Canoe Yawl , Schooner , Ketch , Sandbagger Yacht , Sailboat , Boat Plans Plan

155 Pages·032.867 MB·English

by  Woodenboat Magazine

THE MAGAZINE FOR WOODEN BOAT OWNERS, BUILDERS AND DESIGNERS
ALBERT STRANGE AND THE CANOE YAWL MAY/JUNE 1985
THE ARTS OF THE RIVERBOAT BUILDERS NUMBER 64
SPRING PAINTING AND VARNISHING $3.50
UNUSUAL BACKYARD BOATS $4.25 in Canada
£2.50 in U.K.

Celebrating the quality and craftsmanship
of one of the most enduring art forms that exists today:
the Wooden Boat.
AUGUST 8-11,1985
NAVY PIER, CHICAGO
The Chicago International Wooden Boat Festival
will feature some of the finest products, builders,
dealers, collectors, and periodicals related to the
boating industry.
For exhibitor information contact Keith Church by calling or writing 600 North McClurg Court Chicago, Illinois 60611 [phone]
I had a close call recently. I came dangerously close to making some
purely subjective judgments about people who own boats made of
other materials. (Not that pleasure boats of any material can be seen
objectively.) I must say, however, that it was a little startling. I mean,
I've done my best to appreciate the fact that wooden boats are not for
everyone, and that glass boats, for instance, are not inherently bad
boats. I've asked only that wooden boats be considered, not canonized.
After all, it is such a personal matter. And, since I hope to avoid being
judged for my personal preferences, I must obviously practice tolerance
myself.
On the other hand, I'm not immune to questioning. When I'm in a
harbor or anchorage where there are lots of skiffs and dinghies made of
aluminum and glass, I can't help wondering why anyone would have
one of those things when they could so easily have one of cedar, or
mahogany, or glued plywood. To my narrow mind, it would look bet-
ter, it would feel better, and it would engage me. (And at this point I'd
be precariously close to making a judgment.)
Sounds a little fanatical, doesn't it? No doubt, my counterparts in
the Brotherhood of Other Materials ask the same question about me:
why would I have something built of wood when it could be
otherwise?
There seems to be an unavoidable parallel with religion, which I
like, because it removes the need to defend my preferences. Or so it
would seem. In fact, there are intolerant factions who occasionally
challenge my beliefs: why wooden boats? And when I answer that it's
because I love wooden boats, I often get stares of disbelief (or is it re-
strained amusement?). But I feel an intolerance.
There was a time when the wood in boats made little difference to
me. It wasn't until I began to appreciate its beauty and diversity that I
became one of its champions. And I realize that there are many who
have no desire to understand it, and who prefer to appreciate it their
way—from a distance. I accept that what may be pleasure to me will
seem work to another, and vice versa. Maybe it's more like religion
than I've thought. In the early days, when people asked if we were try-
ing to make wooden boats a religion through the magazine, I was
appalled. I certainly wasn't, and in fact, didn't believe they deserved
that sort of misunderstanding.
Well, maybe boats are a religion. Not wooden boats, but boats.
Wood is just one of the denominations. Perhaps our commitments, as
strange as they seem to others, would be better accepted if others saw
the differences as denominational. After all, most of us are perfectly
tolerant of various religious customs. Wooden boat folks simply wor-
ship at a different altar.
What a comfortable notion.
But, what a responsibility. It means that I have to be especially
careful of those subjective judgment tendencies, or I've come no
further than history's most infamous persecutors. So while I won't
elaborate upon the judgments I nearly uttered, I will say that I came
close. I thought you ought to know. I'll try and set a better example.
2 WoodenBoat/64
WoodenBoat
Number 64 May/June 1985
SHEILA, one of Albert Strange's many
beautiful designs, page 19.
DYON/George Carey 40
The symbol of summer for four generations
Albert Strange and the Canoe Yawl SHEILA Michael Burn 49
The emergence of the small yacht in turn-of-the-
century England
Quick Steps for Spring Painting, Part II 58
Anne and Maynard Bray
The second weekend: tackling the work from the deck up
Building the Belles of the Western Rivers/Jack Custer 64
A rare glimpse into the world of steamboat
Constant Camber panels ready to construction
become a strong and shapely dinghy.
page 83. TROUT UNLIMITED: The Compleat Fly Fisherman 70
Peter Lentini
Ten years' worth of thought on the "proper platform"
PILGRIM'S Progress Pete Johnson 76
Dennis Holland's new Baltimore clipper, a long labor
of love
Bagging the GULL, Part I 83
Jim Brown, John Marples and Dick Newick
Constant Camber goes mono!
The Careful Creation of MELE KAI, Part II/James L. Meriam 92
The completion of a lovely double-ended cruising
boat
A photographic record from the days of
steamboats, page 64.
