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neilm
01-13-2010, 11:42 AM
Can someone tell me more about the boat on the cover of John Gardners "Building Classic Small Craft?"

http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/motobooks_2088_5914097

Neil
Richard Jones
01-13-2010, 12:07 PM
The boat, a Rangeley Lake boat, is at Mystic. Perhaps thru the Mystic website, you could learn more. The book extensively covers these boats, but not specifically the"Nelson B.", the boat shown on the cover. It's on my list of boats to build before I die.
Thorne
01-13-2010, 01:56 PM
Search the Forum for "Nelson B", this boat has been discussed before. Not much info out there on the specific boat...
Richard Jones
01-13-2010, 05:04 PM
Well, you got me curious. I found it in my copy of Mystic Seaport Museum's "Watercraft", their book on most of the boats in their collection. The Nelson B. was built by Mystic Seaport in 1978. Rangeley Lake Boat. 14'7"x3'4" Beautiful lines.
Geoff C
01-13-2010, 07:34 PM
The boat to the left of John, in the middle, is that the 10' Lawton tender? That's another very pretty boat, one I'd like to build in the near future.
Ben Fuller
01-13-2010, 08:58 PM
Search the Forum for "Nelson B", this boat has been discussed before. Not much info out there on the specific boat...

Barry Thomas led the crew that built, I think, 20 of these Rangeley Lake boats. It is a copy of 1974.1007 which is an unusual small Rangeley developed not as a guide's boat but for the sport who fished alone or possibly with a partner. Plans are available for the Barrett Rangeley. People who learned on her inclued Ed McClave and Clark Poston. This was the first in series of research projects from the shop that looked into how the traditional builders built multiples of a single boat type, an exploration of patterns and tools used by the builders. The culmination of this was building the catboat Breck Marshall... we built only one but Barry researched the Crosby's methods extensively and used them.

There is now a book on Rangeley boats published by Tillbury House. I think in the research files at Mystic is a write up by Barry on what he found out building her. She rows really nicely; hits her speed without much effort, a much more pleasant row than the 17 foot Rangeley's and relatively light.