Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival
July 3, 4 & 5, 1999
IN THIS ISSUE Vision for a Voyage Navron Tales Building the Navron Neighborhoods The Joy of Building Headwater 14 A Quiet Afternoon in the Library New Life for Our Old Logo 1 +1 = Two Fine Little Boats for CWB Why We Do What We Do Music, Music, Music Our International Six-Metre Story Bringing Home a Geary Great The Pirate Pond Boat What a Great Weekend! Book Review Spirit of Peace Schooner Race Volunteer of the Year Keeping Us Afloat Calendar of Events Festival Events Preview
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The Center for Wooden Boats 1010 Valley St., Seattle, WA 98109-4468 (206) 382-2628; e-mail: cwb@cwb.org www.cwb.org President Founding Director Executive Director Boatshop Manager Volunteer/Events Coordinator Dockmaster Livery Assistant Public Service Manager Youth Coordinator/SailNOW! Administrator Youth Coordinator Bookkeeper
Board of Trustees: Caren Crandell, Debra Cibene, Betsy Davis, Peter DeLaunay, Dave Erskine, Steve Excell, Ken Greff, Samuel Johnson, Candace Jordan, Richard Kolin, Randall Magliozzi, Len Marklund, Dave Mullens, Ron Snyder, Bill Van Vlack. Shavings is a bi-monthly publication of The Center for Wooden Boats. This special 23rd Annual Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival issue was produced by Judie Romeo under the direction of Dick Wagner. The Center for Wooden Boats is a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit organization. On the Cover: The 1999 Wooden Boat Festival poster is taken from a painting by long-time Festival exhibitor Dutch Mostert of North Bend, Oregon, and reproduced in colors as brilliant as the original by K/P Corporation. This is the sixth time that K/P has provided printing of our poster. The Center for Wooden Boats wishes to express its deep gratitude and appreciation to Dutch and to K/P for their outstanding results and their continuing support of our maritime heritage educa-. tion and preservation mission.
Vision for a Voyage Rarely does it happen, maybe once in a lifetime if w e ' r e lucky, to have the opportunity to become involved in developing a new museum. In this case it's the Puget Sound Maritime M u s e u m , being developed by the Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society (PSMHS), with 51 years of dedication to preserving maritime heritage. A museum is acutely needed to preserve and interpret the cultures, traditions and a r t i f a c t s t h a t a r e p a r t of t h e N o r t h w e s t ' s vibrant maritime heritage. This will be the unfolding of an exciting maritime history in a dynamic maritime museum, to be shared with the full spectrum of our diverse community, with visitors to Seattle and especially with children. Often, while standing on the stern of the Wawona (the last three-masted lumber and codfishing schooner in the Northwest), I would look over at the Naval Reserve and say: "That building should be a maritime museum." One day. I said the same thing to members of PSMHS and the response was: "Let's make a plan." That's the day the voyage began - although we never dreamed at that time that the Naval Reserve would actually become available. Now it has happened! And there is an even wider focus at the south end of Lake Union than I first imagined. Six maritime heritage organizations are working together to be a part of a new city waterfront park. Here is a waterfront site that can provide a comprehensive heritage experience. This is an opportunity we can't afford to miss! N o w P S M H S must start to navigate 2
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on a broader reach than before. Needed are a Captain (Director) and Crew (staff) to take the helm and sail with vision, commitment and special experience. Currently, Washington has no museum which tells the "Big Story" of our maritime past with a major focus on the cultural heritage of our abundant waters. It is time to honor the ships that made a difference, the colorful cast of characters and to highlight the maritime events that played key roles in Puget Sound's social, economic and cultural development. W e must preserve this heritage for our children and the generations to come or a hundred years from now who will know anything about it? The members of PSMHS, many of whom are living encyclopedias of this heritage, have enthusiastically supported the concept of the museum. A recent survey of the members confirmed the vision of a place where maritime themes and stories can be presented in an exciting and challenging manner. More than just exhibits, the museum will be a place of mystery, adventure, exploration, education and research. It will be a world of maritime past with sights, sounds, stories and songs. The learning experience will serve as a cultural magnet for children and school visits. What would they find in a visit to the museum? Perhaps a dock with several types of small boats with lines to tie, sails to raise, life jackets, life rings, fenders and soft anchors. A tugboat pilothouse complete with wheel, binnacle, compass and
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Bill Van Vlack Dick Wagner Bob Perkins Dan Potenza Diane Gowman Tom Hodgson Skyler Palmer Tim Porter Meg Trzaskoma Sven Holch Chris Sanders
by Colleen Wagner
Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society members are ready and waiting to pass on first-hand experience in the new museum! - photo by Capt. Ed Shields
For 23 years, the hard-working Staff and Volunteers of The Center for Wooden Boats and hundreds of boat owners, skills demonstrators, craftspeople and boat artisans have treated the Northwest to a Fourth of July pleasure as good as, if not better than fireworks: The Annual Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival. In just a bit more than two decades, the Festival has gone from a trial run hatched up by a group of wooden boat nuts sitting around Dick and Colleen Wagner's kitchen table to a well-produced, award-winning cornucopia of maritime heritage delights. It is an endeavor worth saluting - and we are glad to do so! The Friends and Patrons of the 23rd Annual Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival All T h e K i n g ' s F l a g s
T h e G a n g at 48째 N o r t h
Seattle, W A
C h u c k , R i c h , M i c h a e l , K a r e n , Jane, Nancy, Lynne
American Booksellers
Seattle, W A
Len Marklund
Homer Smith Insurance
Bellevue, W A CWB Board of
Port Townsend, W A Trustees South Lake Union
Aberdeen, W A
Planning Organization
M i c r o h e l p , Inc. Hale's Ales
R o s s A n d e r s o n & M a r y Rothschild
Seattle, W A
Seattle, W A
Seattle, W A
Seattle, W A
The Don M c C u n e Library H a r b o r s i d e restaurant
A r m c h a i r Sailor Seattle, W A
Woodinville, W A
Seattle, W A
BluWater Bistro
& Shipwright School
Seattle, W A
Seattle, W A
P e i r c e and A n n B r a w n e r
Rich Haynie
Mill Creek, W A
I n s u r a n c e Services G r o u p .
Shoreline, W A CWB Board of
Trustees
Seattle, W A Bullnose Boatworks Seattle, W A
A l v e n and Sallie H j o r t e n Snohomish, W A
Debra Cibene Seattle, W A Trustees
Griffin and Chip Hoins Issaquah, W A
C o c h r a n Entertainment Inc.
Hvalsoe Boats
Halifax, N o v a Scotia
Seattle, W A
Caren Crandell
Intersound Investments Seattle, W A
Seattle, W A CWB Board
of
Trustees
Teal R e s e a r c h Inc. Seattle, W A
N a u t i l u s Gallery
The Boatwright
Seattle, W A
Seattle, W A
Harvey and C.R. N o b e Newcastle, W A
T h e I d e a Distillery Seattle, W A
Northwest Outdoor Center Seattle, W A
T h e Terjeson Group and Iffrit Seattle, W A
Northwest Seaport
U n i t e d States N a v y
Seattle, W A
Seattle, W A
Northwest Yacht Brokers Assn. Seattle, W A
Bill V a n V l a c k and Stephanie Kavanaugh
Richard Kolin Crosscut Hardwoods Seattle, W A
Marysville, W A CWB Board of Trustees
Olson Lumber Seattle, W A
Peter DeLaunay
Kristjanson Boat Works
Keegan and Ashlin Perkins
DeLaunay Communications
Seattle, W A
Seattle, W A
Seattle, W A ' CWB Board of
Trustees
Edensaw Woods
Candace Jordan
Port T o w n s e n d Sails
Seattle, W A CWB Board of
Port Townsend, W A Ron and Lynn Render
Samuel Johnson David Erskine
Portland, O R
and Karen Braitmayer Seattle, W A
CWB Board
CWB Board
Lake Union Burger King
of
Trustees
of
Trustees
Seattle, W A CWB Board
of
Trustees
S h a n n o n J. W a l l
Mariner's General Insurance
Sequim, W A
Seattle, W A Rebecca Wittman
M a r c Lentini Seattle, W A
Fratelli's Ice Cream Seattle, W A
Seattle, W A
Seattle, W A W o o d e n Boat Festival S c h a t t a u e r Sails
Anacortes, W A
and M i k e W a g n e r
Scott R o h r e r
Seattle, W A
Flounder Bay Boat Lumber
Virginia V Foundation Seattle, W A
San Diego, C A
Judie R o m e o Lake Union Mail
Trustees
Viking Community Bank Seattle, W A
Seattle, W A
Seattle, W A Steve and Patsy Excell
Seattle, W A CWB Board of
Dick, Colleen, David
Trustees
Port Townsend, W A
S o u n d Sails Port Townsend, W A
Kirkland, W A
Jim and Sue Muri
of
Trustees
Dave Mullens Havorn Marine Survey
CWB Board
Ron Snyder . Seattle, W A CWB Board of
Port Townsend, W A
Seattle, W A Schooner Martha Foundation
The W o o d e n Boat Shop and T h e Restoration Shop
Mahina Yachts
Robert d ' A r c y & JoAnn O ' C o n n o r
Seattle, W A
B a i n b r i d g e Island & Port Townsend, W A
Seattle, W A Dierk Yochim and
Doc Freeman's
Shannon, Chris and Butchie
Seattle, W A
Seattle, W A
Nancy Deal Seattle, W A
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Navron Tales by Steve Osborn We never cease to be fascinated by how many paths intersect at CWB, paths of people and paths of boats. When the lovely little Navron was donated to CWB last year, who could have known how it was wound up in the lives of two longtime members ? Here are their stories: M a n y years ago, I bought a 14½ Rana Boat from Dick Wagner and took her back to my home in Sausalito. She sat in the backyard while I tried to figure out what rig I wanted for her. After a long time, I found a Kent Coast Fore and Mizzen Punt in Edgar March's Inshore Craft of
Britain in the Days of Sail and Oar. The rig is what we would call a cat yawl with a dipping lug main and standing lug mizzen. The dipping lug was about the only rig I had not sailed, so it seemed a natural. Modern pundits such as John Leather all dismissed the dipping lug rig as too complicated and requiring a large crew; however I noted that the Deal Luggers were rigged as gaff cutters during the summer season, when the weather was nice and the tourist ride trade was booming, but when it came to their real work, supplying ships in the downs and rescuing vessels caught in the sands, they converted back to the dipping lug. In the frequent, gale force winds on San Francisco Bay I soon found the rig to be very safe and
handy as long as you didn't get caught aback, when the sail turned from a powerful lifting sail to an almost unmanageable pressing sail - but I digress. I had met Ray Speck, who was building beautiful lapstrake Whitehalls and Sid Skiffs in his shop at the old Arques Shipyard on the Sausalito waterfront. I often dropped by to give him a hand and pick up pointers or just yarn a spell. One day, I was coming off duty from my job at the firehouse and I glanced out
