While we're on the subject of sharpies, I should mention - my good friend, the superlative boat builder/designer Lou Brochetti wants to sell his practically brand new motor sharpie. Sorry, I don't understand why. He gets a hankerin' to build a new boat from time to time, is all I can figure.
Two summers ago, Lou took this boat to the San Juan Islands, in
Washington State. It was a brand new boat then and performed
beautifully, just as planned. Well, Lou was tickled because, of course,
it was his plan.
You may wonder why this is considered a sharpie. Well, I had that question too. Why not a semi-dory?
So, I've come to these conclusions. First, Lou knows what he's talking about. Second, a semi-dory (which is most often a motor dory) has a flat aft profile allowing it to plane. I owned a semi-dory once, with an old Evinrude 35 hp that would push it's heavy-built plywood hull up to a wide-open 25 mph! We called it the Bay Bomber. I swear it used a gallon per mile.
Lou's sharpie is slower and infinitely more efficient. It has quite a bit of rocker in the bottom, a narrow transom with very little interest in planing. With a 9.9 hp outboard, it burns a gallon of gas every four hours or so, at cruising speed, which is around six knots.
Lou's second trip in this boat was last summer on Franklin D Roosevelt Lake, which is behind Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River. According to him, it just might be one of the best cruising grounds in the world.
If you want an efficient motor driven gunkholer, you should call Lou. He has just the boat for you.
(Shown here tucked comfortably up on a remote sandy beach.)
A pretty salty, hardworking boat, built just for fun.
Lou Brochetti, Redmond, Oregon: 541-504-0135
Stay tuned for the Pacific Pelican from Lou Brochetti....
Lou has revived a classic design in the San Francisco Pelican tradition. Part Banks dory, with the bow of a sampan and an attractive balanced lug rig, the Pacific Pelican at 14 feet 7 inches over all length is a hybrid between the famous San Fransisco Pelican (12 ft LOA) and the camp cruising classic, the Great Pelican (16 ft. pocket cruiser).
Lou tells me he's had the Pelican up on a plane going down wind in the San Juan Islands in blustery conditions and the modified dory stayed dry and comfortable. The flat bottom, generous rocker and strong side flare are the features that provide stable, extremely seaworthy sailing.
The low aspect balanced lug rig is reefed from the cockpit, providing safety and comfort for your gunkholing experience.
I can attest from personal experience that the Pelican is an easy boat to row, so the cruising purists among you would be able to forget those gas guzzling engines entirely!
The Pelican is a versatile family boat that can explore sandy beaches, weather a weeks vacation sailing, or compete in class racing.
LOA: 14 ft. 7 in. Extreme Beam: 6 ft. 7 in. Draft (board up): 5 in. Draft (board down): 5 ft. Weight: 600 lbs. Sail Area : 145 sq. ft. Cockpit length: 8 ft.
Hal and his wife, Loretta take a sunny day sail in their Pacific Pelican, lovingly restored by Lou.
That's a Coot burgee on the after deck; the Oregon Chapter of the Traditional Small Craft Association.
The Great Pelican Toucan at 16 ft. LOA is another lengthened version of the San Francisco Pelican. They share the seaworthy characteristics of wide hull flare, sampan bow and flat bottom. The centerboard for this pocket cruiser is weighted and she draws only eight inches with the centerboard up! With the centerboard down the full draft is four feet. The standing lug sail is fully battened and main plus jib equal a total sail area of 187 square feet.
The Pelican class boats are stable, seaworthy designs that are adaptable to many conditions, from coastal cruising to family sailing lessons. The pram bow and articulating rudder make disembarking on your favorite island beach easy, safe and dry! Note the hinged tabernacle for the mast...
William Short has this to say about the Great Pelican: "The Great Pelican is an enlarged version of the immensely popular one-design, The San Francisco Pelican. She is 16 ft. long with an 8-ft. beam and over 30 in. of freeboard amidships. Built with a cabin for cruising, you’ll often find this little boat out as far as the Golden Gate on a windy day and, as any West Coast sailor will tell you, this is as rough as inland sailing can get." "We even heard from one Great Pelican owner who had sailed his modified home-built down the Pacific Coast to San Diego and then, with his wife as crew, crossed to Hawaii. I would never have recommended such a voyage, because I think of the Great Pelican as a weekender for inland or coastal waters, but I am constantly amazed at the voyages the little boat makes, and it is not limited to the West Coast. I had a call recently from an owner who had sailed his Great Pelican from New Brunswick, Canada down to Florida, and a builder in Nova Scotia claims that the boat is ideal for rough coastal waters."
