SHAVINGS
August, September 1979
Volume One, Number Five
MORE ON THE
BONITO BOAT
T h a t Samoan B o n i t o b o a t d o n a t e d to CWB by M r . and M r s . J o h n Haydon drew a l o t of a t t e n t i o n d u r i n g the boat show. When J o h n was g o v e r n o r of Samoa, he e s t a b l i s h e d a c u l t u r a l museum i n Pago Pago and c o m m i s s i o n e d b u i l d e r s f r o m the i s l a n d of Tau t o construct a bonito fishing canoe as p a r t of the opening festivities. The f i n i s h e d b o a t was p u t i n t h e new museum, but the demonstration of Samoa's boatbuilding h e r i t a g e and t e c h n i q u e s was so e f f e c t i v e , t h a t Gov. Haydon commissioned a s e c o n d one to be b u i l t the next y e a r . T h i s i s t h e one we r e c e i v e d . Although the breadfruit wood of w h i c h it is constructed makes t h e c a n o e u n u s u a l e n o u g h , t h e sewn p l a n k c o n s t r u c t i o n i s e v e n more interesting. E a c h o f t h e many (continued on page 3)
S U N , WATER, WOOD AND VOLUNTEERS ALL ADD UP TO SUCCESS The T h i r d A n n u a l S e a t t l e Wooden B o a t Show, t h e CWB's m a j o r e f f o r t t h i s y e a r , was p a r t s p e c t a c l e , p a r t s c h o o l and p a r t pilgrimage for aficionados of c r a f t s m a n s h i p and t r a d i t i o n a l d e s i g n . V i s i t o r s had a good time, exhibitors had a good t i m e and n o b o d y wanted the p a r t y to e n d . Even w i t h the crowds, t h e r e was a relaxed, unpressured f e e l i n g as the public drifted from booth to b o o t h , from float to float, and f r o m l e c t u r e hall t o the decks of the large ships lined up a l o n g the b u l k h e a d s . W h i l e most o f the attendees came f r o m a r o u n d Puget Sound, o t h e r s had travelled impressive d i s t a n c e s - from Maine, upstate New Y o r k , Minnesota, s o u t h e r n C a l i f o r n i a , and f r o m Yellowknife in Canada's Northwest Territory. (continued on page 2)
A PUBLICATION OF THE CENTER FOR WOODEN BOATS
BOAT SHOW (cont'd) B o a t s and s h i p s o n d i s p l a y ranged in s i z e from Dennis C o r u m ' s d e l i c a t e " S a i r y Gamp" c a n o e , a 9 f o o t c o p y of R u s h t o n ' s s m a l l e s t d e s i g n t o the 105' Carribean t r a d i n g schooner and " t u r k l i n g b o a t " , the "Goldfield" . I t was t r u l y i n t e r n a t i o n a l as w e l l . Boats launched into c h i l l y B a l t i c w a t e r s moored n e a r c r a f t b u i l t in Alaska, Holland, Australia and E n g l a n d . Traditional Scandanavian d e s i g n s , c l a s s i c d o r i e s , w h i t e h a l l s of every proportion, s a i l b o a t s , rowboats, c a n o e s , m o t o r and s t e a m c r a f t t i e d up to the f l o a t s , o f t e n r a f t i n g out t h r e e o r f o u r deep. S o many l a r g e s h i p s came t h a t two d o z e n were moored Mediterranean f a s h i o n , t h e i r s t e r n s s e c u r e d t o t o s e a w a l l and t h e i r anchors streamed forward so they p o i n t e d up the l a k e . V i e w e d f r o m t h e w a t e r , i t was a c r o s s between a C o t e d ' A z u r y a c h t h a r b o r and a F i s h e r m a n ' s w h a r f w i t h a h e a v y d o s e of turn-of-the-century Boston. T h e r e was even a f u l l y f i t t e d out f l o a t i n g boat shop - R i p Knot's "Ultramarine Service" a n c h o r i n g t h e end o f one o f t h e floats. S e r i o u s s t u d e n t s of the craft could listen to M i n n e s o t a ' s Dean H a y n e s - a third generation rowing craft builder - talk about h i s g r a c e f u l Whitebear s k i f f s . Tom B e a r d and G o r d o n Young gave t h e i r audience comprehensive i n s i g h t i n t o the b u i l d i n g o f the famed P o u l s b o B o a t s . Gordon i s t h e son o f R o l a n d Young), t h e i r designer. He is so e x c i t e d about the r e v i v e d i n t e r e s t i n these boats that he is b u i l d i n g one h i m s e l f . P u g e t S o u n d s ' own