to see another dipping lugger under sail! I thought I was the only lugger sailor on the bay. I got home, grabbed my gear and headed for Gleaner to see if I could meet the other lugger. When I got under weigh, I could see the lug sail in the distance, but by the time I cleared the harbor entrance, it was out of sight. I spent the rest of the day sailing back and forth in the vicinity, hoping to lure him back out. No luck. I put back in and headed for home; on the way, I stopped by Ray's shop to tell him what I'd seen. "Oh, that was Jack Weingand. He's a fireman in San Francisco. I built him a Sid Skiff, which he rigged as a lugger. Her name is Navron. I'll introduce you when I
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get a chance." Eventually, I met Jack and we exchanged phone numbers and addresses, promising to get together sometime. He told me that on that day, he had launched to sail for a while in Richardson's Bay. When he disappeared, he had sailed back to the boat launch and gone home. Usually he sailed on the Petaluma River. A month or so later, I decided to take one of my four-day breaks and sail up to explore the Petaluma. My son was about 10 and said he'd like to sail with me, so we stowed our sleeping bags, some grub and gear and set out. At the mouth of the Petaluma, I thought I'd give Jack a call and perhaps we could sail together, but there was no answer as they were away on a trip. Neil and I had a good, but rather tiring trip which ended in tearing back under near gale conditions, but that's another story. Eventually, Jack and I got together and began sailing every chance we got. We were both devotees of Childer' Riddle of the Sands and enjoyed exploring practically every nook and cranny in San Francisco and San Pablo Bay and most of the rivers and streams that fed it. We had read of the upcoming Royal Visit in 1983 and I said to Jack, "Since we are probably the only lugger sailors this side of England, why don't we invite HRH Prince Philip for a sail? He's a lifelong sailor and maybe he'd like to take a break." The British Consul wrote back saying their schedule was much too full. After the visit, the Prince wrote me from the Britannia apologizing for not being able to come, stating that he . . had learnt .to sail; on a dipping lug cutter . . . " Around that time, a drunk rammed Gleaner and stove in her port side. I hauled her and put her in my shop to rebuild her. Jack and I began sailing Navron together, continuing our explorations. We became very close shipmates and spent a lot of time working in our shops or poring over books in our two marine libraries. Jack wanted to have a boat built that would be a reasonably comfortable cruiser, but be able to sail in thin water. He knew who the builder was going to be: Ray Speck, who by that time had moved to Port Townsend. Day after day, we would sail Navron, deep i n discussion of the ideal boat. Finally, we settled upon G e o r g e H o l m e s ' H u m b e r Yawl, Eel, though she would have to be a couple of feet longer to have adequate room below. Eventually, Jack and his wife, Jean, went to Port Townsend on vacation and he called me. "Steve, Ray Speck has agreed to build me a 23-foot Eel!" Ray did and we rigged and sailed La Mouette, who lived up to her promise - but that, too, is another story. The last time Jack sailed Navron was on the Petaluma River. I believe it was while we were working on Mouette. I had learned the hard way with Gleaner to secure the halyard with a slippery hitch. Jack got caught aback in a strong gust and before he could cast off the halyard and yank the sail down, she capsized and stuck her masthead in the mud. Jack was not a swimmer and he and his Bouvier clung to Navron's bottom for quite some time before being picked up by a passing boater. Jack hauled Navron to his shop for repairs;
Navron out for a sail. - photo courtesy of Ray Speck like Gleaner, Navron languished while we worked on the new boat. After Jack's death, Navron was sold and came to the Puget Sound area, where she is now part of the fleet at The Center for Wooden Boats. One of my favorite memories of sailing Navron is a trip we took together. We usually launched her at Black Point on the Petaluma River. This particular day, we had decided to sail to Buck's Landing, near the San Rafael Civic Center. This run was from the Petaluma River mouth across San Pablo Bay toward China Camp, then up the slough to Buck's Landing. The day wasn't too bad, broken clouds and a nice breeze. As we cleared the river mouth, we looked over toward Vallejo. It was like looking into a black hole. Just unrelieved, non-reflecting black. We commented on it, glad we were not departing from the Napa River, and carried on. Looking about, it looked like every cloud was heading for Vallejo and Napa. About five miles into the trip (half way to China Camp) we noticed this black cloud coming over Mt. Tamalpais, headed for Napa, spitting lightning and rumbling as it came. We were directly between it and Napa. We spent about five minutes discussing what the other wanted to do, i.e., should we carry on or turn back. Sanity prevailed and we came about for the Petaluma River. Five minutes later, it reached us. The sea behind us turned white and suddenly we were surfing on our own quarter wave! A blast of rain hit us, quickly turning to sleet that piled up on the sail and ran down onto the mast thwart. Lightning flashed and thunder rolled around us. Suddenly, the wind began to drop and after a few minutes the sun came out as the cloud rolled off to join its fellows in Napa. By this time, we were almost back to
the river. There was a strong ebb and the wind went calm, so we rowed up river, next to the bank. I was rowing, looking over Jack's shoulder when, out of the black, over the brow of a hill came a big black twister! Awestruck, I watched for a moment as it headed for the Yacht Harbor then yelled to Jack, "I don't believe it, a damned tornado!" We watched it approach and I grabbed for my camera. "Jack, if that thing keeps coming, we squeeze under a thwart. When everything stops moving we'll see if we're in Kansas!" Suddenly, it began to dissipate, leaving dust and leaves trailing on the wind. We rowed up to the launch ramp where an old timer was sitting on a pile butt, gazing toward the east. "Did you see anything unusual," I asked? "Yup, a twister. It wern't no dust devil either, it was a twister." Driving back to Jack's place with the boat in tow, I said, "Where else but in San Francisco Bay could you go out for a day sail and wind up rounding the Horn?" "I'll drink to that," said Jack, and so we did.. After we had Mouette sailing, we were coming back from a trip into the Delta and really took a dusting off the Carquinez Straits. We were banging along out the ship channel, skirting the mud shoals until we could get a slant into the Petaluma River. Jack looked out at San Pablo Bay and said, "My God, we used to sail Navron out here in this stuff! We must be nuts!" We probably were, but we sure had a lot of fun in her. Steve Osborn is a retired Sausalito fire captain, boatbuilder, rigger, macrame artist, sailor and connoisseur of good wooden boats.
Building the Navron February 15, 1999 Dear Dick, It's been four years since you sent put your call for line drawings of undocumented small craft. I ' v e finally drawn up a set for the Sid Skiff. The lines come off of a small boat that was built in the Puget Sound region. A brief history is included with the lines drawing and sail plan. Rumor has it that CWB has the 14' Sid Skiff Navron. I built her for Jack Weingand back in 1979. He was a friend of Steve Osborn, w h o m I believe you know. Jack rigged her with a balanced lugsail and she is exceptionally fast. A couple of Sid Skiffs get built at the Northwest School of Wooden Boat Building each year; currently we are building a 14' and a 13', both with sprit rigs. If anyone is interested, plans are available for $100, including shipping and handling. (Washington residents should add 7.9% sales tax.) They include five pages, approximately 30" x 36", and are very detailed. [Ray's address is 228 37th St., Port Townsend, WA 98368.] Your request for lines of undocumented small craft was one of the things that spurred me on with these drawings. Though it was a long time in coming and a lot of work, I enjoyed the experience. Thank you for the prod. Sincerely, Ray Speck In the summer of 1969, we moved the houseboat Janice and I built in Novato [California] to Sausalito on Richardsons Bay. This is an inlet in San Francisco Bay that extends to the north just inside the Golden Gate. This bay is relatively protected on three sides, the unprotected side being to the south. In this direction you can see the city of San Francisco seven miles away. At the north end of Sausalito is an area named Waldo Point, where the houseboat community has been flourishing for 50 years. The early '70s was its heyday, before the million-dollar houseboats took over. Living anchored out meant no rent to pay. However, getting drinking water, groceries, firewood and visitors to your home floating several hundred yards offshore was a challenge. One needed a good skiff for each person living out there. At the time we arrived, there were
eight or ten houseboats and boats anchored out. Their occupants commuted to shore in a hodgepodge of small boats: flatiron skiffs, prams, modified dories, canoes, an outrigger canoe, big, heavy flat-bottomed rowboats, an upside-down 1954 Chevy pickup truck hood fit out with oarlocks the list goes on. Most of them were built of plywood; people used whatever they could get their hands on cheaply. Boats that were available had been built in the past 10 years or so. It was rare to see any classics from the days of sail and oar. There were a few salted away in barns and sheds, but those cost more and usually needed some repairs. Scott Diamond had a good nose for sniffing out these gems; he knew the whereabouts of any of them within a radius of 50 miles. S p r i n g and fall b r o u g h t the b e s t weather in Sausalito. It was very pleasant on a sunny calm morning to sit drinking coffee, looking out across the glassy water while the houseboat swung gently around its mooring. On such occasions, you might see Sid Foster hunched over, leisurely rowing his beautiful lapstrake boat Jayne up the bay. She was 12'5" long, beamy and low-slung, with a proud sheer rising to a near vertical stem leading to a fine entry that sliced cleanly through a chop. A class act, she was lusted after by those who knew her capabilities.
Skiffs ranging from 12' to 18' in length. Although Jayne had a hole in her forward thwart for a mast, no one ever saw her rig. Nor did she have a centerboard. I put a centerboard in the second one and Lauren drew up a sprit rig. Besides being an excellent rowboat, she sails very well. Most of the succeeding models have the centerboard and rig. A f e w years later Scott and I were visiting a couple of old-timers, Bill Walden and Herman Zoeler, at the Dolphin Club, a swimming and rowing club in San Francisco. We were shown a beautiful varnished 17' Whitehall with the name "Sid Foster" carved in the stern sheets seat back. Sid Foster had been a well-loved, long-time member of the club. As we were describing the Jayne, Herman, the boat captain, recalled that the club used to have a similar boat. It was used to accompany swimmers on longer swims such as the ones over to Alcatraz or across the Golden Gate. H e thought that maybe she came from somewhere up around Puget Sound.