Editor's Page 2 Designs 98
Letters 4 Book Review 106
Fo'c's'le 11 Wood Technology 108
On the Waterfront 13 Boatbuilders 117
Calendar of Events 32 Boat brokers 129
In My View 35 Classified 135
Video Review 38 Index to Advertisers 152
Cover: TROUT UNLIMITED, a fly fisher-
man's fantasy realized. page 70. Photo
by Marty Loken.
64/WoodenBoat 3
Dear WoodenBoat,
With regard to two of the subjects
covered in your excellent WB No. 63, a
comment for each:
I used foam-covered paint roller
sleeves for years before I discovered
how useful they are in applying paint.
(I've destroyed hundreds of them in the
snuggle to apply epoxy smoothly.)
They are also a godsend to someone
trying to paint his topsides alone. I
apply the paint first with the roller and
brush it out carefully with a badger
brush. Contrary to the Brays, I finish-
stroke from the dry surface of the hull
into the wet edge. I just can't seem to
avoid showing the marks of the brush
where it first contacts the paint if I go
the other way. The roller allows me to
apply much more paint without sags,
and since I can go more quickly, I don't
have to use as much thinner, which
also improves hiding.
I'm not sure why the roller allows
the application of more paint without
sags. I think it has to do with the brush
stroke's tendency to "trip" the painted
surface, and perhaps it works similarly
to the recourse of brushing out the
paint vertically. The rollers I use are
the ones commonly sold by the epoxy
manufacturers like Gougeon Brothers.
They are bright yellow, the foam is
about 1/8" thick, and they're called "Tiz
Twins." They're not worth cleaning
up if you're using them for epoxy, but
if you're using them with regular
marine paint, they'll last a whole
spring session. Roll out the most of
the paint, wrap them in waxed paper,
and tuck the excess into the ends.
They'll keep soft that way for a week or
so.
And while we're at it, for super fair-
ing ability from your disc sander, stick
a piece of Formica on the foam pad
with contact cement, and stick your
sandpaper to that. Turns it into an
honest tool, uninfluenced by the varia-
tions in hardness of the surface you're
working on (for convex surfaces only).
In reference to Tom Wylie's remarks
about cold-molded boats using veneers
over strip planking, this method is par-
ticularly suited to traditional craft re-
engineered for cold molding. Older
designs can almost always afford the
extra weight of the method (compared
to veneers over stringers or solid ve-
neers), because the result is still lighter
and stronger than the original con-
struction. In the wine- and champagne-
glass sections of the classics, a solid
inner layer is very helpful for laminat-
ing veneers into the tuck at the stern
4 WoodenBoat/64
and into hollow garboards.
Thanks for getting me to think
about haul-out time. Nothing so focus-
es the mind as a disc sanding in the
morning.
David C. King
Port Townsend, WA
Dear WoodenBoat,
My renewal notice sits on my desk
collecting dust. While I appreciate the
wealth of practical information con-
tained between the magazine's covers, I
have grown weary of the creeping
assertion that anything less than a tra-
ditional wooden boat automatically
curtails personal growth and self-ful-
fillment. Boatbuilders and/or owners
need not be insecure about the medium
used in their craft. It is shortsighted
and counterproductive to purposely
foster separateness among people.
Respect and example are far superior
as teachers than are rhetoric and
assertion.
Words cannot express the sense of
"freedom" I felt when I opened the
latest issue of WB to the article on Arno
Day. Finally, in just an ordinary trade
magazine geared to ordinary folks, an
editor had the depth and the vision to
ask questions of himself and others.
Questions that heretofore had been the
sole property of pundits, priests, phi-
losophers, and other elite hucksters.
For me Jon Wilson, Peter Spectre,
Mason Smith, and Arno Day have in
this article transcended the mundane
questions of something versus some-
thing else, and have asked the impor-
tant question: What motivates a per-
son to be him/herself? Often in the
editor's column, there is mention of
personal expression, the search for
meaning. I support WoodenBoat's
effort to foster understanding between
a man and himself. That Arno Day
could break his pattern of self-con-
tained anger and share his hurt, with
us, has opened the door to true free-
dom. How many of us can now come
forward and acknowledge our pain
and the defenses we have built around
it which we cleverly hide behind our
intolerance of other's shortcomings?
Yes, Arno, my father yanked tools
from my hands, and when I couldn't
make my son listen, I yanked tools
from his hands. I have had helpers
quit, they thinking I was difficult, I
thinking they were inadequate. The
result was the same, though, as I felt
misunderstood.
It took courage to print this article,
64/WoodenBoat 5
Surely the one who enjoys most the beauty
of a strong and smooth boat,
is the one whose own hands have made it so.
