Family Boatbuilding

For the third year running, The Toledo, Oregon, Wooden Boat Show hosted a kayak build for it's family boatbuilding event. I was there to mentor the builders and what a great group we had. None of the participants had ever built a boat before, though they must have had transferable skills because all of the kayaks turned out very nice.

This design by Leo Newberg is simple yet elegant. We do not provide kits for this build so the entrants learn basic skills such as spiling off a mold and fairing a plank. The lofting and building jig are done before-hand so the builders can start early Friday before the show. We constructed four kayaks this year, down from the overwhelming six we turned out last year. This allowed Gus Loomis, Rick Johnson and me to provide more in depth instruction to a very receptive group.

In a video interview with the local high school, I was asked why I'm involved with this volunteer effort. Over the past forty years as a boat builder, I have had the good fortune to learn from some truly amazing artists, a process that continues to this day. I think of an opportunity such as this as a chance to give back to the community of builders and designers that have given me so much.

Perhaps some of the participants will take away a new passion along with fresh skills.

Rick and Gus are exemplary boat builders who share my love of building. It's a joy to work with two such talented artisans. Thanks to them and the Port of Toledo for inviting me to participate in this event.

Next to us was a group of kids along with their parents building Phil Bolger's Elegant Punt, from Dynamite Payson's book, Instant Boats. I've often admired the simple utility of these tenders.

Waiting for the first launch.

A neighboring paper mill produces waterproof packing cardboard and sponsors a design/build contest and race. My favorite was an entry from local ribs and burgers restaurant, Pig Feathers.

Pig Boat swims!
Photo by Ralph Grutzmacher.

My good friend Darrell touts himself as a ship's carver. This year I bought a carving of a seahorse to add to my collection from this eclectic artist.

Next, I'd like to own this beautiful rendition of a sea turtle. Darrell has studied with Northwest First Nation carvers for inspiration in his work. Saving up my pennies for this one!






More photos of this event can be found at Andy Linn's Toledo Community Boathouse.

Teak Lady, Che Hon splash

The beautiful little yacht that is Che Hon has hit the water this summer with a complete work-over. It's been two years since we had this fine diminutive vessel in the water and back then, she still had no rigging. She had been out of the water for twenty years and it was a milestone just to have her take-up and float.

At that time, her decks were in pretty poor condition - no rot, but they leaked so much we were concerned lest she sink over the winter. Well, now her decks are in much better condition, her broken mast has been repaired and she has been refinished from stem to stern.

Che Hon was donated to the Port of Toledo (Oregon) by Bob and Claire MacDonald of Spokane, Washington. Until recently, it has not been clear what a jewel she is. She has brand-new sails and all the standing rigging necessary, plus a lot of gear required for extensive use. (Thank you, Claire and Bob!)

Here we see her sitting proudly beside her sister ship, Ma Zu. (Che Hon has her mast painted light tan.) As you can see, the differences between the two are slight. The Teak Lady is a racing class, so all the boats are very similar. As a boatbuilder, I can see the boats are not identical - a slightly different stem shape, more camber in one deck over the other, so they are not twins, but you might need to either know them well, or see them side by side to tell the difference.

In a couple weeks, we will see them both under sail at the Toledo Wooden Boat Show. Then their characteristics will shine. Che Hon has a set of white sails and Ma Zu is rigged in tanbark. Having had a hand in the restoration of these wonderful little yachts, I'm very excited to see them with their wings spread.

Kudos to the volunteers of the local Teak Lady Society for their commitment to bringing these two boats back to life and insuring they live for many more years! Thanks a lot, fellas, it's been a pleasure working with all of you.

A local painting class uses Che Hon as a subject as she hangs in the sling, getting her sea-legs.

Nice likeness.

Doryman in his element, making beautiful boats even more lovely.

The last four photos courtesy of Curt Warner (volunteer extraordinaire). Thanks Curt!

Dark Moon

On the western horizon, during  a brief period between sunset and moonset, the astronomical new moon, or dark moon, occurs at the moment of conjunction in ecliptic longitude with the sun, making our moon invisible from Earth.

For many this may mark the beginning of a new month, while for some of us on the central Oregon coast last weekend, it heralded the eighth annual Toledo Wooden Boat Show.

For the first time since this show began, Doryman did not display any boats but spent the weekend visiting and riding on other people's boats.

Here we see him giving pointers to Jerry and Ely who are members of the Teak Lady Society, committed to the maintenance and upkeep of the Port of Toledo's two classic Teak Lady sailboats, MaZu and Che Hon.

These fellows spent the entire weekend giving free sailboat rides.

Good job, if you can get it!

There were all the usual suspects and a few new faces in a crowd that was having a lot of fun despite the occasional threat of rain (which never happened).

Here, two dories duke it out for a photo finish at the end of an all comer's race. The girl on the left won.

My favorite from this show is Mark's brand new Lightning racing dinghy, built in the strip plank method.

There was also Gus Loomis' fresh-from-his-shop CLC Skerry.

Bob and his brother Dick Mitsch built and newly launched an Iain Oughtred Whillyboat.

And Chuck Gottfried christened his Kingfisher rowing scull after a couple years of painstaking and detailed effort.The hull is made of 3mm mahogany plywood with decks of heat shrunk Dacron and weighs only 40 pounds.






There were lots of old friends and new. I'd like to thank them all for a great time on the water!

A special thanks to Chuck and Shay who let me crew on their Bristol Channel Cutter, Baggywrinkle. That's me hanging in the ratlines.

As promised, the slideshow:

Winter at the Boathouse

It seems there are plenty of people around who paddle and row all year, despite the threat of torrential rain and temperatures barely above freezing.








Just such a group gathered upriver from the Community Boathouse in Toldeo, Oregon yesterday. As fate would have it, the weather was barely winterish. Temperatures were in the mid 50's, fahrenheit and not a drop of moisture fell from the sky.






Doryman was there in the dory cruiser SV Mistral. Though we've seen this stretch of the Yaquina River many times before, Mistral has not. This big dory was designed to explore shallow water, yet a low bridge blocks her mast about thirteen miles inland from the ocean. At the moment, I'm working on a system for raising and lowering her mast while underway. So with the rigging down, we took the opportunity and joined those fortunate who took a chance on the weather to catch the most extreme tidal ebb of the year for a joyride downstream.





Most of November in coastal Oregon has been very wet, with record rainfall. The Yaquina is nearly a foot above flood stage and rising. Couple that with a twelve foot tide drop and you have plenty of current to push a big boat. I have a long sweep oar on Mistral so I can lean back on the tiller and thus row and steer at the same time. Couldn't keep up with the smaller boats, though.







This event was in support of the Port of Toledo's Community Boathouse Project. We were going to have a potluck dinner afterward in the Boathouse but everyone opted instead for the barbeque ribs at the brewpub across the street. Fortunately for everyone, we were the only (25) people in the restaurant.


















Many of these photos are compliments of Andrew Linn, who is the spark plug for the Boathouse Project. That's him just up and to the right, preparing to cut across in front of a five-ton boat.
Better hurry, Andrew!

The Toledo Community Boathouse is sponsored by the Port of Toledo.


The full story, in pictures.....