Vol. 26, No. 3 - Traditional Small Craft Association

The 

Ash Breeze 

Journal of the Traditional Small Craft Association, Inc. 

Vol. 26 No. 3 

Fall 2005 - $4.00 

In This Issue: 

Ensuring a Future • Bill Grunwald Memorial Row 

‘Dreamers’ heed the call • Kayak and Paddle Design 

Woodbending Seminar • for hard and soft water 

Design Details About Belaying Pins • A Tale of Two Coasts 

Dangar Dory Derby Day • Got My Ducks in a Row 

Slipside Your Boat

The Ash Breeze 

The Ash Breeze (ISSN 1554-5016) 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 26 Number 3 

Editor 

Dan Drath 

drathmarine@rockisland.com 

Contributing Editor 

John Stratton 

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. 

TSCA is an enjoyable yet practical link 

among users, designers, builders, restorers, 

historians, government, and maritime 

institutions. 

Copyright 2005 by The Traditional Small 

Craft Association, Inc. 

Editor’s Column 

I left Mystic this June after the general 

membership and Council meetings with 

a good feeling about the state of the organization. 

All the key positions are covered 

by individuals who seem to be really 

knowledgeable and dedicated. Our membership 

numbers are rising, our costs are 

staying in line, and we are making 

progress in watching the horizon for 

creeping legislative inroads that threaten 

and complicate the enjoyment of our 

simple, traditional, and beautiful craft. 

I hope that in coming issues of the Ash 

Breeze we can have a quarterly column 

giving the news on this important subject. 

Together with our membership list 

with over 300 email addresses, we could 

do a fine job of rallying opposition to 

threatening proposals. 

This subject will get priority space in 

future issues of the Ash Breeze along with 

Gardner Grant and building news. 

Enjoy the rest of summer. 

My best to all, Dan Drath 

The line up at the 

dock during the Bill 

Grunwald Memorial 

Row, Elkhorn Slough, 

California. This is one 

of the major annual 

events of the 

Sacramento Chapter. 

Bill would be pleased. 

Many of his boats are 

brought to this event. 

Front Cover 

Douglas Brooks paddling a tarai bune, or “tub boat” used by Japanese fishermen. 

Doug built this boat while apprenticing to the last of the tarai bune builders in Japan. 

Doug is wearing a traditional Japanese jacket. 

The tub boat is not quite perfectly oval, approaching some straightness in the sides. 

You use a pulling stroke, similar to the one you use with a corricle, but the paddle or 

oar for the tub boat is used within a rope strop (serves as the fulcrum) as opposed to 

the corricle where you move the paddle or oar side to side in a sculling manner. 

Easier to do than to describe. Submitted by Peter Vermilya 

2 _________________________________________________________ The Ash Breeze - Fall 2005

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 semiannually 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 

Benefactors 

Life Members 

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

Generous Patrons 

Willard A. Bradley Lee Caldwell Richard S. Kolin Michael S. Olson 

...and Individual Sponsor/Members 

Rodney & Julie Agar 

Doug Aikins 

Roger Allen 

Rob Barker 

Bruce Beglin 

Charles Benedict 

Howard Benedict 

Robert C. Briscoe 

Edward G. Brownlee 

Richard A. Butz 

Charles Canniff 

Dick & Jean Anne Christie 

James & Lloyd Crocket 

Thad Danielson 

Stanley R.Dickstein 

Dan & Eileen Drath 

Frank C. Durham 

Albert Eatock 

John D. England 

Tom Etherington 

Ben Fuller 

Richard and Susan Geiger 

John M. Gerty 

Gerald W. Gibbs 

Larrick H. Glenndening 

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

John A. Hawkinson 

Peter Healey 

Colin O. Hermans 

Gary F. Herold 

Stuart K. Hopkins 

Townsend Hornor 

John M. Karbott 

Carl B. & Ruth W. Kaufmann 

Stephen Kessler 

Thomas E. King 

Arthur B. Lawrence 

Chelcie Liu 

Jon Lovell 

James D. & Julie Maxwell 

Dean Meledones 

Charles H. Meyer, Jr. 

Alfred P. Minnervini 

Howard Mittleman 

King Mud & Queen Tule 

David J. Pape 

Rex and Kathie Payne 

Stephan Perloff 

Ronald Pilling 

Michael Porter 

Ronald W. Render 

Don Rich 

Bill & Karen Rutherford 

Philip T. Schiro 

Karl Schmid 

Richard Schubert 

Paul A. Schwartz 

Karen Seo 

Michael O. Severance 

Gary L. Shirley 

Walter J. Simmons 

Leslie Smith 

F. Russell Smith, II 

Stephen Smith 

Robert W. Sparks 

Randall Spurr 

Zach Stewart 

Tom & Bonnie Stone 

John P. Stratton, III 

Robert E. (Bub) Sullivan 

Jackson P. Sumner 

George Surgent 

Benjamin B. Swan 

Gary Thompson 

Sigrid H.Trumpy 

Ray E. Tucker 

Peter T. Vermilya 

John L. Way 

Richard B. Weir 

John & Ellen Weiss 

Stephen M. Weld 

Larry Westlake 

Michael D. Wick 

Robert & Judith Yorke 

J. Myron Young 

The Ash Breeze - Fall 2005_________________________________________________________ 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? 

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, 860-767-3303, 

jon.persson@snet.net 

Delaware River TSCA 

Tom Shephard, 482 Almond Rd, Pittsgrove, 

NJ 08318, tsshep41556@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, 

floapple@aol.com 

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 

Roger.Allen@ManateeClerk.com 

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 

Lone Star Chapter 

Howard Gmelch, The Scow Schooner 

Project, POBox 1509, Anahuac, TX 77514, 

409-267-4402, scowschooner@earthlink.net 

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 

William Lake, 11740 Asbury Circle, Apt 

1301, Solomons, MD 20688 410-394-3382, 

wlake@comcast.net 

Pine Lake Small Craft Assoc. 

Sandy Bryson, Sec., 333 Whitehills Dr, East 

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, a_gunther@mac.com 

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 

SE Michigan 

John Van Slembrouck, Stoney Creek 

Wooden Boat Shop, 1058 East Tienken 

Road, Rochester Hills, MI 48306 

stoneycreek@stoneycreekboatshop.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 Musem, 120 N Madison Ave, 

Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235, 920-743-4631 

Organizing 

Dallas/Forth Worth Area 

Mark “Stik” Stikkel, 621 Madeline Ct, 

Azle, TX 76020, 817-444-3082, 

mark78jeanann@wmconnect.com 

Inactive Chapters 

Maury River Chapter 

Potomac TSCA 

Upper Chesapeake TSCA 


From the President 

Greetings from the left coast, where we 

now have four council members and exceptionally 

fine salt and fresh water. 

The minutes of our June meeting in 

Mystic should be up and readable on the 

website, and are printed later in this issue. 

About a double handful of people 

came. 

What would happen if we held the annual 

meeting in a different watery place 

every year? It could coincide with a boating 

event already scheduled somewhere, 

or we could put on our own. Anybody want 

to row across San Francisco Bay, see the 

boat collection of the SF Maritime Historical 

Park, sail on the scow schooner 

Alma, row and sail in Tomales Bay, north 

of SF? How about meeting in Seattle and 

boating there? Both of those cities are near 

major airports, and, speaking for the Sacramento 

Chapter, (“River” is not yet a part 

of the chapter’s title) we can offer some 

home stays to travelers, and boat space 

for air travelers. Rotating the location of 

the annual meeting would allow for close 

people to come cheaply and for distant 

members to come to see new and interesting 

waters. 

My personal goals for the Council and 

the national organization for this year are 

several: 

1. To find liability insurance for TSCA 

events. If you, respected reader, can help, 

please email the Council any viable leads. 

(TSCA-Council@yahoogroups.com) 

Roger Allen is working on this. 

1.a. To find personal liability insurance 

for Council members and officers. 

Same request. 

2. To establish a Legislative Oversight 

Committee, 

- to regularly seek out boat related, 

pending legislation, at both the State and 

Federal levels, in as many states as can 

be managed, 

- to report such activity to the TSCA 

Council as it becomes apparent 

- to alert our chapters and AB readership 

to take appropriate action 

Contact Bill Covert at the Council 

email address. 

3. To make the best use of our extra 

copies of the Ash Breeze. 

You members around the country and 

beyond can send the Council the name, 

mailing address, and telephone number of 

a boat building school, a high school wood 

shop teacher, a woodworking shop, a chandlery. 

We can then send a few back issues 

to those addresses. 

4. To increase the public’s exposure to 

the Gardner Grants and the application 

process. (Go to www.tsca.net/index.html 

for Gardner Grant information.) Sending 

back issues to likely schools and shops 

should help in this regard. 

5. Rotate the locations of our Annual 

Meetings, as mused upon above. 

Last, and best, let’s meet on the water! 

Cricket Evans 

About the President 

Cricket Evans is a left coast TSCA 

member of many years, most experienced 

on the water in Bill Grunwald boats: a 

dory, a semi-dory, and a Hooper Island 

Launch, and mostly in the San Francisco 

Bay and in the north west (harrowing details 

in the Ash Breeze, vol 18, no.4, Fall 

1996). She has never built a boat, but as a 

volunteer at the San Francisco Maritime 

National Historic Park, has scraped lots 

of old varnish and made some DeLapp 

oars, and is known thereabouts as Queen 

Tule. 

In the non-boat world, she sings, does 

dishes but not windows, and tries to be 

the quiet and obedient wife, mother, and 

granny of lore and legend. And that’s as 

hard work as any rip tide off Belle Rock! 

Boat/US 

From the Puget Sound News 

Letter 

Chapters might consider becoming a 

“cooperating Group member” of Boat/US 

(formerly known as the Boat Owners Association 

of the United States. As members 

of a Boat/US cooperating group, they 

would be eligible for a 50% discount on 

the regular annual BoatUS dues. Boat/US 

services to members include boat financing 

and insurance, a retail catalog, boat 

towing and trailer assistance services, and 

lobbyist representation to Congress. • 

Letter to the Editor 

Dear Editor: 

I’ve had this idea for a number of years 

that it would be a good idea for there to be 

an association for Pilot Gigs as they have 

in the UK. I can see the format clearly. 