Sid knew h o w to get things done. R u m o r has it that w h e n h e d i e d , t h e $80,000 kept in a sock under his mattress was left to Johnny the Duck Hunter, his neighbor on the ark next to Sid's, the Midway, in front of Pelican Harbor in downtown Sausalito. (These arks are still there, now on pilings, fine examples of house boating in the '20s.) For several years we have been building Sid Skiffs at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Townsend. About a year ago, I happened to look at a framed photo taken in the '50s of the 45' Schooner, Allure, built by our founder, Bob Prothero. The photo is on the wall at the back of the classroom. I had seen it many times but this time my eyes saw that tied to the dock in front of the schooner was a sister to Jayne. Oh boy! My hair practically stood on end. Here we are, building these beautiful small boats up around Puget Sound again. The spirit of the small boat J a y n e has come full circle. - R a y Speck
Sid w a s in his 80s and was well known to boat folk in the area. After Sid's death it was only logical that Scott would be the lucky one to bring Jayne home. Lauren Williams, a local boat designer, builder and sailor, had had his eye on her for a long time. That Scott now had her was a big disappointment. Lauren wanted her but there was just no way Scott would give her up. I was just finishing up building my fourth Boston Whitehall when Lauren happened into my shop to bemoan his loss. I knew that either one of them would do the right thing by Jayne. The clear solution was to build Lauren a replica. Lauren was interested so we struck a deal. While refurbishing Jayne, Scott found some rot so I offered to replace her sheer strakes if he would let m e hold on to her while building a replica for Lauren. And so it went. W h e n I asked Lauren what name he wanted carved in her transom, his immediate reply was: "Sid." Using three molds and patterns developed for the Sid, I have built about 20 Sid
Ray Speck building a Sid Skiff. - photo by Steve Osborn SHAVINGS
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Neighborhoods by Dick Wagner, Founding Director This is a cautionary tale for cultural organizations. It is about why all should be actively involved with their neighborhoods. Neighborhoods are never static entities. Within a neighborhood, whether it is thriving or declining, live concerns about a hundred issues, including zoning, public safety, transportation and recreation. How your neighborhood changes is critical to all museums. At the least you need to make sure there will be public access and that you will have room to grow. At best, the museum vigorously participates with community planning and becomes a part of the community fabric. Through this inv o l v e m e n t , the c o m m u n i t y b e c o m e s bonded to the museum and supports it through membership, volunteering, contributions of materials and money and the all-important word-of-mouth support that brings visitors and the acknowledgement of your value from your government. Becoming a member of the neighborhood family is a goal all cultural organizations should strive for. Museums can be the icon that their neighbors treat with pride and respect. The Center for Wooden Boats' neighborhood is South Lake Union. When we arrived here in the spring of 1983, our site was not a pretty sight. In fact, that is one of the reasons C W B chose to locate at
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South Lake Union. The shoreline was so gritty, decrepit and abused we felt there soon would be a renaissance and CWB wanted to be a leader in opening up South Lake Union for public benefit and use. Our site was an abandoned asphalt plant. To the east was a moorage and repair facility. It was an elephant's graveyard for the most derelict commercial vessels imaginable. Puddles of old crankcase oil and hydraulic fluid were scattered amongst the scabby shacks for the caulkers, riggers and mechanics. Every spring a boat owner with more hope than reason would attempt to resurrect his vessel and soon fire trucks would roar up to extinguish the fire started by welders' sparks. Alongside the moorage was a cement plant with dusty, roaring trucks loading up, going to a construction site and then returning to wash the slurry from the trucks into the lake. CWB settled in, building one facility at a time, replacing lumps of asphalt with grass and trees and inviting our neighbors to come and enjoy a peaceful oasis they never dreamed would occur at South Lake Union. As we hoped, the neighbors came and liked what they saw. In 1989, we Seattle Design Committee honored CWB with the Neighborhood Designs That Work Award, presented by the Mayor. About that time the public spotlight
was turned on South Lake Union. Soon after CWB arrived, the neighboring industrial areas began to be transformed into shopping malls, restaurants and yacht moorages along the shoreline, while retaining the small businesses, manufacturing and warehouse areas across from the upscale development. It was noted by the people who flooded to the new development that South Lake Union was the major gateway to Seattle but didn't have the gateway image. South Lake Union once was an attractive blue-collar neighborhood. You can tell that from the few single-family homes still surviving, the Cascade Park and the old churches. But that was 100 years ago. Motor vehicles and railroads jump-started a neighborhood metamorphosis that continues. Today, South Lake Union is the corporate headquarters for the Seattle Times and Recreational Equipment Inc. Shurgard Storage has just settled into its corporate offices, a former Ford Motor Co. assembly plant built on the lake's south shore in 1913. Ironically, the plant building, which Shurgard sensitively restored, was one of the first industrial newcomers to South Lake Union. Now South Lake Union has three newly-built hotels, two cutting-edge biotech research centers and another underway, a plethora of restaurants and about 100,000 vehicles passing through or circulating around each day. Manufacturing and distribution operations abound. It is a small business incubator. There is vitality and vibrancy but, until recently, there was a lack of focus, a neighborhood without an icon. Ten years ago, the City began to look for the icon. The Naval Reserve Center, just west of CWB, was going to be closed some time in the near future. The City wanted to make the site a park, a South Lake Union signature. Developing the plan for the park was a public process. CWB was prepared to fight for our place but the City let us know early on that we already were assumed to be an integral part of the park. Armed with this knowledge of our status with our government, we decided to leverage yet more space for maritime heritage as part of the new park. We partnered with Northwest Seaport in marketing the message of a more inclusive maritime heritage presence in the park. The City tended to feel CWB was enough but, with letters and petitions from our community, it was decided to offer two park design choices to the public. One was the Union Green concept showing open space and CWB and the other was the Maritime Heritage Center concept, with CWB, Northwest Seaport, the Armory used partially as a maritime museum, and open space. We asked friends and neighbors to write letters of support for the M H C and to attend the final public hearing. Based on the overwhelming public support, the Maritime Heritage Center design was accepted by the City in 1991. CWB heaved a sign of relief that our environment would be enhanced with compatible maritime heritage operations. A few years passed. The Naval Reserve had not yet packed their duffels and moved out. The City had not done any major park development. C W B kept doing our hands-on program, reaching out to
involve a wider scope of our community each year. In 1991 we began a sail outing program for people with AIDS. We added a sailing instruction program for physically disabled people in 1992. In 1993 we began "All Aboard," maritime heritage skills instruction for homeless and at-risk teenagers. Then a bombshell burst over South Lake Union. Seattle Times columnist John Hinterberger speculated, tongue-in-cheek, that the City plan was limited in vision and wondered if it was time for a really Big Picture concept of the South lake Union neighborhood. A cascade of concepts from creative to crackpot - was sent to Hinterberger and published. A new and far-out South lake Union b e c a m e the town's cause celebre. Early on, a name for the community re-design was chosen: The Commons. Immediately, a pro-Commons organization was formed - and an anti-Commons group immediately followed. Everyone in town was expected to join one side or the other. The pressure was on the newspapers, City Council and Mayor to take positions. " P r o " forces wanted to essentially demolish the central core of South Lake Union and create a green space (The Commons). Retail shops and condominiums would spring up around The Commons. The pesky traffic would be shunted around or buried. The anti-Commons forces said Whoa Nelly! South Lake Union was already alive and well. Displacing existing business operation and raising land values for the remainder would decimate a vital, close-to-the-city-center business area. Both sides wooed CWB. "Join us," the pro-Commons said. "There will be a new residential area just a few blocks away from CWB." "Join us," the anti-Commons said. Your vision of Lake Union as an annex of the Maritime Heritage Center is ours." It was like trying to choose the better of two brands of chocolate chip cookies. How could we go wrong? C W B had a front row seat in both scenarios. The argument continued for months and remained front-page news. Pro-Commons distributed an image of a textbook neighborhood beautiful. Anti-Commons countered with the legal, moral and ethical issues of destroying a functional and vital commercial area. They noted we were being asked to choose between city planning as an organic growth or as an imperial decree. Everyone was getting theatrical about the project. The politically savvy City asked the public to chose which plan by putting a bond issue for the public share of The C o m m o n s on the ballot. It was voted down. Pro-Commons went back to the drawing board and came up with a modified scheme and some hot marketing. The next ballot said No again. C W B still had a great supportive community around us. Nothing of our vision was lost and, in fact, the South Lake Union community took an even stronger stance on supporting not only C W B as we are, but C W B as we could be. A year of Pax Lake Union followed. The Commons plan was added to a pile of unconsummated South Lake Union schemes going back 100 years. Our neigh-
bors' blood pressures and heart rates went back to normal. And the Seattle Departm e n t of N e i g h b o r h o o d s c a l l e d f o r a "Neighborhood Roundtable." About 30 South Lake Union property owners and business managers, including The Center for Wooden Boats, were invited. Round tables don't have sides but, at this meeting, there was an invisible line bisecting the circle with pro- and anti-you-knowwhats on each side. The dust had settled but the wounds obviously had not healed. Our facilitator had the brilliant idea of beginning the meeting by asking each of us what changes or improvements we felt were priorities f o r the n e i g h b o r h o o d . Amazingly, everyone said the same thing: Build the South Lake Union Park at the Naval Reserve Base. We left that meeting with no blood on the floor and a resolve to continue meeting with the aim of drafting a do-able South Lake Union Neighborhood Plan. The South Lake Union Planning Organization was formed, a grant from the City f o r professional consultants was awarded and the planning program began in 1993. There was a galaxy of public meetings and late last year the South Lake Union Neighborhood Plan was approved by the City Council and the Mayor. The Mayor was so delighted with our results he presented the Plan to the media as the sole topic of one of his weekly news conferences. And he held the news conference at CWB. The Center for Wooden Boats effectively participated in creation of our neighborhood plan and we co-chaired the Parks and Open Space issues. Throughout this process and our leadership in Parks and Open Space, the community supported the vision of a comprehensive Maritime Heritage Center within the future South Lake
Union Park. The concept is more inclusive than the 1991 City Master Plan. Six organizations would be providing educational programs and displays, covering an immense range of maritime heritage. Besides CWB and our hands-on activities, the United Indians of All Tribes would have a Native American Maritime Heritage Center. Puget Sound maritime Historical Society would operate Seattle's only Maritime Heritage Museum. The Virginia V Foundation, Northwest Schooner Society and Northwest Seaport would preserve, maintain and have educational programs on a diverse fleet of historic vessels. Some as static exhibits and others as living history vessels, sailing Northwest waters. Wharves and moorings could be added for the public to see visiting tall ships and small craft of historic significance. Partnership has taken CWB from a lonely outpost on a barren and forlorn shoreline to the threshold of a major maritime heritage destination. It was partnership with our neighbors, with our government and with our maritime heritage colleagues. The next step into the Maritime Heritage Center will not be easy. Our partners and we have a lot of issues to iron out. That's the hard part, but there is hope for success because this is a sharing process. The neighbors, the city government and the heritage organizations all have invested in the dream. Complex problems are facing us, but they can be solved. It will take sharing the skills of all the partners to create a new Seattle park at South Lake Union, a place where the public can enjoy green space and a great view of the lake and also immerse themselves in an inclusive maritime heritage experience like no other place on the West Coast. The best is yet to come.
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The Joy of Building Headwater 14, My First Power Boat by Hisashi Nagahiro Two years ago, Hisashi Nagahiro sent us a story about how he built his first boat. It ran in the 1997 Festival issue of Shavings. Hisashi's unabashed pleasure in building his own boat quickly endeared him to our readers. The story revealed his knack for finding good, workable solutions for problems and also showed him to be a careful materials shopper and an excellent forager. Hisashi has lost none of those qualities, as his account of building his first powerboat shows. When I came to The Center for Wooden Boats in April, 1994, to learn how to build a lapstrake boat, I bought some plans of sail and power boats at The Wooden Boat Shop in Seattle. I had designed and built two sailboats by myself in the past. When I retired my job in 1996 at 60 years old, the chance came to me to build a boat. I chose the Headwater 14 from among those plans I bought. My loft in my house is very narrow - 7'1" wide, 23' long, 14'4" high. The Headwater 14 is the maximum size to be built there. The plans show to build it with plywood but marine grade plywood is expensive in Japan. And also I'm afraid that plywood deteriorates with water when a boat hits on a rock, especially when both sides are coated. I called on a lumber shop to find good solid planks for this boat. Luckily I could find planks of 7/16" x 3 3/8" x 13' of Hinoki or Japanese cypress at a cheap price. This plank has a tongue-in-grove joint like flooring planks. I read the instructions for the Headwater 14, designed by C. Tracy O'Brien. I made up my mind to build this boat with these solid planks by gluing them side-byside with epoxy glue. Important thing was how to glue those planks flat to form side planks and bottom plank. I found a good technique to solve this task: five wood scissors clamped the planks and they were tightened with rubber bands. Long scarfs were used only for sheer and chine planks; others were butt joints, which work and don't require long hours and technique. A 1/8" slit was left between each plank end and filled in with epoxy and wood flour. This is easy way for us amateur builders who don't have big clamping machines. This method doesn't lose hull strength and
this planking looks like carvel planking. To make the bottom floor non-slip, I mixed sand and polyester resin and spread it with a wool roller on the floor, which was already coated with epoxy. It was practical and accurate method. An anchor hold was added on the floor with side and floor ribs under the foredeck position. This hold, which is very convenient to store an anchor, was not shown on the plans. It is my idea. In order to decrease hull weight, screws fastening ribs and side planks were taken off after epoxy hardened and nail holes were filled with epoxy. Only eight screws, fastening seats and seat risers, remain. Joyful technique was making seat canvas. Wrapping band was used, which doesn't soak up water; also, cost was free as the material was taken from trash can. This is my contribution to our ecology. The bands were tied to the wooden frame of the seats like rattan chair. I bought a Yamaha 3hp engine, but the shaft is only 22½" which is a little shallow for this boat. When the boat rides on a little higher waves the engine sucks air from coolant intake holes. Yamaha and other makers in Japan don't have long shaft motors. Would anyone recommend to me long shaft engine 27-28" from transom to cavitation plate and less than 4hp. Two boxes of foam polystyrene, which were taped at the lids, give buoyancy. They were wrapped in a net and put in under the sport seat, tied to the seat frame, to keep the boat afloat in a capsize. This work doesn't require special technique and cost. I haven't run in high waves yet, only those about two feet high. Even in such low waves this boat punches the waves strongly, so this type of boat would be suitable for use in lake or gentle river. I also made a one-man loader that can easily load and unload a boat from car top. Buoyancy at the stern section is small, so bow rises up when only one man rides. In such a case, a skipper must be located at midships so I made a throttle extension grip for this purpose. One end of a length of pipe was slit eight times (to slide onto the throttle grip) and fastened with an adjustable hose clamp. Extension grip must be attached to and detached from the engine grip quickly with one hand. Actually
Hisashi Nagahiro takes a ride in the Headwater 14 he built last fall. 8
SHAVINGS
this one works as well as I wanted. Both ends of the extension pipe were stuffed with polystyrene foam and silicone sealant was applied so it would float. The far end of the pipe was covered with a chair leg cap to provide a grip. Japanese Ministry of Transport requires registration for all boats in Japan. Ten hours test running is required before actual inspection is made by the officer of MIT. Plans and drawings were submitted to the inspection office in August, 1998. Test running in early September was pleasant as I became familiar with the boat. Actual inspection was September 20. The inspector checked actual size of the boat (length overall, width, draft), the engine's serial number and type. He said, "This boat has passed the inspection. I will go back to the office and calculate how many persons are permitted to ride, etc. After that license plate and registration certificate will be mailed to you in a week." Four days later registration plates and certificate were delivered in the mail. The certificate allows four persons to ride, the engine must be less than 4hp and the limit of sailing area is within three miles off the shore. Now I ' m enjoying boating and fishing in Sagami Bay in Yokosuka. Some of my friends have already tried my Headwater 14, saying they are "surprised such a small boat with a small engine runs so fast." A fisherman chaffed me when I left the harbor: "You can't come back here in such winds and waves with only three horsepower." When I came back to the harbor, he shouted, "Oh! What a light boat, you could come back so easy."
