Frances

The inspiration, somewhere in Scotland.

from Chuck's notebook

from Chuck's notebook

from Chuck's notebook

from Chuck's notebook

from Chuck's notebook

Sweet, clean lines

An obviously elated Chuck Paine with the completed hull

Ahh, the first Frances, Chuck's own boat

Sail plan and profile with tender.

Dick Cross' Francis, Karma

Acclaimed yacht designer Chuck Paine's first independent design and build was the lovely Frances, a 26' double ender inspired by Scottish workboats. She was originally designed as a modified flush deck cruiser and built by Chuck in Maine, strip planked. Later she was produced by the incomparable firm Morris Yachts of Bass Harbor Maine in both the flush decked version and a cabin version which was, I believe, more popular, understandably, but aesthetically, in my opinion, not the equal of the flush decked version. Chuck was traveling in Europe when he spotted some Scot's workboats he realized would make a very nice yacht with some alterations. He'd carried with him a sketchbook which happily survived the trip, so we are privy to his initial thoughts on this seminal design. Upon his return to the States in 1973, Chuck rented workspace in Camden, Maine and began building. She's fuller in the bilges and probably deeper than her progenitors, influenced by lessons learned from working for Dick Carter designing IOR racing yachts. He completed the build in 1975 at Tom Morris' yard, beginning a long and fruitful relationship. Chuck designed many boats for Morris and established his own design firm, C. W. Paine over 30 years ago. Chuck has retired recently but plans for many of his desgns, including Frances and her little sister Carol are available from Mark Fitzgerald at Fitzgerald Marine Architecture. I've sent for the Frances study plans, my first set. Not because I intend to build, as of now, but simply because she's so compelling. Anyone contemplating a big voyage in a small boat should take a look at these two designs, reading especially Chuck's thought's re: Carol.

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MkIII

MkIII

MkIII

an earlier SII
courtesy SOIA

work in progress on a wooden Silhouette
courtesy SOIA

The Fleet
courtesy SOIA

Barnsdale creek
courtesy SOIA

A reader recently inquired as to whether I could put him in touch with either the buyer or seller of a Tucker designed Silhouette which I had written about back in July of '09. The boat was selling on ebay and looked to be a good deal. I have no further info on that boat, but offered a post to see if we could scare anything up. Here's what they're looking for:

"I am looking for a vintage Hurley Marine Twin Bilge Keel 17.5 Silhouette sailboat. I would prefer a fiberglass model Mk3 or the Mk V, but will consider an older wooden Mkll in good condition. Original trailer a plus. The boat pictured (top three photos, ed.) was sold in 2007 on the Eastern Shore - if anyone knows the location of this boat and how to contact the new owner, or another available Silhouette - please contact me.
All leads / contacts will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!"

Being a fan of Tucker designs in general and this one especially in wood, I've helped myself to a few pics from the Silhouette Owners International Association website, which has a richly presented history of these boats.

Anyone who has such a craft in North America to sell or knows of one, please write me and I'll pass it along to the reader. Let's find this person their boat!

My email is available on 70.8%

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Blaeu, Atlas of Scotland 1654, ORKADVM ET SHETLANDIE Orkney and Shetland

courtesy Wikipedia

North Isles Yole "Lizzie" racing in the Sanday regatta at Kettletoft during the 1950's. She is a smaller example of the Yole , she is rigged with a Dipping lug.

Lizzie II, a North Isles Yole. Built by Richard Wilson and his father Andrew. Launched May 2008.

Gremsa, A South Isles Orkney Yole built by Len Wilson

A simplified drawing of the hull lines of the 18' South Isles Yole Emma. Drawn by Dennis C Davidson.
Lily was built to these lines.

Lily begins

Planking begins

Nearly finished planking

Deck beams in place

a consultation between Association members

Lily's striking hull with hard bilges

Lily launched!



all photos courtesy Orkney Yole Association

Off John O' Groats, at the northeast tip of Scotland, lies a group of islands known collectively as Orkney. Inhabited for at least 8500 years, these islands abound in Mesolithic and Neolithic sites. Invaded by the Norse and annexed by Norway in 875, Orkney was deeded to Scotland in 1472 as part of a debt payment. Rich in Nordic culture, and perhaps the most 'Viking' county of the UK, Orkney continues it's vibrant life.