Groups form a club and buy a boat and 

create a team and race other teams in point 

to point races on open water. I think that 

boats could be built using glued seam lapstrake 

construction with minimal framing 

which should render an light, easy to 

maintain boat that might be series built 

for reasonable cost. 

A number of US groups have built traditional 

Pilot Gigs and glorious craft they 

are. But they start to have real value when 

there are a number of them and the cost of 

traditional building and the maintenance 

auger against that route. 

Smaller four oared Whitehall type boats 

might cost less to get into but if the group 

is a club, a larger boat that can carry more 

members is probably a better thing. I’ve 

seen photographs of yacht gigs crossing 

New York Harbor with a beautifully 

dressed, bonneted lady sitting on each 

thwart opposite a burly oarsman heaving 

on his sweep. 

If Dragon Boats can gain momentum, 

why not Pilot Gigs? Imagine a twenty mile 

race over an offshore course in a good seaway 

with the boats being followed by a 

spectator fleet. The game can be rounded 

out by allowing sails to be set after a buoy 

was passed. What a thrill it would be! 

Could the spectator boats keep up? 

What is needed is a design and building 

plan. A designer in California, Joseph 

Dobler, designed such a craft and two were 

built by the North Carolina Maritime 

Museum. 

http://ncmm-friends.org/onthewater/ 

beaufort_oars_gigs.htm 

Is there anyone out there who finds this 

idea appealing? 

Chris Wentz 

Become a TSCA 

Sponsor 


Ensuring a Future 

for the 

John Gardner 

Grants 

By Sid Whelan 

The Winter 2004 issue of The Ash 

Breeze (pp. 20-21) explained how TSCA 

Council member John Weiss used part of 

a paid-up life insurance policy to designate 

the Traditional Small Craft Fund (the 

Fund) at the Maine Community Foundation 

(MCF) as beneficiary. The Fund is 

the source for awarding TSCA’s Gardner 

Grants. 

The Winter issue also showed how a 

bequest by Will to the Fund is a simple, 

direct way to make a larger contribution 

than might be possible during lifetime toward 

preserving our smallcraft heritage. 

We included specific language and instructions 

on how to accomplish each of 

those designations. 

Dan Drath, editor of The Ash Breeze, 

and his wife, Eileen, reacted almost immediately. 

They have provided for the 

Fund in their Wills. 

When you provide for the future of John 

Gardner Grants, we hope that you will let 

us know what you’ve done, so that we can 

thank you and acknowledge your generosity 

in this publication. If you wish to be 

anonymous, we’ll respect your request. 

Participation in this effort at any level is 

the goal, so please don’t ever feel that what 

you are doing is insignificant. 

Ben Fuller and the Gardner Grants 

Committee choose candidates for funding 

from applications submitted. The TSCA 

Council then reviews the awardees and 

their objectives before the grants are made. 

The Committee follows up to confirm the 

performance and achievements of the 

grantees. 

Some potential planned giving 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. 

Here is a vehicle for those who wish to 

make a current commitment but can’t afford 

to lose the use of the money. 

It is called a Charitable Gift Annuity, 

and it is a simple contract between you 

the donor and MCF. You will receive a 

For those of you who have been 

thinking of including a bequest to the 

TSCA Fund at MCF in your will but 

have misplaced the Winter 2004 issue 

of The Ash Breeze, we are repeating 

the suggested language for 

bequests: 

“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.” 

In order to designate a life insurance 

policy for the Fund, you should 

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 of 

all or a part of the proceeds. You can 

designate a percentage of the process 

or a specific dollar amount: 

Traditional Small Craft 

Association Fund 

Maine Community Foundation 

(Tax ID 01-039-1479) 

245 Main Street 

Ellsworth, ME 04605 

stream of income for life from the money 

you contribute today. You transfer cash or 

securities to MCF in exchange for a commitment 

by MCF to pay you (and a second 

annuitant if you so choose) a fixed 

and guaranteed payment for the remainder 

of your life and that of the second annuitant. 

The total annual payment does not 

change. 

At your death, or at the death of the second 

annuitant, the remaining principal is 

added to the Fund, to help perpetuate the 

awarding of TSCA’s Gardner Grants. 

Based on many years of experience, the 

American Council on Gift Annuities has 

adopted a rule of thumb that 50% of the 

original amount transferred will remain 

at the death of the annuitant(s) to achieve 

the donor’s charitable purpose. This 

means that in each of the following hypothetical 

cases, one half of the amount contributed 

would in due course be added to 

the Fund at MCF. 

If a 60-year-old donor (annuitant) in 

July of 2005 transfers $100,000 ($25,000 

is the minimum for an annuity at MCF) 

by means of a 5.7% Charitable Gift Annuity, 

the results would be as follows: 

Charitable deduction 

$32,300.00 

Annuity (paid at the end of each quarter) 

$5,700.00 

The tax-free portion of the annuity 

$2,810.10 

Ordinary income (taxed) 

$2,889.90 

Here are the figures for a transfer of 

$100,000 to a 6.5% Charitable Gift Annuity 

at MCF by a 70-year-old donor, in 

July of 2005: 

Charitable deduction 

$37,773 

Annuity 

$6,500 

Tax-free portion 

$3,913 

Ordinary income 

$2,587 

Although most people in their 60s want 

to keep their investments in vehicles that 

have the potential to grow, increasingly 

they are viewing Charitable Gift Annuities 

as part of their fixed-income portfolio. The 

rate at age 60 of 5.7% is pretty attractive 

when compared with other fixed-income 

returns. 

If this form of planned giving makes 


sense to you, the next step is to contact 

Ellen Pope, MCF Vice President, Maine 

Community Foundation, 245 Main Street, 

Ellsworth, ME 04605. 

epope@mainecf.org 

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

or 207- 667-9735. 

Fax: 207-667-0447 

Website: www.mainecf.org 

The Fund still stands at less than 

$50,000, with a minimum goal of 

$100,000. Please consider doing what the 

Weisses and the Draths have done, so that 

our traditional smallcraft heritage will 

remain productive for many generations 

to come. There is no way this will happen 

without substantial additional support. • 

The Bill Grunwald 

Memorial Row at 

Elkhorn Slough 

By Jim Lawson 

and Sunny Foster 

We had a wonderful row yesterday. Big 

turnout. We left with the early rowers, a 

little after 0900, but more boats arrived 

after we left the launch ramp. As we were 

rowing away, headed for the yacht club, 

we saw a helicopter landing, but it didn’t 

have a boat rack, so we knew it wasn’t 

one of us arriving in style. 

Ursula (Grunwald) had a lavish lunch 

for us, but, thank the god Cholesterol, no 

vat of whipped cream this time. But lots 

of other first-cabin food, and Ursula’s patented 

monster desserts. It was a great turnout; 

the noise on the dining room was a 

steady roar. 

When we left the yacht club, we passed 

a pair of otters, floating on their backs. I 

guess they were cleaning whatever they 

were eating with their front feet, flipping 

stuff off their dining area, but for all the 

world it looks like they’re waving goodby. 

It’s kind of dumb, but we can’t help 

waving back. 

On the way back, the wind came up 

pretty good, but, in accordance with Jake’s 

plan, at our backs this time. 

Rowing Natoma, our John DeLapp designed 

rowing skiff, we watched the tiny 

little sails in back of us get bigger and bigger 

till they swept past us in graceful silence, 

except for the crisp sound of their 

bow waves. The Geigers’ green Norse 

Dory, looking like it just careened out of a 

fjord, the Kiblers’ whaleboat with a trainload 

of passengers, Don and Sheryl’s greyhound 

of a sailing skiff knifing through 

the chop. 

Looking back at the Slough, the sails of 

the lingerers at the buffet filled the homestretch; 

this could be a postcard from the 

1800s. At the launch ramp, we cheered 

Demon Andrew Church as he tested how 

far he could get his lee rail under and keep 

the water out with the compression wave. 

But to us, the best thing about this row 

is the silence—just birds, seals barking in 

the distance, the breathing of the seals that 

Gardner Grant 

Application Deadline 

The deadlines for the semiannual reviews 

are April 15 and October 15, with 

announcements in June and December. 

Completed applications (available on 

the web at www.tsca.net) are submitted 

to the John Gardner Memorial Fund Committee 

of the Traditional Small Craft Association, 

P.O. Box 350, Mystic, CT 

06355. • 

On the Move 

Eleanor Watson’s new address is: 8314 

W Cloverview Dr, Tinely Park, IL 60477 

SCUZBUMS 

Southern California Small Boat 

Messabout Society 

Contact: 

Annie Kolls 

4048 Mt. Acadia Blvd. 

San Diego,CA 92111 

858-569-5277 

scuzmum@aol.com 

www.geocities.com/scsbms 

and check out: 

www.maritimemuseum.com.au/ships/ 

fury.htm • 

Walter W. Finn with Steve Kibler at the helm and Linda Kibler at the bow. Ed 

Foster of Geyserville, CA was the builder. Joe Tribulato photo. 

like to get close and watch us, the occasional 

train whistle in the distance. We 

even talk softly in the boat. 

We had to leave right after the row, but 

Jake Roulstone had a river full worth of 

salmon for a barbecue; we hope someone 

will report on that. • 

Boat for Sale 

Whilly Boat. Iain Oughtred design. 14' 

6'' x 4' 7''. Built of high quality 

mahogany ply by Rob Barker in 2003. 

Balanced lug rig. Dark green 

with natural interior. Includes Loadrite 

trailer. $6500. 

Contact: 

David Moreno 

dmoreno@pobox.upenn.edu 

or 215-483-7147 


‘Dreamers’ heed 

the call of history 

at wooden 

boatbuilding 

school 

By Cecelia Goodnow 

Seattle Post-Intelligencer 

PORT HADLOCK — Before he came 

to this little slice of anachronistic nirvana, 

Derek Jacoby was a Microsoftie who 

probed the frontiers of speech-recognition 

software. 

Now he’s exploring the unknown universe 

of his own two hands. 

Wielding chisel and plane — among the 

most ancient of tools — Jacoby is learning 

to craft intricate puzzles of interlocking 

wood. Puzzles that curve and jog but 

must come together seamlessly to withstand 

the forces of wind and wave. 

He’s learning the boatbuilder’s art, here 

at a strip of restored waterfront where the 

Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding 

is coming of age. 