been underway for two and a half years. Involved in the project are six modelers, a set designer and a scriptwriter. Discovery will be in port at the museum. Picture this: Visitors coming to see it will enter on a boardwalk over a pebble beach, lined with trees and rocks, to a lookout on Puget Sound and a view of Discovery, three native canoes and Lt. Peter Puget and his crew in the ship's longboat, ready to shove off and survey the Sound. It is M a y 17, 1792, good weather and eight bells in the morning. You can hear the waves lap the shore, seagulls shrieking, the ship creaking and the voices of the men. The excitement in the atmosphere will be added to by lighting and a background mural. The Discovery exhibit could be one of many informative maritime exhibits in a progressive time line that brings the past into the present. Other possibilities are stories and scenes of a Native American village on Puget Sound; Colman Dock and the Mosquito Fleet; the sawmills at Yesler Wharf and Port Blakely and the sailing ships that served them; ships and shipping in the Gold Rush; large cargo and passenger liners; workboats f r o m tugboats (such as the Foss fleet and how it
evolved) to ferries, fishing boats to fireboats; famous yachts and moderate size cruising boats; ship and boat yards and designers; shipwrecks and rescues. What was it like to be aboard these ships and boats? W h o worked on them? Who made it all happen? These questions and more will be answered. We have a maritime heritage we all can be proud of. The museum will provide a better understanding of our connections to the past. Working together we can create a multidimensional museum to provide a fresh, wide view of the meaning of maritime heritage. The museum itself will be an integral part of its community with spaces for heritage conferences and meetings that can also be used for community activities after hours. Anyone who would like to sign on as part of the crew and help make this challenging v o y a g e a success is w e l c o m e aboard. It will take many hands. There are several ways to help: join the P S M H S membership, give a donation or be a volunteer. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity so don't miss the boat! For more information or to make donations, stop by our present museum at Chandler's Cove, 901 Fairview Ave. N.,
Seattle, WA 98109, or give us a call (206) 624-3028. Colleen Wagner has provided vision, leadership a n d programs in maritime heritage f o r 3 0 years. She is the co-founder of The Old Boathouse a n d The Center f o r Wooden Boats. She was m a n a g e r of the Museum of Sea a n d Ships a n d events a n d education managerf o r Northwest Seaport. Colleen has designed exhibits f o r the Columbia River Maritime Museum a n d CWB. She served as a Board Member of Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society a n d raised f u n d s f o r museum planning through a n n u a l model exhibits, book sales a n d monthly raffles. In May Colleen received the Willard Jue Memorial Awardf r o m the Association of King County Historical Organizations f o r "outstanding contribution by a volunt e e r " a n d a PSMHS lifetime membership honoring her service. In 1995, Colleen a n d Dick Wagner were honored with the W. P. Stevens Award from Mystic Seaport Museum f o r those "who have made a significant, lasting contribution to American boating."
Vision for a Voyage (continued from page 2) an engine room telegraph. Ratlines to climb up to a crows nest lookout. A submarine periscope. A place for maritime crafts and games. A "Kids for Ships" club. The possibilities are nearly endless. A research library, underway for many years, will be available with thousands of books, reference volumes, boat plans, ships' logs, charts and other maritime papers. Resources will include P S M H S ' vast collection of historic maritime photos - more than 70,000 images going back to the turn of the century - which is already indexed and on computer to facilitate ordering copies. A ship model workshop and classroom will be a big attraction to anyone w h o wants to watch how they are made and repaired or who wants to t a k e a c l a s s and m a k e their o w n . Classes in maritime crafts and traditional skills also will be available. An auditorium will accommodate lectures, d e m o n s t r a t i o n s , f i l m and video showings, dramatic presentations and programs with oral histories and sea chanty music. History will come alive as a full-time actor, wearing different maritime hats, strolls among the exhibits, making theme reference points in conversations with visitors. Already an actor portraying Lt. P e t e r P u g e t of C a p t . G e o r g e Vancouver's 1792 ship of exploration, Discovery, accompanies the 14' Discovery model at public exhibits. (You can see the model and meet Peter Puget afternoons inside the Naval Reserve building at the Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival July 3-5.) The Discovery model program has
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9
In conversational hockey, Wembly scores a hat trick
A Quiet Afternoon In The Library by Chas. Dowd Professor Wembly had some serious planning to do and, until just now, the CWB Library seemed a quiet place to do it. The only people in the Library were a few of the Regulars awaiting the arrival of a visiting tugboat, each absorbed in a favorite publication. Earlier in the week, our seagoing savant had discovered a small soft spot in the stem of his beloved Bellerophon
10 SHAVINGS
and h a d s u m m o n e d his f a v o r i t e boatwright, Umberto Macchione, hence. Many small boat owners make a fetish out of doing their own work. Wembly, a man with the woodworking skills of a shad, made a compensatory fetish out of n e v e r p a y i n g c a s h f o r any r e p a i r s . Macchione was an excellent craftsman who had long ago discovered that Uncle
Sam taxes money income much more efficiently than barter. Both regarded their business relationship as a marriage made in heaven. Satisfactory as their dealings had been, Wembly knew that nobody in his right mind would bargain with Macchione unprepared. He had hoped for an unregarded corner where he could marshal his offers and plan his strategy, but suddenly, t h e r e was Wickersham. Wickersham was a newcomer, a new boat owner who had wandered in looking for a pay phone and was on the way to becoming a fixture. He drifted around, usually with an armful of shiny new boating magazines, looking for conversation. Wembly had been sitting in a bay window, thinking that he would begin by offering Macchione two weeks of sailing in the Canadians. "Fascinating article here about possible scientific explanations for phenomena reported by sailors down through the ages," Wickersham said, holding the magazine. Wembly could see the headline: "Mermaids and Manatees." "It says here that there actually was a dolphin who took ships around Cape Horn and that whales . . . "Yes, whales," interrupted the Professor. "There was a ferocious whale named Porphory that was supposed to attack ships in the Dardanelles during the reign of Justinian. We've got some whale stories here too. The Tlingit tell tales of a whale who lives in Whale Pass, a marine analogue of the land's jokester, Raven. And as a being that inhabits Both Worlds, the Indians believe that the whale still plays its pranks on sailormen today. I suppose you've heard about Arpington and me and the j o k e s t e r w h a l e of W h a l e P a s s ? " Wembly leaned back in the window and gazed for a moment at a catboat just setting out. "Arpington and I had already waited the last half of a long summer day for a negotiable tide at Whale Pass. When we finally got through, dark was setting in. The Pass represented a major obstacle surmounted, so we decided to anchor in the bay just beyond, fix dinner, and settle in to sleep. "Bellerophon seemed extraordinarily lively that night and kept snubbing up against her anchor. We didn't think anything of it until the next morning. When we came topside the next morning we discovered the reason. To our surprise, we were back at the Pass entrance, 10 miles south of our anchorage, with the entire passage to do over! Well, of course we thought immediately of the Tlingit legend." "Do you really think you were towed 10 miles by your anchor chain on the whim of a whale?" said Wickersham, trying to meet the Professor's guileless gaze. Behind their books, the Regulars were listening intently. "Of course that wasn't what happened at all, it turned out," said Wembly. "Pack of nonsense, being towed by a whale. When Arpington went forward to set the jib, he found two tins of Black Sea caviar and a quart of vodka. It was obvious that our retrograde tow was the result of be-
coming entangled with the periscope of a Russian submarine." A Regular made a strangled sound and Wembly returned his gaze to the waterway. He remembered that the Romance Language instructor had promised him two dozen bottles of his excellent homemade wine. Macchione had a weakness for irregular vintages. But the whole two dozen . . . Relentlessly, there was Wickersham again, with a new conversational gambit. "When you restore this much, you might as well just call it rebuilding." Wembly squinted at Wickersham, presenting yet another article. "There's nothing left of the original boat except a length of keel. I think that to call it a restoration . . ." "I couldn't agree more," interjected Wembly, firmly. "Melton knew a fellow named Griswold who wanted the oldest boat in the fleet. Griswold kept buying older and older hulls, spending money like it was water restoring them. "In his last restoration project he rebuilt a small 1892 cutter so extensively that the only remaining pieces of original wood were the trailboards. He won "Oldest Boat" and "Best Restoration." at the Newport show that year. "But when he came to sell it, prospects looking for a 'sound older boat' were reluctant to consider a boat a century old, no matter what the state of its preservation. The prospects who were looking for a boat that old wanted to restore it themselves. His broker advised him to remove the trailboards and he sold it almost immediately as 'all new traditional construction.' The experience led Griswold to a new truth. "He decided that the age of the boat was the age of the wood. Pursuing this new quirk in his continuing passion for antiquity, he found some California redwood planking stock that dated back to Hammurabi's Code. English oak, old when Richard the Lion-Heart returned from Austria, was p u r c h a s e d for f r a m e s . D e c k planking was Old Municipal Building wood, carefully reclaimed from an antebellum courthouse. The crowning specimen was a chunk of bristlecone pine, the oldest living thing on the planet, that Griswold was going to fashion into his stempiece." "Did people buy into his idea?" asked Wickersham hesitantly. "We gave him A for original thinking, B plus for effort, but D minus for execution," Wembly said with decision. "He used all that stock to build a ski boat." This time Charles made the strangled sound as he subsided under his magazine. Opera, thought Wembly happily. It might be possible to sacrifice his season tickets. This looked like a Vogner year anyway, and he heard enough Vogner for two or three lifetimes already. Sailing time, wine, opera tickets - this was beginning to shape well, if he could just establish the best way to present it "This article just bears out something I ' v e always thought about the limited utility of the Light List in coastwise pilotage," Wickersham was saying, pointing at one of the "Stargazer" navigational columns in
another of his magazines. "Wellington is my expert on Light Lists," Wembly said, as Wickersham paused for breath. "He once told me a droll story about sailing with a young woman who was an avid skier. They were making an all-night passage, tacking up a long strait marked by lollipop stands. Each was topped by a flashing white light. It was in the dark of the moon, the stars were hidden by high cloud and intermittent fog banks gave only last-minute glimpses of the shoreline. On starboard tacks, the flashers on the west side of the passage would materialize, one after the other, and Wellington checked them off his List. "About two in the morning, the tide slacked and the wind died. Wellington's companion roused herself from her slumbers below and brought up hot cocoa. She sat on the other side of the cockpit and by the time they'd finished their drinks, the wind had come up again. Wellington began tacking again. Cecilia took over the Light List and began to keep the tally. This time they were pressing the east side of the channel, because the lights started to show up on port tacks. "At dawn, the fog lifted and they discovered that the wind and the tide had shifted at the same time. Their forward progress over the water was only sufficient to stem the tide, so they had been tacking toward and away from the same lollipop stand all night." Unsure of which part of this account to believe, Wickersham tentatively asked about the compass. This detail had also been noted by the furtively eavesdropping regulars. "I mean, in such a narrow passage, didn't he consult it regularly?" "I think I mentioned Cecilia was a skier," said Wembly, calmly. "She had just recovered from extensive repairs to a spiral fracture of the thigh. It had been mended with a steel shank and sitting on the portside cockpit seat, she reversed the compass. She also sets off the security alarms at airports. Quite unsettling." Roger, a Regular who was a compass adjuster in real life, nearly swallowed his snoose and had to leave the room to recover his composure. Wembly decided that he'd propose too much work for too little pay. When Macchione protested, he would knock off a few repairs that he didn't want to get into anyway. Then he would counter the further inevitable arguments with a little higher compensation. After more wailing that he was taking bread from the mouths of Macchione's largely mythical family, he'd make a second reduction in the job list, pointing out that the work was only being deferred and creating the vision of a succession of orders to follow. He would cap it all with a final increase to what he was really ready to pay for what he actually wanted done. Then they would be able to begin negotiations. He was ready. The long-awaited tug chose this moment to arrive and as the Regulars began to move toward the stairs, the two conversationalists joined the flow. As they reached the stairhead, Wembly suddenly shouldered his way in front of a startled Wickersham, turning to announce, as he stepped to the stairhead, "It is in accord with the immemorial customs and usages of the sea that a Aspiring Pest must always give way to a Senior Liar."