The Orkney Yole Association has been responsible for a revival of interest in their local Yoles, setting up regatta's, preserving boats and knowledge and leading the way to new boats being built.
These boats are related to the Sgoth Niseach, or Ness Skiff, or Ness Yawl, by way of likely being the model followed by builders on Lewis and Harris. As Len Wilson of the Association states, "Be aware that we are not the same people as the Gaels in the west. This is Viking country. There is no Celtic heritage here, though there is a relationship in the boats. I am not an expert on the western boats but I know we exported Orkney yoles to them back in the 18th century and I see similarities in some of the photos".
The association's website is full of information and history and current activity.The boats were central to the islanders way of life until recently." Until the mid 1960s the yole was the Islanders' motor car and pick-up truck, transporting coal, peats, animals, animal feed, fish, cheese and eggs to the market, the weekly groceries and, of course, passengers". The Orkney Yole is built lapstrake, upright in the Scandinavian way. Originally sprit rigged , as with most Scandinavian workboats, there have been dipping lug versions and more recently the gunter main has predominated. There is a brief but enlightening discussion of yole types on the association website here.
The building of Lily, pictured above, was financed in part by the UK's Heritage Lottery Fund.
the association has also produced a lovely calendar, which I've written about previously. Thanks to Len Wilson for his help and generosity.

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Damien is a Robert Tucker design with reverse sheer

courtesy Creed O'Hanlon

courtesy Gérard Janichon

Damien departs La Rochelle in May of 1969
courtesy Gérard Janichon

In the ice
courtesy Gérard Janichon

Passage du cap Horn d'Est en Ouest, le 4 mars 1971
courtesy Gérard Janichon

Damien returns to La Rochelle, September 1973, after 50,000 miles
courtesy Gérard Janichon

After the first Damien there were several iterations, larger boats most with steel hulls.
cf. Northanger
courtesy Gérard Janichon

One of several books on the journey
courtesy Gérard Janichon

In May, 1969, a small sloop named Damien slipped its mooring within the French harbour of La Rochelle, on the Atlantic coast of south-west France, and made its way seaward through the 12th century fortified stone walls that protect its entrance. Once across the narrow channel between the harbour and the low shores of Ile De Ré, it altered course northwest, out into the wide maw of the Bay of Biscay. She wouldn't be seen again off this coast for another four years.

The beginning of this voyage was the culmination of a long-held dream for two young Frenchmen. Five years earlier, when they were both still teenagers, Jérome Poncet and Gérard Janichon seized on the idea to build the 33-foot, cold-moulded, reverse-chine Robert Tucker design and follow in the wake of their hero, Bernard Moitessier.

They ended up sailing to places even the far-voyaging Moitessier had never ventured.

After rounding Ushant, the westernmost extremity of France, they made their way 'up' the English Channel to the North Sea and after a layover in Bergen, in Norway, continued north to Spitzbergen, in the Svalbard Archipelago, well inside the Arctic Circle. They then turned south-west to Reykjavik in Iceland. From there, they laid a course past Greenland's Cape Farewell to the east coast of the USA. After rounding Cape Hatteras and beating south to the Caribbean, they port-hopped to the north-eastern coast of Brazil, where they decided to sail 2,000 nautical miles up the Amazon before resuming their voyage south. Months later, after rounding Cape Horn from east to west, they double-backed and sailed homewards through the Southern Ocean, via the three great Capes (including a second rounding of the Horn). They eventually logged more than 55,000 nautical miles over a track that spanned the parallels of 80ºN and 68ºS and encircled the globe.

Janichon and Poncet were among the most prominent of a distinctly Sixties' generation of young French sailors who were all inspired not by phlegmatic English deep-water sailors, such as Francis Chichester, Alec Rose, Blondie Hasler, Bill Tilman, Robin Knox-Johnston and others, but by the somewhat hermitic, hippy-ish Bernard Moitessier and his 'agricultural', Jean Knocker-designed, 39-foot steel ketch, Joshua. Born and raised in colonial Vietnam, Moitessier was a tough, highly skilled sailor – arguably, the most accomplished of his age – but he was also a man very much of that odd, spacey time: a dope-smoking, philosophical, manic-depressive visionary for whom ocean voyaging was as much an opportunity for Zen-like self-exploration as it was an adventure.

