Doryman's Boatyard

Last July a Charles Wittholz 14' 11'' Catboat showed up in the Boatyard, in need of love. It's a small yacht and getting her back on the water seemed a slam-dunk. Fate had other plans, however and the strange symptoms that took me by surprise the day she arrived turned out to have been possibly a stroke. Not one to run to a doctor, it took a while of struggling to act normal (acting normal isn't exactly my modus vivendi, but bear with me) before it became obvious, that among other things, the wee catboat was not going to make it out of the 'Yard anytime soon.

I'm happy to report most of the debilitating symptoms have abated. Of course, as soon as weather permitted, Doryman was back in the Boatyard doling out love in generous amounts. Gotta love those boats!

As the story goes, my good friend, Doug Follett was given this work-boat legend by an ancient mariner, now retired from the sea. Her name was Meow (no kidding). After extensive refit and repair, she has emerged as Puffin. The plan is to launch Puffin within the week. The last two months have been an elaborate dance with late-winter, early-spring weather, since work progresses outside. I'm often asked how I can glue, paint, or for that matter, work outside during the winter. Don't tell anyone - manufacturers specifications are very conservative.



Work done in boatyards all over the Pacific Northwest, in almost any weather, are testament. I chose my means and materials carefully, beyond that, it's a privileged secret.

So, my friends, this is a teaser. If all goes as planned, there will be more to tell soon. Just got some varnish on the brightwork today. The mast, yard and boom are repaired, painted and ready to go. She'll get a waterline boot-top stripe tomorrow.

Puffin sports an amazingly large gaff rig, as per design. This is going to be fun.




The Charles Wittholz catboat is a V-bottomed seaworthy pocket daysailer/cruiser designed for plywood construction:
Designer:
Charles Wittholz
Plywood planking over sawn frames.
LOA:
14' 11"
Beam:
7' 4 1/2"
Draft:
(cb up) - 1' 4" (cb down) - 3' 8"


Displacement: 1,400 lbs.

Meanwhile, Back in the Boatyard

Cruising verses Working. Which would you choose? Stupid question, Doryman! But there are still boats to be rescued and that is what we do around here during shore leave.

You already had a glimpse of the Old Town canoe - this one has all the characteristics of that timeless double-ender and much more. It's an Oselvarfaering from Norway. Not your common plywood replica, but handsomely built of larch planks carved and riveted. She is reported to be a racing Oselvar. Apparently the slatted seats are the deciding feature, a rowing Oselvar would have cross-thwarts at the frame sections. This also means she likely had a marconi rig. She is of a venerable age and shows it. But, she's in good hands now and will soon show her inherent lively spirit.

Twenty-two feet in length, with a maximum beam of five and a half feet, her heritage shows in how lightly she's built. Three people loaded her on the trailer, so I'm guessing her weight to be around 300 pounds. The proven seaworthiness of this design is it's ability to float high and efficiently, as one with the sea. The Norwegians liked these boats to be flexible...they should swim like a fish. Thus the minimal framing.

Check out those robust grown frames, shaped by nature herself!

And what do we have here?

On the other end of traditional boat design in this lovely little cat boat. My very good friend, Doug Follett was given this work-boat legend by an ancient mariner, now retired from the sea. She's built of plywood, on oak frames, with mahogany trim. A very stout vessel reminiscent of the days of working sail. At a mere fifteen feet she is, of course, too small for much more than sport fishing, but would stand up to a pounding much longer than her skipper could take it.

I fell for this quaint little cat immediately and repairs have already begun. She will be back on the water in all her former glory later this summer.

Please stay tuned...

If anyone has clues to what design this might be, I'd like to know.

Doryman's Melonseed

In the upper left corner of this page is a search window. If you type in Doryman's Melonseed design, you will find, as I did, that this project started in December of 2011. How could that be? Four and a half years. Well, I guess you know how fate has befallen this sailor.
Take heart my patient reader, for the long awaited sail-rig has evolved to the test stage. We already know how Aria rows. Like a song.