“I’d gotten really into a rut at Microsoft, 

where I was well within my comfort zone, 

doing things that were totally cerebral,” 

said Jacoby, 33, whose Elvis Costello 

glasses and authoritative, rapid-fire speech 

hint at his techie past. 

Traditional wooden boats, like fine Victorian 

homes, increasingly evoke the romance 

of a bygone age. In the past 25 

years, boatbuilding schools and workshops 

have sprung up at museums and heritage 

centers around the country, serving dabblers 

and serious seafarers alike. Even 

trade schools geared to fiberglass often 

give a nod to old-time wood techniques. 

Amid this crowded field, the Northwest 

School stands out as one of a very few fulltime, 

accredited schools in the nation — 

and the only one on the West Coast — to 

specialize in traditional wooden 

boatbuilding. Its programs, up to a year 

in length, include everything from 

blacksmithing to sailmaking and rigging, 

with an emphasis on skilled woodworking. 

Hollywood has called on the school or 

its graduates several times — to help retrofit 

sailing ships used in “Pirates of the 

Caribbean” and “Master and Commander” 

and to build mock-ups for the Kevin 

Costner film “Wyatt Earp.” 

One former student crews on Ragland, 

a vessel owned by rock legend Neil Young, 

and the school counts Sen. Patty Murray’s 

son, Randy, as one of its better-known alums. 

Founded in 1981, the school is fast losing 

its adolescent gawkiness. Newly installed 

at a six-acre Port Hadlock Heritage 

Campus, it has a revised program, big 

plans and a vision that’s distinctly Northwest. 

With the help of Seattle boat preservationists, 

the school is increasingly 

downplaying East Coast boat designs in 

favor of the Northwest’s own, less-documented 

heritage. 

“We are the Northwest School of 

Wooden Boatbuilding — we should be 

building Northwest boats,” said education 

coordinator Tim Lee. “We don’t have to 

do it exclusively, but we should be preserving 

our culture.” 

The new campus is a utopian dreamcome-true 

for the school, which spent most 

of its life in a metal building at Port 

Townsend’s Glen Cove Industrial Park, 

miles from the water. The new campus is 

15 minutes closer to the Hood Canal 

Bridge. 

It’s centered in two historic, waterfront 

buildings — a two-story warehouse and 

the old, general store across from the Ajax 

Cafe — buildings renovated for $850,000 

with 10,000 hours of volunteer labor. 

When money permits, an adjoining pier, 

large enough to moor vessels over 100 feet 

long, will be rebuilt and opened to the 

public. 

“Now that we’re down here, it’s a working 

waterfront again,” said instructor Pat 

Mahon. “It’s one of the last, little holdouts 

that hasn’t been turned into condos.” 

Students come from as far as Russia, 

Tanzania, Egypt, South Africa, Japan, 

Korea and Thailand. This year’s class of 

44 has two from the Netherlands and 16 

from Washington. The rest are from 

around the United States and Canada. 

The youngest student just turned 18. At 

66, Ted Schuder is the oldest. 

“I’m older than the instructors,” he 

joked during a class break, huddled against 

the early-spring chill. 

One thing unites them. 

“Everybody here,” Schuder said, “is a 

dreamer.” 

If you’ve ever seen a schooner under sail 

or a felt the creak of a wooden deck, you 

sense, even dimly, the force with which 

wooden boats engulf the imagination. 

“There is no longer a practical reason 

to build a boat in a traditional style anymore,” 

said Jacoby, the Microsoft alum. 

“It’s heavier, it’s going to take longer and 

it’s not as sturdy and watertight. But it’s 

just got this romantic call of history. 

“Some people,” he said, “are just trying 

to recapture the magic of when the horizon 

was the extent of the known world 

and you could sail over it and meet the 

natives in Tahiti.” 

Unlocking the puzzle 

Jeff Hammond ambles the length of 

three blackboards, stopping every few 

minutes to sketch sweeping arcs and crosshatches 

in chalk. 

This is the decking class, a 90-minute 

tutorial that offers students, among other 

things, a once-a-day opportunity to get off 

their feet. 

Hammond, the school’s chief instructor 

and de facto director, is slim and wiry, 

with a boyish grin and a baseball cap that 

hides all but the shaggy ends of his wavy, 

gray hair. He speaks rapidly and softly, or, 

as he says with an apologetic laugh, “I 

mumble.” 

The room is a sea of beards and ponytails, 

baseball caps and woolly watch caps. 

The favored garb is sweatshirts, fleece, 

chambray work shirts, sneakers and 

heavy-toed boots. 

Students sit shoulder-to-shoulder at long 

tables in the spacious, beamed classroom, 

wintry sunlight streaming through tall 

windows. 

Fortified by thermoses of coffee, they 

listen intently, wresting every nugget from 

their $14,000 annual tuition — and trying 

to overcome the room’s terrible acoustics. 

Every time someone blows a nose or 

scooches a metal chair, the reverberations 

drown out Hammond’s gentle voice. 

“Have a good weekend? All right, we 

want to continue our discussion of decking. 

There’s little tricks you can use to 


speed things up.” 

By now students have a bagful of “little 

tricks.” How to make straight decking lie 

flush along a curved surface. How to coax 

a footlong steel bolt through the donutshaped 

channel of a propeller shaft. And 

how to improvise where knowledge ends. 

“It’s an endless exercise in problemsolving,” 

said Michael Delagarza, a 

downsized Fortune 500 executive who 

graduated from the boat school last year. 

“After spending years in the corporate 

world, particularly at high levels,” he said, 

“it’s very, very satisfying to start a project 

and actually see something that gets finished.” 

These are the skills veteran boatbuilder 

Bob Prothero hoped to preserve when he 

founded the school, where his name is invoked 

with the reverence of a prophet. 

Before his death at age 76, the Lake Union 

builder had repaired 12,000 wooden vessels 

and designed and built 200 others, 

including tugs, trawlers and seiners “as 

elegant as yachts,” in the words of a memorial 

plaque. 

Older wooden boats continue to ply the 

Sound — and new ones are still being built 

with modern techniques that emphasize 

plywood and glue. But by the late 1970s 

the balance was tipping. Fiberglass was 

ascendant and the old traditions were sinking 

fast. 

“What he saw starting to happen,” said 

Hammond, who studied under Prothero, 

“was a real loss of the craftsmanship that 

he rubbed shoulders with day-in and dayout. 

The old-timers were dying out. It was 

production-oriented — fast and dirty — 

and that bothered him.” 

Furthermore, many boats were “built by 

eye” — without plans or documentation. 

Northwest construction methods were being 

lost to history. 

“To me,” said Patti Walden, the school’s 

capital campaign manager, “it becomes 

very much like Native American oral traditions.” 

In other words, save it or lose it. 

Cold, hard lessons 

Like green recruits who don’t know a 

bivouac from a drill field, incoming students 

have much to learn. They’ve spent 

nearly $1,000 on tools, but months will 

pass before they lay their first plank or fair 

their first board. Woodworking skills unfold 

slowly and methodically. 

“The first week,” Jacoby said, “we 

mostly spent sharpening chisels and adjusting 

planes and getting used to Japanese 

saws,” which, unlike Western saws, 

cut on the pullstroke. 

For novices, this new partnership of 

mind and hand is as taxing as total immersion 

in a strange tongue. 

“I was a far cry from a carpenter, but 

I’ve gotten better at it and I was determined 

to do it,” said Doug Martin, 50, a 

retired Air Force Reserve pilot, late of 

Kansas, who flew in Afghanistan, Iraq and 

other “more interesting” places he can’t 

talk about. 

“To be able to realize this dream of 

building beautiful pieces of art is wonderful,” 

he said. “That’s what I consider this 

— art. I just find peace in the work and 

I’m happier than I’ve ever been.” 

But Martin, who hopes to work in the 

Northwest boat industry, said he struggled 

to assimilate these unfamiliar skills. 

“When I started, I was blown away by 

how hard it is,” he said. “You’re really 

proud when you finally get something 

right.” 

Jacoby said his first efforts to build a 

box were on a par with “a 3-year-old’s 

fingerpainting. I think I went through 

three dovetails where I actually broke the 

dovetails with my chisel.” 

Course descriptions hint at the strange, 

new world they have entered. “Before 

planking can commence,” says an arcane 

passage on “lapstrake” construction, “you 

will be taught how to fair the rabbet, 

groove and ‘line off’ the hull. You will 

spile for, cut out and fit the garboard 

planks.” 

“It was a bit awkward the first three 

months,” said Erin Bostrom, 26, one of 

two female students. 

But the initial discomfort proved a great 

leveler for men and women, old and 

young. Despite her delicate, elfin looks and 

ear-to-ear smile, Bostrom has a flinty 

background. She has taught marine biology, 

lived in Antarctica and trained 

middle-schoolers to sail tall ships in New 

Hampshire. Boatbuilding brings her maritime 

skills full circle. 

“I’m psyched,” she said, flashing a 

lightning grin. “It’s teaching me different 

way of looking at things — trying to take 

it apart and diagnose it, which I didn’t 

use to do.” 

Student Amy Schaub, 26, like threefourths 

of her classmates, hopes to work 

in the boatbuilding trades. Barely 5 feet 

tall, she is serious and intense, her dark 

watch cap pulled low over steady blue eyes. 

Her dream is to be a great shipwright. For 

now, she works weekends cleaning out a 

shipwright’s co-op. 

“It’s not much,” said Schaub, a photographer, 

tall-ship sailor and world traveler, 

“but it’s an ‘in.’ ” 

A separate path 

By winter quarter, students diverge onto 

specialized paths: traditional small craft, 

traditional large craft and contemporary 

wood techniques that use epoxy resins and 

modern adhesives. 

Rob van Os, 63, a retired yacht broker 

and large-vessel manufacturer from Holland, 

chose the contemporary class for reasons 

he now regrets: He just wanted to get 

warm. To protect the epoxies, the contemporary 

workshop is kept above 50 degrees 

in winter. The other shops are like ice 

caves, unheated and sometimes open to the 

elements. 

“All those planes are cast iron,” Van Os 

said. “They’re cold as the dickens.” 

For a man like Van Os, who speaks five 

languages and ran his own international 

company, student life entails a certain loss 

of status. Class attendance is mandatory, 

so he needs permission just to go to the 

dentist. He figured he could handle the loss 

of privilege — but not if he had to freeze 

as well. 

“If I had known that the cold was so 

temporary,” he lamented, “I would have 

stayed in the traditional class.” 

His notion of American winters came 

from his years in Maine, where his American-born 

wife, long plagued by illness, 

wanted to spend her last days. 

Before she died, she urged her husband 

to pursue his longtime dream of enrolling 

in boatbuilding school. 

“I’d never worked with my hands,” said 

Van Os, who has spent most of his life 

sailing or working in the maritime industry. 

“I felt it was a shortcoming of mine 

not to be able to build wooden boats.” 

The school’s intense demands on mind 

and body have distracted him from the 

void left by his wife’s death two years ago. 


“I was very close to her,” he said. “She 

was my mate. This was another way for 

me to get my feet under me and get over 

the horrible grief.” 

Magical steps 

After a few months, students notice an 

internal shift. They no longer wait for an 

instructor to walk them through every step. 

Increasingly, they can think for themselves 

and work as a team, as seamless as the 

skiffs and sloops and motor launches forming 

under their hands. 

Jacoby knew he had turned a corner 

when he and his classmates laid the final 

plank of their first boat, the so-called 

whisky plank. Flushed with triumph, they 

downed celebratory shots of whisky and, 

as tradition demanded, tossed a shot into 

the boat. 

“I had now seen every bit of the process 

and I knew this boat was going to be built,” 

Jacoby said. “There was no magical step I 

didn’t know anymore. Of course, I was 

wrong. There are lots of ways of building 

a boat, and lots of magical steps.” 

Depending on their course of study, students 

remain at the school for six months, 

nine months or a year. Whatever their tenure, 

graduation is an emotional passage. 

Tears flow as students realize, with a 

shock, that their special bond is coming 

to an end. Some graduates find other ways 

to stay connected. 

“I didn’t leave,” said Delagarza, who 

— a year later — can still identify the 

plank he installed when his class built an 

18-foot sloop from a 1933 design by Carl 

J. Nordstrom (no relation to the department 

store family). 

Delagarza, now a board member, is 

helping the school raise money through 

sale of student-built boats and vessel donations. 

“I decided, in the middle of the 

year when I was in school, that I was going 

to stay associated with this school in 

some way,” he said. “And I have, because 

of the spirit of the place. Wooden boats 

get under your skin.” 

It’s an emotional pull Mahon has seen 

many times in his eight years on the faculty. 

“There’s just something intrinsic 

about boats that some people can’t stay 

away from,” he said. “It’s part of the 

Northwest heritage.” 

NORTHWEST SCHOOL OF 

WOODEN BOATBUILDING 

Address: 42 N. Water St., Port 

Hadlock, WA 98339 

Contact: 360-385-4948 

info@nwboatschool.org 

Web: www.nwboatschool.org 

Programs: Degree and diploma 

programs, plus non-credit summer 

workshops for a general audience 

Tuition: $3,850 per quarter; $14,300 

for 12 months 

P-I reporter Cecelia Goodnow can be 

reached at 206-448-8353 or 

ceceliagoodnow@seattlepi.com. • 

Annual Meeting of 

the Lone Star 

Chapter, TSCA 

And Small Craft 

Messabout 

Submitted by Howard Gmelch 

Saturday, October 22, 2005, The Scow 

Schooner Project will host its 5th Annual 

Small Craft Festival along with the annual 

meeting of the Lone Star Chapter, 

TSCA. This year’s event will include a 4 

mile row/paddle/float down the Trinity 

River, terminating at the Anahuac Harbor 

and site of the Festival. Some of the 

Schooner Project’s skiffs are available for 

the trip. Free river tour rides on the Navigation 

District educational boats will be 

offered to the public throughout the morning. 

The very popular Kid’s Boatbuilding 

Shop will be ready for kids of all ages. 

Everyone is invited to bring their small 

craft to show or participate. 

For information ask for Howard at: 

The Scow Schooner Project 

409-267-4402 

www.scowschooner.org 

email at scowschooner@earthlink.net 

Boat for Sale 

Adirondak Guideboat 

Good condition — $1,700 

Contact: Kim Apel 

kapel@exchange.fullerton.edu 

Kayak and Paddle 

Design in Kullorsuaq 

Greenland, an interview 

with Nikolaj 

Jensen 

By Gail E. Ferris 

In Kullorsuaq Greenland on July 20, 

1995, I visited Nikolaj Jensen because I 

had been told that he is a most extraordinary 

kayak builder. Nikolaj’s sons who 

actively hunt by kayak are Lars and 

Nathanial. 

I communicated my interest in kayak 

design to Nikolaj by sitting on the floor 

demonstrating kayak paddling and showing 

him some of the measurements that I 

was interested in obtaining. 

Nikolaj shared with me several extremely 

important aspects of kayak and 

paddle design. 

Regarding paddle design, the length of 

the loom is slightly greater than the width 

of the kayak. The loom length is the width 

of the kayak and the knuckles of the closed 

hand. 

The paddler has enough room to paddle 

with a stroke that extends the paddler’s 

arm of the opposite side ending the hand 

at the waist of the paddler. Nikolaj said 

that this stroke is only used on calm water 

and I immediately agreed that when the 

water is rough a much shorter stroke is 

best. 

The circumference of the loom is not 

measured with the thumb and index fingers 

meeting rather it is measured by the 

thumb and index finger including an opening 

of about 2 cm to allow the thickness 

loom to have sufficient strength. He mentioned 

that it is very important for the cross 

section of the paddle is a diamond or rhombus, 

which means that the paddle has a 

rib. He greatly prefers to make his paddles 

thicker than many of the other paddles I 

have seen in this area so that the paddle is 

strong. 

Therefore the paddle should have a rib 

down the middle of the blade so that the 

paddle will not flutter in the water, especially 

during the initial moments of hard 

paddling to accelerate the kayak. He 


makes the loom rectangular but does not 

make it thicker on the flat blade side he 

makes it thicker on the cross section side 

this is the opposite of all the paddles I have 

seen elsewhere in Greenland south of 

Upernavik Commune. 

The loom is carved where the blade 

starts with a 45 angle as a step up. I carefully 

measured one paddle used by 

Nathanial Jensen, which had a distinct rib 

and another paddle used by Lars Jensen, 

which happened not to have such a distinct 

rib. 

The paddle length is determined by the 

combination of the length of the loom and 

the blade the loom at the left side the blade 

out to the right side ending with the arm 

extended out on a 30 angle the hand out 

flat. I’m not sure at all about this and to 

try to better understand this I had Lars 

measured. 

Kullorsuaq and Tassiusaq are where the 

Greenland kayak is used only for hunting 

the Narwhal. Because it is on the very 

edge of Melville Bay Narwhal come to this 

region. 

Nathanial’s kayak had the chins set so 

that it is a flatter broader kayak than Lars 

kayak. Nikolaj told me as is to be expected 

that every kayak he builds is different because 

it is planned according to the 

paddler’s body dimensions. 

Nikolaj showed me that he measures the 

length for the foot to the back by bending 

the feet back as far as comfortable with 

the heels together with the legs straight 

out and the feet splayed in a V to the sides 

rather than straight up. 

The height of the cockpit above the 

knees is planned so that the knees will be 

bent slightly upward to firmly touch the 

knee support cross beam, seeqqortarfik 

ajaaq, with the feet to be extended forward 

pressing against the foot support cross 

beam, tukerumiaq ajaak during rough 

water conditions and the knees must be 

well braced to execute the roll. 

This does not take into account the distance 

between the kayaker’s buttocks and 

the back support cross beam, isserfik ajaaq 

which I am not sure about. Probably the 

kayak paddler is sitting firmly against this 

crossbeam to maintain sufficient leverage. 

Neils Møller of Upernavik said that the 

paddler is measured with the feet pressed 

back and the legs straight out. 

Lars Jensen, Nikolaj’s son, said that the 

distance is measured with the feet straight 

up and the legs straight out. 

The kayak paddler sits with his feet 

splayed in a V to the sides rather than 

straight up. This is one of the physical 

discomforts that a Greenlander must adapt 

to for kayak paddling. 

In Kullorsuaq the Narwhal whale is 

hunted by kayak because the silence of the 

kayak allows the hunter to approach more 

closely. The paddle is designed to be as 

quiet as possible by having the surface 

finely sanded or scrapped as smooth as 

possible with a piece of glass so that the 

paddle does not create any noise by dripping 

water. 

Website which shows the measurements 

of these paddles is located at http:// 

www.guillemot-kayaks.com/Building/ 

GailPaddles/GreenlandPaddles.html 

gaileferris@hotmail.com 

www.nkhorizons.com/index.htm • 

Tribulato Boatyard 

News 

Submitted by Annie Kolls 

Scuzbums founder and small boating 

maestro Joe Tribulato reports on activity, 

past, present and future, in his boatyard 

(back yard) near Moss Landing, on 

California’s central coast. “I have just finished 

Seguin, a Southwest Greenland type 

kayak designed by Rob Bryant, from plans 

acquired through WoodenBoat Magazine. 

I lowered the middle section for easier 

rolling. I don’t know how to roll a kayak, 

but my paddling buddy, Warren, does and 

declares it to be a good roller. Beware of 

modifying a stock design; I have to paddle 

barefoot for my feet to fit under the deck.” 

Another Teal kayak, my fifth, was built 

last summer for our house cleaner Maria 

Elena and her family. The three young 

boys helped. We had a great time building 

followed by a launch picnic at a local lake 

with family and friends. 

Most of the boats on my built list were 

for friends, mainly students at Moss Landing 

Middle School where I was volunteer 

resident boatwright for seven years. Only 

ten remain in my fleet. I’m considering a 

power boat next, the Dutch Pram by 

Morten Olesen in Denmark. Life still happens 

between messabouts, especially if you 

have the urge to build.” 

Joe has sold his Bolger-designed 

Oldshoe (11.5 ft. cat yawl built in 1988) 

to Rosalie from Seattle, to be delivered this 

spring. “It’s still sound, though the paint 

shows it age. I’ll repaint it before delivery.” 