All over the world professional and amateur posites. WEST SYSTEM products are useful for
boatbuilders have discovered the advantages of many applications beyond new boat construc-
building with wood and WEST SYSTEM*brand tion, including repair, modification, and
epoxy. For the past 15 years, wood composite reconstruction.
boats built with WEST SYSTEM products have
proven to be effective racers and durable We invite you to assess wood composite con-
cruisers that are low maintenance and do not struction and WEST SYSTEM products. Pro-
suffer the problems usually associated with ducts and information are available from
wood. WEST SYSTEM epoxy is often used with Gougeon Brothers, Inc. or the following
fiberglass, Kevlar®, and graphite fiber com- distributors and their authorized dealers:
"Trademark of Gougeon Brothers Inc., U.S.A.
6 WoodenBoat/64
and if we are willing to accept the chal-
lenge of our trade, building and restor-
ing boats, might we not accept the
most basic challenge of all: making
peace with ourselves so that we can go
to the workplace with self-respect and
openness to the growth pains of our
fellow beings?
Please renew my subscription.
Leaf Myczack
Collierville, TX
Dear WoodenBoat,
I am writing in hopes of using your
magazine to help in my search for
funding to engage in research and the
publication of a concise and factual
book on ship caulking. I would also
like to include in this treatise the ship-
building reminiscences of the numer-
ous ship caulkers with whom I am
acquainted.
My intial rough layout would
include interviews with the men still
involved in the trade, information on
tools and their evolution, and a discus-
sion of their techiques, all illustrated
with an abundance of both photo-
graphs and drawings. I believe a study
of this subject can provide an interest-
ing look at ship and yacht building
through the eyes of men who saw an
age of caulking that will never be a part
of our culture again. Since my own
involvement with the trade has brought
me in contact with a number of the
older practitioners of caulking, I believe
I am in an ideal position to make this
project both a practical and historical
text useful to both amateurs and pro-
fessionals.
My needs for the project are, simply
put, information from your readership
to help me secure the necessary finan-
cial backing a project of this nature
will require. My applications to the
two funding outlets, The Maine Arts &
Humanities Commission and The
Maine Commission of Humanities,
require that any funding that they have
available comply with the N.E.A.H.
guidelines, which rarely, if ever, fund
individuals not attached in some way
to an accredited institution. That is
why I have decided to seek funding
privately.
I hope your readership will be able
to suggest avenues which might afford
me an opportunity to bring this proj-
ect to a healthy start. Many thanks for
your time and space.
Eugene J. Scalzo
Box 731
Waldoboro, ME 04572
Dear Meg,
In the March/April issue, one of
the photo captions in the interview
with Tom Wylie identifies ALERT as
64/WoodenBoat 7
Tom's personal boat. Tom did refer to
"my ALERT" in the interview, but he
was actually referring to it as one of his
designs. ALERT was designed by Tom,
built by C & B Marine of Watsonville,
California, and is owned and sailed by
Mike Lingsch of San Rafael, Califor-
nia. Mike, by the way, is quite expe-
rienced as a crewman in Pan Am and
SORC competition. My apologies for
not clarifying the owner of ALERT in
the article.
Taylor Chambers
Ben Lomond, CA
Dear Mr. Wilson,
Thank you very much for the truly
enriching article on Arno Day by
Mason Smith. I was so impressed with
the article that I am considering taking
his class, as I, too, love lines and
lofting....
Dave Herz
Steamboat Springs, CO
Dear Sir,
On behalf of the 95% of British
boatbuilders who chose not to exhibit
at the Southampton Boat Show last
September, I must take issue with your
correspondent who assumes the boats
exhibited there were representative of
the current U.K. wooden boat building
scene.
From a builder's point of view, it
would appear the U.K. boat show cir-
cuit is primarily for the benefit of the
show promoters, rather than the ex-
hibitors, and I, for one, would be
unwilling to pass the disproportion-
ately high cost of exhibiting on to my
customers.
During the past seven years of trad-
ing, we have received a diverse range of
commissions to design and build small
craft and yachts, in wood, and I am
bound to say that our style and build-
ing methods have their roots most def-
initely here in Britain, and not in the
U.S.A. Apart from the long heritage of
yacht building in the English Lake
District dating back to the 1790s and
beyond, there has been continuous
activity throughout the U.K. in the
development of small-craft design and
construction, reflected to some extent
by the wide range of racing and sailing
dinghy classes that have flourished
since the 1880s. The most substantial
part of this activity remains undocu-
mented for publication, with a few
notable exceptions, but this does not
mean it does not exist.
The vast majority of well-established
British boatbuilders have developed
their own styles, in the best nautical
tradition, taking into account local sea
8 WoodenBoat/64