Martin and I chose a calm day for our first sail. Turned out to be breathless, but we had enough puffs to get a feel for how this 'seed flies.

It was apparent from the first, the free-footed sail needs a boom for windward work. The fixed keel shape, taken from Atkin's Valgerda allowed quite a bit of leeway, but I think that will improve with a boom as well. I intend to leave the foot loose, lash the sail to the boom at the tack and clew and use a downhaul from the clew to the base of the mast.

 

If this sounds confusing, we'll come back soon with photos and an updated report.

Please stay tuned.

Doryman's Boatyard

As you might guess, the restoration of Belle Starr is at the top of the list. Working outside definitely has it's drawbacks and I've known all along that when spring weather approached, there would be a frenzy of activity. Nothing new there - to a sailor, the weather dictates everything.

Belle Starr is a happy boat. She's very near being ready to launch. All that remains are the fiddly bits, the structural work is complete. In fact, I have a friendly wager with a fellow sailor about who will launch first. Sometime late this month is my best guess. Despite being very anxious about splashing her, I want Belle Starr to be better than before her accident. This view of the starboard side was a ragged hole not too long ago.

The starboard side from the interior. Those pesky, leaky deadlights have been re-bedded at last!

There are some upgrades this time around. New winches grace the deck to assist in keeping the halyards tight. I'd like to have winches for the new genny too, but that will have to wait. The interior is handsomely reworked. With the boat completely empty, refinishing everything was imperative. It's very rewarding to sew up loose ends. For instance, there will be no more hauling and stowing plastic jugs of water. A rudimentary water system featuring a bladder tank and hand pump now simplifies that task.

An unexpected bonus to this tragedy was revealed while repairing the rudder, which was snapped off at the waterline.

The two sets of gudgeons and pintles that were underwater were corroded to the point that they could have failed at any time. I'm not a welder (at times like this, I wish I was...) so having new hardware fabricated has suddenly become one of the most costly elements of this repair. It will be good to know that the rudder is once again firmly attached to the boat. Losing steerage is a sailor's nightmare.

Meanwhile, look at what followed me back to the shop... an Old Town canoe. I've had my eye on this beauty for a decade. I haven't had a chance to look up the serial numbers yet, but she's probably in the neighborhood of seventy years old.

My friend Rick Johnson finally took pity on me and we loaded her down from the rafters of his shop. She now graces the rafters of mine. It could be a while before she gets the attention she deserves, but when she does, you'll be the first to know.

Lug Sail Melonseed

As promised, a short dissertation on the balanced lug mainsail rig is today's fare. When I designed this style of traditional rig for my faering, Saga, I'd never used one. The superlative sailmaker, Lynn Fabricant built that wing with her subtle magic and the little faering fairly flew.

It was an easy sail to set up and use. The balanced lug rigging I use is helpfully documented by Mik Storer in his rigging suggestions for the famous Goat Island skiff, a link well worth exploring for many reasons.

He says this simple and effective rigging comes from an old book, "The Dixon Kemp Manual of Seamanship". The only difference for me is that I don't lash the boom to the mast. I find the downhaul keeps the sail tensioned perfectly whether the boom rests against the mast or not.

With this set-up, I can strike the rig, bundle yard, sail and boom along the thwarts and be ready to row in a couple minutes. In Saga, I even have a long bag to contain the whole mess so it's ready to set anytime.

I use the sail/boom/yard bundle to hang my tent when needed. It's slick. Of all the traditional sail rigs, it's hand's-down my favorite.

The sprit rig on the other hand has not been friendly to me. When I designed my version of the historical melonseed, I drafted the sprit rig as the default, as documented by Howard Chapelle. That was four years ago (where the time went is a mystery). The Doryman Melonseed has been used occasionally as a row boat, for which it is particularly suited, but the sail rig has hung in suspension. Last winter I sewed the spritsail but as you all know, several other unexpected emergencies interrupted my plans. Meanwhile, in the intervening months, I did have a few educational escapades with another spritsail. Not a sail for open water in my opinion.