Of the 36 boats (!) that Joe has built 

over the years, this is the first that he has 

sold. “Not exactly a money making endeavor,” 

he says. “But it sure is profitable 

in another way. We are talking about showing 

it at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat 

Festival in September. We’ll see.” Joe also 

reports that part of him, at least, wanted 

to make it to the recent Lake Mohave 

messabout, but “creeping decrepitude 

keeps me closer to home these days.” He 

adds, “I’m doing well to make it to the 

Giant Messabout in August, even with the 

Baywood Navy guys doing the driving. 

They make me feel like a youngster.” • 

Festival of the Sea 

Hyde Street Pier 

San Francisco Maritime 

National Historical Park 

Saturday, September 10 

Experience driving chants, elegant 

instrumentals and delicate harmonies from 

the wooden decks of our historic fleet! The 

San Francisco Maritime National Historical 

Park hosts internationally acclaimed 

performers for sailors’ songs, sweet ballads 

and working chanteys! 

Contact: 

415-561-6662x15 

www.maritime.org 

Classes at the 

Boat Shop 

Hyde Street Pier 

San Francisco 

Wooden Block Making Class 

Saturday and Sunday, September 24 and 

25. 

Learn basic woodworking and rigging 

skills while producing a wooden block 

called a handy-billy. For more information 

call 415-561-6662x30. • 


Wood Bending Seminar 

A Workshop During the John Gardner 

Small Craft Weekend 

June 2005 

By Peter Vermilya and Dan Drath 

One of the highlights of the many weekend activities was 

the workshop conducted by Wade Smith, Director of the 

John Gardner Boatshop. Wade led the workshop and demonstrated 

wood bending by various means including steam. 

Mast hoops were fabricated using oak in a process that 

seems more art than science. Wade revealed many of the 

secrets in a presentation surrounded with good humor. 

The fabrication process is shown in the panel of photographs 

to the right and below. • The seminar begins. 

Demonstrating bending of oak on a form. 

The form for bending mast hoops. 

Placing the steamed oak on the form. 

The finished product. 


for hard and soft 

water... 

Maritime Education 

Building 

Boats for Winter 

and Summer 

By John Stratton 

It’s been a few months since small boats 

plied the sunny and warm Connecticut 

River...and there’s a while yet to come 

before spring weather makes the water 

welcoming. So what does a maritime-oriented 

teaching program do? 

In Old Saybrook on Ferry Road, the 

Maritime Education Network workshop 

facility is occupying many winter afternoons 

and evenings with building a small 

fleet of family iceboats, and crafting another 

large “River Batteau” for its youth 

programs on the water next season. 

The big “batteau” (a traditional North 

American spelling based on the French 

“bateau,” for boat) is number two in a proposed 

fleet of three, but the iceboats are a 

first for the organization, which provides 

marine and maritime supplementary education 

programs for many state schools. 

“Last winter we took after-school students 

in our Environmental Youth Group 

to see and experience iceboating on South 

Cove in Essex, and were even able to borrow 

some boats from local people,” said 

Katharine K. David, director of Maritime 

Education Network on Ferry Road in Old 

Saybrook. “The students loved it, so we 

did a little bit of research on iceboating in 

Connecticut. There’s a lot of activity on 

different lakes — locally Cedar Lake and 

Rogers Lake — and so we scheduled an 

iceboat-construction program for this 

year.” 

Four 12-foot “DN” class boats are now 

being built, one for the Network’s educational 

program and three as family 

projects, she said. The Network boat is 

being crafted by Pat Wiley of Old 

Saybrook, aided by after-school students 

Brian Hewitt of Old Lyme and Will Tucker 

of Old Saybrook. Paul Risseeuw and his 

son, Reynolds, of Ivoryton are building 

another one, as are Walter “Sandy” 

Sanstrom and his son Jason, of Essex; and 

Clay Caras and his family of Essex. The 

group gets together Tuesday evenings at 

about 7 PM. They’ve already built the 

long, forward-facing tillers and cut and 

milled key parts from select sitka spruce. 

Soon they will have the hulls going together. 

They hope to be done in a month 

or so, with plenty of frozen-lake time available 

for testing. 

What are “DN” Iceboats? 

Established in 1937, the design was 

created for a Detroit News (“DN”) 

contest and the first 50 boats were 

built in the newspaper’s hobby shop. 

It’s now the most numerous of the 

world’s iceboat classes, and has a 60- 

square-foot sail, an eight-foot cross 

plank for the “side runners,” and 

weighs between 100 and 150 pounds 

complete. Characterized by rapid acceleration, 

typical close-hauled performance 

is two to four times the 

wind speed — up to some 60 miles 

per hour for the brave and skilled. 

The wedge-shaped, front-steering 

hull is small and tight, and the boat 

is easily taken apart for transportation 

by cartop of pickup bed. That’s 

quite a contrast to the massive, rearsteering 

Hudson River ice yachts of 

the latter 1800s, which enjoyed races 

against the express trains which 

passed on the river shore. The sailing 

craft were often successful: one 

yacht was 69 feet long and carried 

1070 square feet of sail, and in 1871 

beat the crack Chicago Express as it 

sped between Poughkeepsie and 

Ossining, New York. 

“There are people in the area who compete 

in national races,” said Sanstrom, 

“but this is a ground-up program. We’re 

building utility boats to have fun with — 

but if we need to they’re easy to upgrade 

to racing specifications, because the hull 

and most of the hardware stay the same. 

The important thing is that you’re not 

going to break the boat when you’re learning.” 

David notes that the Network is looking 

for donations or loans of iceboat components 

or parts to assist with the 

construction and final fitting out. “The 

boats will be fast and fun,” she said, “and 

a great way to extend our sailing season.” 

Big Batteaux 

The other wintertime construction 

project is a second River Batteau, patterned 

loosely after the flat-bottomed 

working vessels which rowed, paddled, 

and poled cargo on the inland rivers of 

New England and Canada — “carrying 

everything from beaver pelts to cannon,” 

said construction team member Jon 

Persson of Seth Persson Boat Builders of 

Centerbrook. The Network’s doubleended, 

27-foot by five-foot, vessel is a sort 

of “pickup truck of small craft,” he observed, 

though in the interest of portability 

it’s built with 1/4-inch plywood 

topsides and a 3/8-inch bottom, all of 

which are fiberglassed and framed for lasting 

strength. 

David said the Network’s first batteau 

was completed in the fall of 2003 and has 

taken aboard many scouting and school 

groups as paddlers in 2004s summer programs. 

The boat provides “non-polluting 

access” to the river and shallow estuaries. 

It’s a stable platform, she says, for “teambuilding, 

beach cleanups, water-sampling, 

and species-gathering expeditions.” When 

equipped with a small sail, the vessel also 

won second place in the 2004 Connecticut 

River Raft Race from the Portland 

bridge to Dart Island. 

Persson is joined on Wednesday afternoons 

at 3 PM by fellow mentor Pat Wiley 

and a growing group of middle- and highschool 

students. Ultimately, the 12 kids 

will have built the boat from the plans on 

up, and on the way learned or absorbed 

the technical and teamwork skills necessary 

to get the job done well. 

“We had about a dozen students involved 

in building the first batteau along 

with our leaders — Persson, Wiley, and 

George Frick, from Durham,” said David. 

“We can fit in a few more students as this 

new boat takes shape, and welcome interested 

young people.” She added that the 

project is partially funded through the generosity 

of Herb and Sherry Clark of Essex, 

through a Middlesex County Community 

continued on page 14 


The layout and presentation of the book 

make a statement of quality. There is a lot 

of white space on the pages, but it seems 

appropriate. For the information and the 

pleasure in this book, the price is right. 

Growing up in a family of millworkers, 

when the shores of Narragansett Bay supported 

both factories and mansions, I 

would see these boats sweep by, as beautiful 

and inaccessible as the ladies going to 

the fine houses in Newport. I always loved 

them from afar - the boats, we’re talking 

about here - and, just as in the first edition 

of this book, it is a joy to bring them 

a little closer (still talking about the boats; 

I eventually did get a fine lady). • 

Book Review 

The Catboat Era 

in Newport, Rhode Island 

by John M. Leavens 

Reviewed by Jim Lawson 

The first impression this book makes, 

right out of the box, is solid quality. The 

heft of the solid binding and heavy claycoated 

paper, the silvery-blue antique picture 

on the dustcover, all contribute to the 

impression that the publisher cares about 

this book. Right off, I think this would be 

a good choice to give to a boat person on 

an occasion - birthday, Father’s Day (that’s 

a hint, kids), or other occasion. 

Now to the basics of the review: my 

main criterion for a coffee table book is 

whether, after you are fortunate enough 

to get it, you pick it up again, and even 

get something new each time you read it. 

Simply put, this book excels. It is outstanding 

in five categories, and the ranking of 

these will vary with each reader. Here are 

mine. 

The narratives are interesting. These are 

good stories, with impeccable scholarship 

that isn’t a drag, with nice, clear, uncluttered 

writing. Example from page 54: “In 

the early days there were no Greek women 

in Newport and the Greeks married Irish 

girls.” No clutter in that sentence, and an 

insight into a whole culture. The information 

is solid and well-supported, 

enough to satisfy both the casual reader 

and the serious student of the boats and 

the times. There are a lot more examples, 

but my advice is to buy the book. 

The photos are directly from the period 

(1879-1905) and crystal clear. I am no 

scholar of photography, but it seems that 

Mr. Leavens must have had a lot of pictures 

available; I suspect that the people 

who took these pictures thought a lot of 

their boats, and had some idea of what a 

special time they were living in. The flavor 

of that culture comes through in every 

picture. 

The documentation of individual boats, 

which runs about 70 pages, describes the 

provenance of the 230 boats catalogued. I 

would like more details of construction, 

but I guess if that were Mr. Leavens’ intent, 

he would have put them in. 

There is a highly selected and pruned 

bibliography; only the best materials were 

used in this construction. I would have 

liked to see some material that could be 

accessed via computer, but, again, a reasonably 

resourceful typist could mine it 

from the sources given. I see that my cavils 

are based on the fact that I want more, 

and I would bet you will too. 

continued from page 13 

Foundation grant titled, “Take Me To The 

River!” 

Persson observes with pride that the kids 

learn a lot from the construction: “Some 

are doing very well at catching on to the 

finer points, and at least one student just 

comes in, picks up the tools, and goes to 

it! I’m looking forward to having a few 

more on the crew. These are good attitudes 

that can apply to any career, any job.” 