Damien's long, extraordinary voyage attracted little attention outside of Europe and Janichon's classic book, Du Spitsberg Au Cap Horn (From Spitzberg To Cape Horn) was published only in France (one of many wonderful maritime titles assembled by the local house, Arthaud). The influence of Moitessier's reflective interior monologues are occasionally apparent not only in Janichon's writing but also the narration for the 16mm film Poncet and he shot during their voyage (just as Moitessier did on his non-stop voyage around the world during the Sunday Times' Golden Globe Race in 1969). An excerpt from Janichon's film, during which Poncet and he recklessly pilot Damien right up to the sheer blue cliffs of a towering, castellated iceberg in the high latitiudes of the Southern Ocean, can be found here: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9t2bt_retour-sur-le-voyage-de-damien_travel

In these days of corporate sponsorships, professional crews, and exotic multi-million dollar vessels built to claim the most arcane of ocean passage records, its worth reminding ourselves that the men and women who undertake such unsung, unsponsored, under-funded but perilous voyages in small, spartan yachts for no other reason than the voyage itself – think Roger Taylor in Ming Ming or the Berque twins, Emmanuel and Maximilien, in their tiny, home-built Micromegas – still have more capacity to capture our increasingly meagre imaginations than the flashiest, fastest, highest profile, round-the-world ra

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Illustration by Irwin Schuster, courtesy Annie Holmes

Precious racing circa 1995

Precious at the Coronado YC 2005

courtesy Annie Holmes

Precious at a boat show

interior

Aft shot showing boomkin

Precious nuzzling Little Bird, a Rabl Titmouse, Annies newest passion.

all photos courtesy Annie Holmes

Here are some particulars:

She is 1" x 3/4" strip-planked mahogany over oak frames, and is water-tight.
(She was coated with epoxy inside and out before launching.)
She is 18.5' on deck and 24' overall.
Her beam is 8'1".
She displaces 4,000 lbs. and draws 3.5'.
She has a Sunbrella 3-piece full boat cover.

Annie says, "She's a departure from the original design in that her builder made her a Marconi cutter rig instead of a gaff sloop with running back stays. That explains the boomkin and bowsprit, which are not on the original drawings. She is much easier to sail single-handed for that reason. I've owned her for 25 years and keep her in tip top shape. I bought her in early 1985 from the builder, who is a consummate craftsman. He still builds gorgeous custom violins and guitars, and he built this boat over a two year span and put her in the water in 1980. Her decks and laserettes are teak. Her full keel has a 700# (or thereabouts) lead insert. She is roomy and lovely inside: varnished louvered cabinets, a working sink, lots of storage, and two six-foot bunks. Light grey upholstery with forest green piping. She has a full compliment of sails, including a spinnaker, 180 lapper, staysail, main and jib. My jib is an old Hobie jib which fits fine. I should get serious about replacing it, as the plastic window is cracked. One of these days I will if someone doesn't buy her first. At her last haul-out I stripped and varnished and over-painted the mast and spreaders, so that won't have to be done for some time. She's as lovely as she looks in the photos.

She is a dream to sail, and I've won lots of racing trophies with her, racing against other wooden boats. She's taken prizes at local wooden boat shows as well. I have used her gently over the years and she always gets double-takes wherever we go.

I'm now in my seventies, and I have another Rabl boat, a mahogany strip planked Titmouse, which is on a trailer and will be cheaper and easier for me to maintain."

(Annie is the author of 'Skiff Song', a memoir about her search into the history of another boat, her 1939 vintage Australian 16-foot racing skiff, that took her on an amazing adventure down under. She has since donated the boat to Australia as a gift from the U.S., as it was the last of it's vintage.)


Please email me if you have interest and I will forward your interest to Annie so that she can contact you.

You'll find my email @ 70.8%

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Giacomo and the Ness Yawl somewhere along the Po.

Roland Poltock in the Art Waiting Room at Lago

Roland at his work table

Shaping planks

The molds set up in the Art Waiting Room

Silvio wields a Japanese saw



all photos courtesy Giacomo Stefano

Giacomo De Stefano was introduced to me by Michael Bogoger of DoryMan. Michael asked if I'd be interested in writing about Giacomo (as he has) and helping him along in his mission. My answer was an enthusiastic yes, but then other things...so, finally, here it is. My apologies to Giacomo for the delay.
Giacomo is planning a voyage from London to Istanbul via an Oughtred Ness yawl, sailing and rowing. His goal is to raise awareness on several fronts, but most notably clean water, low impact transportation and the destructive effects of global tourism. He made a similiar voyage last year, also in a Ness yawl, down the river Po. I've had a little correspondence w/Giacomo and I do believe he possesses the passion, intensity and poetry of a true visionary. In his own words:

