Exclusive to the Forum: My Favorite Wooden Boat

[Carl Cramer]

Dear All,


So, I send out an email blast on Friday to all who have opted-in to my occasional email news. Response is great to a new feature, "My Favorite Wooden Boat." It's not commercial at all.

So great in fact that Scot has bludgeoned me into producing one such every week. I've posted the first one here (www.WoodenBoat.com/boat (http://www.WoodenBoat.com/boat)), and I will continue to every week unless I'm off cruising or somesuch.

I ask for your comments there, as long as they are on message. If too many are off message, or too voluminous, I will have to turn off that option.

In the sense that they are "new," well, they are new to me. WINDVINDER I found by chance last week, and it is a wonderful, poetic project and boat.

I'm sure I'll become more conventional and, well, boring in the future. But I hope not. I'm looking at this as an opportunity for stimulus, which we all need. Some may appeal to you, and some may not.

But: "Every wooden boat has a story," and I think WINDVINDER is a perfect example of that, and a great beginning for this endeavor.

I look forward to reading your comments there.

Thanks, Carl. Boat on!

[Mrleft8]

Dude....You need to post a picture.... ;)
Edited to add: That is one exceptionally cool boat! :D

[snow(Alan H)]

Dude....You need to post a picture.... ;)
Edited to add: That is one exceptionally cool boat! :D

No he does not - it the ugliest thing you have seen & is a think out of place here. The story leaves you thinking its some viral marketing gimmick...... for one won't be clicking on it.
Alan

[S/V Laura Ellen]

This yet one more reason to visit the wooden boat web site.
Thanks, it's a great idea.

[JimD]

If I find it I'll be sure to push it off the beach.;)

[rbgarr]

That is awesome in the true unadulterated sense of the word. The woman in dreads looks positively blissful.

The book list has many inspired ones: The East is a Big Bird and Moby Dick among my favorites.

http://www.windvinder.com/index.php?id=25&L=1

[boylesboats]

Wait a minute? I am confused..
Isn't that Carl Cramer is somebody we all known?

Carl, you've posted it in the right place.. Sound like a good deal... When are you gonna start?

[Hwyl]

Got to get one of these

http://www.windvinder.com/uploads/pics/arbeit3_16.jpg

[rufustr]

Thanks for the link Carl.

I will follow with interest every week.

Rufus.

[JimConlin]

Remember what happened to Michael Phelps' endorsement deal with Kellogg.

[WX]

What is it? Looks like it's designed to keep you heading into the wind.

http://www.windvinder.com/uploads/pics/arbeit3_16.jpg

[Wooden Boat Fittings]

.
What's wrong with you guys? Aren't you going to post some comments about this boat for Carl here (http://woodenboat.com/boat/?p=18#comments), as requested?

This is our host, you know....

Mike

[kenjamin]

I get it. Boat building as performance art. The unmanned part is a little confusing. I hope their insurance can cover whatever it runs into. If I find it, I'll probably ax the windmill and put a proper birdwing mast on it.;)

[emichaels]

Thats great....unmanned.....and who is going to turn on the nav lights at night so another ship doesn't ram her...........

[rbgarr]

It's hard to figure out the details but if it's sending out a position does it have some sort of solar/wind power generator or battery pack?

Gareth,

You'd look great in one those. I'll be able to find you at the MBBS if you wear it.

[AstoriaDave]

Word from Wipke, the "sender" is that it has a radar reflector; no lights; no GPS or solar panels. She locates it when someone spies it. Has gone to check on it a couple times by getting rides on fishing vessels, etc. She must be very persuasive. Here she is: http://www.windvinder.com/index.php?id=35&L=1

[George Ray]

Carl, not clear why you did not provide pics/links in the leading post of this thread unless you are a teacher forcing students to develop self reliance ??

WindVinder:
Awesome, I am not sure from my quick perusal of the site where they are coming from and going to, but they seem to be curious, inventive and joyful as they journey. Glad you pointed it out.

