Lumber Mill

 22 Dec 22:

We are gathering materials to build a wooden Sunfish and wanted cypress for the side planks. Cypress was easy to find in NW Florida and while timber is plentiful in the Mid Atlantic (Great Dismal Swamp), not many companies mill or sell it to the public locally. We were lucky to locate a tree service that runs a lumber mill on the side, and got on the waiting list for some donor cypress. A call came in Tuesday that planks were available, so I took the trailer to gather the lumber, 1x8x12 rough cut. More on those later as we get into the construction phase. For now they are in the garage to start drying out.

Here's part of the tree that our planks came from, the tree was in a right of way and had to be removed. We may be interested in those 2 inch live edge slabs as well for other projects. 

Of course I didn't get a picture of the 6 planks that we picked up, they'll be photos soon enough, but here's a photo of the lumber yard cat.

Sawmill.

Twin blade edger.

Tour guide.

WoodenBoat School 2023 Calendar

20 Dec 22:

From Brooklin Maine, the 2023 WoodenBoat School calendar. Classes run 03 Feb - 13 Nov. 

Online registration opens Monday, 02 Jan at 8:00 AM EST:

"From surveying wooden boats, to building them in bottles, we have a course for you. Never sailed before? We’ve got you covered. Maybe you’ve been sailing your whole life, but you never had a chance to do it on a gaff-rigged sloop? With over 95 courses, there is something for everyone here at WoodenBoat School!"

WoodenBoat School

Boat Works

 19 Dec 22:

When I grow up, maybe I can have a boat shop like this. I like how they rigged the hoist. 

Flying Boats

 19 Dec 22:

Flying boats combine two of our interests, and some of them were quite impressive. They connected many parts of the World before there were a lot of runways.

Shop Rules Herreshoff

19 Dec 22:

Feel

 19 Dec 22:

Our friend Webb found this passage in Nathaniel Philbrick's book Second Wind, it deals with Philbrick's attempt at winning a second North American Championship in the Sunfish. 

Skipper definitely has the feel. I am moveable ballast. 

December

 19 Dec 22:

The Geezer Rig

 19 Dec 22:

The Geezer Rig...that's what we call it when the spars and sail are rigged high enough to not whack us in the noggin. We didn't invent the settings, we just coined the term. Nowadays many folks who race like to set the boom low, but we feel for beginners, New Salts and Old Salts that a friendly rig does the job just fine, the way they did it at Old School ALCORT.

We set the gooseneck about 23 inches back and tie the halyard 60 or so inches down. We like the boom to rise a bit as it runs aft.

                            

USS Portsmouth 1843

07 Dec 1941:

We stumbled upon some great photos of the USS Portsmouth in the digital archives  of the Naval History and Heritage and Museum. One we had not seen before was "Old Poverty" under full sail.

USS Portsmouth built 1843. NHHC Digital Archives

We enjoyed looking at the older photos, some dating back to the 1880s, as they show many of the ship's boats, and there were a lot of them. 

A very impressive stern, we'd like to have the emblem on the back. Did you notice the gentleman standing by the keel?

"The second USS Portsmouth was a wooden sloop-of-war in the United States Navy in service during the mid-to-late 19th century. She was designed by Josiah Barker on the lines of a French-built privateer, and built at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, directly across the Piscataqua River from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She was described as an improvement over USS Saratoga built in the same shipyard a year earlier. Portsmouth was launched on 23 October 1843 and commissioned on 10 November 1844, with Commander John Berrien Montgomery in command."

Skipper's ancestor Lt Benjamin F. B. Hunter was listed in the ship's roster as Acting Sailing Master with the 1847 Pacific Squadron, during the Conquest of the Californias. The Portsmouth is also depicted on the official seal for the city of San Francisco.

FMI: 

Naval History and Heritage and Museum

USS Portsmouth

The Steam Launch EAGLE at Herreshoff Marine Museum

 2022 Event

Seminar Series at Herreshoff Marine Museum

December 13 The Steam Launch EAGLE

Bristol, RI

Image: Herreshoff Marine Museum

Calendar