There, I said it.

Recently I unlaced the spritsail from the mast, fashioned an upper yard and installed grommets along the head of the sail, to lace the two together. The yard is longer than usually specified because I intend to use it in converting another sail to the same design (same type of refit, as well). Of particular concern was the placement of the sail in relationship to the hull. The balanced lug tends to set forward of the mast a bit, which could potentially create lee helm in the original design. As can be seen from the photos, this was of minimal concern in the final analysis.

A difficulty yet to be addressed is the geometry of how the new lug lowers the sail on the mast. I do not intend to carve a new mast, but the sail needs to clear the deck by an additional 4-6 inches. Obviously there will be no room for the required downhaul on the tack, but with the extra long yard, the opportunity to tension the head of the sail with a downhaul on the forward end of yard itself is apparent.

I like the way this design allows for changing the angle of the yard. The balanced lug tacks best to windward with the head peaked-up as high as allowed. Running off the wind, the yard can be set more horizontally, to provide more power.
Note how lacing the halyard from the forward end of the yard, through a block midway on the yard and thus through a sheave at masthead tensions and binds the yard against the mast. You will notice the halyard leads to the cockpit from the base of the mast (above).

Both the downhaul and the halyard are then lead through the coaming, to cleats in reach of the helmsman. This sail configuration can be set and struck from the safety of the cockpit, the solution to my concern about the sprit rig, which is a bear to strike in any kind of real wind.

 This series of shots show how easy it is to lower the yard into the boat and the halyard lacing option used allows the whole kit to be stowed on the thwarts in seconds, allowing the mariner to concentrate on other matters when necessary. Thus stowed, the sail is also ready to set at a moment's notice. When it's time to stow this rig, the yard, sail, halyard and downhaul stay together in a handy bundle. The mast is bare and easy to handle.



For now, this rig has no boom. There is no particular reason for that other than expediency. This will hamper off-wind and downwind performance, though how much remains to be seen. A test sail is in the offing.

In a small boat, simple is best. I would add, this principle applies to larger boats (and life in general), but that's a topic for another day...

2,000 K

My, my. It's 2015, can you believe it? We weathered the crossing, we have survived well into the 21st century. Who would have thought?

Having spent much of my life on a lee shore, it amazes me, to have lived to see this day. I thank all of you, my friends, for your love and support here on DoryMan, for the last eight years. Looking through the statistics recently, I was pleasantly surprised to find that these pages and their companion photo archives have garnered over two million visits. That's a lot of time spent together, you and I.

My best wishes go out, around the world to the DoryMan community, and for now, I leave you with
Mark Seymore and his daughter, Hannah, covering the Pogue's Lorelei.

Doryman's Kayak

It's been a few months since we looked at the development of last winter's Doryman kayak build. Wild Rose has been outfitted with outriggers so that she can now be paddled or rowed. Being only fifteen feet long, she is quick off the line, though takes concentration to track well under oars.

All said, I am very pleased with this little boat. She weighs 65 pounds and is easy to load on top of a car, yet carries up to 300 pounds of payload. The rowing option is to accommodate my aching shoulders, which I suspect might appeal to others, as well.

Leo Newberg, who designed the original of this kayak, and Rick Johnson, the shipwright who leads the Family Boat Build at our local Toledo Wooden Boat Show, were impressed enough by the changes I've made to implement them in the show this year. These changes include a new, more graceful shearline and an open, more accessible cockpit. Wild Rose is currently in Leo's capable hands, having her lines taken.




This kayak will be the centerpiece of the Family Boat Build at the Toledo Wooden Boat Show, August 16th and 17th, 2014. Follow the link above to the Port of Toledo, Oregon website, for more information about signing up. There will also be a "kid's build" this year, with a smaller, simpler kayak for the little ones. Be sure to get your name in soon, August is just around the corner.

