Monday, April 23, 2012

Heritage 23 in Michigan


Here is a new twist on the St Ayles Skiff community rowing project.

Alec Jordan, the source for the St Ayles in Scotland, is in Tawas City Michigan helping to build the prototype Heritage 23 Mackinaw boat.



Heritage Coast Sailing and Rowing, whose purpose is to encourage sailing and rowing and to preserve historic regional boat designs, is in the process of building a 23 foot Mackinaw boat named the Heritage 23. Construction began on April 16 in East Tawas City.

Heritage Coast Sailing and Rowing is a Michigan not-for-profit corporation formed to encourage local boat building activities and build regional community. The organization is patterned after the Scottish Coastal Rowing Association. Heritage Coast hopes to use this concept to promote community rowing activities along the Lake Huron shoreline using its Heritage-23 as a one-design racer. This is a brand new project and with Alec's help they are already laying up planks!

Alec just sent me an update this morning:

"We are making very good progress – the kit is going together very easily, and we should have plank 4 on by the end of the day. Yes – there are 12 planks and the plan is to have her turned on Wednesday next week if I haven’t worked the building team to death by then. We have a minimum team of 6 building and have had as many as 10, with visitors calling by regularly - A lot of local enthusiasm."







Be sure to stay in touch with the Heritage Coast Sailing and Rowing Project.




Photos courtesy of Alec Jordan. Congratulations to this hard working crew!
What a beautiful boat.

9 comments:

Bob said...

This is great and right here in my back yard, so to speak. I've been thinking lately of how I would go about setting up a community effort to build a St. Ayles Skiff. I need to contact Alec to visit the Heritage site, help if I can and ask about forming a community group to build a Heritage 23. Thanks for the link.

Alec Jordan said...

Hi Bob

If you (or anyone else) want to get in touch, please contact me through heritage23@jordanboats.co.uk. We'll be getting proper contact info up on the blog tomorrow.

Visitors to the build site are welcome - make sure you are wearing something you don't mind getting dusty or the odd blob of epoxy!

Bob said...

Hi Alec,

Thanks for the contact info. I'll be in touch soon.

doryman said...

I sure hope you two get together. It'll be worth it Bob, I promise.

Anonymous said...

what a pity your're on the opposite side of the world :(((
elena

Alec Jordan said...

Elena

Not sure where your other side of the world is exactly, but the St Ayles Skiff is being sold in Australia and NZ, maybe in S Africa soon. Let me know where you are and we can help you get something started.

Anonymous said...

Alec,
I live in Italy, and my comment was about your "invitation" to come to the build side.
I'd really like to! :)
bye
e.

rfhpierce@aol.com said...

Many traditional smallcraft designs need some adaptation when modern wood/epoxy building methods are used, and/or a variation in length, beam draft or displacement are envisaged.

Over the last 20 years I have specialized in preparing computer faired linesplans, together with loaded trim data and sailplans, working from old drawings, somtimes from a sketch or even just photos.

I was delighted to provide this service to Alec Jordan & the Heritage 23 Project.

Richard Pierce

rfhpierce@aol.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_xN7qj9GIw

doryman said...

Richard,
Blogger picked your message out as spam, which Alec assures me is definitely not the case. I understand you will be helping with building the new Seil Skiff.
More information about your services might be of interest to our readers.