Small Craft Advisor

31 Oct 19:

One of the magazines we enjoy reading is Small Craft Advisor, we are going though the Nov/Dec issue and there is a lot of good information.

One article that caught our eye was a report on the first annual Salish 100, a trek across Puget sound. 100 boats are allowed, and a few of them did "Salish 200," Emiliano in his beautiful Gloucester Gull dory deigned by Phil Bolger. Love the feathers.

One item to note, if you are already a subscriber there is a special offer to gift a free one year subscription to a friend who is not a subscriber. Very generous!

Pelican Paddle

29 Oct 19:

We have a nice Pelican paddle that was passed down from my Uncle, it's been in the family since the late 1960s. It measures about 42 inches and is lightweight. Skipper claimed it and says it has he name on it, I guess it does if her name is K. L. BLAIR.

Sailfish and Sunfish

29 Oct 19:

Says they'll fit in your station wagon...I'd suggest ordering a couple...

Muck Boots

28 Oct 19:

Skipper is still enjoying her Muck boots, she doesn't scream when the cool water hits her feet while boarding our boats.

Penobscot 14 ST. JACQUES 28 Oct 19 Voile et Aviron

28 Oct 19:

ST. JACQUES had been moved around as part of Tropical Storm TETRIS, she had bits everywhere. We had her in the Carriage House for a bit and it was clear enough to move her back to the Sunfish Shack aka Penobscot Pagoda, so we gathered up her bits and dollied her around to the backyard.

Along the way I noticed a light wind on the bay and 72F air temp. It only seemed right to go ahead and rig her, just to make sure wha had all the bits and lines sorted out, so she would be ready to go on her next adventure.

I got the brailing line, halyard, sheet and ensign line untangled, dropped in the mast and set the sprit, brailed and unbrailed the sail, that all worked. The ensign line was clear, and I rigged the bridle. Put on the rudder. Bay still looks nice. Skipper walked by and I said I might take ST> JACQUES out for a short row. Skipper said she'd get her hat.

We beach launched and cleared the groins usinf an oar for a push pole. Well, almost cleared, I should have pushed harder on the last push. Skipper gave a few strokes of her paddle and I was able to get the oars in the oarlocks and row out to the pier. Winds from the west, small swell, the original thought was to turn and row into the wind for about 10 minutes, then pop the sprit and take her back to the pier on a run and do some gybes and gybes there. As we took a look, a kayak fisherman appeared in that direction, so Skipper decreed that we just reach out and reach back. Fiddled with the centerboard, rudder angle and sheet angle for a few minutes, and then turned back to the dock. We actually tacked, with the assistance of a couple of strokes on the leeward oar.

Spotted a few pelicans and took some detail shots. Approaching the beach Skipper bore down on the kayaker, he had encroached on Skipper's avenue of approach, he quickly paddled away when he saw the mighty Penobscot bearing down on his ship. I think Skipper hollered "Starboard!" About 100 feet from the shore the rudder and centerboard came up and we ran ashore at 1-2 knots, perfectly lined up with the dolly.

ST. JACQUES got hauled and we gave her hull a fresh water rinse, wiped down her innards with a couple of towels. Downrigged her, this time I left the brailing line loose and rolled up the sail nicely, I had been leaving the brailing line tight, which caused creases along the sail up top. Put her nice cover on and stored her back in the Penobscot Pagoda, ready for the next trip.

First Mate's vantage point of the spritsail, aft the mast on the forward thwart.

Oarlock and vintage longleaf pine oars, the oars were gifts from our neighbor Al, his Uncle had used them on his mullet boat.

Padook and boat hook. Acceptable patina.

Centerboard trunk and mid thwart details.

Tropical front moving in off the Gulf, rain expected for the next few days. Another reason we thought it might be good to go mess about for a bit.

Played around with sheeting angles for a bit, did not come up with anything defintive.

Brailing line block at the top of the mast. We might swap this over to a small ring, and smoother line, to get that last 1/2 inch of leech opened up.

Miles rowed 0.5/Total 23.0

Log of ST. JACQUES

Quay Drainage

25-27 Oct 19:

We had our seawall rebuilt earlier this year, back to how it had been in 2004. It had been destroyed during Hurricane Ivan, and had been repaired piecemeal through the years. We had not seen how it fared with the wind and waves before, once we got it rebuilt we could see where water would splash onto the first foot or so past the wall during high Westerly winds and high tide. Subsequently the grass that we put in dies and some dirt got flushed out. Skipper designed a splash zone to upgrade that area, kind of a reverse french drain with filter cloth 18 inches down, river rock, and castewall blocks to make a nice border for the wall.

