Crystal River Scow USS Wartappo

The Crystal River Boat Builders chapter of the Traditional Small Craft Association have made good progress on their scow project over this last summer.



The USS Wartappo was used by the East Gulf Coast Blockading Squadron along the Crystal River shore, in Florida, during the United States civil war. Its history is documented in the correspondence of the squadron which can be found on the Crystal River website.

A sailing scow was captured by the ships of the Union squadron. The scow and it's "contraband" were taken as a prize of war. The scow was likely used to transport cotton, lumber, turpentine and such from the local rivers down to waiting ships anchored at sea. The contraband was likely privately owned goods intended for sale, but trade was forbidden under blockade.




This story has become the centerpiece of a historical reenactment, if you will. The folks in Crystal River, Florida have begun construction on a "replica" of the scow Wartappo using strictly period appropriate tools and (measurement?) methods (A fellow lays on the ground with his arms spread - that's five feet.)



When I look at this vessel from a modern perspective, I see a comfortable and spacious live-aboard.





No joke.

If the Economic Meltdown of the Millennium has you down, why not build yourself a scow and live like a queen or king? And if you choose to cruise the Salish Sea (or your favorite haunt) in your scow, who's the wiser? Maybe we can raft-up in some remote cove and toast a cocktail.

On your boat.

Desperate times require disparate methods.
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Yaquina River Halloween

The Western Oregon Messabouts, AKA Coots, gathered for a fall run on the Yaquina river in western Oregon this week.









Around Halloween each year, there are spring tides that raise the river to it's maximum level, then ebb to a muddy minus.









Since the Yaquina has a tidal reach twenty six miles inland, this makes for some thrilling currents to ride with an oar or paddle powered boat. The scenery is just beautiful this time of year and late fall sun is a bonus.












Ten boats and fourteen Coots participated this year, which is a drop from last year, likely due to the mid-week tide.











The tide waits for no man.



Lets go to the video...




And the photos can be found on Doryman's Flickr, as usual.



Thanks again to Mary and her fabulous video editing skills!
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Doryman Melonseed Skiff

Remember two weeks ago, when Doryman caught the Melonseed bug?

This is a sneak preview of the new Doryman Melonseed Skiff design.

A fresh development of this historical duck boat, the Doryman Melonseed is double-chined and planked in 6mm marine plywood. The planks above the waterline are glue-lapped and fastened with bronze nails. The garboard-to-wherry keel seam is stitch-and-glue.

Fiberglass covers the bottom, below the waterline, because this boat is intended for weekend gunkholing and exploring. The objective is to keep her light, though she must stand up to beach landings at all those tempting places you can reach in a shallow draft hunting design.

With it's flat, wherry type bottom, this boat will rest comfortably on the strand while you set up camp.

A spritboom sail and a pair of oars are all you need. All your gear will stow up forward, under the deck, leaving a roomy six foot cockpit for the skipper and crew. Half decks and a three inch coaming insure that no matter what the sea conditions, the adventurers will stay dry.



Doryman Melonseed Skiff (click on the image for a closer view)

LOA 15'-8"
LWL 14'-11"
Beam 4'-10"
Design Draft, centerboard up 4"
Centerboard down 3'-8"
Sail Area 119 sq. ft.
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Gone Sailin'

Doryman is out sailing on his favorite river, enjoying a lingering summer.


If you're stuck at home or work and need a dory fix, please visit Scottishboating.


"Dories have long been recognized as fine seaboats, but their low initial stability and active response to wave action is apt to be disconcerting to the sailor unaccustomed to dories."

John Gardner

Dunderdale Pearl

My friend Ralph Merriman is a prolific amateur boat builder. He wrote to me recently to catch up on news and it was no surprise to hear him say:

"I am building another boat, this one a 16 foot daysailer to the Pearl design by Tom Dunderdale in England. "I chose Dunderdale's Pearl over a Welsford Navigator. Fine boat that Navigator, but there are so many out there and I so easily succumb to the allure of something different."





Just to get a little perspective, Ralph built the kayak he works out in most days.











He also built this Iain Oughtred Whilly Boat, which now belongs to Mike Scott.
Here's Mr. Scott putting her through her paces.










I came very close to buying this strip-planked Adirondack Guideboat last year. Ralph told me it was a dream to row, and he's right.
He hasn't sold it yet........












For those who are familiar with the work of Kees Prins, you know that his new cabin cruiser, Fetch was a hit at the recent Port Townsend Boat Festival. She even made the cover of Small Craft Advisor.







What I didn't know is that Ralph built the original open daysailer Kees started with for this project.



















There are probably more on this list, but back to the Pearl. Ralph has made his masts, rudder and centerboard. The strongback is set up and the plank lay-up has begun.


Why do I get the feeling the completed boat is not too far off?


Please stay tuned...



Pearl:
LOD: 4936mm or 16ft. 2in.
LOA: 6036mm or 19ft. 9in.
BOA: 1820mm or 6ft
Max. design displacement: 575 kg; Min.: 330kg
Hull weight: 135 - 160 kg
Ballast: 75 - 125 kg
Sail area:
Gaff rig (nominal): 123 sq ft / 11.4 sq m. or 136 sq ft / 12.65 sq m
Lug and Yawl rigs: approximately 11.5 sq m
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Wemyss Skiff

Alec Jordan of Jordan Boats is at it again. He and Iain Oughtred have teamed up to create a smaller sistership to the St Ayles Skiff.









The Wemyss Skiff is designed for tandem rowing, with or without a cox. Alec launched the prototype four days ago, in Ullapool, Scotland.

