Small Craft Weekend

A photo essay

When two great events happen at the same time, it can be hard to decide which way to go. But then, a busy summer schedule often trumps, which was the case for Doryman last weekend.

The closest event was a gathering of Coots on Fern Ridge Reservoir, in the beautiful Willamette Valley, near Eugene Oregon. So, I dropped by just in time Saturday to visit as the boats returned to the docks from a day on the water. This is my home team, so you've seen some of these boats before.

First up is Bob Larken in his Wavewatcher, a Bolger designed Birdwatcher. Bob is an electronics and computer wizard and his boat is tricked out with amazing stuff. He recently installed a remote controlled tiller pilot so he can steer from any location on the boat.

This is John Kohnen's Redwing, Lazy Jack. He bought this boat recently from a fellow Coot and I think he's happy as a man can be.

Dennis McComber just finished this little runabout from a batteau.com plan. His son started the build and abandoned it. Dennis picked up where he left off and did a great job.

Cal Drake designed and built this Garvey and it's the powerhouse of the group. I don't know how much horsepower it has, but it's a lot. You might have noticed, some of the Coots are moving toward being a power squadron!

Not entirely. Hal Colvin brought his Pacific Pelican, Retta Ann. I've sailed with Hal before in this boat. A very capable craft.

And Lou Brochetti came with his newly refurbished Devlin Egret. So new, she doesn't have a name yet.

Lou likes to tinker with a design as much as I do. He says the sail rig is a bit small and too far forward. We're looking for the upgrade soon Lou!

This is the beauty that caught my eye. The new caretakers of Richardson State Park and the custodians of these docks, own this boat.

She's a Sam Rabl Picaroon and the story is, she was built in 1954 by Sam himself. Obviously the boat has undergone some extensive refitting and I'd like to know more.

A planked Picaroon is rare. The examples I've seen were all made from plywood.


A proper little yacht.

Speaking of proper yachts, north of here a few hundred miles was the first ever Pocket Yacht Palooza, in beautiful Port Townsend, Washington State. This new event was organized by the Port Townsend Pocket Yachters, co-sponsored by the Small Craft Skills Academy and Northwest Maritime Center, and held May 19 at the NWMC.



Marty Loken worked hard to make this inaugural event a success. Give the man a hand!

Photos can be found on the Packet Yachters' website and additional information is provided by Joel Bergen on his Navigator site.

Watch for this one next year.



Here's a teaser from last Saturday, sent in by our friend Brandon.......

Pocket Yacht Palooza 2012

Photos by Brandon Ford

Kees Prins and Fetch

Kees Prins stopped by for a visit and took Doryman out for a sail on Fetch. You remember Kees. He built Sparrow, the Ed Davis surf dory on the header of this blog and also designed and built the Townsend Tern. He built the Small Craft Advisor Scamp. He's an old friend of Iain Oughtred. He's a world traveler from the Netherlands and a boatbuilder of some renown.






Kees is headed from his home in Port Townsend, Washington State across the United States and ultimately to Maine. He stopped by on his way to park his van and the exceptional 17 foot, gunter-rigged Fetch out back, in Doryman's boatyard. He seemed to feel right at home there.





While he was here, we launched Fetch in the Yaquina River one afternoon when the weather ranged from full sun to driving rain and eventually hail. Nice way to entertain a guest, don't you agree? Kees didn't seem to mind - in fact enjoyed himself.

You can follow Kees' cross-country adventure from the blog section of the on-line magazine, Small Craft Advisor.













Where will Kees Prins wet his keel next?







Right away, Kees wanted to go out the jaws to the raging Pacific Ocean, though there was a restriction on the bar for boats under twenty eight feet. And here is the video to prove it. The man's insane (and that's a good thing).



A great day on the water my friend. Thank you so very much!


Fetch is an Iain Oughtred Fulmar Dinghy built as an open boat by my good friend, Ralph Merriman. Kees added the cabin, decks and self draining cockpit.
This boat was featured in the September/October issue of the Small Craft Advisor
There is also a discussion of this boat on the WoodenBoat Forum.
The plans for the Fulmar Dinghy can be found here.

Length	Beam		Weight (kg)	Sail Area
16' 8" - 5.08m	5' 10" - 1.80m		175	160 sq ft

WaterTribe

Dave Lucas visited the start of the 2012 Everglades Challenge and sent us these photos. You can follow the Challenge, now in it's second day, on the WaterTribe site.

Good luck to all these hearty folks!









Thanks for the pictures, Dave.



Would you just look at all that pretty blue sky!




(I'd forgotten what it's like.)













Dave's video, with brilliant commentary: