Vol. 25, No. 4 - Traditional Small Craft Association

The 

Ash Breeze 

Journal of the Traditional Small Craft Association, Inc. 

Vol. 25 No. 4 

Winter 2004 - $4.00 

In This Issue: 

The Lady Returns Home 

The Canadian Canoe Museum • In France, 2004 

Jetty Island • From the Shop Floor 

Croisière Loire, France • Tribute to One 

Youth, Wood Shavings & Dories, A Formula with a Future 

Ensuring a Future for the John Gardner Grants

The Ash Breeze 

The Ash Breeze is the quarterly journal of 

the Traditional Small Craft Association, 

Inc. It is published at 1557 Cattle Point 

Road, Friday Harbor, WA 98250. 

Communications concerning membership 

or mailings should be addressed to: 

P.O. Box 350, Mystic, CT 06355. 

www.tsca.net 

Volume 25 Number 4 

Editor 

Dan Drath 

drathmarine@rockisland.com 

Contributing Editor 

John Stratton 

President’s Message 

We welcome a couple of new chapters into the organization. One is in California 

and another is in Maine. Several more chapters are organizing in Michigan and 

Missouri. I especially envy those Chapters operating in warmer climates right now. 

As I write this my season is winding down with winter settling in. However the 

camaraderie and friendships of my own chapter’s monthly meetings help keep my 

blues away and satisfy my watercraft interest through the winter. The programs and 

speakers at these meetings really get people to come out and share their current 

projects, interests and plan future outings. I mention this to encourage people to 

participate in a chapter if possible. It’s amazing the friendships that are made, the 

talents discovered and the enjoyment of talking and participating with fellow small 

craft enthusiasts. 

If not near a chapter, consider starting one. All that’s needed are 5 people to 

officially have a chapter. Don’t have 5? Start with whatever you can and more will 

join. Chapters tend to be informal, sometimes to a fault. Yet informality seems to 

work the best. If you lack for ideas, contact other chapters and they’ll gladly tell you 

what works for them. 

We still need nominations for next years 3 council seats that will need to be filled. 

Send in your nominations so we can get them published next issue. 

Copy Editors 

Hobey DeStaebler 

Charles Judson 

Jim Lawson 

Editors Emeriti 

Richard S. Kolin 

Sam & Marty King 

David & Katherine Cockey 

Ralph Notaristefano 

Ken Steinmetz 

John Stratton 

Layout with the assistance of 

The Messing About Foundation 

The Traditional Small Craft Association, 

Inc. is a nonprofit, tax-exempt educational 

organization which works to preserve and 

continue the living traditions, skills, lore, 

and legends surrounding working and 

pleasure watercraft whose origins predate 

the marine gasoline engine. It encourages 

the design, construction, and use of these 

boats, and it embraces contemporary variants 

and adaptations of traditional designs. 

Tom Shephard 

TSCA Wares News 

By John Weiss 

Info on the availability of TSCA wares 

is now on the web at 

www.tsca.net/wares.html. 

President Tom Shephard negotiated an 

agreement with Alex Bridge at NORS 

Gear in Maine (www.norsgear.com) that 

will benefit both TSCA and NORS. Alex 

has been a long-time supporter of TSCA, 

so I encourage you to patronize his shop 

as well as buy up our wares. 

In addition to direct order from NORS, 

Tom Shephard at the Delaware River 

Chapter and Al Gunther at the Puget 

Sound Chapter (likely to be transferred 

to me in September) have supplies of 

wares for boat shows and Chapters. 

Chapter reps/officers can request bulk 

orders from Tom without prepayment. 

Gardner Grant News 

By Ben Fuller 

This year we took in a half dozen proposals. 

All proposals were worthy, with 

some benefiting more people than others. 

Youth proposals were weak in that many 

are doing nothing more than buying commercial 

kits and building them. The quality 

proposals most recently have been 

documentation proposals, or youth proposals 

that have been more traditional. 

The Grant Committee recommended to 

the Council that two grants be awarded, 

one for $1,000 to the Pine Lake TSCA for 

documenting and developing plans for the 

Skaneateles Boat Model #5, and the second 

for $700 to CWB for a project to develop 

plans for small sailboat based on the 

Herreshoff Columbia model to encourage 

homebuilding, sailtraining and develop 

part of a class boat. 

TSCA is an enjoyable yet practical link 

among users, designers, builders, restorers, 

historians, government, and maritime 

institutions. 

Copyright 2004 by The Traditional Small 

Craft Association, Inc. 

Front Cover 

Staff members Paschal and Frederic are pushing their Seil to the max in a gale on 

the river. The lug spar broke shortly after this picture was taken. A group of TSCA 

members from the West Coast attended the Brest 2004 Traditional Boat Festival and 

then spent a week rowing and sailing down the Loire River. Story inside. François 

Lelièvre photo. 

2 _______________________________________________________ The Ash Breeze - Winter 2004

Down East 

Chapter Formed 

An Idea Whose Time has 

Come…Again 

By Muriel Curtis 

The first meeting of the Down East 

Chapter of the Traditional Small Craft 

Association was held on September 11 at 

the Atlantic Challenge facility in 

Rockland, Maine. Although it was noted 

that a Maine TSCA chapter did exist many 

years ago, it has long been inactive. We 

felt that it was time to establish a strong 

and active TSCA chapter in Maine in 

keeping with our states long and continuing 

maritime and small craft heritage. 

The meeting was blissfully informal. 

Our primary purpose, clearly, is to mess 

about in boats and aid others to do the 

same, but officially the purposes look 

something like: 

1. Promote activities and “mess 

abouts” with like minded 

people on the water. 

2. Support other related 

organizations such as Atlantic 

Challenge. 

3. Co-sponsor events such as a 

winter lecture series and/or 

story telling sessions. 

4. Support boatbuilding efforts in 

Maine. 

5. Support maritime efforts 

involving youth such as Station 

Maine. 

6. Function as a legislative 

“watchdog” organization for 

small craft interests in Maine. 

We voted to maintain the “KISS” 

method of governance, with one coordinator 

elected and rotated on an annual 

basis, and one annual meeting. Other 

meetings, events, rowing adventures, and 

sailing adventures will undoubtedly follow. 

Following the meeting we launched our 

various boats, joining those of Atlantic 

Challenge and Station Maine, and participated 

in the annual “Short Ships” race to 

the lighthouse and back in Rockland’s 

protected waters. This was the first event 

of what looks to be a vibrant Maine chapter. 

• 

Gardner Grant 

Update: 

Island Star Project 

Gets New Life 

By John Weiss 

On October 1, 2004, John Calagero and 

his crew on San Juan Island, WA turned 

over the Island Star project to the Old 

Anacortes Rowing and Sailing Society 

(OARS) on nearby Fidalgo Island. The 

current state of the project consists of 

plans, molds on a strongback with a partially 

planked hull, fastenings, lumber, and 

an endowment for construction that includes 

a grant from the John Gardner 

Foundation. 

David Jackson, representing OARS in 

Anacortes, WA, relates that “I met with 

John Gardner four times. Each time he 

was an inspiration, encouraging us with a 

kind smile and knowing, sometimes mischievous 

eyes.” David’s plan is to store 

the hull and strongback for two years while 

a prior obligation is finished, then complete 

the hull for use with the Anacortes 

Sea Scouts and the community based rowing 

club, OARS. The members of OARS 

have been rowing two 21' gigs, Glide and 

Erica (named after Erica Pickett of the 

Flounder Bay Lumber Co. in Anacortes) 

for 20 years now. The boats have 12 regular 

crews and are starting to show the wear. 

The Island Star, a replica of the 27' General 

Lafayette, which is in the livery at 

Mystic Seaport, will be a working replacement. 

One other replica is known to have 

been built. 

The John Gardner fund awarded the Island 

Star project a $500 grant in 2000, 

and several project updates have appeared 

in the Ash Breeze since then. TSCA member 

Colin Hermans of Friday Harbor is one 

of a handful of people who had worked 

with John Calagero on the boat for several 

years, and may know as much as anyone 

about the history of the boat. The 

project has been dormant, however, since 

John moved to Europe to continue his education. 

Further information on OARS and 

future updates on the Island Star project 

will be available at 

www.woodenboatsanacortes.com 

and www.oarss.org • 

Lone Star Chapter 

News 

By Howard Gmelch 

Saturday, October 23, the Scow Schooner 

Project hosted the first event of the 

newly formed Lone Star Chapter of the 

TSCA and the Project’s fourth annual Festival. 

Eleven small craft gathered for some 

fun in the Trinity River Delta before the 

sky opened up. 

This year’s event was held in conjunction 

with the celebration of the Centennial 

of the Lone Star Canal, operated by 

our hosts, Chambers and Liberty County 

Navigation District. Along with our Small 

Craft Festival, the Upper Texas Coast 

Water-Borne Education Center gave free 

rides on the river on their two education 

vessels. Several other area organizations 

participated with educational displays, 

artifact exhibits and even a duck race. A 

local canoeing/nature study club, the Master 

Mariners, made the Festival the destination 

for its morning paddle. 

The Festival was kicked off with the 

ceremonial launching of the skiff that will 

be the scow schooner’s tender. It is a 

stretched Gardner flattie skiff, built by 

Schooner Project volunteers. The launching 

was well attended by local elected officials 

and the heavy skiff floated very 

lightly on the water…right side up! 

The most popular event of the festival 

was the Kid’s Boatbuilding Shop. The 

volunteers were kept busy helping youngsters 

build all sorts creative small craft. • 

The Ash Breeze - Winter 2004_______________________________________________________ 3

“Only if our children are introduced to boats at an early age and grow 

up using them on the water will what we are doing today have any 

relevance for the future.” 

– John Gardner (former counselor, Pine Island Camp) 

Founded in 1902, Pine Island remains true to the simple, island life-style established by 

the current director’s grandfather and committed to providing an adventurous, safe summer. 

No electricity, an absence of competitive sports and the island setting make Pine 

Island unique. Ten in-camp activities offered daily, include rowing, canoeing, sailing, 

kayaking, swimming, workshop, archery, riflery, and tennis. Over thirty camping trips 

each summer, include backpacking, canoeing, kayaking and trips to the camp’s 90-acre 

salt water island. Campfire every night. Write or call the director for more information. 

Ben Swan, P.O. Box 242, Brunswick, Maine 04011 

Win a TSCA 

T-shirt 

Members whose articles are published 

in the Ash Breeze are awarded 

a TSCA T-shirt. An article is a 

complete piece of writing that 

informs and educates. Anecdotes, 

Chapter news and reports, etc., do 

not qualify, although a T-shirt will be 

awarded to regular contributors of 

Chapter reports at the Editor’s 

discretion. How about writing that 

article for Ash Breeze? Tell me your T-shirt size when 

you send in your story. 

Benefactor 

Life Member 

Samuel E. Johnson Sidney S. Whelan, Jr. Jean Gardner Bob Hicks 

Generous Patrons 

Lee Caldwell 

Michael S. Olson 

...and Individual Sponsor/Members 

Mr. & Mrs. Rodney W. Agar 

Doug Aikins 

Rob Barker 

Ellen & Gary Barrett 

Bruce Beglin 

Charles Benedict 

Willard A. Bradley 

Robert C. Briscoe 

Charles Canniff 

Dick & Jean Anne Christie 

James & Lloyd Crocket 

Richard F. Cullison 

Thad Danielson 

Stanley R.Dickstein 

Dan & Eileen Drath 

Thomas Dugan 

Frank C. Durham 

Albert Eatock 

Tuck Elfman 

John D. England 

Tom Etherington 

Ben Fuller 

Roy Gaines 

John M. Gerty 

Geoffrey J. Grosguth 

Mr. & Mrs. R. Bruce Hammatt, Jr. 

John A. Hawkinson 

Peter Healey 

Colin O. Hermans 

Gary F. Herolds 

Roger Holzmacher 

Stuart K. Hopkins 

Townsend Hornor 

John M. Karbott 

Carl B. & Ruth W. Kaufmann 

Thomas E. King 

Richard S. Kolin 

Chelcie Liu 

Jon Lovell 

James D. & Julie Maxwell 

Dean Meledones 

Charles H. Meyer, Jr. 