"According to WTO data published in the report, Changes in Leisure Time: The Impact of Tourism*, since 1998 tourism has become the largest industry on the planet. Nothing produces more, consumes more, ejects more and wastes more. Mass tourism, the real monster, develops at a very fast rate. Is there a way ot traveling, experiencing, and eating without eroding environments and cultures? Is there a way to bring a sustainable, local economy to the river sides society? My name is Giacomo De Stefano, and I am a traveler, a man who is looking for
new ways of dealing with our complex reality. I live on a boat in Venice. I row and sail, with little or no money. With less I try do more. I want to row and sail, on a little boat from London to Istanbul. I am not alone. My colleagues and I are a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual group, and I believe we and you can be of service to each other. You can learn more about us on our web site
unaltropo.com. I am, with the help of some good friends, organizing this journey called By Fair
Means, North sea to Black Sea, to help us save two great rivers and demonstrate a way of intelligent tourism."

The photos above represent the current progress toward Giacomo's goal. Shipwright Roland Poltock and his friend Silvio have set up shop in the lobby of Lago, a Venetian design firm. The lobby is synonymous with an art gallery aptly named The Art Waiting Room where the firm brings in artists to show pieces related to waiting. "Art Waiting Room is a container of stimuli to change the experience of waiting in Lago.Inside the waiting room, young artists reinterpret in ever different content to wait. This a project in collaboration with the Foundation March." Or as Nicolo Zago explains on DoryMan's blog: "Of course as you know, our reception area has now become the famous "Art Waiting Room" where we host live installations and performances, but until now we have never seen anything like this." Thus the building of the new Ness yawl becomes a sort of performance piece. In point of fact I would label the whole of Giacomo's oeuvre as performance art, a very broad work of art encompassing not only the aesthetic but also the social, the political, the environmental and the spiritual realms. Indeed, I believe it is a gesamtkunstwerk. (Please, if you don't know what this means, link to the definition!)

Giacomo seems very open, gracious and generous, he's invited Michael and I , and I'm sure many others, to participate in his voyage, and contribute by whatever means available, be it physical, logistical, media related or financial. Find out more at his website Un altro Po.

I asked Giacomo why an Iain Oughtred boat as opposed to a more local craft from his home area. His response is enlightening:

"I decided to use a Ness Yawl because is a very versatile boat. I was so lucky that Roland Poltock lent me the boat last year and I felt in love so much with it. Maybe I am a little bit close to my Norwegian origin, dating 1079, in Sicily or maybe I love too much Iain Oughtred..I miss the Venetian boats but they would not be good to sail along the Black Sea coast, and they are too heavy. Only the MAscareta could be good , and light but not seaworthy enough.
The other Italian boat are too heavy, like all the gozzi, to be rowed upstream decently, or hauled by myself in case of danger.

After all the planet is small and I am a citizen of this small planet. We decided to use names. So Norway is here too, in my crazy mind, and Scotland too.

This is part of a circle. About rivers and seas.

DON’T LEAVE THIS PLANET TO THE STUPID. PLEASE"

I dare not add anything more.

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Despite their constrasting size both these boats shown here were classed as 'Jumbos' and are typical of the St.Ives shape which enabled the vessel to remain upright when taking the ground. Legs would have been torn off in a crowded harbour, as shown below. The one on the right (above) and those against the quay (below) are so similar to 'Celeste' they are almost certainly from William Paynters' yard.

Photos reproduced by courtesy of The St.Ives Museum

Celeste

Jonny Nance
serving splices with Joe.

Photo; Pete Greenfield

'CelestFish Festival 31st Aug 09. photo: Colin Sanger

'Celeste' at Newlyn Fish Festival 31st Aug 09.

photo: Colin Sanger

Festival 31st Aug 09. photo: Colin Sanger

View looking forward

Photo by Peter Chesworth, courtesy of Water-Craft magazine.

Wrought iron foremast gate.

Photo by Peter Chesworth, courtesy of Water-Craft magazine.

Securing the mizzen boom

Photo by Peter Chesworth, courtesy of Water-Craft magazine.

Wrought-iron stemband and 'scud-hook'

Photo by Peter Chesworth, courtesy of Water-Craft magazine.

Photo by Peter Chesworth, courtesy of Water-Craft magazine.

Photo by Peter Chesworth, courtesy of Water-Craft magazine.