New Life for Our Good Old Logo When we began The Center for Wooden Boats, we chose a sailing working boat as our symbol. It is the sailing gillnetter, a type of boat used for salmon fishing since 1869. By the 1890s it was the only type used for commercial salmon fishing on the West Coast. We have had a living exhibit of a Bristol Bay gillnetter at CWB since 1989, when we restored one that had fished under sail in Bristol Bay until 1967. Ours was judged by old-timers to have been built about 1900. Her 10 years of service at CWB - carrying schoolchildren and adults on tours around the lake, serving as the "prop" for hundreds of informative dock talks and even sailing in the famous Lake Union Duck Dodge - has taken its toll. So a new restoration is beginning. The six- to eightweek project will be carried out on the waterfront plaza at the Port of Seattle's Bell Street Pier, outside Odyssey, The Maritime Discovery Center. The restoration work will be done by Eric Hvalsoe of Hvalsoe Boats and Brad
Rice of The Boatwright, assisted by CWB Boatwright Chris Rockwell and several volunteers. The public is invited to stop by and watch the restoration progress. Work begins the last week in June and will take place Wednesdays through Sundays. Commercial fishing for salmon began on the West Coast in 1869, when the Hume brothers built the first West Coast cannery at the mouth of the Sacramento River, which flows into San Francisco Bay. The opening of that cannery coincided with the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. At that time, San Francisco was suddenly inundated by a large group of laborers who had emigrated from China to work on the railroad. When the Hume Cannery was built, any boat that wanted could fish for them. One of the boats that entered the salmon derby in 1868 was a double-ender, about 24' long, cat rigged with a huge spritsail and a centerboard. That boat was notable for its capacity, seaworthiness and sailing ability and soon copies were made. Within 10 years, this type became the only model
used. It gradually enlarged to 30' long. When commercial salmon fishing began in Bristol Bay about 1900, it was decided to maintain a sustained yield by only allowing sailing vessels in the fishery. This rule continued until 1952. The sailing Bristol Bay vessels were made in San Francisco, Astoria (Oregon), Seattle and Bellingham. Construction was Port Orford cedar planking over white oak, steam-bent frames. When the restoration is completed, our gillnetter will be launched from the Bell Street Pier and sailed home to CWB, where it will resume its duties as a part of our living maritime heritage. - Dick Wagner
We are delighted to have a return visit from Wembly and his creator, Chas. Dowd. Rower and raconteur, editor and expeditioner, his eloquence, humor and style have graced the pages of Shavings for some years. SHAVINGS 11
1+1 = Two Fine Little Boats for CWB by Dave Mullens By the time you read this, CWB will have not one but two Woods Hole Spritsails, one donated outright and one built in the Marine Carpentry class at the Wood Construction Center at Seattle Central Community College and then "donated." A very fortuitous arrangement allows CWB to add boats built at SCCC to our fleet by paying for the cost of materials. A very generous anonymous donor has done just that; you can see our new Woods Hole boat at the Festival "Dad, I would like to restore a boat for The Center for Wooden Boats for my Eagle Scout service project." "OK, let me call Bob at the Center and see what they have that you and the guys could work on." "We have a Woods Hole boat that the owner wants to donate to the Center. Why don't you pick it up at the owner's house and your son, Wes, and the Scouts of Troop 853 can restore it for CWB's use." Wes and I made arrangements to pick up the boat and its trailer, cleared out a place in the shop at home and embarked on a fine and excellent boating adventure. We arrived at the owner's house to find a wooden catboat that had been sitting uncovered under the trees for a number of years. Removed the tires from the trailer and headed to the gas station to see if they would hold air. Once the boat was parked at our shop, Wes just looked at me and shrugged his shoulders. "I was expecting a boat that needed a little fixing up and paint. This thing is hopeless." "Hey, a little sanding, a little paint, a few sister frames, a few new seats, reef a few seams, a little caulking, a few new fastenings and she will be good as new."
12 SHAVINGS
He didn't buy my arguments and the boat sat for several weeks with no work being done. Finally, I took a 36-grit softpad to the transom, wooded it down, finish sanded it and applied a coat of sealer. "Wow, that transom looks great. What needs to be done next?" He was hooked and, in just a few short months, Wes and three other scouts had put the Woods Hole boat into sailing condition. We launched the boat at the Sunnyside ramp at the north end of Lake Union and I went to park the truck and trailer. We had a Group 27 battery and a Rule 500gpm pump in the boat and Wes had a five-gallon bailing bucket When I walked back to the dock Wes was in the Woods Hole boat with water up to his knees, the pump was pumping a full stream and Wes was bailing like a madman. Being the wise boatbuilder I am, I deduced that the boat was sinking and it would be prudent to move it into the shallow end of the ramp. We sat there for several hours letting the boat soak up and taking abuse from all the Tupperware boat owners who were launching at the ramp. After several hours of abuse, I backed the trailer down under the boat and we bailed and pumped. Once we got the water level down to about the bottom of the centerboard, the leak became more than a little obvious. From the first seam up on the centerboard case, a steady stream of water sprayed into the boat. Dave Mullens (second from right, pointing) and the boatbuilding crew get ready to sea trial CWB's new Woods Hole boat built in the Marine Carpentry class at the Wood Construction Center at Seattle Central Community College.
Wes asked, "Do you know what it feels like to put that much work into a boat and then watch it sink?" "I do now." We hauled the boat back to the shop and I excused the Scouts from the job. After a reefing job and a batten installed over the offending seam, all was secure.
Wes and I launched it again a week later, set sail down the lake and I was hooked. I was so impressed with the stability and comfort of sailing this little boat that I sent off to Mystic Seaport for the plans for a Woods Hole boat as an instructional project for my students in the Marine Carpentry class at the Wood Construc-
tion Center (Gompers) of Seattle Central Community CoIIege. The plans from Mystic were lifted from an original Woods Hole Spritsail boat named the Spy. Woods Hole boats were working boats used by the local fishermen in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. They had to sail out of an inner harbor and under a low bridge, so they developed a swing-away mast gate to make it easy to dip their masts as they sailed under the bridge. The boat is long, has a fullbodied 6' beam and carries about 128 square feet of sail and about 220 pounds of internal ballast. The sail is loose-footed. The plans called for 7/16 " batten seam (battens running full-length over the seams inside the boat) planking on 他" oak frames, with the bent frames notched to accept the battens. We altered this to 他" western red cedar on oak frames with conventional carvel planking and caulked seams. Keel and stem are Alaska cedar, with Honduras mahogany transom, seats and thwarts, white oak guards, Sitka spruce spars, Everdur (silicon bronze) fastenings, all topped off with a beautiful Egyptian cotton dacron sail made by Carol Hasse at Port Townsend Sails. We build boats as instructional projects and we strive to spread the learning experience throughout the class. As an example, once a student successfully spiles and installs one or two strakes of planking, he or she goes on to the next job and a new student takes over the planking. Inefficient as far as production goes, but it assures that our learning curve is always on the upswing. So this one small boat has been touched by many hands. Students near the end of a building project take on the responsibility of final completion. It's the multitude of nickel and dime little projects that seem never ending that so effectively prepares students for what is in store for them in commercial boatshops. Each boat building project seems to present a challenge to the builder. I recall students coined a new boatbuilding term when we were building the little tug Cap'n. Pete for CWB: Frankenchine. The chines forward nearly convinced students to take up basket weaving instead of boatbuilding. The Woods Hole boat consumed the best part of one cedar tree to finally get the shutter plank installed. Anything that could go wrong did go wrong for the students installing the final plank, but they stuck with it and got it in. I refrain from using the term "Whiskey plank" for fear the crew will imbibe before rather than after the plank is installed. It pays to have friends who are boat junkies. While showing a group of students from a CWB computer boat design class through the shop in a Sunday morning, I mentioned that we were preparing to have a mast gate cast for the boat. Marty Loken (owner of The Wooden Boat Shop and The Restoration Shop) was with the group and asked if we could use the mast gate he just happened to have laying around his garage. The gate was from a lifeboat but serves quite nicely for the Woods Hole. Then at a CWB Collections Committee meeting, I mentioned we were looking for a small snubbing winch. Paul Marlow asked me how big and how many we needed. He even delivered it to the school. We readied the boat for delivery to CWB in late May, taking care of all the final details such as the mainsheet horse, a snubbing winch mount, deck hardware, rigging and fitting the spars, chafing gear, mast hoops, sea trials and getting a fitted cover for the cockpit. I hope everyone gets a chance to sail her; she's a sweet little Spy.
In addition to the Woods Hole boat and the Cap'n. Pete, the Marine Carpentry class currently has a 28' Sharpie, an Egret, planked and just about ready to roll upright for delivery to CWB in about a year. The class is also restoring the Husky II, a 30' inboard-powered launch, for the Uni-
versity for Washington crew. Also under construction is the new pilothouse for the 1922 steamer Virginia V, being built at the school's shop to be trucked to the boat upon completion. Dave
Mullens
has
taught
boatbuilding class at SCCC since Prior to that, he was a boatbuilder Franck's Boat Company and The Yard. Dave is a member of the CWB of Trustees and chairs the Collections mittee.
1976. at Vic Boat Board Com-
the
Bob's Musings
Why We Do What We Do One of the most common comments I get as I show visitors around CWB is something like, "Wow. You get to work here?" And I know what they mean. Usually they say things like that on days when the sun is out, the paint and varnish sparkle and our lovely little boats are dancing at the dock. I smile a little because they're usually not here on the days when Seattle's drizzly rain is soaking us through and a northerly breeze is sending rollers down the lake, making any of us who have to work at a computer in our floating Boathouse a little seasick. But, as they say, them's the tradeoffs. And I'm sure that these visitors are probably thinking "work" down here means the ability to jump in a boat and go sailing whenever we feel like it. Boy, howdy, would that that were true! - On the other hand, as I write this I can watch the clipper bow of a Friendship sloop gently rising and falling; one of our volunteers, is just rigging a lugsail on a darling little skiff and I feel sorry for those poor souls in the skyscrapers on the horizon. So, yeah, I get to work here. BUT, the biggest reason I work here is so that other folks get to come here. The whole reason the folks who work here, both paid staff and volunteers, do what we do is that we really believe in this absolutely crazy notion of serving the pub-
lie by turning them loose in small wooden boats. Crazy, because it'd be a heck of a lot less trouble if we just had these boats sitting high and dry where people could just look at them and read about them. And a heck of a lot less fun. I'm sure we'd still get folks down here and they'd still ooh and aah (they might even ooh and aah more because the boats would look like wellkept hothouse flowers) but we'd be missing the most important educational thing that happens here. We'd be missing the smile that comes only with knowing what it really feels like to row a real rowboat, not just a clunky aluminum tub. That comes with really feeling the tension in your forearm when the breeze freshens and the mainsheet tightens. That comes with pulling that steaming frame out of the steambox, quick-stepping it over to the mold and wrapping that sucker down before it cools. That kind of stuff only happens when you're willing to take a risk that a boat might get dinged, that an oar will need a new leather or a new blade, that you might be reaching for the tweezers to get that splinter out. The knowing that comes with really using a boat is the kind of knowing that spells the difference between a fantasy and a memory. And, as Dick Wagner has put it, what we do is create a memory in your mind and your hands. The collective mari-
time heritage memory is what got us here in the first place. I get to work here. You get to come here. Together we create and re-create maritime history. I'll take it. - Bob Perkins, Executive Director
Music, Music, Music Music - from sea chanteys to blue grass - is a tradition of our annual Wooden Boat Festivals. And this year is no exception. We've got a stellar line-up of old friends and new for your listening pleasure. Here's the who/when for the Music Stage: July 3: 11 am Marcy & Phil; Noon Patrick Thayer; 1 pm Jim Frank & Friends; 2 pm Ken Calandra; 3 pm Mary Williams; 4 pm Norm Bowler; 5pm High Rize. July 4: 11 am Phil Hansen; Noon Tocanda Drum Ensemble; 1 pm Mark Gold; 2 pm Smoke Daddy; 3 pm Frank Smith; 4 pm Maria Diekmann; 5 pm Tom Hodson. July 5: 11 am Jim Nason; Noon Joe Misiuda; 1 pm Alex Perlman; 2 pm Tom McPhersori; 3 pm Lisa Schad; 4 pm Jennifer Kay & Frank Smith; 5 pm The Sparkling Tonics; 6 pm Special Guests.