Day one we evened the remaining dirt out, put down the cloth and start adding rock and block. One end of the seawall gets a little more wave action, so we set the splash zone back 4 feet in that area and made a nice viewing area for the rip rap habitat.

Days 2 and 3, more rock and block. Luckily there was dirt left at one end that we could move down to areas that had been washed out. We used our Honda Odyssey to do the hauling, she made about 10 trips to Lowes.

Back to boating!

Grumman Canoe Rudder, Leeboard and Portage Bracket

26 Oct 19:

Found a Grumman canoe rudder, yoke, leeboard and thwart, and a portage bracket on ebay and Skipper said go ahead and get them. They showed up in the mail and we had a fun time unboxing them.

The leeboard is huge and heavy, it should serve its intended purpose. One leeboard and the adjusting lever are missing, so we'll put something together.

Rudder and yoke. Portage bracket. Hopefully there would be some padding involved for the portage bracket.'

Herreshoff 12 1/2

22 Oct 19:

I have read a bit about the Herreshoff 12 1/2 and got a chance to look a few when I was at the Herreshoff Museum last month. Something about the design speaks to me, so I have been doing a little more research on it.

Here is 1924 HMCo Hull Number 905 ZEPHYR, previously known as CINCH. She was for sale as of October 2019 if anyone is interested.

I checked with the Herreshoff Marine Museum in Bristol, CT with a few questions about the 12 1/2. They said she was designed as a keelboat trainer for youth at the Beverly Yacht Club to use on Buzzards Bay, and one of her first monikers was the Buzzards Bay Boys Boat. So in essence a trainer. She had a gaff rig, 750 pound keel and a self tending jib. The early boats came in around 1500 pounds.

LWL: 12' 6" (3.81m)
Beam: 5' 10" (1.78m)
Draft: 2' 5" (0.74m)
Rig: Gaff Sloop
Sail Area: 140sq ft (13.0sq m)

Later design variations had varied names, sometimes based on who the new variant was designed for. Marconi rigs, fiberglass, centerboard variants and combinations therof appeared. Bullseye, Fishers Island, Cape Cod Bullseye, Doughdish, Haven 12 1/2. New boats can be purchased from Cape Cod Shipbuilding Company in either fiberglass or wood, with gaff or marconi rigs.

Herreshoff Marine Museum has a fleet of 12 1/2s in their sailing school, they can either be sent out with an instructor for lessons, the cheapest way to mess about for just a few times, or set up as rentals if an entire season is planned. Normally scheduled 9-2 during the season. They also have 1-2 boats available for purchase. The report is that the boat is easy to sail, maybe not so easy to launch from a keelboat trailer and weighing in at 1500 pounds. Stable, predictable. Classic design.

23 Oct 19:

There are several good articles that I just came across in WoodenBoat, one on John Brook's Somes Sound centerboard design that compared the different hull shape differences (WB 217:48)

(Image credit WoodenBoat 217:48)

To read more you can purchase the single issue, digital or paper for around $7. I bought 50 issues in block, lots more 12 1/2 information spread throughout the years.

WoodenBoat Magazine Online Index

WoodenBoat Store for digital or print issues


FMI:
Cape Cod Shipbuilding Company est. 1899
H Class Association
Herrshoff Catalogue
Herreshoff Marine Museum and America's Cup Hall of Fame

wikipedia

Grumman Aluminum Boats and Canoes 1958

19 Oct 19:

Nothing but free time on our hands back in 1958, everyone needed a Grumman canoe or aluminum boat. We found a fun advertising brochure on ebay, it has lots of great information and some crazy ideas of what would be fun

Tropical Storm Nestor TETRIS

19 Oct 19:

We had Tropical Storm Nestor heading our way, so that generated a round of TETRIS. We had some boxes packed and in the garage, prep for our upcoming Tidewater move. Well that move will probably happen in the Spring, so we decided to move the packed boxes back inside, and get Mustang SALLY out of the Carriage House and back into her garage spot.

Once SALLY moved we were able to stow ST. JACQUES, PHOENIX, SACAGAWEA, CLARK and SCOUT in the Carriage House with WAVE.

TS Nestor came and went, with a little rain and wind. SCOUT and her buddies moved back out to their tree.

Carriage House.