LOA 16’ Beam 8’ Draft (board up) 8” Draft (board down) 4’ Sail Area 187 sq. ft.
Toucan's spacious and inviting cuddy cabin interior is roomy and inviting and it's utilitarian dory characteristics are tried and true. The balanced lug rig is a work of art! I may have to ask Lou to build one of these for me........
Lou Brochetti also sells plans for the Pacific Pelican. He obtained the rights for these plans from the original designers, Ed and Jim Barlow. The Barlows designed the first Pelican in the 1980's and Lou received the rights to the Pacific Pelican a couple years ago: The plans include six detail sheets with sail and rigging plans and full sized plywood layouts - no lofting required! Full sized patterns are included for special shapes. An instruction book runs 100 pages and has plenty of pictures with the first time builder in mind. Even if you've never built a boat, you could build your own Pacific Pelican!
The information pack for the Pacific Pelican costs $5.00 (postage paid) And plans cost $90.00 (plus $6.00 shipping)
Lou has also designed a hollow mast with tabernacle for the Great Pelican. the plans are $35.00 (+ $2.00 shipping).
As the boating season gears up, so does the activity in Doryman's boatyard. This year several new projects have been added to the list.
This is also a time for reflection and contemplation because updates come in about old friends and new. Take the Sam Devlin designed Egret, for instance. An early example of this modified dory, built by Sam himself, was given to me three years ago and sadly it drifted to the end of a long list of priorities.
But last fall my friend Lou Brochetti, who is an old friend of Sam's and an excellent boatwright, suggested he have a go at finishing her out. Lou lives in the high dessert in central Oregon, so we packed up the boat with enough odds and ends from the shed to rig it for sail and set off for Paulina Lake to met Lou and other Coots for a messabout.
We were able to sail the Egret, just barely enough for Lou to get a good sense of what needed to be done. He took her home in high sprits, with big plans.
Although the Egret was designed for a centerboard or leeboards, this particular boat had a full, fixed keel. As these photos show, Lou decided she needed a centerboard.
Good job, Lou!
We have a mission for this summer, to explore Roosevelt Lake and this Egret may end up being Doryman's gunkholer. Roosevelt Lake is just behind Grand Coulee Dam, on the Columbia River, in Washington State. I've never sailed there but pictures from the link above make it seem very much like the Sea of Cortez, which is one of Lou's favorite cruising grounds, so I can see why he is so excited about this trip.
One thing I'm concerned about. This boat is a joy to row, but isn't that centerboard case going to be a bit uncomfortable?
Many of the small boats that make their way to Fossil Bay for this rendezvous have either been built or restored by their owners. So it's a chance to test yourself, your boat and how symbiotic your relationship can be.
First there is Joel Bergen's Navigator. He's kept a great blog about building this boat and he says it best, so please visit him through the link above. Great boat, Joel! Her name is Ellie. Joel brought his son, Tim. Here we see Ellie, skippered by Joel in the 'Round Sucia "Race".
You've met Jamie Orr and his Chebacco Wayward Lass. Jamie just retired this week. Congratulations, man! Jamie gets a lot of credit. He keeps this group alive and is the consummate host. If you're curious, he keeps a web site for this gathering here. That's the skipper at the helm, our friend Alan and also Jamie's son, Alan on the foredeck.
I just met Rick and Judy. They traveled north from Portland, Oregon and brought their own Welsford design. It's a Houdini named Gertrude. This boat is set up for cruising! Storage everywhere, portable rain and sun covers - how big can a small boat be? Rick built the boat and Judy carved the figurehead. A first for each of them.
Frank Mabrey brought a Bartender he's been working on. The Calkins Bartender is a rough water fishing boat that could be ordered from the factory or built as a kit and occasionally built from plans. These double-enders are very popular with fishermen because they were designed for some of the roughest waters on Earth - the river bars of the Oregon coast. There is a brand new version out, made in aluminum, but this one is old and made of plywood.
Paul Miller is a retired shipwright. He's built a lot of boats. For his retirement he built this boat. It's a Friendship Sloop by Jay Benford. Cold molded, but the inside layer is laid-up to look as though it's carvel planked. The Friendship has all traditional hardware, rigging and furnishings, but a modern underwater design, so she's fast and nimble. Paul says that he named her Friendship because that's what she's for - making friends.
Paul, loved sailing on your boat!
John Bigelow sailed north from Whidbey Island, Washington on his Dawn Treader, a design called Eel from William Garden.
Those who know me can guess how much this canoeyawl speaks to me. If Bill Garden ever designed a boat that was less than stellar, I'll eat my hat.