And next summer and fall? “One boat 

is great, two is better, and three will be 

ideal — we’ll be able to take out an entire 

classroom then,” said David. 

Interested in participating? Parents and 

students can contact her at 388-4180 or 

maritime-edu@juno.com. • 

Lapstrake Boat Building at 

the Center for Wooden 

Boats 

The Hvalsoe 16' 

Instructor: Eric Hvalsoe 

October 8 – 16 (Saturday and Sunday) 

Students will build a new boat, assembling 

the building frame, molds and backbone. 

The hull will be planked cedar 

lapstrake over the molds, turned upright 

and framed out. Students will rabbet, spile, 

steam planks and oak ribs, and pattern and 

bevel complex components. 

For more information: 

www.cwb.org 

206-382-2628 


Design Details 

About Belaying 

Pins 

By Larry Feeney 

A belaying pin is a short length of wood 

or metal which is inserted into a hole in a 

convenient bulkhead or a rack, called a 

pin rail. Pin rails were traditionally found 

at the mast partners and often at the base 

of the shrouds on larger boats. A line can 

then be made fast, “belayed,” around the 

pin in much the way it can be tied off to a 

cleat. 

In Hollywood the belaying pin, apparently, 

was most useful as a means of repelling 

boarders. Anyone who has hefted 

a 2-foot long bronze belaying pin can understand 

the usefulness of such an item 

for that purpose, but the smaller, wooden 

belaying pins more likely to be found on 

our small boats have to garner affection 

in other ways. 

The pins are mounted vertically and, as 

such, always offer the advantage that they 

can not only serve to belay the line in question, 

but then function as a convenient 

item from which to hang the coil of belayed 

line that usually wants to be underfoot 

unless neatly stowed. A pin rail at 

the base of the mast can organize a lot of 

lines: main and jib halyards, topping lift, 

lazy jacks, flag halyard, etc. Imagine the 

ton of metal involved in cleats for all those 

things. 

Another advantage of the pin is that it 

can be quickly slid out of its hole in the 

pin rail, thus freeing the line at once without 

the need of untying. This is handy in 

an emergency, and appeals to the lazy folks 

among us. 

If one has access to a lathe (see following 

article) belaying pins can be made relatively 

easily in the home workshop out of 

scrap hardwood and thus can be cheaper 

than metal cleats. A coat or two of oil is 

the only finish they need. 

To belay a line around a belaying pin, 

you pass the line fully around the pin for 

one turn before beginning a series of 3 or 

4 figure-eights across the front and around 

the back of the pin. (Just as you should do 

on a cleat.) A single half hitch, laid in the 

same direction as the figure-eights, finishes 

the belay. Again, as with a cleat, 

there is no need or advantage to a birdsnest 

of half-hitches atop the pin. The excess 

line is then coiled and hung from the pin, 

neatly out of the way. • 

A Tale of Two 

Coasts…and Some 

Belaying Pins 

By Larry Feeney 

Some months ago I was in the process 

of finishing up the boat I had been building 

for my friends Larry and Sarah 

Eppenbach. She is a Devlin-designed 

“Nancy’s China” and as I neared the end 

I realized that I needed two belaying pins. 

On this design the belaying pins actually 

serve two separate functions: the customary 

function of serving as a place to belay 

the main and jib halyards at the base of 

the mast; but also, the pins in this case 

serve to secure a wedge at the partners 

which holds the mast in place. I’d already 

made the wedge and installed the partners, 

so the belaying pins were the last, rather 

minor (I thought) detail. 

I ran into a couple of problems. While 

some (non-boatbuilders for the most part) 

have claimed my shop is over-supplied 

with tools, a lathe is not among them. You 

pretty much need a lathe if you want to 

make belaying pins. Well, what can a 

couple of belaying pins cost, right? Especially 

little ones. The correct answer is 

$35 each plus shipping. And then they 

come in only a couple of sizes which may 

or may not be quite what you want. They 

are lovely, though—solid bronze. Although 

this is not an advantage if you have 

a tendency to drop things overboard, like 

some of us. Think of it like a $35 shackle 

pin. 

Time to be inventive. I came up with 

various ways of making something that 

would do the trick. I wasn’t particularly 

fond of any of them, and launch day was 

quickly approaching. 

So I sent out a note to our chapter discussion 

list asking if anyone knew of a 

reasonable source. Unfortunately, I got no 

responses. 

Relative to the rest of the pre-launch todo 

list, the belaying pin problem sank 

pretty much below the surface as the big 

day approached. Unbeknownst to me, 

however, some combination of John Weiss 

and Dan Drath conspired to insert my inquiry 

into the very next issue of The Ash 

Breeze. The first I knew of this was when 

a member named John Hawkinson sent me 

an email enquiring what size pins I might 


need and offering to help me out. John is 

a retired physician who lives on Chesapeake 

Bay where he and some other TSCA 

members are involved in building a Chesapeake 

Bugeye, a project which commenced 

with cutting the trees for the lumber in 

1980. John has obviously handled a lot of 

sawdust in his day. 

I sent him a digital photo of a similar 

belaying pin from Phoebe, together with 

the dimensions. We discussed, briefly, 

what kind of wood to make these out of 

and quickly settled on locust. Within less 

than a week I had 4 lovely locust belaying 

pins sitting on my shop bench. John refused 

to accept any payment for his efforts, 

or even reimbursement for the shipping 

costs. 

So next season there will be a sloop plying 

the waters around Lopez Island, Washington, 

adorned and improved with the 

work of one of our colleagues on the other 

side of the continent. My thanks to John 

and Dan, to Dr. John Hawkinson…and to 

TSCA. • 

Minutes of June 4, 2005 

Meeting of the TSCA 

Council at Mystic 

Members Present: 

Cricket Evans 

Chauncy Rucker 

John Weiss 

Dan Drath 

Tom Shephard 

Ron Gryn 

John Symons 

Mike Wick 

Bill Covert 

Members Absent: 

Rich Geiger 

Myron Young 

The meeting began with nominations 

for the new President. Dan Drath nominated 

Cricket Evans. He said that he felt 

that she is a worker bee with all the enthusiasm 

and interest that would make her 

a good President. Cricket announced reservations 

about accepting the position because 

of her experience with other boards 

which left officers with considerable exposure 

in the event of an accident or death 

during one of the TSCA sponsored events. 

In response to her concerns there was a 

general discussion about insurance and 

liability with a consensus that the board 

would support any measures that she 

might feel would be appropriate measures 

to take to resolve these concerns. Bill Covert 

nominated Mike Wick , but he voiced 

concern that he was only on the board 

for one more year and might not be a good 

choice. A voice vote indicated a marked 

preference for Cricket Evans which was 

carried. New President, Cricket Evans, 

nominated Chauncy Rucker for Vice President. 

His nomination was endorsed and 

carried. Dan Drath nominated John 

Symons and Mike Wick for treasurer and 

secretary. Both nominations were carried. 

The minutes of last year’s membership 

meeting and council meeting were submitted 

and approved. 

A motion was made and approved after 

some discussion that a contribution to the 

Boat Livery of $800 be made. 

The figures of planned expenditures for 

the next year, a rough budget, be as follows: 

Web Site $107 

Membership Fulfillment $325 

Boat Livery $800 

Wares $300 

Ash Breeze $10,000 

Projected income $15,000 

It was suggested that the Treasurer take 

the balance of the bank account and purchase 

several staggered CD’s to earn 

greater interest. 

The Council endorsed the treatment of 

the mailing permit that was discussed in 

the Member’s Meeting, that the permit be 

moved to Providence and put in the hands 

of a commercial firm. 

Gardner Grants. After discussion about 

our role in the approval process, whether 

too many grants were being directed to the 

Center for Wooden Boats, the council accepted 

the recommendation of the Gardner 

Grant Committee. Mike Wick was 

tasked with the job of informing Ben Fuller 

of our decision. 

Membership fulfillment. Since the 

Committee has over three hundred e-mail 

addresses available for membership fulfillment, 

should we send e-mail notices or 

post card reminders. There was agreement 

that we try both methods and study which 

is the most effective. 

Dan Drath had spoken of the need for 

coordination of information about applicable 

legislation pending in various states. 

Bill Covert volunteered to serve as legislation 

coordinator for the committee and 

coordinate with individuals in the chapters 

who take an active interest in legislation 

on the state and local level. 

At 5:45PM a motion was made and 

approved to adjourn. 

Respectfully, Mike Wick, Secretary 

Boat for Sale 

Beautiful 15' 1" Yankee Tender, owner 

built in 1987. Sides are 3/8" 5-ply marine, 

bottom is 1/2". Includes a 4 HP Mercury 

in excellent condition, plus a nice older 

factory trailer with new tires and wheels. 

It was a sailboat for 5 years, and I still 

have all the equipment for converting it 

back to one. It’s been my pride and joy for 

over 16 years and has received lots of attention 

at many boat shows and at our local 

Messabouts. 

Valued at $3,500, selling for $2,500 or 

best offer. 

For more questions contact me at: 

Richard Mitsch 

31876 Huckleberry Lane 

Lebanon, OR 97355 

541-451-3269 

rjmitsch@nwlink.com 


Dangar Dory 

Derby Day 

By Monique Ewen 

Boats and people of all shapes and sizes 

gathered for an eccentric and enjoyable 

day of rowing races. 

Easter Sunday on Dangar Island on the 

New South Wales Central Coast in Australia 

began with a lazy start at 9 AM as 

people continued to arrive with their boats, 

sunscreen and hats throughout the day. 

More than 60 people and 30 boats showed 

up to either watch or participate in the 

races. 

Kids paraded the beach with bright 

pink, orange, yellow and green flags, forties 

music was pumping out across the 

river from a putt putt and adolescents 

waltzed around in surf brand bikinis. With 

22 years of annual Dangar Dory Derby 

Days to look back on, local parent Mario 

Castiglioni said “This year was one of the 

most colourful ones I think.” 

There was no real co-ordinator for the 

day, although local parent Cybele Shorter 

took charge of starting most of the races. 

This, however, was not always with a smile 

“I’m not organising the race for you - you 

have to organize it for yourself!” 

There was an exciting array of races 

beginning with rowing and swimming 

races for the kids — during which a number 

of kayaks were overturned and one boat 

had a hole smashed into its side. Ten year 

old, Leon Curtis, was there “to win races! 

heaps of races!” 