Celeste at low water

Photo: Ian Murren

Jonny Nance with Pete Goss, a finisher in the '96/'97 Vendee Globe. Pete's latest adventure was the recreation of Mystery, a Cornish Lugger which carried 7 Cornishmen to Australia in 1854/55. Upon completion of the boat, Pete and crew sailed the Mount's Bay Lugger in a recreation of the voyage. The new boat and venture was called Spirit of Mystery. I believe the occasion of this photo is Pete's purchase of a 'share' of/for the building of the new Jumbo.

photo Pete Goss

Jumbo II under construction:

all photos courtesy Jonny Nance unless otherwise noted

© THE ST.IVES JUMBO ASSOCIATION

Jonny Nance is an apostle for traditional boats and boatbuilding, and community involvement in these areas, in his native St. Ives, Cornwall,UK. He's created something called The St. Ives Jumbo Association to further these aims. And is doing a great job, as you can see at the Association's website. Celeste is his first replica and another is nearing completion. I was struck by the craftsmanship and attention to detail when first seeing the photos on the website, and paid closer attention to what was going on here, and my attention has been amply rewarded. This seems a model project.
Jumbo's were a late development in the local fisheries, a scaled down version of the larger mackerel luggers. The name arose in this way:
"To fishermen familiar with the much larger and more numerous mackerel boats the new Jumbos would have seemed particularly diminutive and so were ironically nick-named after London Zoos' famous African elephant - the biggest creature in captivity.

Jumbo had caused a storm of protest in 1882 following its controversial sale to the Barnum & Bailey Circus in the USA. "

It's Jonny's intention to race the two boats as a way of getting the community interested and involved in the skills needed to preserve and continue their local heritage. But for me he has a more interesting goal. Jonny see's the revival of these inshore fishing craft as a means of protecting local fisheries and promoting sustainable fishing, eco fishing, if you will, via a return to fishing under sail. In his words-

"When sailing the Jumbo you can readily appreciate why the lug rig remained popular for small fishing boats through to the last days of sail. To start with you've a wonderfully clear working area with the masts out of the way, and no boom to duck under. Even when close-hauled the sail and sheets are clear of the work area. This, combined with he manageable scale of the boat and rig makes the Jumbo an ideal model on which to develop skills and explore the potential of fishing for a living - under sail.

Our aim is to establish a racing class of these boats at St.Ives in order to regenerate a waterfront community in decline. How much more effective it would be if, in addition, these boats could be eventually used for the purpose for which they were designed whilst providing a seasonal income for a couple of individuals!

Clearly, there may come a time when, in addition to any green, carbon neutral credentials, a sail-operated fishery could become commercially viable or at least a natural way of conserving resources (as demonstrated by the Falmouth oyster fishery -much celebrated as the last in the world to be worked under sail). In the meantime the skills required need to be developed.

There's a growing recognition that this approach would at least address some serious issues; the sustainability of fish stocks, the rising cost of fuel, the dependence on imported goods and the lack of employment opportunities in rural areas to name a few.

And if successful, the model could be readily repeated elsewhere.

Only a few months ago such a proposal would have been dismissed as romantic fantasy. So far however, my inquiries have been met with a degree of excitement .

Stephen Perham, the Harbour Master of Clovelly, who has been working the herring season there for decades, explained he has been thinking of reviving the 'picarooner' (their Jumbo equivalent) for the purpose. It's no coincidence that a replica of this particular craft is currently under construction by students on the Traditional Boatbuilding Course at Falmouth Marine School.

Nathan De Rozarieux, the Project Director of Seafood Cornwall reckons there's sufficient public awareness to support a significant premium for 'zero-carbon' fish when sold direct to the customer. This would ensure a market for the smallest catches. This view is shared by Matthew Stevens MD of Matthew Stevens and Son, the regions leading supplier of fish and seafood based in St.Ives,who said,

"Clearly the time is right for an initiative like this. We look forward to receiving their first catch!"

Even the authorities are supportive. The Marine Fisheries Agency at Newlyn inform me that obstructive legislation has been amended to allow unlicenced (unpowered) vessels of under 10m. to land and sell fish.

Without realising it individuals from each of the contributing sectors: boatbuilders, part-time fishermen, fishing authorities, and marketting have been quietly thinking along parallel lines but as yet have not joined forces.

We are on the threshold of a revival that could see several small, inshore and engineless fleets springing up around our shores over the next decade.