John is perfectly in tune with his craft. I think he told me he'd had this boat for thirty years.
Jealous, that's what I am.
There were two Stone Horse designs. These boats were designed by Sam Crocker.
Enough said.
For coastal cruising, you could do no better. Even if they are made of fiberglass. They have timeless lines and quality detailing - an easy boat to fall in love with. Since there are probably no more that two of these boats within 2000 miles, it's a happy coincidence that they both ended up here at the same time.
The Stone Horse with the oval portlights is James McMullen's Phoebe and I'm not sure of the name for Jamie Webb's Stone Horse, but it's the one with the rectangular portlights.
Darrell Pepper just got through refurbishing this old ChrisCraft runabout. His real love is wood carving. If he were an Internet person I could show you some of his work, but as it is, I'll have to interview him one day and take some photos. He visits First People to learn their carving crafts and has made some remarkable contacts with tribal artisans. I wear an Orca he carved for me out of mammoth tusk on my hat.
Ron Mueller has built a few boats. He used to own Wayland Marine, who manufactures the Merry Wherry. His power catamaran Just Enuf is an odd looking boat, coming from a traditional perspective but effective and efficient. This plywood EcoCat from Bernard Kohler has a king sized berth, standing headroom galley, and a private head. Ron stores two inflatable kayaks and two folding bikes in the starboard ama. Cruising speed is 10 knots with a top speed of 15 knots.
Better yet, this boat comes in a sailing design! Now we're talkin'!
Another efficient boat is this motor skiff, designed and built by my good friend Lou Brochetti. Lou has spent a lot of time on the sea, has built many boats and knows just what he wants, which is not much more than the bare essentials. He wants to be able to stand up to put on his pants and then reach everything else he needs without taking more than a step.
Lou is my hero. Less is More, Lou!
Lou calls Kingfisher a power sharpie. She burns about a liter an hour with a 9.9hp engine. Always having been a sailor, he's adjusting to spending money on gas. This was the first outing for Kingfisher and her skipper is very happy.
Loyal readers will remember, two years ago I cruised to Sucia Island with Chuck Gottfried on his Phil Bolger Chebacco, Full Gallop. Here you see Chuck is back and Full Gallop has a face lift. It's my fault and I feel terrible, but one day Chuck asked me if he should paint red trim on his Bristol Channel Cutter. I told him red is no color for a boat. Well...if you look back at the above link, you will see that Full Gallop was once RED. Now she's this beautiful cream color and I'm in love! (Still guilty.) I hope you're not mad at me Chuck - ain't she photogenic?
Last but not least is Saga, a Valgerda faering designed by William Atkin. The only drawback to owning this boat is that after a while I feel like a tourist attraction.
My good friend Lou is at it again - nothing can stop this man! This winter he has already built two skin on frame kayaks, one for a friend and one for himself.
Lou is a pilot and has built skin on frame remote control planes, so he has a good grasp of the materials. I haven't seen his kayaks in person yet, though other friends of ours have built them and they are impressive for such a simple, lightweight boat.
I admit to having doubts about the durability of these featherweight vessels, especially on top of a car at highway speeds. I'm happy to report - they hold up!
The Chuckanut 15 is multi-chined, with a wide, slight V bottom for stability, zero rocker in the keel for solid tracking and a large cockpit for easy entry and exit. She's designed by Dave Gentry as a protected water expedition boat. The Chuckanut is 15 feet long, by 31.5 inches wide and weighs about 40 pounds.
Lou is planning to offer classes on how to build the Chuckanut 15 for those who live in the Bend, Oregon area, near his shop.
If anyone from the Bend, Redmond and surrounding area is interested, please contact me here.
As Full Gallop entered Prevost Harbor on Stuart Island, leading a gaggle of hand built vessels, a sailor at anchor showed particular attention to our progress.
We hailed each other at the same time, with the salutation "What kind of boat is that?".
Randy answered first and said his was a Great Pelican. We pointed behind us to Lou, who was coming up in his Great Pelican, Toucan. Randy literally open his arms wide in surprised salutation.
Randy lives on his Great Pelican four to six months of the year and has been many interesting places, on a boat he built (and modified) himself. He is a quiet and generous man who supplied us with a bucket of fresh picked oysters for dinner, which were shucked by Lou and cooked by Darrell. Yum!
He and Lou found they had much in common, including their boats. (Randy's is the dark green hull and Lou's is off-white.)
There is a lot of boat in a sixteen foot Great Pelican!
