Drake -- 40' LOD Munroe-influenced ketch

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  • John B
    Senior Member
    • Aug 2000
    • 31706

    #16
    Hey thanks for the insight Dave, great post. I've always wanted to see more of the boat.
    10 ft beam!! luxury! We sail a pencil LOL.

    Comment

    • Wild Dingo
      Humata, Hukhta, Huvarshta
      • Jun 2001
      • 11146

      #17
      Originally posted by John B:
      ... We sail a pencil LOL.
      Ooooooohhhhhh geeeeeeeeez talk about an open door!! No I will behave so dont get me started John!!

      I too have been hoping that you would one day show her off a bit more Dave and mate she fullfills all expectations... thanks mate!
      .................................................. ...................
      Nil illegitimi carborundum = Never let the bastards wear you down

      Comment

      • DrakeChristensen
        Super Senior Member
        • Sep 2002
        • 227

        #18
        I like the name

        Comment

        • PaulC
          Senior Member
          • Nov 2001
          • 842

          #19
          Great pictures! Thanks for posting them!

          Comment

          • lestat
            Junior Member
            • Nov 2001
            • 22

            #20
            Lovely boat indeed! But I do not see the wooden barrel/cask that used to grace her cabin top nor her nifty figure head......shame.
            the only serious navigable waters around Montreal that has bridges is the St.Lawrence Seaway and your boat used to clear these with the greatest of ease.....She also spent more time under power then sail since she had to constantly deal with a foul current each time she left her berth,that is ,unless the wind was coming out of the east/Northeast but then again,her owner never took her out since that type of wind meant rain........
            Her "old name" is simply French...not particularily Quebecois french,and refers to the crest of a breaking wave..the white foamy part....

            Lovely pictures and may you have many many safe and fun years with her!!!

            Comment

            • brian.cunningham
              Multihuller
              • Jan 2002
              • 2451

              #21
              Beautiful boat.
              Looks like you can go exploring with it in places a lot of other boats of similar length can't.
              Brian T. Cunningham
              SWIFTWOOD - my schooner rigged trimaran sailing kayak
              http://members.aol.com/swiftwood/

              Comment

              • Norske3
                Senior Member
                • Jul 2002
                • 2100

                #22
                How much do you want for the "BEAUTY"!...my tongue is hanging out!

                Comment

                • Dave Hadfield
                  Senior Member
                  • Apr 2000
                  • 7461

                  #23
                  M. Lestat, you have whetted my appetite Sir! Tell me more, please!

                  I spent all day on this posting, but if it leads to information about her past, it will turn out to be time well spent.

                  I am the 4th owner, and have been unable to find out much about her history. I have been in touch with the grandson of her builder, Jean-Francois Bigras, of Montreal (whom we met by pure chance while cruising in the North Channel, and who was able to recognize her even though he hadn't seen her since he was a child) but of the 2nd owner, nothing.

                  So who are you? Obviously you know her. Did you sail on her during her days at the Royal St. Lawrence yacht club? As for the rum keg, yes, I've heard about that and I saw the marks where it was located.

                  I was told that to get into Lac des Deux Montagnes it was necessary to lower the masts. You'd know more about that than me.

                  Please, tell me some stories....

                  [ 12-26-2005, 12:20 PM: Message edited by: Dave Hadfield ]

                  Comment

                  • lestat
                    Junior Member
                    • Nov 2001
                    • 22

                    #24
                    Mr.Hadfield,

                    Sorry to have gotten you all worked up! I knew her in the early '70's when she sailed out of the R.St.L.Y.C. I know too that she was well cared for by the able hands of Murry and Edmund,the two shipwrights working for the St.Lawrence Yacht Company.
                    Her owner at that time,one Pete Charbonneau, was a likable enough sort of chap and had the where-with-all to keep her in top shape.He was also something of a renconteur and could just about talk your ears off with stories about his beloved Deferlante.You shoulda heard the story he told me when I bought one of his cars......
                    At any rate,you say you are the 4th owner. Was mr.Charbonneau the chap you bought it from? He used to captain 747's for AC and is now retired.If he is still amongst the living,it may be worth your time to seek him out through the Pionairs club....The R.St.L.Y.C would also be a good hunting ground for more stories and pictures,I suspect, since Mr.Charbonneau was once commodore,if memory does not fail me.

                    The waters around Montreal are really not best for sizable sailboats,such as yours, and the best days of summer here are often accompanied by very light winds.Combine this with a nasty current and menacing rapids downstream and you quickly begin to appreciate a nice 3 bladed prop.

                    Getting up into Lac Des Deux Montaignes does indeed call for a "low bridge crossing" but I think the bridge has been raised recently.Nevertheless, you are correct about that being THE low spot for Deferlante at the time.

                    Your sailing grounds(the Great Lakes?) are far more suitable to her gentle sailing needs then Lac St.Louis ever was.