SHAVINGS 13
Our International Six-Metre Story by Scott Rohrer During the summer of 1998, through the generous donation of Anne Lichtenwalner and Richard Landendoen, the International Six-Metre yacht Hecate found a new home at The Center for Wooden Boats. A few months later, Executive Director Bob Perkins invited me to curate the restoration and interpretation of the yacht for the Center. Tracing her roots, it was found that Hecate's original name was Erica and that she had an interesting history. In the Center's role as a museum, it was decided to restore the boat as close to her original state as possible. Her name was changed back to Erica and a concentrated effort got underway to research as much of her story as possible. Erica was designed by the great Charles Nicholson {Shamrock IV, Shamrock V, Endeavour and Endeavour II) and built by Camper & Nicholson, Ltd. in England in 1938. Her original owner was Ronald M. Teacher, a Scottish distiller, and her early racing was done mostly on the Firth of Clyde. In 1938, she was a member of the British team that raced the Americans at Oyster Bay, New York, for the British-American Cup. They lost to a crack U.S. squad of Goose, Djinn, Lulu and Rebel Erica returned to Scotland and raced the 1939 season there. After the war, she raced the 1947 season on the Clyde and then made her way, via Vancouver, B.C., to Seattle. This is a story similar to the way nearly 30 Six-Metres came to this area in the three decades following World War II. Keen racing in the Sixes was central to Puget Sound regattas during this time and the great skippers in the class included Hans-Otto Giese, Eustace "Sunny" Vynne Jr., Charlie Ross and Harry McGuane. Hundreds of Northwest racing sailors learned competitive sailing in these re-
markable boats. We have been extremely fortunate to have a committed group of volunteers on the restoration project. Our Boatswain is Paul Marlow. He and Matthew Cockburn have done much of the tedious research poring over hundreds of musty old sailing journals and hitting every web site even remotely associated with Six-Metre yachts or Camper & Nicholson We also have gotten good information from Mrs. Alison Roberts, Archivist at the Royal Northern and Clyde Yacht Club of Rhu, Scotland. While no lines drawing of the boat exists, she has provided excellent photos of Erica's half model, which has hung on the wall of the club for 60 years. Also valuable have been the archives of the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club and SixMetre fleet files. Early valuable assistance was provided by Dr. William Collier, an English maritime historian who wrote his thesis on Camper & Nicholson. Dr. Collier was able to provide considerable technical data, steer us in fruitful directions and direct us away from several dead ends he had already explored. The number of hours he saved us is immeasurable. Presently we are in the process of changing all of the deck hardware to 1938vintage equipment. Contributions from Bob Tapp and Six-Metre skippers Bill Button and Peter Hoffman have really helped here. Photos provided by Beken of Cowles and the Rosenfeld Collection at Mystic Seaport have provided all the details of the 1938 deck layout. A sad event, the demise of the Six-Metre Margueritha (N-81) led R. W. Teacher owned and raced Erica when this photo by J. Hall appeared in a 1936 to the acquisition of an original 17' hollow yachting publication. Another early view of Erica, reproduced as a lithograph, is for boom with all appropriate hardware. This sale at CWB. Proceeds support Erica's restoration. allowed us to return the mainsail to the dimensions of the original sail plan. Over the winter, the boom has been rebuilt, refinished and rigged by the volunteers. New Metre yacht. At haulout we also will en- deck having been replaced with class minimum 3/8" plywood deck in the past 10 sails have been ordered from Hank Thayer deavor to lift her hull lines. of North/Baxter & Cicero Sails of Costa At 37' LOA, having never been short- years. Realistically speaking, Erica suffers Mesa, California, for spring delivery. ened, Erica is an extremely graceful ex- from the ravages of time and ails in the When we finish our current haulout, ample of the class. Her aft overhang and ways that any 60-year-old boat will. Some we expect that, with the exception of the tiny transom accent the beauty of her lines. planking and re-fastening are necessary in alloy mast and ply wood deck, she will be She floats very close to her original free- the near future if she is to be preserved. At the heart of this project are our a faithful representation of a pre-war Six- board measurements, her 5/8" planked volunteers. Aside from those already named, we owe special thanks to Meg Trzaskoma, Dave Benson, Stephen Kinnaman, Nick Carey, Tom Speer and Michael Murray for the countless hours put into this project. Meeting every Sunday at 2 p.m., the Six-Metre group at CWB has been steadily growing into a dedicated corps. The purpose of Erica's display at CWB is to recognize the paramount role of these boats in history and to provide a symbol of the wooden Six-Metre fleet, so much a part of Northwest yachting in the '50s, '60s and '70s. To continue the work on Erica, contributions are an absolute necessity. We invite all interested parties to join us for a sail on Lake Union. We hope they will feel moved to help us preserve this unique symbol of Puget Sound boating history. Taxdeductible donations may be made to the Erica Fund at CWB. Scott Rohrer is an internationally renowned racing' sailor who successfully campaigned the Six-Metre Goose in the '60s and '70s. Closer to home, he served for several years on the CWB Board of Trustees, holding the offices of Vice President and Secretary in separate terms.
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Back to Seattle
Bringing Home a Geary Great Tom Skahill's recent two-part article in WoodenBoat magazine has sparked a revived interest in Ted Geary and his work. Featured prominently in the article are the two great Geary R-Boats, Sir Tom and Pirate. In their time, both compiled enviable records and earned their places in yachting history. The fact that both boats and a third, Galliano IV, were designed and built in Seattle makes them especially important to local boating history, Sadly, Sir Tom and Galliano both were destroyed. Pirate, built in 1926 by Lake Union Dry Dock, is a vessel of tremendous historic significance. In 1929, she went east to race at the prestigious Larchmont Race Week. Yachting magazine heralded the event as the first time a Pacific Coast designed, built and skippered yacht competed on the East Coast. Skippered by the great Matt Walsh, she won the regatta, beating Yankee, the pride of the East Coast R-Fleet, designed by L. Francis Herreshoff, son of the legendary Nathaniel Herreshoff.
out. We are extremely fortunate to have the original ink-on-linen construction and sail plans for Pirate. These have been graciously loaned to us by Ted Geary's daughter, Mrs. Sharon Adamson Gee, who owned Pirate for several years. The present rig fairly closely matches the sail
yachts is probably the finest embodiment of the naval architect's science and the boat builder's craft. Active display of Pirate at regattas and maritime history functions would be an ongoing function. A program built around the history of Pirate, her times and her genius designer will tell
a compelling story both boaters and the general public will find fascinating and enlightening. As often as possible, the Pirate will be made available on weekends for public sailing and interpretation at The Center for Wooden Boats. - Scott Rohrer
The Pirate Pond Boat
In 1926, L.E. "Ted" Geary designed a 39" model yacht to be built by schoolchildren and based it on the design of his very successful R-Boat, Pirate. The project was promoted by newspapers and schools in several U.S. cities. The newly formed Pirate syndicate has recently come into possession of the original plans for this little vessel. In 1929,300 model Pirate boats competed in a regatta in Los Angeles. The racing was held in a pond at what is now Mac Arthur Park and was sponsored by the Los Angeles Evening herald. The races were judged by Pirate's skipper, Matt Walsh and the trophies were donated by Commodore Hunsaker of the California Yacht Club. Commodore Hunsaker owned Pirate when she beat the best East Coast In 1935, Ted Geary skipR-Boats at Larchmont Race Week the This small ad for Pirate appeared in Pacific pered Pirate, winning every same year. Motorboat magazine in December, 1925 event of importance in CaliforThis year, we will revive the program nia R-Boat racing that season. with the students at Seattle Public Schools' On March 22, 1999. a syndicate of planalthoughPirategot an aluminum Alternative, School #1, Ron Snyder, the Seattle yachtsmen was formed to purchase mast and boom a few years ago. Eventu- Principal at AS#1, is assisting us in writPirate. An offer was made the following ally we would like to re-rig the boat with ing grants to fund the program to build day and accepted by her present owners. wooden spars and rigging to match the these boats. The whole program will inThe ultimate plan is to bring the boat to original plans. clude a regatta at the end of the school Seattle, stabilize her for preservation and Syndicate treasurer is Larry Johnson, year (with trophies) and internships for then donate her to The Center for Wooden who has been at the organizational core of two students to work aboard the full-size Boats, where she will be at the center of a the phenomenal $3.5 million restoration of Pirate in the summer of 2000. new focus on yacht restoration there. the historic 1922 Mosquito Fleet steamer, Ted Geary spent hundreds of hours Although she is more than 70 years Virginia V. Other shareholders include John with kids, teaching them about sailing, old, Pirate is an excellent candidate for Kelly, naval architect (ret.) and former design and boat building. The regatta for museum restoration. With the exception crew of Sir Tom, and Gil Joynt, president the model boats will be held in the south of a propeller shaft and strut (engine re- of the Puget Sound Maritime Historical end of Portage Bay where Geary spent moved last year) she is mostly original. Society. countless hours with Seattle Yacht Club The house and deck construction match Exposure of this boat to the commu- juniors aboard their Flatties, which he dethe drawings, the double diagonal plank- nity will build a unique awareness of the ing on the housetop still tight. earliest yacht racing Once Pirate is here and stabilized, we on Puget Sound. The will begin an accurate restoration to re- construction of turn her to the original rig and deck lay- wooden racing
signed in 1928 as a yacht club sail trainer. This class is now known as the Geary 18. The revival of his model yacht project offers a singular opportunity to pay homage to the generous nature of this genius designer. To. enable middle-schoolers to connect with the actual full-size vessel adds a new and exciting dimension to the Pirate project.