The logical place to start is where we left off - and engines took over.

Sceptical? Of course - but just think where the organic industry was only 30 years ago!"

Apparently the British House of Commons is taking notice of such ideas. Other institutions are taking notice of Jonny and the Association's initiatives as well. The esteemed Tate Gallery held a fundraiser last spring to help make possible the completion of the second Jumbo.

Even an American group of descendants of the Cornwall Nance's is taking notice and appealing for help. If you can do so, please!

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Tim Robison is, among other things, a sailor and a photographer. Rather a good photographer, I'd say. His website Pergrine Sea, named after his boat Peregrina, has several galleries, one of which is pictured above. It's called 'Resting Dinghies', a name suggested by Tim's friend, Webb Chiles, who wrote to me about Tim. Tim explains:
This is a collection of photographs taken at the Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle, Washington. The small boats, their beautiful details of there construction, and the setting at the south end of Lake Union with still water, make for some interesting photography. These photographs are a combination of recent digital photos and scans of slides from years ago.
My friend Webb Chiles, after viewing several of these images suggested the photographs were “compositions of resting dinghies.” I had not not thought of the the collection that way .......


This is just a sliver of the collections on tap at Tim's well crafted website, most of them related to sailing and sailing adventure. Tim and Sandra live aboard their 40' sailboat and wander when they can, and their wanders and journeys are chronicled at their site. There's lots here, and lots to like. Take a look, dig in, you'll find much to enjoy.

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Two rare birds 'Sabine' and 'Steffi' (alas no longer with us)
rafted up, Scottish West Coast May 1991,
and
Sabine dried out Piel Is Aug 1992 An attempt to show hull profile
courtesy Edwin Dewhirste

Sabine under sail in Caernarfon Bay 2007 cruise
courtesy Edwin Dewhirst

Beating down the Sound of Raasey with the windvane doing the work
May 2009 cruise
courtesy Edwin Dewhirst

Sabine back in Tobermory Harbour
May cruise 2009
courtesy Edwin Dewhirst

Sabine moored in the river bed in Cemaes harbour . Anglessey Very sheltered in the harbour but plenty of wind outside
August 2009 cruise
courtesy Edwin Dewhirst

Chris Fretz's Seagull, first sail
courtesy Chris Fretz

Chris Fretz's Seagull, first sail
courtesy Chris Fretz

Chris' 'Gull
courtesy Chris Fretz

Chris Fretz and his Seagull at home
photo Thomas Armstrong

Chris' Seagull
photo Thomas Armstrong

This will be a post about one small boat but will shoot off in several directions, so please pay attention. The design in question is the Bell Woodworking kit boat, the Seagull. A product of the boom in postwar Britain of small, trailerable family cruisers, most originally built in the amazing 'new' material, plywood. I found this design while researching the postwar phenomenon of dinghies and family cruisers which revolutionized yachting and brought it within reach of 'everyman'. Bell Woodworking of Leicester, UK, was a producer of many kit boats, beginning in the early 1950's. Ian Proctor, of Wayfarer fame, designed at least three of their offerings, and he was in good company. Bell also commissioned legends Jack Holt, Percy Blanford and Uffa Fox to draw boats for them. One of Mr. Proctor' designs has quite caught my attention. I love a well drawn reverse sheer, and this, along with a well proportioned cabintop and nicely done hard chines, drew me to the Seagull. Bermuda rigged, small for a cruiser at 18'6" LOA, she has spacious accommodations for her size, and has a retractable fin bulb keel which enables her for both shoal and deep water sailing. The Seagull was a popular design in her day, with over 300 kits being sold, and early on an active and enthusiastic owners group. As times progressed and fiberglass or GRP boats began to replace the owner built ply boats, the Seagull waned in popularity. Today there are only about twenty or so owners clustered around Edwin Dewhirst's forum for both the Seagull and her larger sister the Seamew. Edwin also maintains a website on these boats where he recounts his cruises in his beloved Seagull Sabine as well as providing essential information on both the Seagull and Seamew.
Through Edwin's forum I was able to locate and contact an owner of a Seagull, fortunately about 20 minutes drive from my home in Phoenixville , PA. I made contact with Chris Fretz and found him affable and forthcoming, with a beautiful story about his 'Gull. Chris is a passionate sailor and campaigns his e Scow on the New Jersey coast. Genetic. Chris' grandfather, Harold Pelham, built several of the Bell kits. A pram, the GP 14 (Jack Holt) and finally the Seagull. When his grandfather passed, Chris discovered the Gull, the basic structure was complete but lacked fittings and finish. Chris fell to and completed his new/old Seagull. He'd had the boat in the water for about four seasons, sailing from his base which was his Grand's shore house in NJ, when a road accident while trailing the boat back to PA for the winter sidelined the Seagull. She needs some work and I have offered help, to get the boat back in the water next summer. Knowing that there are no extant plans available for this boat, I approached Chris with an idea. If we could take lines off we could build a table of offsets and rescue the design from obscurity. Chris is enthusiastic, and when I explained that John Brady at the Independence Seaport Museum has a laser and a jig for taking the measurements, Chris offered to trailer his Seagull down to Philly, and suggested that John might want to build a class around the taking off of lines. Great! The next step was to approach John with the idea, and I found him enthusiastic also, with the caveat that we would need to have an appropriate number for a class, at least five bodies, and he'd like to open such a class up to help survey some of the boats in the Museums study collection. Wow, this is great, I thought. So here's a call to all my readers within striking distance of Philadelphia. If you'd like to learn how to survey an old boat and take her measurements, please raise your hand by emailing me or John.