He gets some last minute advice from Topher Dawson.










Our good friend and photographer extraordinaire, Chris Perkins, was there and sent in some photos which just about tell it all.






This is what Chris had to say:

"Alec Jordan won one of the raffle prizes at our [Loch Broom Skiff] Regatta back in August, a nights B&B accommodation in Ullapool. Since last weekend was the Guitar Festival he decided to redeem his prize."

"This also gave him a fixed point on the calendar to get the new Wemyss Skiff on the water (I was going to say finished but you will be only too familiar with boatbuilder optimism and finish dates). So after working non-stop for twelve days and with the varnish still tacky, Alec drove up from Fife last Saturday to splash the new design on Loch Broom. The words on the Ullapool Coastal Rowing Club site probably tell most of the story."






The Weymss Skiff is 16 feet LOA and 4 feet-9 inches extreme beam, lightweight and very seaworthy. If the St Ayles Skiff is a bit more boat than you need, the Weymss Skiff might just fit the bill.










Stay tuned......

Melonseed Skiffs

New Jersey and the Delaware River Basin have a rich history of small craft. Unique vessels have evolved for hunting, fishing, clamming and transportation over a diverse range of water conditions.

From the shallow waters of Barnegat Bay through the surf off the Jersey Shore to the Delaware River, these vessels were designed as work boats which, over time, became recreational boats.

The Melonseed is still a popular design, which has been documented from 1882.

Melonseeds today have evolved from skinny water duck boats into conveyances for sailors who no longer hunt ducks. They still ply the same waters with their proven seaworthiness, fine bows and sleek, low hulls.

Recently three new Melonseeds were launched, which has set off a flurry of interest that has caught Doryman in it's wake.




There was Barry Long's matched pair of Marc Barto 13' Melonseeds, Aeon and Caesura. If you haven't followed Barry's diary about building these fine boats, he publishes as EyeinHand.



















Barry's Melonseeds are strip-planked construction.








Then we saw Mike Wick's Moggie taking on all comers at the St Michael's Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival.














Mike's boat is a cold-molded Cortez 16 Melonseed, taken off a strip-planked hull. It might just be the lightest (and fastest?) Melonseed yet. I think Mike is just the guy to demonstrate what a Melonseed can do as a racer.
















About twenty years ago, Marty Loken, who had the The Wooden Boat Shop retail store in Seattle at the time, was so impressed with Melonseeds that he commissioned a stitch-and-glue version from Sam Devlin.



Marty owns a Seaford Skiff built by Paul Ketcham of Amityville, New York, in 1950. He claims the Seaford Skiff is a delight to row or sail. "Like some other melonseed designs it has a plank keel and is very low in the water. You sit on the hull when sailing as though you're in a narrow Beetle Cat, and the overall sensation is a bit like sea kayaking... in the water, not just on the water."

Marty's Seaford Skiff is carvel planked.





The boat Marty commissioned is Sam Devlin's Melonseed, done in Sam's trademark stitch and glue construction method and called Zephyr.






Joel Bergen of Navigator fame chose the Zephyr as his first boat building project. We will have to dedicate some time to Joel's Melonseed at a later date. Apparently he kept a weblog while he was building his Zephyr, but that chronicle no longer exists.





The stitch-and-glue Melonseed lacks some of the gracefulness found in the round-bottom designs but can be built in 100 hours with minimal skills. It's a pretty boat with characteristically good sailing qualities.




In conversation with other boat builders, we agreed that this boat might make a very good sail-and-oar boat for RAIDs and weekend gunkholing.

Now you know why Doryman is so excited. Will we see a Doryman Melonseed?




The Voyage continues...








If there is to be a Doryman Melonseed, it will have to be clinker built.

Enough said.

Bolger Stretched Dory

Phil Bolger designed a 19'-6" version of his famous Gloucester Gull (15'-8") and Rob Jackson of Florence, Oregon is building one.









Rob is sixty-two, an ex-logger and commercial fisherman who has had a lifelong passion for boats. Now that he's retired there's time to build a boat he's always liked.







The hull is meranti mahogany plywood and Rob claims to have used cedar, fir, hemlock, oak and "anything else kicking around the shop floor".










He tells me he will be rowing on the Siuslaw River and lakes surrounding Florence.

He didn't say, but I bet he does a bit of fishing too.



















The oars will be hollow loomed and made from some yew wood Rob cut himself and has stored for thirty five years. He has not started making the oars yet. I hope he sends us some photos when he does. Yew is a very strong coniferous wood - a bit heavy, but it can be shaved down very thin. It's pretty and should make a fine set of oars.




Congratulations to Rob, who is building his first boat! He couldn't have chosen a better beginning.

Another build of the Bolger Stretched Dory can be found here.

Traditional Small Craft at Fort Worden

Saturday last, we headed north to the confluence of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Admiralty Inlet. Port Townsend, Washington is on the northeastern corner of the Olympic Peninsula, in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains. If it's wet all over the rest of the northwest Pacific rain forest, it will most likely not be raining in Port Townsend.




Last weekend was no exception. Alas, whistle though we may, it was in vain, there was no wind. Some of the rowing or paddle boats left on an excursion and the sailboats stayed close to shore.




The annual meeting of the Puget Sound TSCA occurred on peaceful shores. Good company, good food and a beautiful beach in any weather.




Thank you to our good friends in the PSTSCA!

And now to the slideshow:



This video gives some indication of wind(?) vs tidal current:




Thank you, Marty Loken and Mary McCall for all the great photos (and for covering my back while I was out having too much fun.)
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