“I died — we hit that boat, that boat, 

that boat — we hit all the boats (enthusiastically 

points to boats)…we came last!” 

said nine year old Maddie. “It’s not about 

Monique Ewen 

who wins and loses though, it’s about having 

fun.” 

One particularly exciting race is the 

‘Twelve Apostles’ which involves filling 

two boats with as many people as possible 

and using only hands to paddle around a 

marker and back — both boats sank amid 

a chorus of laughter from the audience on 

the beach. 

The usually competitive Men’s and 

Women’s Round the Island races were 

fairly relaxed this year. Boats in the 

women’s race sported a ukulele, Chinese 

sun umbrellas and even a traffic 

controller’s “SLOW” sign. Stephen 

Turner, 22 years, showed his romantic 

notions as he rowed his girlfriend around 

the island in the men’s race. 

Despite this, 17 year old Guy Saunders 

had trained for the race and was very serious 

about achieving a place. After coming 

fourth, he said: “It was really hard — 

my arms are still aching and its like two 

hours later!” 

Following the day’s motto “No Smelly 

Engines, Just Smelly People,” 64 year old 

Jamie Turner continued her tradition of 

taking her top off at the sweaty finish line 

of the Women’s Round the Island race. 

“It’s an environmental race, it’s 

a community race… it’s about getting 

in there and getting wet and 

getting smelly,” said Cybele Shorter. 

“I really appreciate the way we have 

everybody coming together.” 

The day means a lot to the 

younger generations on the island. 

It locates their sense of identity not 

only on Dangar Island but also 

within the wider community. 

“Tyler and Guy have been really 

excited about this — it’s really 

cute!” said Guy’s girlfriend, 17 year old 

Jamie. Indigo Smith, 17, said “I know 

what it means - craziness!” Tyler 

Saunders, 15, could only say “We’re being 

Dangar people!” 

The day concluded with a melodramatic 

awards’ ceremony in the front yard of one 

of the organizers’ homes. There was a table 

of second hand trophies, printed certificates 

and Easter eggs which were awarded 

liberally to the competitors. Awards included, 

Youngest Woman Round the Island 

- Women’s and Oldest Competitor. 

A special plaque is awarded to the winners 

of the Men’s and Women’s Round the 

Island races. An iconic limerick reflecting 

the origins and values of Dangar Dory 

Derby Day is inscribed on the back: 

“There once was a boat called the 

dory, 

Which was rowed by the young and 

the hoary, 

They sweated and stank, 

Occasionally sank, 

For a bit of applause and some glory.” 

About the Author 

Monique Ewen is an 18 year old University 

student who is studying Journalism. 

She lives on Dangar Island and this 

is an article about her community and 

where she has grown up. Monique’s 

mother Cybele and father Philip have 

cruised from Sydney to Mauritius and 

some of this sea salt has found its way into 

Monique’s veins. Dangar Island is about 

2 miles in circumference and is about 20 

miles north of Sydney in the Hawkesbury 

river. The river itself is a drowned valley 

and is cut quite deeply into the landscape 

with high cliffs in many parts. • 


Got My Ducks in a 

Row 

By Greg Grundtisch 

Lofting ducks, (whales, as they are 

sometimes called) are becoming very collectable, 

and it can be difficult to find 

them, or afford them. The new ones are 

essentially the same, just haven’t sat on 

the shelf long enough to become antique 

or “collectable”. 

So what? 

Well, Mr. Pete Peterson of Portland, 

ME, has taken these contemporary ducks 

and added his artistic talents, painting 

various duck faces to them. Fifteen different 

ducks in all. 

By the way Pete Peterson is a real artist, 

and has real bonifidies. His wife Jane 

is an artist and photographer as well. 

These ducks look great! They make 

perfect nautical gifts, or decorations, but 

they are also real tools and can be used 

for their intended purpose, lofting. 

I always wanted a set of lofting ducks, 

not that I do any lofting of any degree; I 

just liked the way they looked. When these 

painted ducks came along with faces on 

them, I just couldn’t resist. I had to have 

them. They just looked sooo good. 

I do not often become so self indulgent, 

unless there’s beer is involved, but 

when I looked at these ducks on the web 

site; I decided that it was a real investment. 

So, I bought the whole set, 15. They 

have already increased in value, as I was 

made a really nice offer for a few of them. 

I’m keeping them all, and building a 

display case for them. This will add to 

our retirement portfolio, so that if the social 

security money I’ve heard about is 

gone, or in a lock box in a federal reserve 

in West Virginia somewhere, and cannot 

be accessed for its original purpose, I’ll 

have ducks to sell. Just like Grandma 

when she sold chickens, when the depression 

got the family’s savings. 

Pete Peterson is also an amateur boat 

builder. He has built some really nice looking 

boats. He also has standard lofting 

ducks available in gloss or flat black. They 

look very good too. 

If you care to look, you can check his 

web site www.boatsofwood.com, or 207- 

807-8012. • 

Apprenticeshop 

Students Launch 

Portsmouth Navy 

Yard Bank Dory 

Submitted by Trisha Badger 

On Friday, May 27th at 2:30 PM, apprentices 

from the Apprenticeshop of Atlantic 

Challenge launched a 16-foot 

fishing dory at their 643 Main Street 

Rockland waterfront facility. The public 

was invited and encouraged to attend the 

launch. 

Apprentices Neil Joyce of Shad Bay, 

Nova Scotia, and David Parham from the 

Woodlands, Texas, began work on this 

boat in March. The John Gardner dory 

design was redrawn from the original draft 

done at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in 1884. 

This boat was commissioned by the 

Carroll School of Lincoln, Massachusetts, 

and will be used for youth rowing programs 

at their facility after the launch. The 

Carroll School already has one such dory 

at their facility and is excited to add another 

to their fleet. 

Grand Banks Dories were usually designated 

by the bottom length. For instance, 

this 16' dory is actually 20' LOA 

(length overall)—a very large dory by 

today’s standards. These boats row well 

with a tremendous amount of ballast, as 

they were designed to haul nets, bring in 

a catch, and row fish back to a fishing 

schooner. Banks Dories were straightsided 

and easily built so that they could 

nest on the decks of these ships and could 

be essentially disposable. 

This particular ‘Shop-built boat was 

planked in pine, her frames are sawn hackmatack, 

her ribs and bottom cleats are 

white oak, the stem is yellow pine, and 

the transom is white oak. 

Apprentices typically build 3-4 traditional 

wooden boats during their two years 

at the Apprenticeshop. This is Neil Joyce’s 

final boat—he graduates from the program 

on July 22nd and will be returning to Nova 

Scotia. 

Many other projects are currently underway 

on the ‘Shop floor. Other boats 

scheduled for summer launches include: 

an 18 foot double-ender, a 24-lobsterboat 

(currently for sale), a 14-foot Moosabec 

Reach Boat, three 8 foot skiffs from the 

Marine Mentoring Program, and a 12-foot 

Susan Skiff. For a complete schedule of 

summer launches, or to learn more about 

Atlantic Challenge’s programs, please call 

207-594-1800 or visit their web site. Atlantic 

Challenge is a non-profit educational 

organization dedicated to inspiring 

personal growth through craftsmanship, 

community, and traditions of the sea. 

Atlantic Challenge 

Craftsmanship — Seamanship 

— Community 


Rockland, ME 04841 

207-594-1800 

www.atlanticchallenge.com • 


Slip-slide Your 

Boat with 

‘Boat Slider Trax’ 

By Harold Aune 

Back in the mid eighties Marie 

Hutchinson and myself were in the beginning 

years of establishing Whitehall Rowing 

& Sail. With the rising popularity of 

kayaking and canoeing it seemed like the 

ideal time to bring back traditional rowing. 

What better boat to build and market 

than a traditional Whitehall rowboat, the 

quintessential rowing boat of the last century. 

So we developed the Whitehall Spirit 

14, followed by several other classic designs 

of various vintages. Many of our 

prospective clients lived on rocky cobble 

type beaches. They preferred the utilitarian, 

bashable aspects of the more or less 

unrowable ‘tin’ skiff to our boats that were 

more expensive and potentially could be 

scratched and chipped while launching 

across their beaches. 

My father was a boat builder who in the 

early 50s, for the family’s use, built a nice 

wooden rowboat that I was allowed to use 

by myself once I had turned the age of 

seven or so. The rules of that privilege 

involved not letting the paint touch the 

beach or get scratched in any way. There 

was a steel keel strip on the bottom and it 

had a yew wood stem, so it was tough 

enough to handle being dragged over the 

rocky beach where we kept it. We would 

lay out pieces of driftwood 

after wetting 

them in the 

‘saltchuck’, and until 

I was old enough to 

manage by myself, 

my sisters or mom or 

dad would help to 

drag the boat down 

and into the water. 

Going back up was 

worse; it was uphill. 

Thirty years later 

when our clients faced 

this problem, it was 

easy to understand. 

Beaches are a tough 

environment for boats 

and equipment. 

Whatever was used to 

transport boats over 

them had to be able to 

handle the abuse both 

from the boat and the 

beach. Permanent railway tracks or concrete 

ramps cannot be built in exposed locations 

where the sea would destroy them 

in rough conditions. Permanent boat 

launching facilities are very expensive to 

build, and in this era of environmental 

concern are often simply not allowed. We 

considered many alternatives such as laying 

down carpet-like mats or using 

wheeled carts or sleds; finally, inspiration 

struck one night as I was dozing off to 

sleep. “Plastic pipe!” I exclaimed to my 

wife, “I think I’ve got it!” 

“That’s nice dear,” she said “Now tell 

me again in the 

morning,” and 

promptly went 

back to sleep. 

As it turned 

out, plastic pipe 

was not really the 

answer, but it was 

very close. Testing 

proved that 

only high-density 

polyethylene plastic 

was tough 

enough to handle 

the hostile beach 

environment. 

Unlike most plastics, 

it resists 

breakdown from UV radiation and does 

not become brittle in freezing conditions. 

But most importantly its slippery, Teflonlike 

surface makes pulling a boat across it 

glide like it’s sliding on ice. 

Our first Beach Hauler tracks were comprised 

of chain and HDPE skids. However, 

chain was impractical for a number 

of reasons including cost, weight and general 

ease of handling and installing. If 

you can imagine moving lengths of chain 

weighing hundreds of pounds along a 

shifting, unstable beach, you will have 

some idea of the problem. 