Howard Mittleman 

King Mud & Queen Tule 

Michael S. Olson 

David J. Pape 

W. Lee & Sibyl A. Pellum 

Michael Porter 

Tom & Susanne Regan 

Ronald W. Render 

Don Rich 

Nelius N. Ronning 

Bill & Karen Rutherford 

Philip T. Schiro 

Karl Schmid 

Richard Schubert 

Paul A. Schwartz 

Michael O. Severance 

Gary L. Shirley 

Walter J. Simmons 

Stephen Smith 

Robert W. Sparks 

Peter H. Spectre 

Randall Spurr 

Zach Stewart 

John P. Stratton, III 

George Surgent 

Benjamin B. Swan 

Gary Thompson 

Sigrid H.Trumpy 

Ray E. Tucker 

Peter T. Vermilya 

Eleanor Watson 

John L. Way 

Richard B. Weir 

John & Ellen Weiss 

Stephen M. Weld 

Michael D. Wick 

Leland W. Wight 

Andrew Wolfe 

Robert & Judith Yorke 

J. Myron Young 


Gardner Grants 

“To preserve, continue, and expand the achievements, vision and goals of John Gardner by enriching and disseminating 

our traditional small craft heritage.” In 1999, TSCA created the John Gardner Grant program to support projects for 

which sufficient funding would otherwise be unavailable. Eligible projects are those which research, document, preserve, 

and replicate traditional small craft, associated skills, and those who built and used them. Youth involvement is encouraged. 

Grants proposals are reviewed semiannually, typically in May and October. 

Proposals for projects ranging from $200 to $2000 are invited for consideration. The John Gardner Grants are competitive 

and reviewed semiannual by the John Gardner Memorial Fund Committee of TSCA. The source of funding is the John 

Gardner Memorial Endowment Fund, and funding available for projects will be determined annually. 

Eligible applicants include anyone who can demonstrate serious interest in, and knowledge of, traditional small craft. 

Affiliation with a museum or academic organization is not required. Projects must have tangible, enduring results which 

are published, exhibited, or otherwise made available to the interested public. Projects must be reported in the Ash Breeze. 

For program details, applications and additional information visit TSCA on the web at www.tsca.net 

TSCA Chapters 

Join or start a chapter to enjoy the fellowship and skills which can be gained around traditional small craft 

Adirondack Chapter TSCA 

Mary Brown, 100 Cornelia St., Apt. 205, 

Plattsburgh, NY 12901, 518-561-1667 

Annapolis Chapter TSCA 

Sigrid Trumpy, 12 German St., Annapolis, 

MD 21401, hollace@crosslink.net 

Barnegat Bay TSCA 

Patricia H. Burke, Director,Toms River 

Seaport Society,PO Box 1111, Toms River, 

NJ 08754, 732-349-9209, 

www.tomsriverseaport.com 

Connecticut River 

Oar and Paddle Club 

Jon Persson, 17 Industrial Park Road, Suite 

5, Centerbrook, CT 06409 

jon.persson@snet.net 

Delaware River TSCA 

Tom Shephard, 482 Almond Rd, Pittsgrove, 

NJ 08318, SShep41556@aol.com 

Down East Chapter 

John Silverio, 105 Proctor Rd, Lincolnville, 

ME 04849, work 207-763-3885, home 

207-763-4652, camp: 207-763-4671, 

jsarch@midcoast.com 

Floating the Apple 

Mike Davis, 400 West 43rd St., 32R, New 

York, NY 10036, 212-564-5412, 

www.floatingtheapple.org 

Florida Gulf Coast TSCA 

Roger B. Allen, Florida Gulf Coast 

Maritime Museum, PO Box 100, 4415 

119th St W, Cortez, FL 34215, 941-708- 

4935 or Cell 941-704-8598 

Friends of the North Carolina 

Maritime Museum TSCA 

William Prentice, 315 Front Street, Beaufort, 

NC 28516, 252-728-7317, 

maritime@ncmail.com 

John Gardner Chapter 

Russ Smith, Univ of Connecticut, Avery 

Point Campus, 1084 Shennecossett Road, 

Groton, CT 06340, 860-536-1113, 

fruzzy@hotmail.com 

Long Island TSCA 

Myron Young, PO Box 635, Laurel, NY 

11948, 631-298-4512 

Lost Coast Chapter - Mendocino 

Dusty Dillon, PO Box 1028, Willits, CA 

95490, 707-459-1735, plasgal@saber.net 

North Shore TSCA 

Dave Morrow, 63 Lynnfield Str, Lynn, MA 

01904, 781-598-6163 

Oregon TSCA 

Sam Johnson, 1449 Southwest Davenport, 

Portland, OR 97201, 503-223-4772, 

sjboats@comcast.net 

Patuxent Small Craft Guild 

George Surgent,5227 William's Wharf Road, 

St. Leonard, MD 20685, 410-586-1893 or 

410-326-2042 

Pine Lake Small Craft Assoc. 

Sandy Bryson, Sec., 333 Whitehills Dr, E 

Lansing, MI 48823, 517-351-5976, 

sbryson@msu.edu 

Puget Sound TSCA 

Al Gunther, President, 34718 Pilot Point 

Road NE Kingston, WA 98346, 360-638- 

1088, agunther@silverlink.net 

Sacramento TSCA 

Daphne Lagios, 172 Angelita Avenue, 

Pacifica, CA 94044, 650- 557-0113, 

dlagios@smace.org, www.tsca.net/ 

Sacramento 

Scajaquada TSCA 

Charles H. Meyer, 5405 East River, Grand 

Island, NY 14072, 716-773-2515, 

chmsails@aol.com 

South Jersey TSCA 

George Loos, 53 Beaver Dam Rd, Cape 

May Courthouse, NJ 08210, 609-861- 

0018, georgeloos@hotmail.com 

South Street Seaport Museum 

John B. Putnam, 207 Front Street, New 

York, NY 10038, 212-748-8600, Ext. 663 

days, www.southstseaport.org 

TSCA of Wisconsin 

James R. Kowall, c/o Door County 

Maritime Museum, Box 246, Sturgeon 

Bay, WI 54235, 920-743-4631 

Potomac TSCA, 

Maury River Chapter 

& Upper Chesapeake TSCA 

Chapters are reorganizing. 


The Lady Returns 

Home 

By Richard Kolin 

At the border of Washington and Oregon 

the mighty Columbia River reaches 

the Pacific Ocean. Just to the north lies 

Willapa Bay, a large shallow tidal basin 

once called Shoalwater Bay. Nestled along 

the shores of Willapa Bay lies the historic 

village of Oysterville. It was here in 1853 

that Chief Nahcati of the Chinook tribe 

revealed to Robert Espy the existence of 

beds of native oysters. The high-rollers of 

San Francisco were hungry for oysters and 

created a market which made fortunes for 

the busy oystermen of Oysterville. 

Time and the tides have eroded away 

the saloons, stores, and businesses of the 

once prosperous main street. They have 

been replaced with the soft sound of rustling 

grasses and the gentle lapping of the 

water coming and going with the timeless 

tidal cycles. The 19th-century boomers 

have been replaced by descendants of the 

original pioneers, and a few newcomers 

enticed by the quiet ambiance of old houses 

dating from 1863 looking out at the bay. 

In the winter, the village has a population 

of 14. In the summer, extended families 

return to the place of their birth to celebrate 

the vibrancy of their roots. 

From the earliest years Shoalwater Bay 

boatbuilders created a fleet of beautiful and 

practical sailing oyster boats or “plungers,” 

which towed small barges called 

bateaus to and from the oyster beds. At 

low tide, a large percentage of the area of 

Shoalwater Bay emerges as mud flats. In 

many cases, the boats had to be anchored 

over a mile from 

shore so they would 

not be forced to 

spend most of their 

time sitting on the 

mud. To get back and 

forth to land, a rowing 

boat was developed 

notable not only 

for its great beauty, 

but for its speed and 

The new Shoalwater Bay Oyster Dinghy built by 

boatbuilding students in 2003. She is shown here visiting 

Oysterville in 2004 crewed by Nancy Lloyd and Rich Kolin. 

easy movement 

through the water. 

The boats were 14 to 

18 feet long and were 

built with double 

ends and square 

stems. The double 

ended versions were 

most popular. This 

boat has come to be 

called the Shoalwater 

Bay Dinghy. 

Almost ten years 

ago, I stumbled on to 

this little boat when 

I traveled to South 

Bend, Washington, 

on the Willapa River 

to learn more about 

the sailing oyster boats. There I met 

Marion Lauderback, son of the legendary 

boatbuilder Dan Lauderback. Dan 

built many of the last and greatest of the 

sailing oyster boats and went on to build 

powered oyster dredgers and oyster tugs. 

At least two of these, the Tokeland (an 

oyster dredge built in 1910) and the Daring 

(a small tug built in the mid 20s) are 

still plying their trade. Under the tutelage 

of his father, Marion learned the 

trade and became a 

local legend in his 

own right. Many of 

the oysterman who 

held on to the older 

wooden dredgers 

hired Marion to 

Shoalwater Bay Oyster Dinghy built in 1928 by Dan 

Lauderback at the Willapa Bay Interpretive Center. 

On the Beach at Carna Beach State Park in 2004. Interior 

view of the new Shoalwater Bay Oyster Dinghy. 

maintain their 

boats. 

It was Marion 

who told me the 

tale of the 

Shoalwater Bay 

Dinghy. He showed 

me half models 

carved by his father and a surviving example 

of a 14-foot, square-stemmed boat 

which he had collected. I made several 

trips to South Bend to visit with Marion 

and he graciously gave of his time. He was 

92 at the time and still pursuing his trade. 

Before I could visit again he passed away, 

leaving lasting memories of the time I 

spent listening to his stories. 

In 1928, Dan Lauderback built a 14- foot 

double-ended Shoalwater Bay Dinghy, 

which after a life of hard work ended up 

in the Willapa Bay Interpretive Center at 

Nahcotta, across the Bay from South Bend. 

I made several trips to measure this boat 

in hopes of building one in a boat building 

class that I teach for the Center for 

Wooden Boats in Seattle. In 2002, I finally 

had the opportunity to build this boat with 

the help of students at my shop in 

Marysville, Washington. I named her 

Marion. 

It took six weeks to build this boat. According 

to Marion, Dan could deliver a 

boat like this in two weeks. The Marion is 

carvel planked with six planks per side as 


was the original. Her stems and breast 

hooks were glued up to resemble the originals, 

which were carved from tree roots. 

Her construction follows the original 

boat’s with large oarlock pads designed 

so that the rowers can reverse direction 

without turning the boat. This was a must 

in a shallow bay where grounding in the 

mud was a recurring problem. 

The construction of this little boat is 

unique to this type as far as I can see. At 

each thwart is a single knee, fitted to the 

hull port and starboard, reaching from the 

rail to about a foot below the thwart. The 

knee is notched to provide a rest for the 

seat and a short riser is fitted tightly 

through the knee and attaches to a frame 

on either side. Planking thickness is 1/2 

inch and each plank is “backed out” or 

carved to fit the shape of the hull. Some 

of the planks start out as thick as 7/8 inch. 

The rowing positions are laid out so that 

the boat is always in trim no matter the 

passenger load. We launched the boat at 

Cama Beach State Park on Camano Island. 

All present marveled at her beauty and 

easy movement through the water. But I 

knew that something was missing until I 

had the chance to launch her on 

Shoalwater Bay. This year the opportunity 

came. My friend, Nancy Lloyd—artist, 

historian, and Oysterville resident (her 

house dates from 1873)—invited me to 

take part in the Oysterville sesquicentennial. 

I couldn’t resist the chance to bring 

the Marion to Oysterville to introduce her 

to people who would appreciate her pedigree. 