There's a glitch, though. I would like to be able to offer plans to members of Edwin's group, and others interested in the Seagull. I have even contacted Paul Fischer of Selway Fisher, a British designer known for rescuing traditional boat designs and reworking them for modern homebuilding techniques. He expresses interest also, but only if copyright issues could be met and dealt with. And there's the rub. According to Edwin, although the boat was designed by Ian Procter, he was working on commission for Bell Woodworking, so the plans belonged to Bell. Folks who bought the kits received a set of construction drawings, but not a full set of plans. Bell Woodworking closed it's doors some years ago, leaving little to trace the copyright holders down, at least through the internet. My endeavors have been futile, including requests to the University of Leicester Library (Bell was located in Leicester). So I'm putting out a second call to my readers. Especially those in central England. If you know of the Bell heirs, or those holding their copyright, or if you are the holder, please help me out here. We could all benefit.

Please visit Edwin's website here.

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courtesy Billy Black

courtesy Jester Challenge

courtesy Billy Black

courtesy Jester Challenge

courtesy Jester Challenge

courtesy the Gypsy Moth collection

A life well lived and very rich indeed. I do not mourn the passing of Michael Richey, but rather wish to celebrate the life of a man who lived his life to the fullest with a great many significant achievements. Mike passed away on Tuesday, December 22, 2009, leaving a rich legacy for all sailors who aspire to adventure. A veteran seaman who saw action in WWII, Mike later followed his passion for navigation to became one of the founding members of the Royal Institute of Navigation. Mike was also the inheritor of Jester, Blondie Hasler's seminal junkrig conversion Folkboat which inaugurated the OSTAR transatlantic races, and it's his dogged participation in these races, all of them, after acquiring Jester from Blondie in 1964, which interests me. Mike was persuaded to buy Jester upon her return from the second Ostar and he and Jester participated in every one of these races until she was lost in the '88 race. A new cold molded Jester was created with the help of a trust organized by Nigel Rowe, and Michael continued to make these crossings. Over the years the race grew more and more competitive, with larger, faster, hugely funded racers quickly betraying the Corinthian( (dated),(nautical) An amateur yachtsman who sails his own yacht without a professional skipper ) origins of the event. Michael seems to have joined the race for reasons other than winning , seemingly it was the journey that mattered. He and Jester last participated in 2000, when a special dispensation was granted to allow the 26' boat to enter as the minimum length had been raised to 30'. In total Mike crossed the Atlantic single handed a whopping 28 times!, nine of which were Ostar's. One source reports: 'He confessed that coming in perfectly last became his objective, since it wasn’t so much the sailing that interested him, rather the navigating. He would often sail with centuries-old Portuguese, Phoenician, Chinese and Spanish navigational instruments borrowed from local maritime museums. ' Mike celebrated his July 5th birthday many times at sea, alone, surrounded by his books and good wine, including his 80th.

Truly a man all can admire, and a life all can celebrate.

There is a great obituary here.
A lovely reminiscence here.
A timely tribute here.
And the Jester Challenge biography here.
Take a look at Mike's articles for the Jester Challenge page here.
There is also a very good article on Jester, and Michael, in WoodenBoat #113, by Sheila McCurdy.

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