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.