The highlight of my visit to Oysterville 

came when we launched the Marion onto 

the bay at the historic Oysterville Sea 

Farms, owned and operated by Dan 

Driscoll. Dan was kind enough to allow 

us to use his launch ramp even though we 

would be weaving through his carefully 

tended oyster beds. The waters were thin 

but the boat floated quickly. She lived up 

to her billing by rowing effortlessly and 

accelerated quickly to cruising speed. 

Thanks to the Gardner Grant of the Traditional 

Small Craft Association, plans are 

available for the 14-foot, double-ended 

Shoalwater Bay Dinghy through The Center 

for Wooden Boats (CWB). Contact 

Dick Wagner, telephone: 206-382-BOAT 

or 1010 Valley Street, Seattle, WA 98109- 

4468. 

For information about boatbuilding and 

other classes taught by Rich Kolin, see the 

CWB web site at cwb.org, or contact Rich 

Kolin at kolin1@gte.net or 360-659-5591. 

Additional reading: 

1. Oysterville, The Road to Grandpa’s 

Village, Willard R. Espy, University of 

Washington Press, Seattle and London, 

1977, 1992. 

2. Shoalwater Willapa, Douglas Allen, 

Snoose Peak Publishing, South Bend, WA, 

2004. 

3. Observing our Peninsula’s Past, the 

Age of Legends Through 1931, Volume 

One of the Chinnook Observer Centennial 

Project, Nancy Lloyd, A Chinook Observer 

Publication, 2004. • 

Sailing Oyster Boats racing on the Willapa River 

at the turn of the 19th century. 

The Oyster Dredge Tokeland, built by 

Dan Lauderback in 1910. 


The Canadian 

Canoe Museum: 

Preserving Our 

National Heritage 

By Brian Burton 

“Wherever there is a channel for water, 

there is a road for the canoe.” Henry David 

Thoreau (1817-1862) 

The Canada we know today exists as a 

direct result of the canoe. The canoe is a 

recognized symbol of Canada and helped 

determine our national boundaries, long 

before the aboriginal life. It was the principal 

means of trade and communication 

between the arrival of Europeans in the 

Western Hemisphere; the canoe was at the 

center of First Nations. 

There is an ancient and rich diversity 

in canoe shapes, construction 

and purpose, a knowledge that Native 

builders have refined over the 

past centuries. Some canoes were 

elegantly carved and formed from the 

massive trees of the northern Pacific 

coast for trade, war and for hunting 

the great whales. Other builders 

carved smaller canoes, well suited for 

travelling rivers, creeks and small 

waterways. In the harsh treeless 

Arctic landscape, the generosity of 

the ocean and rivers provided Inuit 

builders with animals and driftwood, 

from which they perfected the seaworthy 

shapes of their covered hunting 

craft. 

The word “canoa” or “canoe,” meaning 

boat or vessel, appeared in the earliest 

writings about the First Peoples of the New 

World, and was adapted from the Arawak 

language of the Native Caribbeans. 

As the early 17th-century Europeans 

ventured deeper into the North American 

continent, they discovered extensive aboriginal 

trade networks already in place 

along established canoe routes. They 

found that their own heavy boats were not 

suitable for traveling the lakes, rivers and 

portages and learned quickly the value of 

the canoe. 

The collection features examples of Aboriginal craft that span the continent of North 

America. They range from great cedar whaling dugouts of the West Coast, to fine 

bark canoes, to the skin kayaks of the Arctic. 

Canadian Canoe Museum 

The Canadian Canoe Museum is North 

America's only canoe museum. With more 

than 600 canoes and kayaks and 1,000 

related artifacts, the Museum’s collection 

is the largest of its kind in the world. 

The collection features examples of aboriginal 

craft that span the continent of 

North America. They range from great 

cedar whaling dugouts of the West Coast, 

fine bark canoes, to the skin kayaks of the 

Arctic. These vessels demonstrate the 

skills and ingenuity of the builders who 

constructed them using available resources 

from the land and sea, using them for 

hunting, fishing, trade and warfare. 

Today, these vessels serve as teaching 

tools, help to revive canoe-building traditions, 

and create an appreciation of heritage 

and culture in communities across the 

nation. 

The museum houses a variety of historic 

wooden canoes, (built in the canoe manufacturing 

centres during the late 1800s and 

early 1900s), many examples of international 

craft from Senegal, Africa, Papua 

New Guinea, Taiwan, and Polynesia, dugout 

craft with outriggers, and unique sewnplank 

canoes. 

About 100 craft are on display in the 

Weston Centre. (The remainder of the 

approximately 600 total craft are stored 

in the Collection Centre, which is not open 

to the public. The Board of Directors is 

working on a three-year plan, which may 

eventually see a portion of the Collection 

Centre open to the public.) 

Kirk Wipper, Founder of the CCM 

Kirk Wipper has a remarkable passion 

for Canadian history and canoes, and it 

was his idea to create a museum of canoes 

and kayaks originally assembled and exhibited 

at the Kanawa International Museum. 

“Every Canadian owns part of this collection 

and they present a wonderful story 

of survival,” said Wipper. 

There is a story behind every canoe in 

the collection, which he has been building 

since he received an ancient dugout 

canoe from a friend in 1955. 

In 1990 Kirk turned over his impressive 

Kanawa collection to the new Canadian 

Canoe Museum. 

How The Canadian Canoe Museum Was 

Created 

In the conceptual stage, Commonwealth 

Historic Resource Management Limited 

led a team of consultants who worked 

closely with the canoe museum directors 

throughout the three-phase development 

process. The feasibility study suggested 

that, with proper design, planning, and 

marketing, a museum dedicated to the Canadian 

canoe was indeed a viable possibility. 

Commonwealth began by formulating 

the museum’s interpretive goals and ob- 


Throughout much of the rest of 

Canada, the rind of the White Birch 

tree helped Native builders to overcome 

the challenges of overland and 

coastal travel. Builders of bark canoes 

removed the supple skin from 

these trees, tailored them into carefully 

proportioned vessels of their 

own traditions, and lined the entire 

craft with a lightweight wooden 

frame. In a land crisscrossed by a 

myriad of rivers and creeks, the birch 

bark canoe provided the traveler with 

a craft that could carry a great load, 

was light enough to be carried as the 

need arose, and which could manage 

the rigours of early travel. 

jectives and by developing a comprehensive 

site plan. 

According to John Stewart, Principal of 

Commonwealth, the interactions enabled 

the development and refinement of a master 

plan for the eight-acre site and refurbishment 

of two buildings totaling 

140,000 square feet. 

“A key factor in enhancing the canoe 

museum’s impressive collection,” reports 

Stewart, “involved creating a comprehensive 

historical sequence for the visitor’s 

experience.” 

Janice Griffith, Manager of the Museum 

explained, “In many respects the museum 

site and our extensive collection was configured 

to illustrate the European experience 

from the first contact in North 

America. As the British and French explorers 

gradually discovered the extensive 

aboriginal trade networks that were already 

in place along established canoe 

routes, they also discovered the amazing 

range of watercraft constructed from available 

natural resources.” 

“Our exhibits are professionally designed 

to demonstrate the unique relationship 

between aboriginals and Europeans, 

and the development of the canoe over 

time as it was used for different purposes. 

We also want our visitors to understand 

the extent of aboriginal ingenuity and 

adaptability and their environmentally 

sustainable approach to life.” 

These vessels exemplify the skills and ingenuity of the builders who constructed 

them using available resources from the land and sea. 

Survival Planning 

Until last summer, attendance steadily 

increased, reaching 40,000 visitors two 

years ago. But the rough economy has 

taken its toll. Last year the number of visitors 

dropped dramatically. While very successful 

in obtaining private and 

government funds for capital projects, the 

Canoe Museum, like many cultural and 

heritage organizations, has always had 

difficulty obtaining enough operating 

funds. Last October a severe lack of operating 

funds forced the museum to shut 

its doors and lay off all paid staff. 

Recognizing the value of this unique 

and irreplaceable collection, the City of 

Peterborough stepped forward with funding 

to hire professional restructuring counsel. 

The Board of Directors met weekly 

from October through May. A one-year 

restructuring and survival plan was created. 

The City of Peterborough gave 

$60,000 towards the 2004 operating budget. 

The County of Peterborough came 

forward with $10,000 to help. Hudson’s 

Bay Company gave $25,000 to restart the 

education programs. A membership drive 

brought in another $80,000 and special 

events $65,000. A new lender/donor 

stepped forward to assume the bank liability 

at very favourable terms. A manager 

was hired and with only two full-time staff 

and an army of volunteers, the museum 

reopened its doors May 1, 2004. 

“While we are doing very well following 

our survival plan for 2004,” reports 

Griffith, “we are not yet completely out of 

the woods financially. We are currently 

raising dollars in a one-time local campaign 

of $100,000. Half will go towards 

operating expenses, half towards debt reduction. 

The woodworking shop volunteers 

have done a beautiful job of trimming 

out a 15-foot fiberglass canoe (value 

$2,000) for a raffle. 

To learn more about the museum and 

fund raising events, visit CCM at http:// 

www.canoemuseum.net 

About the Author 

Brian Burton recently completed a third 

term with the CCMC’s Standing Committee 

for Technical Evaluations and is a regular 

contributor to many leading 

landscaping and engineering publications. 

He is affiliated with the Tree Canada Foundation. 

To contact Brian e-mail 

bburton@bba.on.ca 

Photographs and drawings are provided 

through the courtesy of Commonwealth 

Historic Resource Management Limited. 

For more information surf over to: 

www.chrml.com • 


In France, 2004 

By Todd Bloch 

For the second time in as many festivals, 

the San Francisco Maritime’s felucca 

Nouvo Mondo represented the Bay Area 

and the USA at Brest 2004. Joining her 

volunteer crew on the coast of Brittany this 

time around were members of the Sacramento 

TSCA. Although one of the smaller 

boats at the event, Nouvo Mondo and her 

complement garnered some significant attention 

and enjoyed a spectacular six days 

of sailing and just being sailors. 

Our boat was crewed by SF Maritime 

volunteers Bill Doll, Jason, Caitlin and 

Arlo Rucker, Rich Pekelney, Inka 

Peterson and myself. From the TSCA were 

Susan and Richard Geiger and Clifford 

and Marian Cain. One of the things I enjoy 

about meeting up with friends in out 

of the way places, such as the northwest 

coast of France, is hearing about the different 

routes that people take to get there. 

I calculated that I spent about 20 hours of 

nonstop travel—via car, plane, bus, train, 

car—en route to Brest. Others took more 

indirect routes—Bill had arrived via Italy, 

the Cains via Spain, the Ruckers via Scotland 

and the Geigers via a gunkhole on 

the Loire River. Inka chose the opposite 

approach and embarked on a two-week 

voyage after the festival as a crew member 

returning a ship to Germany. 

The maritime festival in Brest, one of 

the biggest, occurs every four years and 

attracts boats and people from around the 

world. This year featured special guest 

countries of Switzerland, Brazil, Norway 

and Ethiopia. Nouvo Mondo was moored 

with several other felucca types opposite 

the contingent of Swiss boats. This afforded 

the opportunity 

to meet the Swiss 

crews, do a little sailing 

on their boats, 

drink Swiss beer and 

eat fondue (the Swiss 

pavilion served fondue 

all day—really). 

This also gave us our 

best chance to show 

off the boat to the international 

press. A 

reporter from the 

Geneva newspaper 

Les Temps decided to 

write one of his five 

daily reports about Nouvo Mondo and our 

experiences at the festival. 

We wanted to give the reporter a proper 

felucca experience, so Inka and I took him 

for a sail aboard Nouvo Mondo. Conditions 

were good that day, so we had one of 

the better sails of the trip. We cruised 

across a good portion of the “Rade de 

Brest” near the entrance to the Elorn River. 

This brought us through the heart of the 

tall ship fleet that was also out that day. 

Among the big ships that we encountered 

close was the Grand Turk, a replica of a 

22-gun frigate. If anyone has watched the 

Hornblower TV series, you’ve seen this 

ship as the HMS Indefatigable. 