More research and development revealed 

that a light steel rod had many advantages 

over chain. Most significantly, 

the rods provided rigidity, which keeps the 

skids properly spaced, while at the same 

time being flexible enough to adjust to the 

contours of the varying types of beach terrain. 

The rod is also heavy enough to keep 

the track reasonably stationary when left 

in position on a beach. And best of all, it 

could be assembled quickly and easily. 

Anchoring the track was a consideration 

for those who planned to leave it in place 

for the boating season. Using the same 

principle as applied in the Danforth White 

anchor, a light- weight galvanized or stainless 

steel plate is buried in a shallow hole 

and connected to the ends of the track with 


a short chain bridle; simple, fast and easy 

to install. 

By 1990 we had what we then called 

the ‘Beach Hauler Track Systems’ patented 

and ready to market. Within a couple of 

years we found that introducing a brand 

new product was a huge undertaking in 

both time and expense. Since then we 

chose to sell it to our boat customers or 

whoever picked up on it by word of mouth. 

The good news is that those that have been 

using them (over a thousand of them have 

been in use since 1990) absolutely love 

them, and they have a proven track record 

for longevity. 

This fall we felt the time was right to 

reintroduce the product under the name 

‘Boat Slider Trax’. Using the technology 

afforded by the Web we recently launched 

a website at www.boatslider.com where 

flash videos demonstrate how the various 

models perform and where they also can 

be purchased on-line. Their advantages 

are obvious; no heavy lifting, making boat 

handling easy on the back as well as helping 

to save a boat’s bottom. They even 

work well for hauling ‘tin’ skiffs, rigid 

hulled inflatables and other unmentionables. 

Harold Aune is the founder of Whitehall 

Rowing & Sail, and a Sponsor Member of 

TSCA. • 


Hosts Youth 

Sailing Races 

Submitted by Trisha Badger 

Atlantic Challenge’s Community Sailing 

Program will host the second Rockland 

Red Jacket Youth Sailing Regatta on Sunday, 

July 31st at their 643 Main Street facility 

on Rockland Harbor. 

36 sailors from four Penobscot Bay sailing 

programs will participate in this fun 

one-day regatta which was started last 

summer to promote youth sailing and foster 

the sportsmanship, teamwork, and sailing 

skills that racing develops in its 

participants. The youth sailing clubs of 

Atlantic Challenge, St. George, North 

Haven Casino, and Camden Yacht Club 

are participating in this volunteer run 

event. 

“Atlantic Challenge 

has been delighted 

to develop 

this event to create 

more opportunities 

for local youth to 

get involved in the 

exciting sport of 

sailing,” says KC 

Heyniger, AC’s Waterfront 

Coordinator. 

He adds, 

“Sailors enjoy making 

friends and racing 

folks from 

different programs 

and this event compliments 

existing 

summer, after school, and high school sailing 

opportunities available at Atlantic 

Challenge.” 

Sailors will race in single person 8-foot 

dinghies called JY Club Trainers, and twoperson 

15-foot sloops called 420s. Each 

race runs about 20 minutes, and requires 

sailors to utilize sailing and boat-handling 

skills while understanding how to use the 

wind and weather to sail fast. There will 

be a Sportsmanship Award selected by the 

racers, 1 st, 2 nd, and 3 rd place trophies for 

the top finishers, and a Coaches Award 

voted on by the participating coaches. 

The sailboats leave the Atlantic Challenge 

pier at 12:30 PM on Sunday the 31st, 

and racing begins a 1 PM. The race 

course, managed by the Rockland Yacht 

Club Racing Committee, will be located 

in the vicinity of the breakwater. The public 

is welcomed to come watch the races 

and join a post-race barbecue and awards 

ceremony starting at 5 PM on the Atlantic 

Challenge waterfront, 643 Main Street, 

Rockland. 

This event is sponsored by Maine Catamarans 

and Maritime Energy. Poland 

Spring provides bottled water for the participants. 

The regatta is named in honor of the 

Rockland-built clipper ship Red Jacket, 

launched in 1853 near the current location 

of Atlantic Challenge. Red Jacket set 

sailing records that stand to this day, and 

was widely known for its beautiful craftsmanship. 

Atlantic Challenge is an educational 

non-profit 501(c)(3) organization whose 

mission is to inspire personal growth 

through craftsmanship, community, and 

traditions of the sea. For more information, 

contact: 


Craftsmanship — Seamanship 

— Community 


Rockland, Maine 04841 

207-594-1800 

Please visit our website: 

www.atlanticchallenge.com • 


Small Craft Events 

Lake Champlain Maritime 

Museum 

September 1, 6:00 PM - Champlain 

Longboats Community Rowing 

This weekly event (weather permitting) 

allows anyone, experienced or 

not, for an evening of row on Lake 

Champlain in one of our 32 foot pilot 

gigs. 

September 10-11, 2005: Advanced 

Bronze Casting 

October 16: the Museum will close 

for the season 

Lake Champlain Maritime Museum 

4472 Basin Harbor Road 

Vergennes, VT 05491 

802- 475-2022 

San Francisco Maritime 

Historic Park 

An Introduction to Boatbuilding 

October 17-22 

Instructor: Bill Thomas 

Students will build the 15 foot Karl 

Stambaugh Bay Skiff utilizing 

marine plywood and epoxy, using a 

modified glue-and-screw type 

construction. 

Contact: Patti Clark 

415-561-6662 x30 

San Francisco Maritime NHP 

Building E, Fort Mason Center 

San Francisco, CA 94123 

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! 

Meetings at the Boathouse at Avery 

Point will be Sundays at 1:30 PM: 

September 4, October 2, November 6, 

and December 4. 

Puget Sound Chapter 

September 16-18 (Weekend): 

Hammersley Inlet, South Sound: — 

RSVP to Jim Callea, 360-426-1012. 

Oct 1: Curry & Oars, Lake Forest Park 

Civic Club — John Weiss, 206-368- 

7354. 

November TBA: Annual Meeting — 

Contact Al Gunther, 360-638-1088 with 

your suggestions for date and venue. 

Connecticut River Oar 

and Paddle Club 

September 16-18: Boats, Books and 

Brushes, a literary, art and maritime 

festival, New London 

October: Beach Party II 

November: Informal outing, winter 

vessel maintenance and storage 

December 3 or 10: Christmas Party at 

Maritime Education Network, potluck 

and BYOB 

January 1, 2006: Annual New Year’s 

Row 

Delaware River Chapter 

September: Presentation on small 

boating in the UK, Ned Asplundh: 

Messabout date to be determined. 

October: Scrimshaw: MASCF at St. 

Michael’s 

In addition, check the Mainsheet our 

monthly newsletter available at 

www.tsca.net 

Antique Boat Museum 

Clayton, NY 

For event information contact: 

inadolski@abm.org 

www.abm.org 

315-686-2775 

Sacramento Chapter 

September 10-11: Marshall Beach 

Campout, Annual Meeting, Sheryl 

Speck and Don Rich 

Sept. 30-Oct. 2: Aeolian Yacht Club 

Wooden Boat Cruise-In, Barbara 

Ohler 

October 9: Tomales Bay 

Quadathalon, Pete Evans 

October 15-16: Collinsville Cruise- 

In, Bill Doll 

October 29: Delta Meadows Row, 

Lynn DeLapp 

November 26: Wet Turkey Row, 

Tomales Bay, Jim Lawson 

For additional information: 

dlagios@smace.org 

www.tsca.net/Sacramento 

Center for Wooden Boats 

Lake Union, Seattle 

October 1-3: Oarmaking with Rich 

Kolin. Limit 6 students 

October 3-7: Cold Molded Boat 

Building with John Guzzwell. Limit 

10 students 

Wednesdays, October 5, 12, 19 & 26: 

Women’s Woodworking: An Introduction 

to the Basics. 

October 8, 22, and 29: The Ditty Bag 

or Canvas Deck Bucket with Dennis 

Armstrong. Limit 6 students 

October 10-15: Sail Making Workshop 

with Sean Rankins. Limit 10 

students 

October 15-16: Bronze Casting 

Workshop with Sam Johnson. Limit 

10 students 

Other things to do at CWB: Stroll the 

docks (free), rent a boat, take sailing 

lessons, learn maritime heritage 

skills, enjoy a free sail, volunteer, get 

involved in community outreach. 

1010 Valley Street 

Seattle, WA 98109-4468 

206-382-2628 

E-mail: cwb@cwb.org 

www.cwb.org 


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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.

This space is available 

for a Sponsor level 

member. 

Fine Traditional Rowing 

& Sailing Craft 

NORTH 

RIVER 

BOATWORKS 

RESTORATIONS 

741 Hampton Ave. 

Schenectady, NY 12309 

518-377-9882 

ROB BARKER 

Wooden Boat Building 

and Repair 

615 MOYERS LANE 

EASTON, PA 18042 

BOATS PLANS BOOKS TOOLS 

Specializing in traditional small craft since 1970. 

Duck Trap Woodworking 

www.duck-trap.com 

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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 

R. K. Payne Boats 

http://homepage.mac.com/ 

rkpayneboats 

Rex & Kathie Payne 

3494 SR 135 North 

Nashville, IN 

47448 

Ph 812-988-0427 

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

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, POBox 2054 

Annapolis, MD 21404 

410-267-0318 or hollace@crosslink.net 

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

Seaworthy Small Ships 

Dept A, POBox 2863 

Prince Frederick, MD 20678 

800-533-9030 

Catalog Available $1.00 

www.seaworthysmallships.com 

Damaged Journal? 

If your Ash Breeze is missing 

pages or gets beaten up in the mail, 

let the editor know. 

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. 

26 _________________________________________________________ The Ash Breeze - Fall 2005

Copy Deadline, 

Format, and Ads 

Deadlines 

v26#4, Winter 2005, October 1 

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 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 1979,0,1 1-9 

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 1,2,3,4 

26 2005 1,2 

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. 


While walking the grounds of Mystic Seaport in the early morning, one can observe many marvelous scenes of 

historically correct traditional small craft. Sunday morning of this years Small Craft Weekend was particularly nice 

with good weather and many fine boats on display. 

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. 26, No. 3 - Traditional Small Craft Association

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