SHAVINGS 15
What A Great Weekend! The Center for Wooden Boats hosted the 1999 Pacific Challenge May 14-16. Sixteen boats - European longboats, umiaks and Hawaiian outriggers - from all over the Pacific Northwest lined the docks. At least half of the members of each team were youths. Teams came from Anacortes, Olympia, Grays Harbor, Tacoma, Bellingham, Port Townsend, Seattle and Sooke, B.C. More than 175 participants competed in the weekend events. The Pacific Challenge is a competition that seeks to promote community through heritage maritime skills. It had been going on for eight years, with a different host each year. Participants compete in traditional boats, gigs, jolly boats, longboats, Aleut umiaks and Hawaiian outriggers. Friday night everyone arrived at CWB to set up camp in the Naval Reserve Building. That night's activities included the Welcoming Ceremony, chanteys and a movie, "White Squall." The following
CWB's gig Dan team, the kids from Pacific Crest school, salutes the Pacific Challenge judges. - photo by Mike Gurley
16 SHAVINGS
morning, after a hearty breakfast, the crews stood by their boats for a safety inspection by the judges and elders. Then they left the dock to compete in a rowing/paddling race and the "Pass and Review." After a lunch break the boats set out on the water again for the Mailbag Toss, a tug o'war between the two outriggers, maneuvering drills, a sprint race and a sailing race. Participants in the sailing race also completed a crew overboard drill. Crews returned to the dock for ice cream generously provided by Ben & Jerry's, followed by a tasty dinner (life is short - dessert first!!). That evening's activities included relays, knot tying and lashings and group games which gave the participants the opportunity to get to know each other. Sunday morning crews gathered again after breakfast for the charting activity. During this activity, teams were rearranged to allow participants the opportunity to row or paddle in other boats. Together, each mixed crew had to chart Lake Union, making the dock before the next "outgoing tide" two hours later. Boats returned to the dock to post their detailed charts, which were judged by their peers. The weekend wrapped up with lunch and the Awards
Ceremony. The Center was honored with an award for educational outreach and the team of our gig Dan came in second in the rowing race!! All the participating boats looked great. The crews were well-trained in seamanship and their spirit of teamwork and camaraderie among crews was infectious. CWB was glowing with the enthusiasm and accomplishments of the teams and the wonderful variety of traditional small craft from diverse cultures. Maritime history came alive on Lake Union! What a great weekend! Thank you to all who volunteered and made this event an overwhelming success! If you are interested in more information, come down to CWB and check out our Pacific Challenge display board of pictures from the weekend, talk to Meg and Sven or look us up on the web at www.cwb.org. CWB plans to send a team up to Sooke, B.C., in August to participate in the King's Cup. The team will compete in our Chatham launch, Anna, led by our own Boatshop Manager Dan Potenza. We are currently looking for high school age participants. Contact Meg, Sven or Dan if you are interested. - Meg Trzaskoma
Book Review Threading the Currents, A Paddler's Passion for Water, Alan S. Kesselheim, Island Press/ Shearwater Books, 242 pp The canoe form dates back to time before history. It has lasted through the ages because it works. The canoe is the essence of small craft. It is simple, clean, symmetrical and undecked. It has a hydrodynamically efficient hull, moves with little power, accelerates quickly and turns easily. Mastering the canoe involves mastering all the elements of small craft handling. Threading the Currents deals with canoes as an extension of mind and body. Kesselheim writes of his many, varied cruises from the Arctic to the Rio Grande River and how he, his partners and the canoes interacted with their wilderness environment. This book is well written and full of insights into history of explorations, wildlife, geology, hydrodynamics (now big with kids) and just getting along where there are no other humans for a hundred or more miles. This is not a how-to book but there are a host of practical tips woven into the stories. There are many fine pencil drawings by Alan's wife, Marypat Zitzer. Threading the Currents provides more than a glimpse of the adventure of education in a small, portagable boat. The stories take one deep into the realm of natural energies and life cycles through maps of wilderness areas, common sense, seamanship and a canoe. - Dick Wagner
Spirit of Peace There's a transformation taking place on our lawn. A 600-year-old 36' Alaskan red cedar log is being transformed into a traditional Haida canoe. The log was a donation from the Haida Corporation of Alaska to Robert Peele, a Haida originally from Alaska, and the project of carving it into a canoe is being hosted by The Center for Wooden Boats. When Robert came to CWB last winter seeking a place to create the canoe, he explained to Founding Director Dick Wagner that he would be carving essen-
tially a Haida war canoe but he would be doing it as a way to revive a spiritual connection to nature. He hoped to make it a participatory project so that others would not only learn the ways of carving the canoe but also develop a respect for the natural balance of the world. He has carried out that approach from the beginning. In February, he greeted the log as it arrived and was lowered into place by Ness Crane. Soon after Robert and friends of all cultures officially named the log in a moving tradi-
Haida Carver Robert Peele (right) confers with Bill Holm about the 600year-old Alaska red cedar log Robert is carving into a Haida canoe. - photo by Melissa Koch
tional Hawaiian blessing ceremony. The nam of the log is Spirit of Peace. (Once the canoe is completed and launched, it will receive a new name.) Carving a canoe is a complex process. The log must be studied and the shape plotted. Robert had the assistance of master carver Bill Holm in this part of the process. Bill, who has carved three canoes, drew out a complete plan for the canoe and visits regularly to see how the work is coming along. After de-barking the log, the hull is shaped first. Large sections are hacked away and then the work becomes more refined. When the hull is ready, the log is turned and the interior is carved out to the correct thickness. Then the hull will be spread open by a steaming process. The final stages will include carving paddles and painting the hull. The work is done using a variety of tools, including adzes, wedges and, in a limited manner, power tools. Robert said a number of people have asked about the power tools. He's used hand tools for most of the work - adzes and wedges for large scale wood removal - but he finds no dichotomy in mixing traditional techniques with modern technology. .Still, a newly-sharpened slick brought a big smile to Robert's face as he worked on the hull. The work on the canoe is a social process in more than one way. Robert is never too busy to stop and answer questions from visitors of all ages. School tours to CWB make the log their first stop. Some are drawn to watching Robert's friend, Melissa Koch, who has been carving masks - more than two dozen so far from the larger pieces of wood removed from the log. Robert will be working on the canoe all during the Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival and afterward. He'll be happy to have you visit. - Judie Romeo The carving process will continue through the summer. Those interested in participating should contact Dick Wagner at CWB, (206) 382-2628; e-mail: dick@cwb.org
Capt. Raynaud Schooner Race The 3rd Annual Captain Raynaud International Schooner Race begins on Labor Day (Monday, September 6). This year the race will start in Canada and end Friday, September 10, just in time for the start of the Port Townsend Festival. There are only two rules for this race: One, the vessel must be a schooner and, two, do not hit another boat. No protests are allowed and cheating is welcomed. Vessels may fly any rag they want to. Dick and Colleen Wagner will be the official Race Committee this year, aboard the Katahdin. Dick's integrity is sure to be tested by those skippers and crew who like to pay off the judges. The winning vessel will be honored with a space on the perpetual trophy, which was donated last year by Dave Berg of Bellingham. It is a model of our schooner Martha as she was at launching in 1907. The trophy is made entirely of brass and copper, to museum quality standards. Dave is a talented artist whose passion is restoring vintage motor launches. The trophy is on display in the CWB Library. Eleven schooners participated in the 1998 race, with the tug Katahdin as the committee boat, everyone said it was the best time they had all summer. The race began slowly out of Bellingham - fog and then flat water. Shan used their local knowledge to find enough wind to win the first leg, Barlovento won the leg to Lopez (despite the fact that someone put "The Club" on their wheel in hopes of slowing them down) and Martha won the final leg into Victoria. Only schooners can be in the race but other classic vessels are welcome to tag along and join in the evening activities. Martha will be taking paying passengers for the race (CWB members get a 15% discount) as will other schooners. For more information on the race or going along, contact JoAnn O'Connor, (206) 310-8573.
SHAVINGS 17
Volunteer of the Year What do you call a guy who, in one day, teaches a boatload full of students to sail, works on restoring a classic sailboat, takes out the garbage, carries in the dining tables and spends an evening partying with his fellow volunteers? At CWB you call him Stephen Kinnaman - and you call him 1998 Volunteer of the Year. Stephen has been a CWB volunteer for three years. He's both a year-round SailNOW! He instructor and a regular skipper for our Sunday afternoon free boat rides program, Cast Off! He also leads the team that has been restoring the Blue Moon. He's volunteered for the Festival, the Kingdome Boat Show and the Auction and he took time to help kids build boats at out Capt. Christmas program last December. In "real life" Stephen is a management consultant and certified wooden boat nut. When he's finished with business and volunteering, he heads off to work on yet another wooden boat, the Ingrid 38 he and Andrea Denton are re-commissioning for their own cruising pleasure. As with previous honorees, Stephen was chosen Volunteer of the Year by receiving the most individual nominations. Here's what his nominators had to say
about him: "His warmth and positive attitude are welcoming and encouraging.... His energy and dedication are what being a volunteer at CWB is all about." "Each time he interacts with the public, his goal is to expose them to the love of boats, to show them how they can connect with boats and to involve them in CWB. That is the hallmark of what every volunteer should do; Stephen shows us how." All the Volunteer of the Year nominees were well deserving of their nominations and excellent examples of the citation of the Volunteer of the Year Award trophy which hangs in the Boathouse library: "In recognition of the highest qualities of volunteerism: Dedication, enthusiasm, leadership and commitment to the goals of The Center for Wooden Boats." The nominees (with excerpts from their nominations) were: Kay and Keith Schardein: A problem-solving duo with many talents. . . .They help in many ways, always with good cheer. Randy Magliozzi: Randy has a sixth sense for diagnosing computer difficulties and keeps our ancient relics alive. He works long, efficiently and quietly.... He never
cites a problem without offering to be part of the solution." Dave Soracco: "A dependable sailing instructor for many years. . . . Always willing to go the extra mile for his students." Alan Hamlet: "A conscientious, calm and supportive sailing instructor. . . . Always on schedule with an upbeat attitude." Gerie Ventura: "She walks in, sees you're busy and immediately says, 'What
can I do to help?' Even when helping means doing the dishes!... Always open to learning, always willing to participate, not spectate." Gene Sevigney: "Generously gives time to the youth programs. The kids love him, the teachers love him." Bud Ricketts: "He's always there doing tons of stuff for the Center. . . . Takes the initiative on projects." (Bud was the 1995 Volunteer of the Year.)
Keeping Us Afloat You may have thought it was cedar logs, pine tar and those funny barrels we're always putting under the docks that keep CWB afloat. Wrong! What keeps us afloat is a dedicated Corps of Volunteers. What do Volunteers do at CWB? Anything and everything! In a typical year, Volunteers will provide more than 15,000 hours of service to CWB. They fix boats, now the lawns, rig the sails, teach everyone from kids to seniors the fine art of sailing, put out publications (such as the
Boats For Sale by CWB 31' 1964 Richardson. Twin 220hp Ford 302 gas engines. Propane stove, oven & heat. Legal head & holding tank; fresh water system. 30 amp shore power, battery charger, 3 bilge pumps. Canvas enclosed cockpit. Reduced! $18,000 negotiable. Blanchard Junior Knockabout. Hull #2. No mast, sails or trailer. Needs some work. $800/OBO 19' Friendship Sloop Diane. Built 1979. Incredibly cute pocket cruiser. Hull excellent, cabin needs work. $8,000 negotiable. . 19' Lightning. Recently in our livery. Ready to sail with just a bit of work. $1,900/OBO 14' Catspaw Sailing Dinghy. Tanbark spritsail. Currently on water at CWB.
one you're reading right now), greet the guests, answer the phones or do any one of a hundred other things. They do it all and they do it well. So what do they get in return? Of course, there's the obvious carrot - or, in the case of CWB, the boat. Volunteers earn an hour of free boat use for every three hours of volunteer work they do. But there are other rewards too, not the least of which is the opportunity to learn new skills or polish up old ones. New Volunteers attend an orientation that includes a historical tour of CWB conducted by Founding Director or long-time Volunteer Tom Scott. Following that, there are specialized orientations for those interested in the Livery or the Boatshop and on-thejob training for the Front Desk. Periodically, there are sessions germane to a Volunteer's area of work - sometimes a pro comes to show a few tricks or a workshop is put together just for volunteers. And we managed to throw some great Volunteer parties too. Even if you're an old CWB hand, it's never too late to become part of the Volunteer Corps. Opportunities abound. Just give Diane Gowman a call - (206) 3822628 - or e-mail her at diane@cwb.org. She'll get you on the road to volunteering fun.
Classifieds 28' Herreshoff Rozinante ketch. $27,500. John Schnaidt, (206) 363-5061.
$1,000/060. 12' Bluebird plywood row/sail skiff. Almost finished new boat, never used. Needs sail and hardware. $800/OBO Mercury, hull only, no rig. On water at CWB.$300/OBO. What goes together better than CWB and volunteers? CWB, volunteers and food! Stephen Kinnaman, the 1998 Volunteer of the Year, and fellow volunteers Andrea Denton (left) and Gretchen Knappe (right) dig in at the WOOD Regatta.
18 SHAVINGS
To see any of these, stop by the Boathouse or call Bob Perkins, (206) 382-2628.
