach across a long distance.

2) Skipper is an outstanding paint stripper, she has the skill, touch and patience.

3) It is amazing how many tools it takes to unbuild parts of a boat.

4) Measure twice. Cut once AFTER asking Skipper for permission. I thought the transom had a sculling notch and boy howdy, Skipper let me know that it did NOT! This mistake on my part was later rectified and has become a humorous? part of the restoration story.

07 Feb 16:

Cut a new transom frame, beveled and screwed in place.

Skipper is in charge of this, 1-2-3-4 layers of paint, but at least it was thick and lumpy...

Skipper is gaining ground on the aft seat. It will be horseshoe shaped ad have a slight crown. And it will not be grey..or white..or green...

08 Feb 16:

Scarfed a new top chunk onto the aft seat bulkhead, used Pettit Marine Paint Flexpoxy to adhere it. It is a great adhesive, fills gaps well, can be sanded and drilled and is good for use under the waterline as well. It is also stays flexible and can be molded and painted. Pretty much everything Barbashela needs for this part.

I think this is the biggest pile of tools I have ever had for one job, cutting new pieces for the stern.

Pettit Marine Paint Flexpoxy used to reattach the broken off piece of transom.

09 Feb 16:

The Penobscot 14 transom frame pattern gave me some reference to sketch out Barbashela's top curve and sculling notch.

Tracing station 18 frame so we can make a new one for the port side.

Tracing station 18 frame so we can make a new one for the port side.

FMI: "BARBASHELA" a Rowboat of Captain Thomas Leathers' Design for Ms. Winnie Davis

NTSB's Probable Cause(s) for the 2025 DCA Midair Collision

 08 Feb 26: 

We are busy task shifting between teaching aviation safety at our local University and chipping away at small boat projects, when it is not snowing...Here's an update on the NTSB investigation into last year's midair collision near Washington Reagan airport. 

The NTSB's probable cause(s) for the 2025 DCA midair collision point to systemic failures within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and U.S. Army, including poorly designed helicopter routes near airline approach paths, inadequate controller staffing and training, failure to implement safety recommendations (like ADS-B In), and lack of data sharing, leading to an unsustainable situation where visual separation relied on overwhelmed controllers and pilots couldn't effectively "see and avoid".





Image Credit: NTSB


Probable cause should be plural, probable causes...I submit that we should just make a list of all human and material factors that contributed, and skip the probability exercise. The NTSB does that, by their listing of findings.

The important takeaway are the 50 recommendations, that we work together to take action on mitigating risk throughout the National Airspace System (NAS). 

FMI: NTSB Investigation Details



Probab​​​le Cause(s)


​​​We determined that the probable cause(s) of this accident were the
-FAA’s placement of a helicopter route in close proximity to a runway approach path;
-their failure to regularly review and evaluate helicopter routes and available data, and
-their failure to act on recommendations to mitigate the risk of a midair collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport; as well as
-the air traffic system’s overreliance on visual separation in order to promote efficient traffic flow without consideration for the limitations of the see-and-avoid concept. 

Also causal was
-the lack of effective pilot-applied visual separation by the helicopter crew, which resulted in a midair collision.

Additional causal factors were
-the tower team’s loss of situation awareness and degraded performance due to the high workload of the combined helicopter and local control positions and
-the absence of a risk assessment process to identify and mitigate real-time operational risk factors, which resulted in misprioritization of duties, inadequate traffic advisories, and
-the lack of safety alerts to both flight crews.

Also causal was the Army’s failure to ensure pilots were aware of the effects of error tolerances on barometric altimeters in their helicopters, which resulted in the crew flying above the maximum published helicopter route altitude. 

Contributing factors include:

• -​The limitations of the traffic awareness and collision alerting systems on both aircraft, which precluded effective alerting of the impending collision to the flight crews;
• -An unsustainable airport arrival rate, increasing traffic volume with a changing fleet mix, and 
• -airline scheduling practices at DCA, which regularly strained the DCA ATCT workforce and degraded safety over time;
• -The Army’s lack of a fully implemented safety management system, which should have identified and addressed hazards associated with altitude exceedances on the Washington, DC, helicopter routes;
• -The FAA’s failure across multiple organizations to implement previous NTSB recommendations, including ADS-B In, and to follow and fully integrate its established safety management system, which should have led to several organizational and operational changes based on previously identified risks that were known to management; and
• -The absence of effective data sharing and analysis among the FAA, aircraft operators, and other relevant organizations.