o l d - w o r l d c r a f t s m a n , Paul S c h w e i s s , shared h i s knowledge of the d e s i g n , c o n s t r u c t i o n techniques, an s a i l i n g performance of V i k i n g b o a t s . F o r t h o s e who want t o open t h e i r own b o a t s h o p , P a t F o r d e x p l a i n e d how t o b e g i n . And i n c a s e t h e y wanted to do it in t h e N o r t h w e s t , Bob P i c k e t t ' s l e c t u r e o n n a t i v e woods f o r b o a t b u i l d i n g was a n e x c e l l e n t d i s c u s s i o n o f local resources. Saturday e v e n i n g was g i v e n o v e r t o a thorough d i s c u s s i o n of the C e n t e r ' s trademark, the B r i s t o l Bay g i l l n e t t e r . An a l l s t a r p a n e l o f Dan D y g e r t , C l a r k C o u l t e r , Tom Dyer and J o e E b e r h a r t e r gave a f u l l a c c o u n t of this sail-powered fishery. If p e o p l e wanted o n e - o n - o n e i n s t r u c t i o n , they could learn k n o t - t y i n g under the t u t e l a g e o f Lyn S m i t h , Deb H a r r i n g t o n and Jim S t o r e y . Marty Langeland h e l p e d them r i v e t , P a t F o r d d e m o n s t r a t e d s t e a m - b e n d i n g and B r i a n T o s s showed them t h e i n s and o u t s o f r i g g i n g . Decorative c a r v i n g b y Tom P a r k e r and T e r r y W o l f e drew t h e k n i f e and c h i s e l s e t , w h i l e Tom F i n c h and G a l e S h u b ' s o a r - m a k i n g showed y e t a n o t h e r u s e o f edged t o o l s . H a l f - m o d e l s , the d e s i g n e r ' s b e g i n n i n g and t h e i n t e r i o r decorators d e l i g h t were e x p l a i n e d b y Dave L e F e b v r e and Gil Vik. And i f all of those d i s p l a y s , d e m o n s t r a t i o n s , and e x h i b i t s d i d n ' t answer a l l o f a n a s p i r i n g b u i l d e r , owner o r r e s t o r e r ' s q u e s t i o n s t h e r e was always B i l l M o d r e l l ' s "Ask the Experts" booth. The d a i l y r o w i n g and s a i l i n g r a c e s were t r u e c r o w d p l e a s e r s , even t h o u g h t h e r o w i n g r a c e s e a s t t u r n took on a r e s e m b l a n c e t o Ben H u r ' s c h a r i o t r a c e . A
t h r e e - s i d e d course of a m i l e l o n g d o e s n ' t n e c e s s a r i l y show w h i c h i s t h e b e s t r o w e r o r who has t h e f a s t e s t b o a t , but i t s u r e p r o v i d e s t h e maximum p o s s i b l e a c t i o n when t h e r e a r e f i f t e e n b o a t s s p e e d i n g down i t w i t h a n y w h e r e f r o m one t o f o u r rowers bending to the o a r s . The most i m p o r t a n t f e a t u r e of t h e show, h o w e v e r , was what made i t a l l p o s s i b l e i n t h e f i r s t place: The S p i r i t o f t h e Volunteer. F l o a t s and b o a t s h o p were towed o v e r by t h e M . V . Sea Quest under s k i p p e r Frank Didier. Steve Osborn d r a f t e d from h i s v a c a t i o n , helped b r i n g the newly-donated f l o a t s from E a g l e Harbor on B a i n b r i d g e Island. When t h e y a r r i v e d , C h a r l i e O l s h e s k i and h i s c r e w o f t w e l v e moored them i n p o s i t i o n and t h e n t u r n e d t o a s s e m b l i n g t h e v a r i o u s b o o t h s . The CWB b o o t h was b u i l t b y Doug G o r g e o , and C o l l e e n Wagner and her h e l p e r s s p e n t many h o u r s o n t h e excellent hand-painted signs t h a t added t o t h e s h o w ' s h i g h quality. One o f t h e b e s t e x p r e s s i o n s of the S p i r i t of the V o l u n t e e r was t h e t o y b o a t b u i l d i n g b o o t h . Throughout the t h r e e days of t h e show a t l e a s t a d o z e n y o u n g s t e r s were b u s y u n d e r t h e p a t i e n t s u p e r v i s i o n of G i l Vik at a l l t i m e s , hammering, s a w i n g , g l u i n g , and c a r v i n g . Their o u t p u t was a s d i v e r s e a s t h e b o a t s o n d i s p l a y and t h e i r i n t e n t l a b o r and t h e l e s s o n s t h e y were l e a r n i n g made s u r e that another generation of woodworkers w i l l appear. C o n t r i b u t o r s whose s k i l l is c u i s i n e r a t h e r than c a r p e n t r y made t h e e v e n i n g p o t l u c k a t t h e Gasworks Park a s u c c e s s . This
p i c n i c i s r a p i d l y becoming the s o c i a l e v e n t o f t h e wooden boating year. A f t e r t h e show e n d e d , t h e CWB had made a m o d e s t p r o f i t , p a r t l y f r o m t h e r a f f l e o f Tom F i n c h and G a l e Snub's 9-foot s k i f f and some f r o m t h e M a r i n e Auction. On the people p r o f i t l e d g e r , the Center gained over 50 new m e m b e r s .