We had several other sailing adventures 

with Nouvo Mondo. As anyone who has 

sailed on her knows, she’s not a quickly 

maneuverable boat, so in the midst, oh, of 

1000 boats leaving the harbor at the same 

time, it can only be described as an adventure. 

This year’s festival 

was several days 

longer than previous 

events, so that gave 

us more time to enjoy 

the other activities—fireworks 

shows, night-time 

lighted-ship parades 

and the local and 

visiting cultures. 

With the range of 

visiting countries, 

one can image the 

kind of culture 

clashes that arose— 

Swiss Alphorns interrupted 

by the roving Brazilian party/ 

marching band, Norwegian traditional 

dances and Brittany cow milking demonstrations. 

And in regard to cultural stew, I 

can’t forget Editor-in-Chief Richard Geiger 

sitting on a San Francisco boat of 

Mediterranean style playing American 

folk songs on a guitar borrowed from an 

Englishman sailing a replica of Slocum’s 

Spray. Paramount among the cultural experiences 

however, was the food. The 

ships were great, but we did need nourishment 

after all. We needed the crepes, 

mussels, cider, cheese, quiche, wine, 

pate—the list could go on. 

Among this large mix of cultures and 

nationalities, Nouvo Mondo was apparently 

the only American vessel registered 

at the event. Our crew seemed to be the 

majority of Americans; the only others we 

met were either expatriates or crew on 

European ships. However, nationalities 

did not matter. There was notable inter- 


est that Nouvo Mondo came all the way 

from San Francisco (“such a long way”) 

and that lateen rigs had found their way 

to the U.S. West Coast, but her American 

flag seemed appropriately irrelevant. This 

was a gathering of boats and their crews 

and that was all it was. Conversations 

were about sailing and personal interests; 

time together was spent on each others’ 

boats. Nationalities and politics were 

never mentioned. 

At the conclusion of festivities in Brest, 

a good portion of the fleet packs up and 

spends a day sailing to another festival in 

Douarnenez. Seeing this flotilla of several 

thousand traditional sails make this 

voyage is one of the most spectacular 

sights I have seen. After leaving the 

“Goulet de Brest”, the fleet rounds the 

“Pointe de Penhir,” which features a number 

of closely spaced islands (more like 

big rocks) just off the point. It seems to 

be tradition that as many ships as possible 

squeeze between the mainland and the first 

rock. If you want to be really, really close 

to some big ships under way, this is the 

place to be. The group then rounds the 

“Cap de la Chevre” into the “Baie de 

Douarnenez” before arriving at the small 

traditional village of Douarnenez itself. 

Weather predictions indicated a potentially 

rough sail that day, and with Nouvo 

Mondo still taking water through her 

seams (she had been out of the water for 

some time), we decided that she should 

be taken by trailer to Douarnenez. Most 

of our group was able to find positions on 

ships for the sail. One-year-old Arlo 

couldn’t get his hands around any of the 

big ship’s lines, so he, Jason, Caitlin, and 

I made the drive between the cities. This 

provided the opportunity to see several 

small villages and a view of the fleet arriving 

in port. 

Douarnenez is a smaller town and festival 

than Brest and caters a bit more to 

the smaller boats. It is still retains its fishing 

village atmosphere and is thus a bit 

more scenic location for a traditional boat 

festival. This was an occasion to wind 

down after the time in Brest, especially 

for those who had been traveling before 

the first festival. One of our last activities 

together was a picnic at sunset on a very 

scenic beach overlooking the Baie de 

Douranenez. We were not on the beach 

itself because it was raining, and a nice 

big pine tree was providing adequate protection. 

We never really saw the sunset 

either, because, well, it was raining. We 

did have a good time however, enjoying 

the cider, cheese and quiche. A passerby 

whom we managed to have take a picture 

of us lounging on the damp ground left us 

shaking his head and saying “Only sailors…” 

• 

CROPC and New 

London BBB 

By John Stratton 

The Connecticut River Oar and Paddle 

Club and the John Gardner Chapter enjoyed 

a sparkling day at the Sail New London 

Boats Books and Brushes (BBB) 

events on the historic Thames River on 

September 11, 2004. The small-craft 

component of the BBB harbor activities 

committee was attended by 16 CROPC 

and JGC stalwarts (m/f) and ten vessels, 

including a Whisp with forward-facing 

rower, a San Francisco Bay Pelican, a 

1906 canoe beautifully restored, a highperformance 

kayak (in historic Western 

Approaches “dazzle” camo), the new 

Armitage/JGC Monument River Wherry, 

a guideboat, two dories, and two of the 

21-foot CROPC triples. Some other vessels 

within visual range included the 

USCG barque Eagle, the USS Jimmy 

Carter (SSN 23), Mystic Seaport’s 1932 

schooner Brilliant, the auto ferry Cape 

Henlopen (an ex-USN LST which served 

June 6, 1944, at Normandy), the USCG 

icebreaker Morro Bay, several high-speed 

catamaran ferries, and a number of other 

large sailing yachts and historic vessels. 

Hotdogs, hamburgers, and other comestibles 

were grilled and eaten or imbibed 

directly from box, bag, or bottle and served 

with grace and wit on the soft white sand 

of the river mouth beach of Mitchell College. 

A sunny September day on New London’s 

Thames River saw Donna and Larry 

Magee, left, with their dory. Named Jane, 

after John Gardner Chapter member Russ 

Smith’s wife, the dory is the first of several 

built by the chapter. Its design is from the 

lines of a club “Beater Boat,” which they 

saved from its demeaning repose as a 

garden planter. “We all agreed that she 

rowed and handled wonderfully and 

proved very simple to build,” said Larry. 

In the foreground, George Spragg’s Whisp 

is equipped with an EZ-Row forward 

facing rig (www.ez-row.com) which he 

reports enjoying greatly. 

Other chapter vessels that graced the 

Thames included two of the Connecticut 

River Oar And Paddle Club’s 21-foot 

triples, here being prepared by, left to 

right, Barry Stratton, Colleen Stratton, 

Rob Pittaway, and Rod Oakes. In the 

foreground is the new, bright yellow 

Monument River Wherry built this summer 

by JGC’s Bill Armitage and two friends 

from New Zealand. They took it on an 

inaugural tour in upstate New York this 

August. 

Photos by the author.• 


Jetty Island 

By Gary Powell 

This has to be nearly the perfect messabout. 

My adventure began early on Saturday 

in a flurry of packing the van, unloading 

the garage so I could get to the boat, and 

hitching her up. I roused the crew with a 

“hey, daylight’s burning”—of course that’s 

not much of an incentive to a teenager...so 

“breakfast is served” did the trick and the 

crew wandered down for it. To be sure that 

we wouldn’t starve or be short of ballast, 

the crew volunteered to pack lunch. Two 

sandwiches, two apples, four cans of juice, 

bag of nuts, bag of dried fruit, four cookies, 

ice pack…Hey Dad, did you want anything? 

At the crack of 9:45 we were in the van 

rolling down the driveway, screech...back 

for the lifejackets...back for one last hit at 

the head, back for the sunscreen. After 

coming to a grinding halt in Bellevue traffic, 

we inched our way out and up to 

Everett. We arrived a bit late at the docks 

and I met Ralph Merriman with his glass 

kayak and Harry Broady with his classic 

streamlined yacht. They kindly agreed to 

wait for us to get into the water. The crew 

and I furiously loaded the boat in the standard, 

toss-and-heap mode, raised the mast, 

rigged the sails, put in the plug and rolled 

her back down the ramp, back up and 

rolled her again—well maybe ramp 4 is 

better than ramp 6 after all. And she is in 

the water and we are not. Unhitched the 

lines, waded in and unhitched the tie 

downs, put the plug back in and this time 

tightened it. Park the car, run back to the 

dock, and push off, raise the sails, fend 

off dock 3, fend off dock 4, clear the marina 

entrance. 

Whew, we’re moving! 

By this time, Al 

Gunther in Isabell, a 

strip-built 8' tender 

of his own design 

lines that is similar 

to Iain Oughtred’s 

Wren Tender, had 

become a red dot on 

the Southern horizon. 

Al claims to have a slow boat but by 

George the only time I got close to him 

was well after he beached it. 

Ralph and Harry, feeling sorry for us, 

tail-end Charlies, came back and paddled 

with us. Harry went back, and picked up 

Jim Compton in his forward rowing skiff. 

Man, watching that boat move hurts my 

head. I keep thinking “how does he do 

that?” 

Down to the southern tip of Jetty Island 

we drifted. Ralph warned us about the 

rocks so we gave it a wide berth. Harry 

went even wider and sailed a giant circle 

around us. I think there was a bit better 

wind outside but that wooden canoe yawl, 

Nord Vinden, is fast in the light stuff. 

After rounding, Ralph left us and 

headed out to see where Al was going. 

From where we were, it looked like he was 

headed for the Camano Island State Park. 

Harry followed and soon we were left adrift 

in a beautiful 2-knot northerly breeze. Just 

for practice, the crew and I furled the jib 

and then put a single reef in the main. It 

all worked as planned but who knows if 

we’ll be able to do so well when the wind 

really blows. But still, practice helps. As 

Al cut across our bow (about a mile ahead) 

we spotted a Dall’s porpoise rolling about 

100 yards off our beam. This was 

viewed as a good omen for the day. 

As we headed in for the northern 

tip of Jetty Island, we noticed 

that water seemed unusually clear, 

and the bottom awfully close. After 

heeling and still bumping the 

bottom (sand only, I think) we 

tacked and headed out and a bit 

more northerly to clear the point. 

Good thing as Ralph came out in 

his kayak to make sure that we 

rounded to the east of the green 

buoy and not cut the corner. A curious 

seal followed us in and I think knew 

what we were headed for, as it kept poking 

its head up and watching the show. 

So, following Harry— well I don’t think 

Harry came within an inch of the buoy— 

we cleared it and headed for shore. The 

current was sweeping us to the south, the 

wind from the southeast and we were not 

making the beach. So we furled the jib, 

dropped the main and discovered why we 

need to add “lazy jacks.” After detaching 

the boom from the mast I cleared the oars 

from the mainsail and rowed us in for a 

delightful lunch. 

Jetty Island is a man-made pile of river 

dredgings. I don’t think you would be allowed 

to make one of these now, and who 

knows what is under all that sand, but for 

the casual boater its like being in South 

Florida with an active Naval yard off your 

beam. Well, okay, it’s not deserted except 

during midweek, but it is a cool place for 

a picnic. 

Then who should appear but Tom 

Neiman and his son in their beautiful 

wooden Swampscott dory complete with 

a green plastic-tarp spritsail. That is one 

cool way to make a sail. I plan on working 

something simple like this out for my 

dory as well to use when fishing—a 

minimalist rig, unstayed mast single-sail 

with lots of easy-to-reef points. 

A few gawking kayakers dropped by to 

admire the beautiful wooden boats and as 

our skin began to turn a bright shade of 

pink we shoved off and headed for the 

marina. However old Neptune had one 

more trick up his sleeve. In trying to sail 

with the current—moving south, and the 

wind blowing from the south—we were 

held in position with no actual water moving 

across the rudder! Well, I broke out 

an oar and paddled us forward to break 

being in irons, not once but twice before 


we were well on our way. Harry and Al of 

course were but distant specks on the horizon, 

seafaring men with a bit more sense 

than to drift about. 

So up the ramp with my tried-and-true 

method of trailer backing, drive the van 

near the ramp and walk the trailer down 

and we were out. It was 4:30 or so by the 

time we put the last of the rig into the van 

and the crew voted that the day was well 

spent. 

Today a quick trip to the local marine 

store at lunchtime and I’ve the line, 

fairleads and cleat for rigging lazy jacks. 

Leastwise a first cut at them. 

See ya next time! 