Wanted. For father-son restoration project. 10'-12' ply wood Speed Liner type motorboat from the '40s or '50s. Cheap. Also pre-war outboards for parts. Call after 4 p.m. John, (206) 633-1902. Classified Ads are available, free of charge, only to CWB members. Please contact Judie at CWB if you would like an ad to appear in Shavings or Sawdust.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS Every 3rd Friday THIRD FRIDAY SPEAKER SERIES 8 p.m. CWB Boathouse Each month CWB finds a speaker of wit and experience to talk about his or her special knowledge. It is also an opportunity for CWB members to meet one another and the staff. Admission is free. Refreshments served (donations to cover costs are appreciated). Every Sunday (weather permitting) "CAST OFF" BOAT RIDES 2 p.m. CWB north dock Come on aboard for a sail on CWB's 35' New Haven Sharpie, a type of boat originally developed for oystering on the East Coast, or on one of our other larger boats. We provide the life jackets; you come dressed for the weather. Sail free (donations cheerfully accepted). Groups, please call ahead. July 3-5 (Saturday-Monday) 1999 LAKE UNION WOODEN BOAT FESTIVAL 10 a.m.-6 p.m. each day. It's just days until the 23rd edition of the best way in the Northwest to celebrate the 4th of July: The Festival! Boat, demonstrator and exhibitor forms have been mailed, schedules are set and we're still signing up volunteers for our annual homage to all those beautiful creations afloat. What will you find at the Festival? More than 100 wooden boats from dinghies to 100-ton schooners. Lots of handson activities, including toy building, maritime skills demonstrations, knotwork and rides in classic boats of all types. Plus, the wacky Quick & Daring Boatbuilding Contest, historical exhibits, a silent auction, music, food, People's Choice awards and more. If you'd like to bring your boat, demonstrate a traditional skill, exhibit something nautical or be one of the more than 200 volunteers it takes to put it all together, contact Diane Gowman at CWB: (206) 382-2628 or diane@cwb.org July 9-15 or August 20-26 (Friday-Thursday) ADVENTURE BOUND II aboard the schooner Martha Six lucky teens, ages 13-18, will have a week of adventure and learning while sailing the 86' Crowninshield schooner Martha throughout Puget Sound. In addition to sailing skills and theory, students
will learn navigation, knots and rigging, Northwest history and folklore, marine ecology and more. The fee of $650 includes food, lodging, instruction and supervision. Call or stop by CWB for a registration form. July 18-24 (Sunday-Saturday) ADVENTURE BOUND I aboard the schooner Adventuress The 101' Adventuress will be home for a week for 21 teens, 14-18, as they learn to sail the vessel, plot its course with compass and charts and stand watch. Instruction also will include knots and rigging, Northwest history and folklore, marine ecology and visits to salty Northwest ports such as Port Townsend and Friday Harbor. The fee of $650 includes food, lodging, instruction and supervision. Call or stop by CWB for a registration form. SUMMER IN THE CITY Once again CWB will be holding its popular Monday-Friday maritime skills day camp for kids ages 12 and above. Three sessions are available: August 2-6, August 9-13 or August 16-20 (re-scheduled from July) Activities include sailing, rowing, knotwork and more. Each session is limited to nine kids; the fee is $175. Registration forms are available at CWB, August 20 (Friday) THIRD FRIDAY SPEAKER 7 p.m. CWB Boathouse (Note: From now on, all Third Friday Speaker evenings begin at 7 p.m.) You can't walk down the docks at CWB without taking a look at the 60' Merry Maiden, the handsome 1947 Rhodes ketch currently under restoration by her owner - and CWB' s night caretaker - Seaton Gras. Merry Maiden is a veteran of two round-the-world cruises, beginning with a family voyage from 1969 to 1975, skippered by Seaton's father. Then Seaton "borrowed" the boat from 1976 to 1982 for a voyage from Salem Massachusetts, to Seattle, with many exotic ports of call in between. Seaton will present a slide talk on that second voyage and perhaps let us in on his plans for Merry Maiden's third bluewater cruise. September 17 (Friday) * THIRD FRIDAY SPEAKER 7 p.m. CWB Boathouse (Note: All Third Friday Speakers now begin at 7 p.m.)
Just a few months ago Northwest sailor Karen Thorndyke became the first American woman to complete a solo circumnavigation, rounding all five great Capes aboard her British Rival 36 Amelia. The voyage took three years and Karen had more than her share of adventure, including wild weather and a too-close encounter with a flu bug that resulted in a temporary interruption to her trip. In "real life," Karen's a film editor so her videotape of the highlights - and lowlights - of the voyage is sure to be a winner.
MARINE S K I L L S WORKSHOPS All year 'round (every day in the summer!) LEARN TO "SAIL NOW!" 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. or 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Saturday & Sunday Fee: $200 per person (includes a one-year CWB membership) Instructors: Volunteers Students will learn to sail classic boats in one session of classroom work and as many sessions of hands-on instruction as necessary (within a four-month period) in our small boats, no more than three students per instructor. Students will graduate when able to sail a variety of keel, centerboard, sloop and catboats by instinct, by themselves. You may begin any Saturday, space permitting. Please call ahead for reservations. For the student who is only free on weekdays, or prefers one-on-one instruction, we continue to offer individual lessons ($20/hour for members, $30/hour for non-members) weekdays by appointment. July 17-25 (Saturday-Sunday) or October 2-10 (Saturday-Sunday) IKYAK (Aleutian-Inuit kayak) WORKSHOP 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. CWB Pavilion Fee: $900 (members)/$950 (nonmembers) Instructor: Corey Freedman Due to the popularity of this class, we've scheduled three more this year. The ikyak, most popularly known as a baidarka, is a different and more complicated construction than the Greenland Inuit type. Each student will build his or her own boat. Corey Freedman is the owner/operator of Spirit
Line Kayaks in Anacortes and is well recognized for both his expertise in native kayak construction and his teaching ability. Limited to 4. August 14 & 15 (framing) and/or August 21 & 22 (planking) (Saturday-Sunday) RESTORATION WORKSHOPS 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. CWB Fee for each workshop: $70 (members)/ $80 (non-members) Fee for both workshops: $130 (members)/ $150 (non-members) Instructors: CWB Staff Students will learn by helping restore CWB's 16' Monk-designed motor launch Katy. The framing workshop will cover types of wood used for steam-bent frames, the best grain orientation, the steaming process and installation of frames. The planking workshop will include preferred materials, preferred grain, lining off, spiling and fastening planks. Limited to 6 students for each workshop. August 21-29 (Saturday-Sunday) LAPSTRAKE WORKSHOP 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. CWB Boatshop Fee: $600 (members)/$650 (non-members) Instructor: Rich Kolin The instructor has more than 30 years experience building traditional boats. He will lead the class in building a classic rowing boat. The project will include discussion of characteristics of design, lofting, setting up the molds, lining off the planks and steam bending the frames. Limited to 6. NOTE: A $100 non-refundable deposit is required to register for all boatbuilding workshops; the balance is due no later than two weeks prior to the workshop. For all Other workshops, pre-payment in full reserves your place. Classes with fewer than four students will be canceled/postponed.
You always get to show off the product at the end of a CWB workshop. Students in Ellen Falconer's sailmaking class (left to right: Jo Ann, Dan, Paul, Instructor Ellen and Bud) display their creation: a new mainsail for the Petrel. Just behind Bud is CWB's sailing gillnetter, now undergoing restoration in a living exhibit on the Seattle waterfront. SHAVINGS 19
23rd Annual
Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival Preview of Events shows how half models were used as design tools and how they were built. Armory. Aleut Kayak Demonstration - Corey Freedman will have several kayaks from different Arctic regions plus Aleut Umiaks.
Kids' Activities - CWB's talented Volunteers will show the youngsters how to fold origami boats while our marlinspike experts will help them learn the easy tricks of making turk's head bracelets.
Artwork - Our Festival poster artist, Dutch Mostert, will display his work. Ask the Professionals - A wide variety of short sessions on all the secrets you wanted to know about maritime stuff, including: lining off and spiling planks, steaming, oarmaking, restoration, painting, knots, brightwork and tool sharpening. Sessions will last about 30 minutes beginning at 1 pm every day in the CWB Boatshop. Australian Puzzle Boat Construction - at the Flounder Bay Boat Lumber booth on the north side of the Armory. Blanchard Book Signing - Norm Blanchard will sign copies of his book of sailing and boatbuilding stories, Knee Deep in Shavings, 2-4 pm Saturday in the Armory. Boat Books & Hand Tools - for sale in the Armory. Boat Rides - Take a ride in a variety of traditional wooden rowboats, a selection of sailboats or a clutch of classic powerboats. Board at the CWB Boathouse north docks. Caulking with Lee Ehrheart - Master Shipwright Lee Ehrheart will show you how to do it right, including hands-on instruction. Each day.
Oarmaking with Rich Kolin - From a hunk of wood to a sleek oar, Rich shows you how it's done. 1:30 pm Saturday and Sunday in the Boatshop. People's Choice Awards - Visitors are encouraged to find their favorite sail, power and "Quick & Daring" boats and vote for the Northwest Yachting People's Choice Award. Get your ballots and vote at the CWB information booth. Pirate Tales - Our nautical yarnspinners will regale you with pirate exploits. 2 pm Saturday and Monday and 11:30 am and 2:30 pm Sunday in the Armory. Quick & Daring Boatbuilding Contest - Two-person teams race to see who can build a fast seaworthy boat in the shortest amount of time. Then they race them on (and sometimes under) the water. Building begins at high noon Saturday and Sunday on the Flag Plaza. Racing begins Monday at 3:30 pm. Real Live Boatwrights - Just like every day at the Center, a professional boatwright will be at work on a small boat in our Boatshop. Boatwrights are famous talkers and will gladly stop working to chat with visitors. Sailmaking Techniques - Tips and how-to-do-its by Sound Sails' Ellen Falconer.
Caulking for Kids - Master Shipwright Lee Ehrheart enlists the aid of young "apprentices" to show that caulking can be done by anyone. Cedar Culture - The Maritime Skills of Puget Sound Native Americans. Steve and Dorothy Philipp describe how the native peoples of the region utilized their natural resources. Ongoing exhibit of canoe models, tools, artifacts - even a model longhouse. Special presentation daily in the Armory. Classic Yacht Parade - The beautiful powerboats of the Classic Yacht Association will salute the Festival with a parade passing the North Quay and dock. The great unseen voice on the Festival PA system will describe the woodies as they pass in review at 2 p.m. Monday. Discovery and Other Great Ship Models - Puget Sound Maritime Museum (Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society) presents a display of about 30 outstanding models of different types, including the 14' model in-progress of Capt. Vancouver's 1792 ship of exploration, Discovery. In the Armory every day (you might meet Lt. Peter Puget in the afternoons). Ed Clark Classic Yacht Race - The Northwest's finest classic wooden boats race here on Lake Union Saturday afternoon for everyone to see. This is an official Wooden Yacht Racing Association event. Folk Music - A lively offering of songs and merriment for land and sea, featuring a host of talents. A new 45-minute show every hour on the hour. Music Stage on the North Quay. Food Booths - Our gastronomic extravaganza will be on the North Quay. 120' 1889 Tug Arthur Foss - Built the year Washington become a state; registered as a National Historical Monument. Gas, Hot Air & Steam Engines - A working display of some unique early day engines. Haida Canoe Construction - Watch Haida carver Robert Peele turn a 600-year-old 36' cedar log into a traditional Haida canoe. On the CWB lawn, every day. Half Models - An exhibit of the work of Martha's Vineyard shipwright Thomas Hale 20 SHAVINGS
Schooners, Schooners, Schooners! - Step aboard these lovely pieces of maritime history: the 101' Adventuress, built in Boothbay, Maine, in 1913; Frank Prothero's last boat, the 65' Glory of the Seas', the 86' Crowninshield Martha, built in 1907 as a luxury yacht; the 65' Red Jacket, vintage 1920; Chapelle's 45' Tropic Star, built in 1967; the 165' Wawona, built in 1897 and under restoration, and the 127' Zodiac, which came off the ways in 1924. Seattle History - "Then and Now" historian Paul Dorpat takes us back to the waters of yesteryear. 1-3 pm Saturday and Monday in the Armory. Silent Auction - Just one silent auction on Sunday afternoon, featuring a plethora of goodies, including but not limited to boat supplies and nautical gear, artwork, fine and casual dining, books and getaways. In the Armory. Strip Plank Kayak Construction - Paul Ford's display is a how-to on building strip plank kayaks. Slide Talk - Well-known tour guide John Dickson will give a slide tour of Maritime Museums of the Northeast. 2 pm Monday in the Armory. Sunday Breakfast - Begin your day at the Festival with a hearty breakfast for just $5. Awards for the Ed Clark Memorial Yacht Race will be announced. In the Pub Tent on the North Quay. Theodore Tugboat - Straight from his hit show on PBS, Theodore is a near real-size inflatable that will delight kids young and old. True to his generous nature, Theodore will have a souvenir for everyone. On the North Quay. Toy Boat Building - Come build a toy boat! Kids of all ages welcome. We supply the wood, glue, nails, tools, masts, sails - all the materials you need. You supply the imagination. This is one of the favorite events of the Festival. Wooden Boats - The whole reason for the Festival! Expect to see more than 100 wooden boats of all sizes in addition to our own fleet of nearly 100 small wooden boats. Vessels of all types and vintages will be in port, including sail, power, rowing and paddling boats, tugs, workboats and one-of-a-kind designs.