B0NIT0 BOAT ( c o n t ' d )
p l a n k s i s smooth o u t s i d e and looks l i k e customary c a r v e l construction. The i n b o a r d s u r f a c e has a r a i s e d l i p a r o u n d a l l e d g e s , l i k e a frame around • picture. Holes are bored through t h i s frame, parallel w i t h t h e o u t e r s u r f a c e and matching those in a d j o i n i n g planks. The b o a t b u i l d e r s t h e n l a c e the planks t o g e t h e r w i t h sennit (twisted coconut f i b e r s ) and c a u l k t h e seams w i t h r o t t e d breadfruit. There is a s m a l l outrigger for s t a b i l i t y . The b u i l d e r s a l s o c a r v e d a row o f knobs on the d e c k . In u s e , t h e s e are capped by s m a l l w h i t e s h e l l s which the f i s h e r m e n b e l i e v e act as a l u r e f o r the bonito. Haydon s a y s t h a t w h i l e Gov a r e s t i l l common i n t h e dugouts t h e p l a n k e d and sewn islands t y p e s a r e o n l y i n museums now
MEMBERSHIP
JOHN
NOTICE
Some of t h e CWB m e m b e r s h i p s w i l l b e due f o r r e n e w a l in October - our 1st a n n i v e r s a r y . P l e a s e continue your support of the Center by renewing your membership. A r e c e n t scan of our m e m b e r s h i p l i s t shows 411 members in 22 s t a t e s & 3 Canadian P r o v i n c e s .
CWB
DONATIONS Tom & L i n d a May have c o n t r i b u t e d t h e hand c r a n k anchor winch from t h e i r schooner "Norden". The w i n c h was o r i g i n a l equipment on the N o r d e n , w h i c h was b u i l t i n Denmark i n 1929 a s a f i s h c a r r i e r , t a k i n g cod i n a l i v e w e l l f r o m Denmark t o S p a i n . The w i n c h is now s t o r e d on t h e San Mateo.
PUBLICATIONS
Copies of the B o a t b u i l d e r ' s D i r e c t o r y are s t i l l available. They a r e $ 2 . 0 0 e a c h , add 50 cents for mailing.
HONORED
John G a r d n e r , A s s o c i a t e Curator of Small C r a f t at M y s t i c S e a p o r t and N a t i o n a l F i s h e r m a n ' s T e c h n i c a l E d i t o r was t h e g u e s t o f honor a t a h a s t i l y - c o n v e n e d r e c e p t i o n at the Old Boathouse September 1 5 , as he p a s s e d t h r o u g h S e a t t l e o n h i s way t o P o r t Townsend. D i c k Wagner p r e s e n t e d Gardner with a handsome c e r t i f i c a t e , c r e a t e d b y s e v e r a l of t h e CWB m e m b e r s , e x p r e s s i n g our a p p r e c i a t i o n f o r h i s i n s p i r a t i o n t o a l l o f u s and c o n f e r r i n g upon him l i f e t i m e m e m b e r s h i p i n The C e n t e r F o r Wooden B o a t s . Responding to applause, G a r d n e r a s s u r e d t h e members t h a t t h e c e r t i f i c a t e w o u l d have a s u i t a b l e p l a c e o f honor o v e r h i s desk u n t i l " i t was t i m e t o p u t i t i n some m a r i t i m e m u s e u m " . EDITORIAL Shavings team.
AVAILABLE
GARDNER
has
a
STAFF
new
editorial
Chuck Dowd, E d i t o r - i n - C h i e f Dave C o x , Typesetting Ted C o o p e r , P r o d u c t i o n C h a r l i e Bond and D i c k W a g n e r , Reporters
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION ( )
P l e a s e e n r o l l me as a member o f the Center, a n o n p r o f i t o r g a n i z a t i o n (dues t a x d e d u c t i b l e ) , and send the Center's membership p u b l i c a t i o n s f o r one y e a r , membership c a r d , and s u p p o r t e r ' s p i n . ( ) Regular--$7.50/year ( ) C o n t r i b u t i n g - - $ 1 5 . 0 0 / y e a r ( ) Organizations--$15.00/year
Name Address City Z i p code
( ) Life--$100.00
T o t a l Amount E n c l o s e d State
$
Boat(s) owned
Phone
THE CENTER FOR WOODEN BOATS
2770 Westlake Avenue North Telephone (206)283-9166
S e a t t l e WA 98109