Gary has been sailing since 1973. He 

started with the Sea Scouts in Rochester, 

NY, first in Lightnings, then Dragons. He 

moved to Seattle in 1980 for a job but kept 

racing Dragons, then Thunderbirds, and 

now Thistles on Lake Washington and 

Puget Sound. He has only recently bought 

the Swampscott dory. Gary has always 

wanted to do boat camping but never had 

either the boat or a group of friends to do 

it with. His dory home page is http:// 

www.geocites.com/garyLambda/ 

SwampscottDory.html • 

Lost Coast 

Chapter Formed 

The charter meeting was held in 

Mendocino, CA, October 30, with 10 

founding members. The first Mess About 

was held in Noyo Harbor, Fort Bragg CA 

on Saturday November 13 at 11 AM. The 

members are very excited to be part of 

TSCA; some are even planning to come 

east in the spring. • 

Become a 

Sponsor Member 

From the Shop 

Floor: 

The Apprenticeshop, 

Rockland, Maine 

By Meredith Currier Bell 

The smell of cedar. Most people notice 

the smell of cedar before anything else 

when they walk into the Apprenticeshop. 

What I notice is the sound. Not of planers, 

or saws, or draw knives as they go 

through wood, but the sounds of laughter, 

silence, or voices discussing how to approach 

a project. 

Imagine, for instance, the moment when 

apprentices hear that the project they have 

been waiting for has finally come through. 

The silence of anticipation teeters on the 

edge, then free falls down the face of hearing 

good news to explode at the bottom 

into peals of laughter and cheers. Or, 

imagine the pensive whisper of someone 

speaking to herself about how to build a 

rudder, uplifted by the strong tenor of 

someone who has done it before offering 

a bit of advice. 

These sounds of apprenticing have become 

familiar to me over the past three 

years. In fact, they had become so familiar 

that I didn’t even notice them for 

awhile. But this year, I began to hear them 

again. The sound that brought me back 

was the amusement of new apprentices 

working with old to get projects done to 

improve the Shop. The crew that built 

the lofting table enclosure under the stairs 

was clearly audible outside my window 

laughing about their task — I don’t even 

know what it was exactly that got them 

going. 

These sounds of the Shop remind me 

that the boats we build inspire, but do not 

create, the din which I love. The Murray 

Peterson Old Gaffer and the Carney 24 

Lobsterboat, opposite each other on the 

bottom floor, have already evoked the silence 

of sighting a fair line on the lofting 

table. They will cause the low rumble of 

discussion around spiling a carvel plank, 

and most excited heights of yelling when 

frames are pulled from the steambox. The 

Joel White Nutshell Pram and Orvil Young 

Sailing Whitehall upstairs will bring on 

the silent whisper of lapstrake bevel calculations, 

and the giddy laughter of shucking 

ear muffs at the end of a day of riveting. 

The boats may plant the seed for a 

sound, but the apprentices are the source 

and nourishment behind their existence. 

We have begun the year productively. 

Anyone walking into the Shop can see the 

new floor, several walls, and a few benches 

that stand at the ready. Or they can curiously 

eye the cryptic lines of lofting. But 

if they really wanted to notice the productivity 

of early fall, they would open their 

ears to apprentices talking and learning 

together. Our group this year is really 

quite remarkable at producing sound indicative 

of enjoyment and genuine enthusiasm. 

The smell of cedar is nice, but hearing 

each crew’s opus as they conduct symphonies 

inspired by their project—this is my 

favorite part of September. 


Meredith is the Shop Programs Director 

for The Apprenticeshop of Atlantic 

Challenge, Rockland, Maine. This article 

is reprinted with permission from The 

Apprentice, Newsletter of Atlantic Challenge 

Issue 3 Vol. 8, Fall 2004. • 

Boat for Sale 

Kingfisher, built by John McCallum, of 

Veneta, OR. 

This yawl was inspired by the Chesapeake 

Bay log canoes.Specifically, the 

Poquonson log canoe seen in Chapelle’s 

American Small Sailing Craft. The log canoes 

were descendants of Native American 

dugout canoes. The Chesapeake log 

canoes were made of 3 or 5 logs fitted together 

and carved to shape. 

They had distinctive sprit leg-of-mutton 

sails set on raking unstayed masts. The 

Poquonson model was a shoal draft 

centerboarder with moderate deadrise and 

rather hard bilges. 

The hollow entrance and run were made 

by cutting saw kerfs in the forward and 

aft sections of the bottom planks and forcing 

them into shape. The split plywood is 

reinforced with 24 oz. bi-axial fiberglass. 

She lies in Port Townsend. 

Fran Richart 

360-321-1157 

richart@whidbey.com • 


Croisière Loire, 

France 

July 3-8 

By Richard Geiger 

For Susan and me, it started with an 

email from France to the National TSCA 

group, asking whether anyone going to the 

Brest 2004 traditional boat festival might 

want to row and sail for a week down the 

Loire River. 

The trip sounded a lot like San Francisco 

Maritime Museum’s annual 

Gunkhole trip—row and sail all day, camp 

at night and enjoy good companionship 

and good food. 

We’ve done the Gunkhole trip—a number 

of times and have always liked it. In 

addition there would be time to enjoy cultural 

treasures along the Loire (but could 

it be more “cultural” than a funky Delta 

bar?). 

Since we had already committed to attending 

the Brest 2004 festival, we 

checked our airplane tickets and it turned 

out we had time to do it. Then there was 

the debate—we didn’t know any of planners 

or other participants. This was only 

their second cruise—would it really come 

off? We didn’t have a boat and we would 

have to charter one sight unseen. Counting 

the boat rental and deposit, it wasn’t 

going to be all that cheap. 

Finally we decided go for it. The deciding 

point was that we knew from experience 

that it is always better to travel with 

locals than to spend a lot of time driving 

around in an air-conditioned car, spending 

days at typical tourist destinations, isolated 

in your own world. 

We sent in our 

registration and 

rented a Seil, which 

is a handsome open 

boat approximately 

18' by 5' (http:// 

www.canotage-defrance.com/ 

seil.htm). 

The boat had 

double rowing positions 

and an elegant 

high-peaked lug 

sail. The boat is a bit 

heavier than our 

Gunning dory, a little harder to row, but 

more stable under sail. It turned out to be 

an excellent vessel for our trip down the 

Loire. 

We rendezvoused on the river at 

Brehemont, a small town a little west of 

Tours. The Club de Voile du Saumurois 

supplied our rental boat and transported 

it to the launch area. The Seil boatbuilder 

and chief organizer of the event, François 

Lelièvre, personally checked me out on the 

boat. We also met the other trip planners 

and safety boat crew—seven in all, not 

counting gourmet Chef Claude and his 

assistant. 

The registered crews included four 

Dutch boats, two French, one German and 

one American (us). In addition there were 

three French staff boats, which were all 

Seils, two with outboards. 

Two Dutch crews brought “12' Dinghy” 

class boats which were very fast. One captain 

was the national champion of Holland. 

Another Dutchman had a 

70-year-old farmer’s skiff that looked a 

little like a wooden shoe. Another had a 

beautiful, big, dark blue lapstrake with a 

plumb stem. The German, a school principal, 

had a lovely sailing skiff that he 

had built himself. He was the only one to 

sail solo on the trip. A French crew from 

La Rochelle brought another handsome 

varnished lapstrake dinghy. The other five 

boats were Seils, including our rental. 

The captains’ meetings were always 

held in French, but then translated into 

English for the benefit of us Americans, 

and also some of the Dutch, who understood 

English a bit better than French. 

The first day was mostly rowing, because 

we were in an unmarked, wild part 

of the river. We had to prospect channels 

and ended up dragging our boats across 

some shallow sandbars. The sun was out 

and I found this a lot of fun. Susan sat 

back in the stern sheets and directed. 

We camped in modest campgrounds 

along the river for about 8 to 12 Euros a 

night. There was grass to pitch tents and 

welcoming hot showers. 

Chef Claude, equipped with his van and 

trailer, made sure we had three gourmet 

meals a day. Lunch and dinner always included 

wine. He always greeted us with a 


warm smile and hot food as we dragged 

in after a long day on the river. 

We set into a rhythm of rowing, sailing, 

lunch, and touring on foot at midday, 

more sailing and then at our destination, 

pitching tents, then a glass of wine and 

dinner. Later, if we had the energy, we’d 

have a campfire and pull out some musical 

instruments and sing. 

There were some lovely wild stretches, 

with almost no signs of man, and then 

quaint towns, magnificent chateaus, and 

ancient bridges. At times we were drifting 

in light airs and then there would be a 

perfect, brisk, sailing breeze. We enjoyed 

tacking back and forth, making sure not 

to get too far ahead and trying to catch up 

if we were falling behind. 

Things went on that way for several days 

until the weather started to change. A big 

front blew in from the Atlantic Ocean to 

the west and things got blustery. At one 

point a powerful squall came down on us 

and capsized one of our boats and managed 

to rip our mast and sail right out of 

our boat. Repairs were made and we 

headed on. 

The rough weather continued, with most 

of the wind right on the nose. We rowed 

and or sailed until we could do no more. 

At the end there were just two boats still 

sailing, both in Seils, Susan and I and two 

of the staff members, Paschal and Frederic. 

Although we were triple-reefed a huge 

gust hit us and we dipped a huge load of 

water and had to call it quits. The same 

gust hit the other Seil and broke the lug 

spar in half. 

At this point, we secured the boats 

ashore and hiked and car-shuttled to the 

next campground, returning to retrieve our 

boats the next day, which was the last 

scheduled for the cruise. 

We had a festive farewell dinner at 

Claude’s restaurant near the Loire. Many 

warm toasts were made and we left full of 

good memories. 

A number of photos are posted on the 

Web at: 

http://www.canotage-de-france.com/ 

loire2004.html • 

The Avery Point 

Dory and the EZ- 

Rower 

by Gail E. Ferris 

Last Sunday afternoon I got to try my 

EZ-Rower in an Avery Point dory in what 

I thought was supposed to be 10 to 15 

knots out of the northeast. Heading south 

out of the bay in Mystic with the wind at 

my back rowing facing forward was not 

all that demanding and I slid though the 

passage to Mason’s Island with no problem 

because I was rowing facing forward. 

I found myself enjoying being able to take 

in the upcoming shoreline comfortably 

studying the details as I wished without 

having to worry about smashing into some 

object had I been rowing in the normal 

backward method. The EZ-Rower has 

compound levers mounted to the original 

oarlock pin holders. I had the EZ-Rower 

modified from the original shorter oared 

design to 8 foot oars as the dory rows best 

on open water with 7.5 to 8 foot oars. 

I headed east toward more open water 

where I found some lovely one-foot swells 

from the south combined with the halffoot 

waves from the north. I delighted 

playing the swells as I headed back north 

to Mason’s Island passage just as if I were 

in a kayak. The pleasure with playing the 

swells with oars rather than a paddle is 

that oars generate more instantaneous 

thrust, handy for that moment when you 

want to shoot down the face of a wave. I 

like that kind of fun playing the waves of 

open water and letting the boat show her 

colors. 

I especially enjoyed gunkholing behind 

the islands through a narrow shallow 

rocky passage observing the biota as the 

large white egrets and grey herons watched 

me. The birds were not fearful of my presence 

because the oars do not look nearly 

as threatening to these weary birds as a 

kayak paddle. Had I been kayaking I 

would have had to resort to paddling with 

a single paddle so as not to flush these 

fascinating birds. 

As I rounded the last peninsula heading 

for the passage I found myself beset 

by a solid 20 knots of wind in my face out 

of the north. I found myself digging in 

hard stroke after stroke to make way. To 

my relief the EZ-Rower functioned flawlessly 

and I missed no strokes in my physically 

demanding continued strokes. 

Missing a stroke would have meant several 

strokes to make up for lost ground, 

not fun, but that is the reality of being out 

there against 20 knots of wind. 

It was a delight to see the landmarks 

passing by in my tough grind back to the 

dock. I made it back fine and the grind 

was not any more physically demanding 

than if I had been using regular oars. I 

felt it was even easier rowing facing forward 

because I could see exactly where I 

was going and micro-adjust for any slight 

course deviation. 