2013 Ralph Lauren Photo Shoot Seaside, Florida

 07 Feb 26:

It's been cold here in Virginia, February is a month where we have fond memories of Florida. Here's a look back at what was going on in 2013, we we commissioned to provide a Sunfish for a fashion photo shoot. Tough job but we were up to the task.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Ralph Lauren Photo Shoot Seaside, Florida

We got a strange phone call about ten days ago asking if we still had our Sunfish Ray that was listed on Craigslist. I let the caller know we had just sold her, but we had another boat that would be ready for sale soon, and asked what she was looking for. The caller, Jennifer, said she actually needed a Sunfish with a sail that had the blue and green panels for a Ralph Lauren photo shoot. I told her as luck would have it, we just picked up a new sail that day that would work, plus we had other colors as well. I sent her some pictures and the dates were set to bring out Madison for the shoot.

5 Feb I got Madison ready to roll Tuesday night.

From Sunfish Sailboat

And we hit the road early Wednesday morning.

From Sunfish Sailboat

Found the base camp and got the trailer parked. This was a big deal because Seaside had to approve it for the shoot. Seaside Florida is where The Truman Show was filmed.

From Sunfish Sailboat

I brought a Seitech dolly because I had reconned the area and knew we would need it. The dolly is cool for several reasons, but in this case because it comes apart easily. I threw in the rudder and daggerboard and my other Sunfish road trip logistical gear. The stow and go seats in the Grand Caravan make it easy to put this gear in and still have seats for four. And the trailer pulled great, I had to look back a few times to see if the trailer was still there.

From Sunfish Sailboat

Wandered around Seaside a bit, they have a nice town square and cool houses

From Sunfish Sailboat

From Sunfish Sailboat

The crew moved Madison onto the dolly and there was a short parade down West Ruskin, 30A, through the pavilion and down the beach to the shoot location. Let me throw in here that the crew was awesome and very courteous, fun to watch professionals.

From Sunfish Sailboat

I rigged Madison and took a few pics while the crew was moving down to the beach.

From Sunfish Sailboat

From Sunfish Sailboat

From Sunfish Sailboat

Here is Madison photo bombing the shoot.

From Sunfish Sailboat

I'll have a few pics of Madison with the models once they are released, but til then, here is Madison resting after her hard day at the beach.

From Sunfish Sailboat

Here is the crew posing for their end of day photo. I'd like to thank them again for an enjoyable day and for sharing their creative spirit.

From Sunfish Sailboat

Madison made some friends, good to have when you have to go back UP the dune!

From Sunfish Sailboat

Many thanks Ralph Lauren and Seaside for a fun day. Next time leave some room on the production schedule for sailboat rides!

1880s Details

 06 Feb 26:

There were details on BARBASHELA that reflected the care and pride of craftsmanship that went into her construction, with one detail being the small coves that were cut into her risers and thwarts. There was also a gentle curve to the aft seat and rounded edges, there is no place for sharp corners on a small boat. Also the tapered and beveled frames drew the eye and well placed limber holes drew the water.

The truss frames served to provide strength and support for the amazingly long floorboards. It was a treat to get to work with this old growth timber that was shaped by master craftsmen.

Everyone Wants a Sailfish

05 Feb 26: 

Here's an Alcort ad from the late 1950s. Alcort had the best ads and they were very smart in setting up dealerships across the country. This ad appeared out on the West coast, where it is a challenge to find warm waters suitable for a Sailfish. One interesting note is that early on the folks having fun in the Alcort ads were company employees. And we can testify that the sailing techniques used in this photo are one way to keep a Sailfish upright. Note that there is very little wind.

It is said that the Sailfish is "the boat you learn to swim on."

Wilson Lumber

 04 Feb 26:

A look back at our BARBASHELA restoration...One thing we miss is living 30 minutes away from Wilson Lumber, a sawmill that 1) dealt mainly in cypress and 2) sold to the public. We found some great lumber there. And when the employees found out what we were working on, they crawled all through the stacks of lumber to find the clearest pieces that they had, unstacking dozens of boards at times. They also took us over to another shed where they had the "special boards" such as the 12 inch by 24 foot long board that we turned into the port garboard.

04 Feb 16:

12 inch wide by 24 foot board for the port garboard plank.

Bringing home some 5/4 and 6/4 cypress S4S to start on frames and transom.

FMI: "Barabshela" a Rowboat of Captain Thomas Leathers' Design for Ms. Winnie Davis