Matinicus Double-ender, Mouse

We've been following the build of Jim Luton's Matinicus Double-ender, Mouse, and it's time to celebrate with Jim on the launch of his fine creation.

It would be an understatement to say Mouse is a beautiful boat. Enough said.
Jim has done an exceptional job of demonstrating the building process on his blog, Small Craft Warning.

Launch day is always a fun event. Brings a smile to my face every time. Let the pictures tell the story:

Congratulations Jim! See you on the water...

Opening Day Parade

Saturday last, the Port Townsend Yacht Club, in Port Townsend, Washington celebrated the beginning of spring sailing season with a sail-by of the downtown area.

Doryman took the opportunity to hitch a ride with Capt'n Kirk Gresham in his Crotch Island Pinky, Tradition. Here we see Kirk rigging his sprit ketch with fellow crew member Lynn Watson standing by.

Most of the boats present were plastic power driven craft. Seemed to have missed those in the photos, which can be found in Doryman's Flickr sets.

The Port Townsend Pocket Yachters turned out in force, though catching them in the act was harder than it might seem. This was suppose to be a parade...

Bad Doryman! He was playing hooky from work. But happily he can say, the Stone Horse, Belle Starr is very close to being ready to launch, none-the-less. Plans to put her in the water have been, of necessity, postponed until August. It's going to be difficult to wait that long.




The name graphic on her stern is a stencil, ordered on-line. The letters are black and outlined with a thin burgundy stripe. The name is printed in an arc to match the transom.
Looks pretty good, wouldn't you say?

Please note the small door down below, on the forward bulkhead. See the dolphin? This is a very cool boat.

Wood Cleats

So, I was talking with my friend Chuck the other day... You know Chuck, he built a Chebacco, which I have had the pleasure of cruising on, in the San Juan Islands. He also built a Ness Yawl.

But now both of those boats have been replaced by two deep draft, fixed keel cutters. Chuck loves cutters.

We'll get into the details about his cutters another day. I'm scheduled to crew for Chuck on a 400 mile open ocean trip, north from Newport, Oregon to the Salish Sea, in July. Unless we get side-tracked to Hawaii or something.

Suffice to say, each of these boats is traditionally built and could, by all appearances, be among the relics of the nineteenth century. Chuck is also a keeper of history.

Because I'm known to have a stash of old, hard to find hardware, and because I'm selling the stuff off, Chuck called me and asked if I have a matched set of Herreshoff cleats. As a life-long scavenger / recycler of old boats and boat parts, I can tell you, this is a difficult request. To top it off, he wants them in polished bronze.

Now we're talking about pure gold.

I know he has his heart set, so I didn't mention the wood cleats I've been making recently. But to me, these varnished, handmade hardwood accessories are more salty than a casting.

The one I really like is a tiny thumb cleat I was asked to make as a duplicate of an old original, the belay cleat for a sprit sail. It's made of a hardwood called Appeton, which has a lot of natural oil and is strong and durable. It's just two inches long and appropriately sized for 1/4" to 3/8" line.

Try it yourself - it's very therapeutic.

Depoe Bay Boat Show and Crab Feed 2013

Doryman just got back from this year's Depoe Bay Wooden Boat Show and Crab Feed. Being one of the first local shows of the season, the question on everyone's mind is the weather. The participants and visitors to this annual April event are true coastal denizens who know to bring layers of clothing and be prepared for everything from sun to hail to snow.

This year, the weather gods smiled on Depoe Bay and though we felt a few sprinkles, the sun peeked out from behind scattered clouds often enough to keep spirits high. The harbor is a tiny hole in the rocks named for old Chief Depoe, who welcomed white settlers here in the late 1800's. The once thriving commercial fishery has been reduced, but a lively charter service thrives on the local bottom fishery and whale watching. There's a lot of pride in this little coastal town and the residents pull out the stops to welcome guests with fresh cooked crab and amateur boat builders come from all around to show their craft and get caught up with gossip after a long, wet winter.

As for gossip, Doryman often gets so consumed with visiting, he almost forgets to take pictures to share with all of you. So here are a few, though to see all the boats, you'll have to stop in next year yourself. You won't be disappointed, I guarantee it. Don't forget your raincoat and sunscreen!

Coupeville Art of the Boat

Claire Acord is a Whidbey Island (Washington State) marine artist and watercolorist, painting mostly traditional sailing craft. She was the 2012 Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival Artist, which has inspired her to initiate a boat event on Whidbey Island. Claire welcomes you to join her for a live update and conversation on the plans for Coupeville’s first celebration honoring the Art of the Boat…an exciting new event planned for September 14, 2013, in Coupeville, Whidbey Island, Washington. It's all about art, music, children’s events, food, literature and real boats! Learn more on the new website for the Coupeville Art of the Boat.

If you're in the neighborhood, you can meet Claire in person, during her show, this Saturday, the 13th, at Ryan and Friends Fine Art on the corner of  9th & Center, Coupeville, Washington.

There is a nice interview with Claire Acord in the Whidbey Life Magazine.

Doryman's Melonseed

For a few days recently, the weather here on the Oregon coast was simply fabulous. But apparently the monsoons have returned and along with them, an under-the-weather Doryman. Not feeling too spry today.

The fine weather gave me the opportunity to cultivate the garden plot and dream of fresh vegetables. There are quite a few plants that wintered-over and spring seems to have a big head-start. Anyone who loves the sea and also enjoys raising a garden will instantly realise the conflict here.