There is one drawback with the EZ- 

Rower. The oars cannot feather and in 20 

knots with a few higher gusts I had a few 

moments when it would have been good 

to have had oars which feather. Ron 

Rantilla’s invention, the FrontRower, does 

offer self-feathering oars however the 

FrontRower does not fit into an Avery 

Point dory. 

I could readily understand from the intense 

pleasure I experienced while testing 

my EZ-Rower why Maine lobster dories 

are rowed facing forward, it is much easier 

to truly see in great detail where I am going 

and what is out there. 

The EZ-Rower with 8-foot oars— which 

can be purchased at EZ-Rower, 685 Linden 

Street, Taylor Falls, MN 55084— 

solved my problem of rowing facing 

forward in a dory. • 

Boat for Sale 

I have an 11' 3" Susan Skiff built by 

the ApprenticeShop that I must now sell. 

Jane Greenberg 

516 367 3678 

meriwich@aol.com 


Tribute to One 

Mary Alice “Mimi” 

Gerstell Neary 

May 4, 1933- November 1, 2003 

By Sharon Brown 

Almost a year has passed since I wrote 

the following words published in Mystic 

Seaport’s staff bulletin. The sentiment, 

however, is current. 

“Last week Mystic Seaport lost a loyal 

supporter when Mary “Mimi” Neary of 

Montclair, New Jersey crossed the bar after 

a brave fight against cancer. Mimi, a 

lawyer by profession, was a free spirit who 

loved the sea and boats and those who care 

for both. She joined Mystic Seaport in 

1987 and took sailing classes offered by 

the Community Sailing Program, joining 

the Anderson Island Irregulars in their 

championing of museum sailing opportunities. 

She was an active Museum member 

participating in special events, bus 

trips, tavern tales, lantern light tours, and 

supported the Emma C. Berry crew. In 

1991 she purchased a sailing model of the 

Chaisson dory tender built by Barry Thomas 

and Bill Sauerbrey in the John Gardner 

Boat Shop and a beautiful set of oars 

built by Bill. She rowed and sailed her dory 

at her summer residence on the Niantic 

River with her Beetle Cat, Cat’s Meow II, 

which she purchased after taking a 

boathandling class at The Boathouse. She 

joined the Traditional Small Craft Association, 

contributed to the John Gardner 

fund, and became an annual student at The 

Boathouse, recording during each class 

some new piece of lore or documenting in 

her log a new-found boathandling skill 

which her colleagues 

were eager to share. 

When she ordered a 

new Beetle Cat hull, 

Cat’s Meow III, her 

tired old friend was 

passed about the local 

scene, eventually 

accompanying 

Walter Ansel to 

WoodenBoat School 

before going to a new 

owner. Mimi was a 

fine human being, 

with a positive upbeat 

attitude and never an 

unkind word. She 

had a great sense of 

humor and laughed 

Mimi rowed her own Chaisson dory around her cove in Niantic 

Bay and was always studying ways to improve her technique. 

readily, and despite her diminutive size 

and sense of clothing style, she was never 

too timid to approach the gruffest of salts 

to learn the tugboat bowline or the best 

way to prepare smelts. She was a great 

field trip companion. Mimi is mourned by 

her friends and family including two 

daughters, Lisa and Mary Louise, and four 

grand children who danced in excitement 

whenever she came into view.” 

The rancor of the election would have 

you believe that this is a different world, 

but whether it be on the E train or at the 

laundromat, people are wanting to share 

their hearts. They are basically generous 

and have a common need to be respected. 

They want to connect. One person can 

make a difference and certainly Mimi had 

a positive impact on clients, colleagues, 

family and friends. 

It is appropriate that we honor here a 

Beetle Cat owner who shared waterborne 

adventures with neighborhood youngsters 

whom she mentored 

in seamanship. 

Subsequent to her 

service at St. 

Cassian’s Church, 

Upper Montclair, I 

accompanied George 

and Jane Spragg to 

Beetle, Inc. on Smith 

Neck Road in 

Padanarum—a trip 

All seriousness at the helm, Mimi steers the 31 Herreshoff 

ketch Quiet Tune back to Mystic, with crew Bill Ziegler on the 

port quarter. 

we made frequently 

with Mimi—to visit 

master painter Shawn 

Sipple and boatbuilder Charlie York, then 

in the throes of selling the business. Mimi 

and George met when they learned to sail 

in 9' Dyer Dhows in the same Museum 

Community Sailing Class in the program 

I used to teach. “We’re here to pay homage 

to Cat’s Meow III.” Shawn replied, “I 

know where she is. I’ll take you to her.” 

When we parted we headed for the Cape 

and Howard Boats of Barnstable where 

Bill Sauerbrey worked. It was a form of 

catharsis to be with those who cared for 

Mimi, to talk about feelings, her boats and 

the old laughs. 

In the spring, Lisa and Mary Louise 

donated Mimi’s Chaisson dory tender to 

Mystic Seaport for use at The Boathouse 

and on Good Friday, April 9, colleague Jim 

McGuire and I picked up the hull with 

rudder, tiller, mast and sail at her Niantic, 

Connecticut, cottage. Her friend and 

handyman, Charlie, helped put the boat 

in the bed of the pickup, and while we secured 

the rig, spoke fondly of their times 

together fishing and drinking coffee with 

the locals. 

It was sad but redemptive for Mimi’s 

Boathouse friends to have her boat return 

to Mystic Seaport, entrusted to our care, 

where she will be used by visitors, staff 

and volunteers. Though we have yet to 

launch her, reluctant and busy both, we 

spent some reflective hours removing 

spent paint. We sanded and painted just 

like in old times when we helped Mimi 

with her annual commissioning ritual, especially 

when the dory overwintered in 


Mimi, always game, is coached by 

Captain Jim McGuire to try out his 

favorite on board position, sitting on the 

main boom of Quiet Tune. 

John McLaughlin’s Quonset hut in Mystic. 

These were occasions for celebration 

of boats, books and Yorkies, marked with 

champagne and good food. 

Peter and Trisha Bradford of 

Middleboro, MA met Mimi at the 1994 

John Gardner Small Craft Workshop 

where their Gunning dory, Imp, debuted 

and was admired by John Gardner. Their 

boat was named for the Lincolnville Imp 

(the same figurine which adorned candlestick 

holders on John McLaughlin’s table 

and was admired by Mimi) acknowledging 

Peter and John’s common U.K. heritage. 

Records show that Mimi took the Mystic 

boathandling class seven times, beginning 

in August 1994, and sailed the 

Herreshoff ketch Quiet Tune twice in 2001. 

The class she took in 2001 was featured 

in a James Gorman column on the front 

page of the weekend section of the Friday 

New York Times on July 20, much to the 

astonishment of her sister, Roberta, who 

recognized Mimi in a photograph of her 

rowing the good little skiff, Waldo 

Howland. Even when suffering side effects 

from chemotherapy that drained her physically, 

Mimi sought spiritual sustenance 

from that which she derived pleasure, 

people and boats, and she arranged adventures, 

relishing a row into downtown 

Mystic for “lunch” though she couldn’t 

even think about eating. 

Mimi’s miniature model fishing fleet in 

the back window of her car precipitated 

conversations with men who wouldn’t otherwise 

have dared a connection—gas station 

attendants and fishermen she met on 

the shore. She was surprised to find her 

new Volvo sedan had a hot engine, and 

she used it! In her professional life she 

cared deeply about the frailty and human 

condition of her clients in estate matters 

and divorce, and championed the underdog. 

She was proud of her daughters and 

found joy in the presence of her grandchildren. 

A few weeks ago Phil and Pat Lord and 

their young daughter Kaylee of Hampden, 

Massachusetts, brought a photograph of 

Mimi to hang in The Boathouse, with 

those of other colleagues who have crossed 

the bar. The photograph is of Mimi paddling 

her Beetle Cat out of the channel in 

front of her summer cottage at Pine Grove 

with young Tim Lord as her crew. With 

her newly painted Chaisson nearby, we 

said a few impromptu words in tribute to 

Mimi’s indomitable spirit, posed for photographs, 

and as the Lords departed, 

turned back to work. Mimi’s place in our 

hearts now permanently acknowledged on 

the wall, we recalled images of her visits 

to The Boathouse, sitting on the ramp recording 

notes in her log of the tips she 

had just picked up whether it be docking 

Waldo Howland under oars or sailing the 

Beetle Cat Leo J. Telesmanick . We were 

longing for one of Mimi’s rollicking great 

laughs, while musing over her incredible 

sense of style, her curiosity expressed on 

visits to Greenport boatbuilder Andy 

Langendal, her saucy talk with a New 

Bedford trawler captain who succumbed 

and handed her a bag of fresh fillets, her 

delight in capturing the moment with her 

Rollei, or in Wayland, Massachusetts 

where she carefully turned each page of 

an old photograph album chronicling the 

life of John Gardner’s sister Sallie. 

During a recent serendipitous meeting, 

Charlie White, waterfront manager at the 

Herreshoff Museum in Bristol, Rhode Island, 

learned of Mimi’s death and in shock 

characterized her with two words, “unconditional 

enthusiasm.” Charlie, who 

worked for Beetle Inc., marked each New 

England boating season’s beginning and 

end by delivering and retrieving Beetle 

Cats, and sailed often with Mimi. 

The program from her mass included a 

quote from “The Ship,” by Anonymous 

which describes death as similar to a ship 

going over the horizon “Gone from my 

sight, that’s all. She is just as complete in 

mast and hull and spar as she was when 

she left my side and just as able to bear 

her precious burden to the place of destination. 

Her diminished appearance is in 

me, not in her. And at the very moment 

when someone at my side says “There— 

she’s gone”—other voices call with gladness 

‘here she comes.’ And that is death. 

Death is only a horizon and a horizon is 

the limit of our sight.” 

Grieving is a precarious process: uncharted 

waters no matter how many times 

you sail the same course, like using a boat, 

never the same. Mimi is missed on a daily 

basis. Rarely does one person know another 

completely, yet we are fortunate that 

Mimi shared her love for family, mankind, 

nature and boats, and led by example, a 

decent, thoughtful human being. • 

Photos by the author. 

Her bandana anchoring an unwieldy 

wig, and wearing an orange coat ahead 

of the fashion, Mimi pauses for the 

camera. Her spirit registers in her grin 

as she stands on the deck of the Cross 

Sound Ferry, Susan Anne, on the way to 

Orient Point, NY. 


Report on the success of 

last year’s John Gardner 

Memorial Endowment 

Grant which was awarded 

to Clark Lane Middle 

School and the JGTSCA. 

Youth, Wood 

Shavings & Dories: 

A Formula 

with a Future 

By Bill Armitage, President, 

JGTSCA 

Clark Lane Middle School, Waterford, 

Connecticut, in cooperation with the John 

Gardner Chapter, was awarded a grant in 

the amount of $1,200 during the 2003- 

2004 school year to conduct a small craft 

building program with seventh and eighth 

grade students. The primary goals of the 

program were to provide students with the 

opportunity to gain hands-on experience 

in both the construction of traditional 

small craft and their safe use. A secondary 

impact of the grant was to establish a 

forum in which children and their families 

could interact with members of the 

local chapter. 

Special care was taken when selecting 

the vessel which would be built. Key considerations 

included the ease of construction 

and the limited use of potentially toxic 

materials. The chapter decided to construct 

a prototype dory and produce 

wooden patterns to aid in the production 

of multiple craft. 

The boat is a takeoff 

on the dories which 

appear in John 

Gardner’s The Dory 

Book and Phil 

Bolger’s Gloucester 

Gull. The construction 

process was 

modified to use 

precut marine 

Occume plywood 

panels wrapped 

around a single center 

frame and secured 

to a traditional tombstone transom 

aft. The bow is constructed with a moldedin-place 

stem consisting of an interior composite 

fillet with the exterior sheathed in 

fiberglass cloth. The prototype vessel was 

constructed in the Chapter’s boathouse on 

the University of Connecticut’s Avery Point 

Campus. Launched in December of 2003 

the first Avery Point dory was christened 

Jane, after founding Chapter President 

Russ Smith’s spouse. The chapter now had 

a full set of patterns required to construct 

the vessel. 