[rbgarr]

George,

If you're interested in following Carl's blog on "Favorite Boats" bookmark the link he has in the first post. That will be the way to follow along on next installments for other favorites. The Windvider's story is just the first, and I don't think the followups will be posted here.

[VikingSailor]

Amazing story about Windvinder and this beautiful vessel........

Thanks, Carl.......great first boat on your new weekly adventure!!

Looking forward to seeing more each week!

Cheers.......

[Gerard]

Wow what a vind what a project! Thanks! Very cool indeed.

[Carl Cramer]

I love the Michael Phelps analogy....

I think hers is a great project.

Wait until you see what I have in store for NEXT WEEK.

[Bob Cleek]

There's no end to what people will pay you grant money for, is there? "Reminder to self:" Apply for multimillion dollar "green energy" grant from Bailout funds to built the ultimate sailing yacht to study whether travel on the sea can be accomplished without greenhouse gas producing fuel burning!

[Carl Cramer]

Wait a minute? I am confused..
Isn't that Carl Cramer is somebody we all known?

Carl, you've posted it in the right place.. Sound like a good deal... When are you gonna start?

It's already started!

[johngsandusky]

Intriguing and compelling. I'm also a little concerned about it as a hazard to navigation. But I think if it collides with anything significant, it will cause little damage, except to itself. Still, if it hit me in the night, I'd be annoyed.
Usually I don't go for "expeditions", they seem like self promotion for would-be heroes.
This is rather poetic.

[J. Dillon]

An interesting project that does bear watching. My immediate reaction is, how fragile it looks to be set free on oceans to seek the wind’s source. Will the first breaking wave demolish it ? How does is sense other craft and rocky shores ? Is unguided the way to go ? What about keeping a watch to avoid collisions with other craft ?

Does any one remember "Paddle to the sea" a classic. Will this project be a live sequel ?

JD

http://i20.ebayimg.com/02/c/05/b0/80/b5_32.JPG

Description: A young Native American boy with big dreams carves a man in a canoe out of wood. When he sets his creation adrift in a stream, the wooden boat encounters all sorts of possible obstacles, while representing its creator's hope and faith.

Carl, You are a dreamer ;) But that's a good thing.:D

[TimH]

almost appears as if that big fin at the bow would force it to point away from the wind.

[Rob Hazard]

"Put me back in the water, I am Paddle to the Sea" Seems I remember
the book, by a guy named Holling Clancy Holling, who also wrote "The Book of the Indians" and "Minn of the Mississippi", about a snapping turtle.

We're talking early 50's.

Yes?

[rbgarr]

He wrote Seabird also, about a carved ivory gull made by an old salt for a young boy. It had masterful illustrations of the sea:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0395266815/ref=sib_dp_pop_fc?ie=UTF8&p=S001#reader-link

[Carl Cramer]

Different (entirely) from the first:

Comment away, but at the post. Actually, wherever you want to. I'll catch up, sooner or later.

A good one this week (I think), and early for the Forumites:

www.woodenboat.com/boat.

Thanks so much, Carl

[boylesboats]

That is great Carl....

[MiddleAgesMan]

Word from Wipke, the "sender" is that it has a radar reflector; no lights; no GPS or solar panels. She locates it when someone spies it. Has gone to check on it a couple times by getting rides on fishing vessels, etc. She must be very persuasive. Here she is: http://www.windvinder.com/index.php?id=35&L=1

I've always loved women with snakes in their heads. ;)

[rbgarr]

It was good to see (on John Welsford's site) a link to a completed Walkabout design. It looks like it well meets the criteria it was designed for, a question I've had for a while: a really good boat for cruise-camping the Maine Island Trail.

Regardng the design challenge for 'emergency fishing boat designs"(?) I've always wondered about Cy Hamlin's background in that arena: Since the early 1970's Mr. Hamlin has worked for the United Nations, the InterAmerican Development Bank, the World Bank, and the fisheries departments of various countries on fishing vessel development.

[boylesboats]

I've always loved women with snakes in their heads. ;)

Who? Medusa?
http://tbp.smith.dropbear.id.au/tiki/img/wiki_up/bes.Medusa.jpg?nocache=1

[David G]

John Welsford has always been one of my favorite designers also. He's done lots of nifty-looking boats. While Trover isn't one of them, it is a great boat nonetheless. Fits the design brief well, and contributes to a worthwhile end. There's even a fellow locally who's considering building one... just because of the simplicity and utility.

[Liam English]

Holling Clancy Holling also wrote "Tree in the Trail" about the Santa Fe Trail. He was an amazing writer and illustrator who had a gift for making the past vibrant and useful. At least some of his books are still published, "Seabird" was in our local bookstore window last time I looked. And we still HAVE a local bookstore here!

[Carl Cramer]

It's Tuesday. There must be a new post to "My Wooden Boat."

Indeed there is. Please read and comment here: http://www.woodenboat.com/boat.

[Hwyl]

This week featuring the boat of one of our very own, Mike Field a.k.a. Wooden Boat Fittings: makes the big time. good job Mike

[Tom Robb]

Windvinder looks like a hazard to navagation to me.

[Thorne]

I'm confused -- "Amazon" or "Swallow" were fictional boats, albit based on existing boats and clearly described.

So is the "wooden boat of the week" one, the other, both or a more modern replica of same?

BTW this is one of my favorite series which my wife and I re-read regularly. I do however usually skip the more 'fantasy' books like the Chinese pirate one and Caribbean volcano one.

One more quibble -- I thought the MOAML was created by Oregon Coot John Kohnen?
http://www.boat-links.com/index.html

[Wooden Boat Fittings]

I'm confused -- "Amazon" or "Swallow" were fictional boats, albit based on existing boats and clearly described.

So is the "wooden boat of the week" one, the other, both or a more modern replica of same?

BTW this is one of my favorite series which my wife and I re-read regularly. I do however usually skip the more 'fantasy' books like the Chinese pirate one and Caribbean volcano one.

One more quibble -- I thought the MOAML was created by Oregon Coot John Kohnen?
http://www.boat-links.com/index.html

Strictly speaking, Swallow and Amazon were both real boats, but used in works of fiction. (Swallow kept her original name, while Amazon was, in the prototype, a dinghy named Mavis.)

The boats featured on Stu Wier's site The Boats of Swallows and Amazons do not pretend to be either of these vessels, but they are either of similar design, or built with similar intent.

Stu Wiers site, was until today hosted by AUSTars, the Australian branch of The Arthur Ransome Society. But it has now been transferred to the site All Things Ransome (http://www.allthingsransome.net/) -- follow the links.

It's now had three different hosts as far as I know, and I believe that a link to an earlier location existed on The Mother of All Maritime Links, which was indeed created by John Kohnen.

I hope this clears things up a bit.

Mike

[Hwyl]

Wasn't Swallow built by the prolific Crossfields at Arnside. She was built for a considerably different piece of water than Coniston.

[outofthenorm]

Question for Mike Fields - is this little beauty yours? When I was a kid, there were several Toronto boats of a similar type. They were what set me off.

Great post Carl.

http://woodenboat.com/boat/wp-content/uploads/fieldboat6.jpg

[Hwyl]

Question for Mike Fields - is this little beauty yours? When I was a kid, there were several Toronto boats of a similar type. They were what set me off.

Great post Carl.



I had a PM discussion with Mike, I'll post his reply here, it's edited for Aussie talk


Thanks for the heads-up, Gareth.

As a matter of fact, Aileen Louisa was built in 1986, so she's not really all that old -- although the design of course is some degrees of magnitude older.

And I've just decided, with mixed feelings to sell her as I no longer use her after moving all this way inland, and she should be in the water, being sailed by some other S&A fan.


Of course the real Swallow as we all know, did not have a centreboard, but a full length keel, that (I think) was 6' below the canoe body. The Morecambe bay tides and sand would have hammered her otherwise.

[Hwyl]

Wasn't Swallow built by the prolific Crossfields at Arnside. She was built for a considerably different piece of water than Coniston.