Warm temperatures also facilitated putting finishing touches on the Doryman Melonseed. The roof of the porch where this boat is being built is made of a greenhouse material, so it's a joy to now sit in this solar heated space and contemplate the beauty of this little vessel.

Next the melonseed will need a trailer. When we launched this boat, just before the decks were installed, the trailer was from another boat. So, one more hurdle before true sea-trials, but I expect to discover this will be a great sail-and-oar boat. The thwarts are removable to maximize use of a nine foot-long cockpit. They are also spaced for two rowers, so an extra rowing station can be configured, if required.

Ready to head out the door.

The view during afternoon tea on the back porch. You would think I'm tired of this view, having looked at it for hours on end, but no.

Many thanks to those who offered advice in the design stages and encouragement with support along the way. Truly, this has been a community effort. I would especially like to thank Barry Long, Mike Wick, Dave Lucas, Brandon Ford, Jim Ballou, Marty Loken and most important of all, Mary McCall.

Sail and Oar

First up is Myles Quick's Swampscott dory in Auckland New Zealand.

Miles has buildt a Swampscott dory, based on a design by Pete Culler, to enjoy the excellent sailing conditions in Auckland, which lies across a volcanic isthmus separating two harbours. Waitemata Harbour to the east opens on the Hauraki Gulf and the Pacific Ocean. Westward, Manukau Harbour opens to the Tasman Sea.
Miles recently launched his yet unnamed dory, in Waitemata Harbor, for a test sail.

From Miles:
 "Hi Michael,

"I have had a wonderful weekend of sailing, but still no pictures. The truth is that I don’t know how to take photographs when I am sailing alone - I am too busy trying to handle the ropes and tiller."

"The main thing is she sails very sweetly. I have only my current boat for comparison, and that is a Welsford Rogue but how different this boat is! She wallows not at all. I have become accustomed to sailing a snake-like path, with each gust of wind bringing the boat into wind, and me correcting with a great heave on the tiller. That doesn’t happen at all. She is incredibly good-natured and peaceful and just goes where she is pointed. You don’t even notice waves. The sea picked up a little bit on Sunday, but that just made it more enjoyable."

"My list of things I was testing:

1. Centreboard position and size (given that I moved both rear mast and centreboard back and changed the shape and size) seems perfect to me. There is never helm of any kind, and no leeway that I could notice.

2. Tippiness (sorry to use that word again) – none! This is a very stable and forgiving boat – perfect for what I want.

3. Size of rig – perfect for the conditions I experienced (10 knots)

4. Speed – nothing too exceptional, but very pleasing – similar to my current boat, but I think with room for improvement once I get the hang of things.

5. Windward ability – a bit disappointing – perhaps not as good as my current balanced lug. I think I am doing something wrong, because from what I have heard the sprit sail should be quite good. Maybe I am not flattening the sail enough (those ropes are quite heavy on the arm and hands!)

6. Going about – it takes a while, but seems pretty dependable.

7. Jibing – not a problem with the sprit sails, except getting caught up in ropes.

8. Raising and striking the rig at sea – no problem – I had to do this a couple of times because I went through a squally patch. Standing upright and walking about in a bit of sea was no problem at all. I just plucked the masts out, furled the sails and rowed 500m to shore. I am not sure a motor is necessary, because rowing is so easy, but I am sure I will be grateful for the motor-well some time or other.

9. Home-designed tip-up rudder (I copied Pete’s lines though) – this worked fine – after launching I tie a few knots to fix it in the down position. When I retrieve it I tie a knot to fix it in the up position - nothing fancy or complicated at all. The rudder can dismantle, but I leave it on the boat on the trailer.

10. Trailering – the completely flat bottom (with no fixed keel) works exceptionally well for retrieving from a rough sea. You just hitch and crank, and the boat very quickly gets centred by the bow guides (see picture below). There is no way for the paintwork/plywood to get damaged by a wave lifting and dropping the boat."

"All in all Pete Culler was spot on. This is a beautiful little beach-boat and quite different from the wonderful boats by Oughtred and Welsford, which tend to be wider and heavier with much more sail, but she does the job beautifully. For someone (like me) who wants the simplest, lightest, most canoe-like of rough-water boats I just can’t fault her."

"For the remainder of this beautiful New Zealand summer I will be trying to improve my skills, and also tweaking what I can to improve performance. At some stage I am sure I will figure out a way to get some pictures as well, and I will send them on with an update."

That's Miles' first mate, Izzy, getting in the way, as usual.

The winning combination of sails.

The test run.



Great job, Miles! And they say dories don't sail well.......

As a bonus we have progress reports on two Ken Basset Firefly designs nearing completion. Our second feature is Bayard Story's double Firefly under construction in California. His boat is identical to my Finesse, so we've had an extended conversation on the quality of these boats for some time.

I'm pleased to see Bayard making good progress. Keep up the good work, my friend!

More photos of the build can be found here.

We've recently heard from Lorenz Rutz and it seems he is just a few coats of varnish and paint from launching his single rowing station Firefly in Connecticut. This boat is built in the tape and glue method, as light as is practical. Lorenz has done a very commendable job and a few readers have requested his advise on building the Firefly without traditional framing.

Nice job, Lorenz.
I expect we'll see these boats on the water soon.