Members gathered in the Avery Point 

Boathouse during January to fabricate four 

dory kits. Chapter funds were allocated to 

construct two boats for use during our 

weekly rowing activity. The two kits 

funded by the John Gardner Grant were 

delivered to Clark Lane Middle School. 

Each kit consisted of two cut to size side 

panels, a rough cut bottom sheet, center 

frame and transom. Chine logs of cedar 

and rub rails of mahogany were ripped 

from stock and left long for fitting by construction 

teams. The chapter hosted a 

weekend boat building 

activity for members 

and the 

community during 

which the first two 

kits were assembled. 

Building the two 

chapter boats provided 

members with 

the skills and experience 

needed to 

guide middle school 

students in the construction 

of the grant 

funded boats. The 

focus of our activity then moved from 

Avery Point to the middle school technology 

lab. 

Participation in the program was open 

to all students at Clark Lane. More than 

20 students had responded to the initial 

offering of the after-school activity when 

it was announced at the beginning of the 

school year. Each student who had expressed 

an earlier interest was contacted 

and provided with a notification form 

which required parental authorization 

prior to participation. 

Special needs-students were successfully 

recruited to expand the diversity of 

the group. A meeting was held in early 

March and the 15 students were organized 

into two groups which would work for an 

hour after school on either Tuesday or 

Thursday. Construction crew assignments 

were loosely based upon grade level. Initially 

there were more boys than girls but, 

over time, attrition and recruiting of 

friends produced a closer balance. Construction 

of the vessels was accomplished 

over a period of 14 weeks. 

Several chapter members volunteered 

to help as project coaches. Russ Smith 

and Larry Magee attended most of the sessions 

and contributed immensely to its 

success. George Spragg provided a lesson 

on fitting and beveling chime logs and 

Geoff Conklin showed up with an adjustable 

angle laminate trimmer to facilitate 

the trimming of the bottom panel once it 

had been installed. Over spring break the 

assembled hulls were brought back to the 

Avery Point boathouse to have the stems 

and exterior of the chines fiber glassed 

and faired, this avoided contamination of 

the technology lab with epoxy and fiber- 


glass dust. The fitting out of inwhales, 

thwarts and rub rails as well as painting 

were accomplished by students during 

May and the first weeks of June and the 

boats were launched in a local pond during 

the last week of school. The launch 

ceremony of the boats, named Tuesday and 

Thursday, was attended by builders and 

their parents, school staff and administrators, 

and several teachers, brought their 

classes down to join the festivities. The 

boats were returned to Avery Point boathouse 

and have been used extensively by 

chapter members and guests. The JGTSCA 

fleet of rowing dories— we have five— 

are available to community groups and 

local youth organizations. The Clark Lane 

aquaculture program will be using the 

boats this spring to study the marine environment 

of eastern Long Island Sound. 

Several factors contributed to the success 

of this project. The first and possibly 

the most important is choosing a design 

which is well within the capabilities of 

your target participants. Many middleschool 

students have yet to acquire basic 

hand-tool skills. This may be their first 

opportunity to hammer a nail, use an electric 

drill or drive a screw. Our primary 

goal was to have students feel that “they” 

built the boats rather than simply helped 

with construction. Chapter members acted 

as coaches and explained how to perform 

an operation and then slipped their hands 

into their pockets while the kids worked 

through the task. 

As you supervise, realize that it may be 

necessary to compromise your standards 

of craftsmanship! Novice boatbuilders 

tend to view the success of their project 

by the lack of leaks rather than the quality 

of joinery. It is important to keep kids 

busy. There is a tendency to have more 

students involved than there are jobs to 

do at any given time. Students who are 

not actively involved will not come back 

next week. Consider a rotating schedule 

which will insure that the more timid students 

will have a chance to participate; 

they may be the ones who gain the most 

from the project. The success of youth boat 

building is not measured solely by the 

launching of a finished 

craft. The first 

pull on the oars of a 

boat which you have 

helped build is an 

experience which can 

last a lifetime. 

currently is the Chapter president. A 

former director with Travelers Insurance 

Co., Bill has been teaching technology 

education for ten years and at Clark Lane 

Middle School for the past three. Bill has 

supervised five youth boatbuilding projects 

and has been involved in the construction 

of more than a dozen rowing craft. An 

avid rower, he has competed in major regional 

events such as the Blackburn Challenge 

and the Soundkeeper’s Lighthouse 

to Lighthouse Race. His summers have 

been spent on extended rowing/camping 

trips including the entire Erie Canal, Lake 

Champlain and the Thousand Islands region 

of the St. Lawrence River. 

Bill resides on Long Pond in Ledyard, 

Connecticut with his wife of 25 years, 

Frances, and their son, John. He can be 

contacted through the JGTSCA website 

www.tsca.net/johngardner. • 


Bill Armitage has 

been a member of the 

John Gardner Chapter 

since 2000 and 

Bill Armitage at work. John Hitchcock 

photo. 


Ensuring a Future 

for the 

John Gardner 

Grants 

by Sid Whelan 

A TSCA Council member has generously 

designated part of a life insurance 

policy to add $13,000 to the Traditional 

Small Craft Association Fund (the Fund) 

at the Maine Community Foundation 

(MCF). As reported by Tom Shephard in 

the Fall issue of The Ash Breeze, TSCA’s 

Gardner Grants are funded solely by donations 

to the Fund — your dues do not 

fund these grants at all. 

Our goal is an endowment of $100,000, 

but we’re a long way form achieving that 

objective. Here are the total funds contributed 

by year: 

1997 $13,824.69 

1998 $16,950.24 

1999 $ 5,193.00 

2000 $ 4,350.00 

2001 $ 1,850.00 

2002 $ 1,300.00 

2003 $ 200.00 

2004 $ 0.00 

Total: $43,667.93 

MCF has done a good job of managing 

the Fund. In mid-September 2004, it was 

valued at $48,230.16, and that is after 

Gardner Grants totaling $7,850 had been 

awarded. 

You can see what has happened: this is 

typical for fund-raising that is motivated 

at least in part in memory of an individual. 

Those who knew and worked with John 

Gardner made their gifts and pledges early 

on, frequently paid over a three- or fouryear 

period. Some of those gifts were in 

four figures. 

From here on, reaching and, we hope, 

exceeding the $100,000 goal will be done 

increasingly by TSCA members who may 

not have had a personal tie to John but 

who are motivated by the voice and programs 

of TSCA. 

Ben Fuller and the Gardner Grants 

Committee currently choose candidates for 

funding from applications submitted. The 

recommended awardees’ names and objectives 

are then reviewed by the TSCA 

Council before the grants are made. The 

committee follows up to confirm the performance 

and achievements of the grantees. 

The MCF file for the Fund will include 

ample information for MCF to follow this 

procedure in the unlikely event of TSCA’s 

demise. 

In the past, several potential donors have 

asked how they can be sure that the Gardner 

Grants will continue if TSCA ceases 

to exist. We don’t expect TSCA to dissolve 

any time soon, but MCF has adopted the 

purposes of TSCA as its guide for the 

Fund. Those purposes are printed in the 

masthead column on page 2. 

You may choose “planned giving” as an 

alternative to, or in addition to, direct contributions 

to the Fund. John Weiss is the 

Council member who has chosen a paidup 

life insurance policy as his vehicle for 

increasing the Fund. Happily, John and 

his wife, Ellen, have many years ahead of 

them. But here’s what he has to say about 

his gift. Please read it with your own gift 

planning in mind. 

I, like so many others, am a procrastinator. 

I just did my “annual” review with 

my financial advisor — three years after 

the last one. The inevitable “death and 

taxes” (planning for the former; attempting 

to avoid the latter) take up a significant 

portion of such reviews. While 

preparing for the review, I actually remembered 

something about Gardner Grants, 

“planned giving,” and a long-delayed intention 

to do something in that vein — 

probably somewhat influenced by the recent 

delivery of the Fall issue of The Ash 

Breeze and a phone conversation with Sid 

Whelan. 

Among the tidbits I found in my pile of 

papers for the review was an old, paid-up 

life insurance policy that I had almost forgotten 

about. It turned out to be a convenient 

and painless method of breaking out 

of the procrastination rut. We no longer 

are paying premiums on the policy, so it 

will cost us nothing up front. We have 

other, adequate insurance policies, so I 

wouldn’t miss the few thousand dollars 

later on. The policy also happens to be 

on my wife, so I wouldn’t have to keep 

looking over my shoulder for the Gardner 

Grant Committee’s hired hit man. 

After consulting with my wife (since she 

had to sign the papers), we decided we 

could afford to give the proceeds of that 

policy to the Gardner Grant Fund. It took 

an additional 30 seconds or so during the 

previously scheduled financial review to 

fill out the change of beneficiary form. 

Now I can pat myself on the back for “doing 

good” as well as actually finishing a 

task I had started thinking about over 

three years ago! 

If you do have a will, here are 

some reasons to reconsider and possibly 

update it: 

You’re committed to preserving 

our traditional small craft heritage 

through the objectives of TSCA. 

You and/or your spouse retire. 

You move to another state 

You remarry and want to make 

provisions for your new spouse. 

Your children reach adulthood 

and achieve financial stability. 

New tax laws are enacted. 

You start a business. 

The value of some of your assets 

changes. 

New members join your family 

through birth or marriage. 

A friend or relative presents you 

with a sizeable inheritance. 

If you don’t have a will and you 

get hit by a truck (figuratively?) You 

won’t be the first. Abraham Lincoln, 

who we all know practiced law with 

skill before his presidency, died 

without a will. The law at the time 

divided his estate into thirds, with 

his wife, Mary, getting only onethird. 

His two sons (one was 12, the 

other was already on a promising 

legal track) received the balance. 

State succession laws do not take 

life circumstances into account. 

Another surprising example: 

Harrison Tweed, a founding partner 

of one of the most prestigious law 

firms in the U.S. and a former president 

of the New York City Bar Association, 

died without a will. Here 

too the succession laws of Mr. 

Tweed’s home state of New York 

took over, with no consideration of 

what he might have achieved with 

his wealth had he left a valid will. 


Many of us have seen John Weiss on the 

water, rowing or paddling about. In his 

other life, he flys big jets. He is a frequent 

contributor to the Ash Breeze. 

For anyone else who may be thinking 

of a similar gift, realize that you can designate 

any portion of a life insurance 

policy’s proceeds for the purpose; it need 

not be the entire amount. Simply designate 

a percentage or dollar amount on the 

beneficiary (or change of beneficiary) form 

to go to the Traditional Small Craft Association 

Fund at the Maine Community 

Foundation (we often call it the ‘Gardner 

Grant Fund’; they officially call it the 

‘TSCA Fund’). You don’t even have to hire 

a financial advisor to do it! However, if 

you do have a financial advisor, have her 

help you play the tax game, too, since there 

are many ways to skin that cat. Remember 

that any contribution to the fund, as 

well as your dues and other direct contributions 

to TSCA, are tax deductible as 

charitable contributions. 

The choice of a paid-up life insurance 

policy is one vehicle for increasing the 

Fund, and it is a simple, direct way. An 

equally direct way is by a bequest in your 

will to the Fund, probably enabling you to 

make a larger contribution to preserving 

our traditional small craft heritage than 

might be possible during your lifetime. 

With or without a little salesmanship on 

your part, a $10,000 to $20,000 bequest 

probably won’t result in your relatives 

stomping on your grave; by now if six 

TSCA members had each left a bequest of 

$10,000 to the Fund, we’d have our goal 

in hand. 

But don’t worry: the Gardner Grant 

Committee won’t hire a hit man to get 

bequests moving through the pipeline. It’s 

long term; that’s what planned giving is 

all about. The most important point is 

for more of us to follow the lead of others 

and provide for the Fund now and 

in the future. 