Looks like I'm wrong, this is a letter from the last known owner of Swallow, Roger Fothergill


I owned her for about 4 years but had her moved from Windermere Lake to the Kent Estuary at Arnside which runs into the head of Morecombe Bay on the N.W. coast of England. Which raises another matter. It has been said that the firm of William Crossfield & Sons of Arnside built Swallow. She was certainly not built on the Lake. But I had known Fred Crossfield all my short life & if they had built her Fred would certainly have recognized her & told me so. But they looked after her for two years & he never mentioned it, which seems very strange to me.

[Wooden Boat Fittings]

.
Well, I see that Gareth has done most of the replying for me. ("Edited for Aussie talk" indeed!)

Yes Norm, that is indeed Aileen Louisa, presently in my keeping, drawn up outside the back gate where I used to live. She's a very traditional design, which is why she's featured on Stuart Wier's site. In my case, it was Arthur Ransome's books about boats like these that got me into sailing, and eventually to custodianship of Aileen Louisa.

She's a little larger than Swallow, being 15' overall, as against Swallow's thirteen-odd feet. Here are a couple more photos, giving an idea of her layout --


http://www.woodenboatfittings.com.au/boats/aileenlouisa/al-trailer2.jpg

http://www.woodenboatfittings.com.au/boats/aileenlouisa/al-trailer3.jpg

and there's a full description, including construction details, here (http://www.woodenboatfittings.com.au/boats/aileenlouisa/al-flyer.pdf).

She carries an additional thwart to the original Swallow (which also gives her a second rowing station,) the sternsheets run full-length to the middle thwart, and the mast partners are set up differently. But you'll see that if she were rigged as Swallow was (and if there were no grating,) then there'd still be room for Roger to fit in his normal lookout place up in the eyes forward of the mast --


http://www.woodenboatfittings.com.au/public/swallow2.jpg

The original Swallow, with her fixed keel, was thought to have been built originally as a work boat (the lack of centreboard would obvious make for more usable internal space.) Ransome says --

"The Swallow was a sailing dinghy built for sailing on a shallow estuary, where the sands were uncovered at low tide.... She was between thirteen and fourteen feet long, and fairly broad."

I think the reference to "estuary" has implied to many people the Kent Estuary (leading into Morecambe Bay and being close to the Lakes,) which in turn may have led some to believe she was built by Crossfield's at Arnside there -- although, as Gareth points out, from her last owner's letter that doesn't seem likely. However, Fothergill's moving her to the Estuary could well have been actually taking her back home again.

Mike

[Sailor]

I loved those books. Were it not for them I might have paid attention in school. How much fun would it have been to learn to sail in something like that? Maybe after the Catspaw I'll need to build Gabriel something to put around in......

[David G]

Strictly speaking, Swallow and Amazon were both real boats, but used in works of fiction. (Swallow kept her original name, while Amazon was, in the prototype, a dinghy named Mavis.)

The boats featured on Stu Wier's site The Boats of Swallows and Amazons do not pretend to be either of these vessels, but they are either of similar design, or built with similar intent.

Stu Wiers site, was until today hosted by AUSTars, the Australian branch of The Arthur Ransome Society. But it has now been transferred to the site All Things Ransome (http://www.allthingsransome.net/) -- follow the links.

It's now had three different hosts as far as I know, and I believe that a link to an earlier location existed on The Mother of All Maritime Links, which was indeed created by John Kohnen.

I hope this clears things up a bit.

Mike

Mike,

She's a gorgeous boat. I'm glad she's getting the recognition she deserves.


Carl,

Speaking of getting the recognition deserved... as Mike mentions, MAML was created by the Grand Poobah of Coots, John Kohnen. We shall expect a full retraction in the next practical issue. Front page would be good, but a seperate pullout section would be acceptable ;) You don't want to rile up the Coots. We might have to sober up enough to mount a sea-based invasion of Maine, and run it thereafter as a Coot Duchy :p

Seriously, though, I love this new feature. Thanks.


"I don't mind lying, but I hate inaccuracy" -- Samuel Butler

[Carl Cramer]

Hi, David. Tell you what: I'll give due credit to John once I'm home tonight....

Thanks, all. This is fun.