bahamian sloops

[Forrestrichards]

I'm looking for more info on traditional Bahamian sloops. i read a wb article from the '80s about a boat called Unity B that is the type i'd like to know more about. She was a Bowsprit smack about 36 feet over all. does anyone know what became of her or if her lines were ever taken off her? Are there any plans available for a similar boat? i know since there boats were built by eye plans may be hard to come by but any help you could give me would be great.

[Daniel Noyes]

if memory serves...
isnt there a set of plans by Chapelle of a bahama or bermuda sloop in American Small Sailing Craft...
you ask about a recently sailing sloop but Chapelles may be 100+ yrs. old so not sure it will help.

I remember the article, magnificent

also Wade Smith formerly of Mystic seaport, built and sails a Bahama dinghy (big boat,16'x6' +-) very nice.

[Forrestrichards]

I've seen the Chapelle drawings for a Sharpshooter, More a cat boat then what i'm looking for info on. I think the hull shape may be the similar but not much else. I've read William Johnson Jr.'s book and i can't get over how many of these boats there were and that there are no plans for even one that i can find.

[JimD]

I have the WB issue with Unity B in it and have tried in vain to find more info on her. Ted Brewer has plans for a 25 foot centerboard version http://www.tedbrewer.com/sail_wood/bahamasloop.htm

http://www.tedbrewer.com/sail_wood/images/Bahama-Sloop---sailplan.gif




and Tom McNaughton sketched one up called Island Girl but don't know if he ever followed through with plans. http://www.macnaughtongroup.com/Island_Girl_24.htm

http://www.macnaughtongroup.com/Island%20Girl%20Right%20Profile.jpg

[Paul Pless]

isnt there a set of plans by Chapelle of a bahama or bermuda sloop in American Small Sailing Craft...Isn't that one of his most criticized sets of plans - both for his interpretation of a 'non-existant' type as well as a fictional history of the type?

Don't get me wrong I have a great appreciation for his body of work and absolutely love many of his individual designs; but I think that one may be a flop.

[Tristan]

In the summer of 1957 I worked for two Disney photographers on New Providence Island. There were dozens of native sloops tied up at the native dock at Nassau. Many had fish wells and towed dinghies. There were several schooners but as I recall their masts were cut off. They had wooden "fire boxes" filled with sand on deck, and their cargos were live fish and lobsters, live conchs, cured sponges, and charcoal. It was a beautiful sight.

[peter radclyffe]

there stable enough

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKn1FuB53KU

[Roger Long]

there stable enough

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKn1FuB53KU

Wow!

[Paul Pless]

Wow!understatement!!!

[Uncle Duke]

That is simply ridiculous!

[JC 72]

"Island Girl" was Wm. R. Johnson Jr.'s Abaco Ketch. He lived and sailed aboard her in the 1960s when Howard I. Chapelle encouraged him to put his notes and sketches into a book called "Bahamian Sailing Craft". Check it out. I bought a copy last year from these folks, Bluewater Books and Charts,www.BluewaterWeb.com. $19.95 + s/h. There are no measured drawings, but a wealth of high quality illustrations, and details. A must have, if you are looking into these craft.

[JC 72]

Bob Baker based his North Shore dinghy design on the Bahamian dinghy. Our boat looks exactly like a small lap strake version of the ones pictured in Johnson's book. He changed the rig by adding a jib, as the traditional dinghys were all cat rigged according to Johnson.