Here’s the language to be used for a bequest 

in your will: 

“I give and bequeath (a dollar amount, 

or specific assets or a portion of the estate) 

to the Maine Community Foundation, 

a public charity based in Ellsworth, Maine, 

for its charitable educational and scientific 

uses and purposes. 

“I desire that this bequest be added to 

the Traditional Small Craft Association 

Fund at the Maine Community Foundation 

to be used in accordance with the 

Resolution of the Board of Directors of the 

Maine Community Foundation establishing 

the Traditional Small Craft Association 

Fund, dated March 24, 1998, and 

amended by the Resolution of September 

10, 2004.” 

As John Weiss has explained, the designation 

of a life insurance policy is even 

simpler. Ask your insurance agent for a 

“Change of Beneficiary” form, and fill in 

the name and address of the TSCA Fund 

at MCF as the beneficiary for all or part 

of the proceeds. You can designate a percentage 

of the proceeds or a specific dollar 

amount: 

Traditional Small Craft Association 

Fund 

Maine Community Foundation 

(Tax ID 01-039-1479) 

245 Main Street 

Ellsworth, ME 04605 

If you have questions for TSCA or MCF, 

here are some helping hands: 

Ellen Pope, MCF Vice President: 

Maine Community Foundation 

245 Main Street 

Ellsworth, ME 04605 

epope@mainecf.org 

www.mainecf.org 

207-667-9735 

1-877-700-6800 (toll-free) 

207-667-0447 (fax) 

Ben Fuller, TSCA Gardner Grant Committee 

chair: 

HCR 68, Box 196-C, 88 Mason Cove 

Lane, Cushing, ME 04563-9801; 

bagfuller@compuserve.com 

Sid Whelan, former TSCA Council 

member: 

7 West Lane, Niantic, CT 06357 

860-739-8423 

SidWhelan@aol.com • 

Smallcraft 

Events 

Center for Wooden Boats 

December 4-6: Marine Carving 

December 11: Knot 8, Chest Beckets 

1010 Valley Street 

Seattle, WA 98109-4468 

206-382-2628 

E-mail: cwb@cwb.org 

www.cwb.org 

Connecticut River Oar and 

Paddle Club 

December 10: Christmas Party at 

Maritime Education Network 

January 1, 2005: Annual New Year’s 

Day Row 

Sacramento Chapter 

January 1, 2005: Hair of the Dog 

Row on Tomales Bay, Lee Caldwell 

415-435-1975 

January 8, 2005: Annual Planning 

Meeting, Aeolian Yacht Club, Pete 

Evans 510-652-2034 

Contact: Richard Geiger 

rgeiger@sfchronicle.com 

JGTSCA Chapter 

A few members of the club 

continue to row each Sunday 

morning. This is an informal 

activity. Plan for a two hour row 

with a stop for coffee. Bring a boat 

and have some fun! 


S 

P 

O 

N 

S 

O 

R 

/ 

M 

E 

M 

B 

E 

R 

S 

Samuel 

Johnson 

BOATBUILDER 

1449 S.W. Davenport Street 

Portland, Oregon 97201 

(503) 223-4772 

drathmarine 

http://drathmarine.com 

1557 Cattle Point Road 

Friday Harbor, WA 98250 

Mole got it right... 

E-mail: sjboats@comcast.net 

ALBERT’S WOODEN BOATS INC. 

• Double ended lapstrake 

• Marine ply potted in Epoxy 

• Rowboats – 15' & fast 17' 

• Electric Launches – 15' & 18' 

A. Eatock, RR #2, 211 Bonnell Rd. 

Bracebridge, ONT. CANADA PIL 1W9 

705 645 7494 alsboats@surenet.net 

Museum Quality 

Wherries, Canoes and Cabin Cruisers 

54442 Pinetree Lane, North Fork, CA 93643 

559-877-8879 trapskiffjim@sti.net 

Richard Kolin 

Custom wooden traditional small craft 

designed and built 

Boatbuilding and maritime skills instruction 

Oars and marine carving 

360-659-5591 

kolin1@gte.net 

4107-77th Place NW 

Marysville, WA 98271 

22 We thank our Sponsor/Members for their support and urge all members to consider using their services.

Fine Traditional Rowing 

& Sailing Craft 

NORTH 

RIVER 

BOATWORKS 

RESTORATIONS 

741 Hampton Ave. 

Schenectady, NY 12309 

518-377-9882 

Builders of Traditional and 

Contemporary Rowing and Sailing Craft 

Richard Cullison 11515 Kenton Drive 

301-946-5002 Silver Spring, MD 20902 

www.CullisonSmallCraft.com 

BOATS PLANS BOOKS TOOLS 

Specializing in traditional small craft since 1970. 

Duck Trap Woodworking 

www.duck-trap.com 

We thank our Sponsor/Members for their support and urge all members to consider using their services. 23 

S 

P 

O 

N 

S 

O 

R 

/ 

M 

E 

M 

B 

E 

R 

S

S 

P 

O 

N 

S 

O 

R 

/ 

M 

E 

M 

B 

E 

R 

S 

Redd’s Pond Boatworks 

1 Norman Street 

Marblehead, MA 01945 

Thad Danielson (781) 631-3443 

JAN NIELSEN 361-8547C 

656-0848/1-800-667-2275 P 

250-656-9663 F 

P.O.Box 2250, Sidney 

BC Canada V8L 3S8 

westwind@islandnet.com 

WALTER F. HUBNER 

Cazenovia Boat Works, Unltd. 

3455 RIPPLETON ROAD 

CAZENOVIA, NY 13035 

BUY, SELL, TRADE, BUILD AND RESTORE WOODEN BOATS 

SPECIALIZING IN ROWING SHELLS 

315-655-3223 

24 We thank our Sponsor/Members for their support and urge all members to consider using their services.

This innovative 17'6" 

adventure craft 

designed by Chuck 

Paine is lightweight, 

seaworthy, beautiful, 

affordable... 

the stuff legends are 

made of! 

Avalon 

House/ 

NorseBoat 

tel: 902-659-2790 

fax: 902-659-2419 

info@norseboat.com 

www.nor 

.norseboat.com 

The Mathis/Trumpy Skiff 

a 12' flat bottom skiff 

designed by John Trumpy, c. 1930 

find the official builder of the Mathis/Trumpy Skiff at 

www.traditionalboatworks.com 

*see the skiff in the Collection of the Annapolis Maritime Museum* 

full set of numbered plans available for $40 

Sigrid Trumpy, 12 German Street 

Annapolis, MD 21401 

410-267-0318 or hollace@crosslink.net 

S 

P 

O 

N 

S 

O 

R 

/ 

M 

E 

M 

B 

E 

R 

S 

We thank our Sponsor/Members for their support and urge all members to consider using their services. 25

ROB BARKER 

Wooden Boat Building 

and Repair 

615 MOYERS LANE 

EASTON, PA 18042 

Damaged Journal? 

If your Ash Breeze is missing 

pages or gets beaten up in the mail, 

let the editor know. 

$28 

Support TSCA 

Become a Sponsor/Member of TSCA and your ad will appear in four issues 

of this journal for only $125 a year. 

Ad size is 2-3/8" H by 3-3/8" W. Photos should be scanned at 200 dpi 

grayscale, or send camera-ready copy. Ed. 


Copy Deadline, 

Format, and Ads 

Deadlines 

v26#1, Spring 2005, January 2 

Articles 

The Ash Breeze is a member-supported 

publication. Members are welcome to contribute. 

We encourage you to send material 

electronically. Text may be sent in the 

body of an e-mail message or, alternatively, 

as MSWord attachments. Send photos by 

US mail or as e-mail attachments in jpg 

or tif format. Typewritten material or material 

submitted on computer disk will be 

accepted too. Please give captions for photographs 

(naming people and places) and 

photo credits. E-mail to: 

drathmarine@rockisland.com 

Advertising Rates 

Effective July 1, 2003 

Yearly rates, 4 issues/year 

Individual Sponsor - No Ad $50 

Corporate Sponsor - 1/8 page $125 

Corporate Sponsor - 1/4 page $250 

Corporate Sponsor - 1/2 page $500 

Corporate Sponsor - 1 page $750 

Corporate Sponsors with 1 page ads 

will be named as sponsors of a TSCA 

related event and will be mentioned in 

the ad for that event. 

Members’ Exchange 

50 words or less. Free to members except 

$10 if photo is included. 

Back Issues 

Original or duplicated back issues are 

available for $4 each plus postage. 

Contact Flat Hammock Press for ordering 

details. 

Volume Year Issue 

Newsletter 1975-77 1,2,3,4 

1 1978 1,2,3,4 

2 1979 1 

3 1979 1 

1980 2,3,4,5 

1981 6,7,8,9 

4 1982 1,2,3,4 

5 1983 1,2,3,4 

6 1984 1,2,4 

7 1985 1,2,3,4 

8 1986 1,2,3,4 

9 1987 1,2,3,4 

10 1988 1,2,3,4 

11 1989 1,2,3,4 

12 1990 1,2,3,4 

13 1991 1,2,3,4 

14 1992 1,2,3,4 

15 1993 1,2,3,4 

16 1994 1,2,3,4 

17 1995 1,2,3,4 

18 1996 1,2,3,4 

19 1997 1,2,3,4 

20 1998/99 1,2,3 

21 1999/00 1,2,3,4 

22 2001 1,2,3 

23 2002 1,2,3 

24 2003 1,2,3,4 

25 2004 1,2,3 

Flat Hammock Press 

5 Church Street, Mystic, CT 06355 

860-572-2722 

steve@flathammockpress.com 

TSCA WARES 

Caps 

Pre-washed 100% cotton, slate blue with 

TSCA logo in yellow and white. Adjustable 

leather strap and snap/buckle. $15. 

($14 to members if purchased at TSCA 

meets.) 

T-shirts 

100% cotton, light gray with the TSCA 

logo. $15.00 postpaid for sizes M, L, and 

XL and $16.00 for XXL. 

Patches 

3 inches in diameter featuring our logo 

with a white sail and a golden spar and 

oar on a light-blue background. Black 

lettering and a dark-blue border. $3.00 

Please send a SASE with your order. 

Decals 

Mylar-surfaced weatherproof decals 

similar to the patches except the border 

is black. Self-sticking back. $1. Please 

send a SASE with your order. 

Burgees 

12" x 18" pennant with royal blue field 

and TSCA logo sewn in white and gold. 

Finest construction. $30 postpaid. 

Visit the TSCA web site for ordering 

information. 

www.tsca.net/wares.html 

TSCA MEMBERSHIP FORM 

I wish to: Join Renew Change my address 

Individual Membership ($20 annually) Patron Membership ($100 annually) 

Family Membership ($20 annually) Canadian Membership with Airmail Mailing ($25 annually) 

Sponsor/Membership ($50 annually) Other foreign Membership with Airmail Mailing ($30 annually) 

Enclosed is my check for $____________________________________ made payable to TSCA. 

Chapter member? Yes No (circle) Which Chapter? _________________________________ 

Name 

Address 

Town 

E-mail 

________________________________________________________________________ 

________________________________________________________________________ 

______________________________State_______ Zip Code________________________ 

_____________________________________________________________________________ 

Mail to: Secretary, Traditional Small Craft Association, Inc., P. O. Box 350, Mystic, CT 06355. 

Note: Individual and Family Memberships qualify for one vote and one copy of each TSCA mailing. Family Memberships 

qualify all members of the immediate family to participate in all other TSCA activities. 


The Sacramento Chapter enjoys Marshall Beach during their annual September encampment. Don’t you wish you had the 

chairs concession? Brendan Geiger photo. 

The Ash Breeze 

The Secretary, TSCA 

PO Box 350 

Mystic, CT 06355 

Non-Profit Org. 

US Postage 

PAID 

Providence, RI 

Permit No. 1899 

Address Service Requested 

Time to Renew? Help us save postage by photocopying the membership form 

on the inside back cover and renewing before we send you a renewal request.

Vol. 25, No. 4 - Traditional Small Craft Association

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?