Depoe Bay, Oregon has an annual Wooden Boat Show. The tiny rock bound harbor is a secure sanctuary from the raging storms of the Pacific Ocean. Or so it seems in late April when wooden boat owners, builders and fans gather, in occasionally inclement weather, to commune over displays, boats, food and fun. Some of the boats will be for sale. (Often so the owner can have an excuse to build a new boat!) One such boat caught John Kohnen's eye one April in 1999. Here is John's story of how he came to own his Footloose skiff, Pickle:
"Pickle is a Footloose Skiff designed by Warren Jordon of South Beach, Oregon. She was built by Lou Brochetti for his own use and launched in 1998. Louie took her to the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival that year, and then camp-cruised in her in the Gulf Islands on the east coast of Vancouver Island (Canada)." "I first saw her at the 1999 Depoe Bay Wooden Boat Show. The show was in the lot by the launch ramp then. I walked around the harbor, and the first boat I came to was Pickle (though she was not named yet). I looked at her and thought to myself, "I can see myself in a boat like this!" Several months later I came into some money, so I called Louie to see if he'd like to build a Footloose skiff for me, but not so fancy. He said, "want to buy mine?". He was selling everything to take up the life of an itinerant boat builder, spending his winters fishing in Mexico and summers working in the Northwest. So, I bought Pickle from him and have been happy with her ever since." "I named her Pickle after the Royal navy schooner that brought news of the Battle of Trafalgar and Nelson's death to England."
"I've taken Pickle to Sucia Island (San Juan Islands, Washington Sate) a couple of times for the Western Oregon Messabouts Rendezvous, and have sailed her in many of the rivers, lakes and bays of Oregon. She's been in the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival three times, twice while I've had her. She suits me very well. She's quite seaworthy for a skiff, and forgiving of occasional mistakes on my part. She's a bit under canvased (she was designed for the windy lakes and bays on the coast) and thus sluggish in light breezes, but she goes along good when the wind picks up. I enjoy sailing other boats, but when I get back out in Pickle I think, "I sure like this boat!"
Doryman has to second that! Pickle exemplifies the classic, carefree boating experience of the flat-bottomed skiff. Skiffs have been built in many sizes and configurations and have been used for every purpose, for work and for fun. Do you need a boat that will take you fishing and on family sailing outing, too? Flat-bottomed skiffs are easy and economical to build and they are able to do almost anything a mariner could want. They sail and row well and are especially suited for shallow waters. Building and owning a flat bottomed skiff requires basic construction and maintenance skills and as John says, suits the avid sailor just fine.
Here we see John enjoying the simple pleasures of light airs and blue skies!
All photos courtesy of John Kohnen.
Specifications: Length overall 15'-2" Beam 5'-6" Draft (board up) 6" Hull wt approx. 300 lbs. Sail area 79 sq. ft. Power outboard motor to 5 HP
The designer has this to say about the construction of the Footloose Skiff:
"Footloose is designed to be built on a solid, but simple and inexpensive ladder-frame jig. She is assembled with transverse frames and longitudinal structural members, a system that has proven over many years to result in boats of superior strength and durability. The five rigid frames are set up on the jig, and with the stem, transom, chines and keelson, provide the form to which the marine plywood is fastened. The frames remain an integral part of the boat, providing rigidity to the hull and attachment for the seat risers, inwales and gunwales. A centerboard trunk, thwarts and stern bench finish out the interior joinery. Plywood floorboards, fitted in removable sections between the frames, provide a dry walkway while protecting the bottom from wear." "The sailing rig I chose for Footloose is my favorite: the traditional loose-footed sprit. Besides looking right for this type of boat, it embodies the ultimate in simplicity, both in rigging and handling. Among its many virtues, it is inexpensive to fabricate and maintain, requiring no high-tech hardware or fittings. The spars can be easily fashioned by hand. It is extremely reliable and displays remarkably good overall performance, Another of its endearing features is that it spreads the largest area of sail on the shortest spars of any rig, It can be set up or struck in seconds and the whole rig can be rolled up and stowed inside the boat along one side, leaving plenty of room for the crew to row or motor. The 79 square-foot rig is boomless, in traditional fashion, making it very safe for children and those not used to "ducking the boom". The sail plan also specifies a 30" deep reef, a reduction that should handle most conditions encountered."
Be sure to visit Warren Jordon for this design and more.
I know for a fact that Louie sold his boat so he could build another. In fact more than that, he's currently building Pacific Pelicans, yet another seaworthy daysailer. Look for more about Lou Brochetti and his boats in future posts.
Lou Brochetti, Redmond, Oregon - 14' Pacific Pelican plans now available. Contact Lou at email lbrochetti@isp.com
