Fall 2008 - Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum

Shipwright Dan Sutherland works on the new Lawley
tender for the restored yacht Elf.
New life for the Elf
While work on much of CBMM’s floating fleet of historic
vessels has settled into the “routine” maintenance associated
with old wooden boats, inside the Boat Shop, things are anything
but routine. Boat Yard Program Manager Dan Sutherland
and the weekend Apprentice for a Day participants have
been constructing a replica of a Lawley-built (Boston) tender
for the newly restored yacht, Elf.
Elf is a boat with a rich history and direct ties to the Museum.
Launched in 1888 by George Lawley & Sons in Boston,
Elf was built for $3,500 as a state-of-the-art racing yacht
for Mr. William H. Wilkinson. Elf’s unique and impressive
sailing rig has long since disappeared from North American
waters. She had an active career as a gaff topsail rigged racing
yacht, before pioneering off-shore yacht cruising in 1893,
by becoming the first small craft to cruise successfully roundtrip
from Marblehead, Mass., to Halifax, Nova Scotia.
After her racing career ended, Elf regularly cruised up
and down the northeast coast and later between New England
the Bahamas. During the first World War, her externally fitted
lead ballast was given up to support the war effort, and
eventually a steel keel was added. In addition, her sail area
was reduced and her rigging was modified to make her easier
(and safer) to handle.
In 1932, Elf was purchased by CBMM founders Gus and
Vida Van Lennep. Vida fondly recalls Elf and her tender, and
the Van Lenneps have been staunch supporters of the boat’s
restoration. In 1971, the boat was acquired by Rick Carrion,
founder of the Classic Yacht Restoration Guild, who has
championed her restoration under the expertise of master
boat builder Graham Ero, in Still Pond, Maryland. Thanks to
the work of these individuals, Elf is on the National Register
of Historic Places, fully restored and sailing today. She was
docked at CBMM for much of August and has taken sails on
the Miles River.
Carrion, equipped with photos and recollections of Mrs.
Van Lennep, commissioned CBMM to build a replica of Elf’s
Lawley-built tender. The rowing lapstrake skiff is 9’ 3” and is
planked and ribbed out of sassafras. Mrs. Van Lennep, now
98, recently visited CBMM to see Elf again, the newly built
tender and her beloved CBMM. Once completed and dedicated,
the tender will be named, Vida.
CBMM founder Vida Van Lennep (seated) was on hand
to see her former boat Elf and its new tender.
Around the Boat Yard
Elf, shown at left, will
return to CBMM’s docks
for the Mid-Atlantic Small
Craft Festival on Saturday,
October 4. To follow her
progress and see more photos
of Elf, visit the Classic
Yacht Restoration Guild’s
website at www.cyrg.org.
Vessel Maintenance Manager Marc Barto reports that late
summer and fall work will include building a new rudder for
CBMM’s dory boat as well as cycling through various seasonal
vessel haul-outs. Barto and Floating Fleet Assistant Don
MacLeod will be gearing up for a significant fall and winter
restoration project: finishing work they began last winter on
the Museum’s log bugeye Edna Lockwood, a National Historic
Landmark.
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