                    Wish I had more to tell you Mr. Hadfield but I never did get a ride in her....just used to sail around her and follow along her quarters whenever she went out and dream of the day when I would have a boat as beautiful as her!

                    Any chance of putting the keg back on her? It gave her character all out of proportion to the cost of that diminuitive barrel and kept many a yacht club kid dreaming "pirate ship"! Good luck with researching your boats history.

                    Thank you for sharing your pictures and stirring up some lovely 30 year old memories!May you and yours be forever safe on board her!

                    Comment

                    • htom
                      Member #919
                      • Dec 1999
                      • 11118

                      #25
                      Sweet ship, and wonderful tales. Thank you all.
                      Await dreams, loves, life; | There is always tomorrow. | Until there is not.

                      Grieving love unsaid. | Tomorrow will fail someday. | Tell them today, OK?

                      Comment

                      • Dave Hadfield
                        Senior Member
                        • Apr 2000
                        • 7461

                        #26
                        M. Lestat,

                        Thank you very much for your reply. I did not buy the boat from M. Charbonneau, but from the retired Ontario teacher who bought it from him. But I knew about him -- I too am an AC pilot. I tried once to contact him, but he never got back to me. I'll try again.

                        I suppose you never knew the builder, M. Omar LaFortune, or his family?

                        Yes, she is well suited to the Great Lakes. Her shallow draft is invaluable when entering the shallow harbours and inlets, and for staying off the millions of rocks and reefs. We've cruised her from Lake Erie to Lake Superior, but most of our time is spent in Georgian Bay and the North Channel. And she makes a good impression. It's always gratifying to see the way strollers and passers-by walk right past dozens of more expensive modern sloops to see "the one with the wooden masts".

                        Best regards,

                        Dave

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                        • Dave Hadfield
                          Senior Member
                          • Apr 2000
                          • 7461

                          #27
                          Thanks to everyone for your kind comments. Next year, better pictures.

                          Dave

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                          • lestat
                            Junior Member
                            • Nov 2001
                            • 22

                            #28
                            Mr.Hadfield,

                            The name Lafortune does set off a whole slew of tiny bells. If you should so desire, I can rattle around some of my boat building cronies,up and down the river, to see what falls out by way of pertinent information concerning your lovely boat.
                            By chance,there wouldn't happen to be a builders plate or registration number or serial number carved out on one of the main frame timbers or cabin beams? Also,was Lafortune the designer AND builder?
                            Kindly let me know whether you wish for me to proceed with some fun research and I'll do what I can from my end.

                            Comment

                            • bamamick
                              Senior Member
                              • Nov 2003
                              • 14774

                              #29
                              Dave, thanks for the posting and the beautiful photos.

                              I can easily see where the reference to the Commodore comes in. I can see that she's beautiful where she is, but that boat would fit here on the Gulf coast, if you take my meaning. It looks like it was built for our shoal draft waters.

                              That boat has 'Florida' written all over it. Uncanny how some designs just connect with certain places.

                              Cheers.

                              Mickey Lake
                              'A disciple of the Norse god of aesthetically pleasing boats, Johan Anker'

                              Comment

                              • Dave Hadfield
                                Senior Member
                                • Apr 2000
                                • 7461

                                #30
                                Mickey, I've thought the same thing -- that it would be a wonderful trip to take her to the keys, and even (with a careful eye on the weather) over to the Bahamas. But her planks are held on with galvanized screws -- many, many thousands of them. Right now, in fresh water, they aren't rusting. No bleeding through the paint. But in salt water.... I'd hate to have to re-fasten her. Neither the planking nor the frames are all that thick (she was built light, for shallow draft) and increasing the screw size would weaken her. Or you could use rivets, but again, there are thousands of them. The onther thing is the teredo shipworm. It seems to be impossible to keep paint firmly attached to the cypress hull. It's like painting a huge pine knot. Each year some of the bottom paint comes off in large flakes. In our fresh water and short season, so what -- who cares -- but in the presence of the Worm.... I don't know. You would -- do they eat cypress? I imagine so.

                                Maybe if I could keep her in a fresh-water creek...

                                M. Letat, yes please. Her builder was Jacques-Omer LaFortune. He was a doctor in Montreal, for at least part of his life a birthing-doctor. Jean-Francois, his grandson, told me that family legend had it that when he was waiting for the lady to dilate, he'd whip over to the boat shed (only a mile or 2 away) and put another piece of wood on.

                                He also said that JOL stretched a previous design to come up with Drake. (Her original name was Mirella -- a name that I rather like and would probably have kept had I known.) He had built a 30-ft sloop before the war. I have no solid evidence that Munroe's designs influenced her other than what I see in the hull, and there, it sure looks like it to me. JF sent me copies of old photos and newspaper clippings. In one of them he says he stretched a "B-Class" boat, whatever that is.

                                Anything you could find out would be gratefully appreciated. As for the hull number, yes, she is licensed as a ship, and the ID number is carved into a bulkhead. I'll look it up for you.

                                Thanks,

                                Dave

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