More photos of Wild Rose can be found on Doryman's Flickr Site.

A Fall Float Down the Yaquina River

Saturday last was the date set for the annual fall Yaquina River float. For Doryman, this been a Halloween tradition for eight years, on this beautiful coastal Oregon river. For others, (all comers welcome) it depends on the weather.

This year, the prognosticators said a big Pacific front was coming in and there would be rain, wind and more rain. Those of us who live on the coast tend to take the forecasts with a grain of salt. The most reliable prediction method is to look out the window.

The crowd was small and dedicated. As you can see in the photos, everyone was dressed for the worst. Which, of course meant that we were over dressed for a delightfully warm and mostly sunny day. Sorry those slackers less dedicated missed it.

This was the first time on the water for the completed Doryman Melonseed. I've christened her Aria. We left the sailing gear at home and loaded up the oars for the trial run. My good friend Jim Ballou dropped by the Doryman boatyard early Saturday with a smart little skiff needing some attention so, for the river run, he didn't have a ride of his own.

It was an excellent opportunity to see how the melonseed performed with a payload. Jim and I shifted our weight around to test for stability and I'm happy to say the melonseed is a wonderful little boat. She rows like a dream, can't wait to set up a sail rig and see how she flies.....

,

Bob, deep in conversation with Chuck and Shalline:

Jim taking it easy while Michael does all the work. (Just teasing you, Jim.)


Thanks to Shalline for the photos of Aria.





And a short video of Jim R, with Lucy the Dog, in the Lazy Duck skiff. Commentary by Jim B.


Fall 2013 on the Yaquina River from doryman on Vimeo.

If you haven't had enough, here's the rest of the pictures.

Doryman's Boatyard

Technically, we are talking about the back porch. As inclement weather gears up, so does the annual winter project.

This year, it's a kayak. Or is it a canoe?

Last August, at the Toledo Wooden Boat Show, the family boatbuilding event centered around a kayak designed by Leo Newberg and Rick Johnson. Prior to the show, Rick and Leo set up a prototype to use for making patterns. A test model was roughed out to insure everything would fit.

Ever on the lookout for an interesting challenge, Doryman pounced on the prototype, with the intention of (yes, you guessed it...) improving the design. (I say that tongue-in-cheek. Leo and Rick did a great job. There will be some modifications, however.)

The hull made it back to the shop in one piece, though it was barely tacked together with epoxy. To-date, the watertight bulkheads have been secured and templates made for the decks. The shear has been shaved down, to limit windage. This will be a very burdensome boat, even though it has less freeboard .

One objection I have with traditional kayaks is the small cockpit opening. So now the question is - with a more open cockpit, is it a canoe?



To further complicate matters, this boat will have oarlocks for rowing, in addition to a double paddle, kayak style. The open cockpit is a necessity, or I'd never be able to get in the boat. The rowing station, likewise, is an ergonomic detail - from years of hard work, my old shoulders do not stand up to forward paddling very long.

A friend dropped by the other day to check on progress in the Doryman Boatyard and declared the kayak/canoe almost finished. Those of you who have built boats of your own know better.

Here is a photo of the original kayak from the boatshow, built by Jim Reim and his daughter, Amy. Nice job, you two!

The finished Doryman vessel will be fifteen feet long and sheathed in 4mm Meranti plywood, with a 3mm deck. It has a hard-chined bottom, with a slight "V" shape.

Name That Melonseed

Doryman's melonseed left the shop today, with help from a few friends.

Long overdue, I know.

She fits well on her second-hand trailer, pretty as a melonseed.

Thank you, Scott, Jason, Brandon and Ellie!

Ready for a sea trial as soon as a busy Doryman gets a free day. But what to name her? I'm stumped. Since she is a duck-hunting design, something along that line seems appropriate.

What do you think?...

A late afternoon fitting of the rigging.
So far, so good.