Out from under the rock
To all,
I am gratified to everyone who wrote me both on and off the list
concerning my latest faux pas. All your reassurances made my self
flagellation less stinging. Thank you.
I have returned from under my rock. Actually, I just got back from the
Adirondacks, a very nice place for messing about in (small) boats, at
least when it isn't raining. It rained all the time I was up there, of
course. Still, I heartily recommend the Adirondack Museum to anyone
going anywhere near Blue Mountain Lake, fair weather or foul. The
guideboats alone are worth the price of admission. I wish I had the
patience to build to such a level of craftsmanship.
A few comments on subjects recently posted:
Concerning boatbuilding in New Yawk City; I built my second boat, a
Danny Greene "Two Bits" nesting dinghy, in a second story walkup
apartment in Park Slope, Brooklyn, in 1982. The only problem I had was
timing the work so it wouldn't wake up my (then) very colicky infant
daughter. I wouldn't recommend trying to assemble an AS-39 in the same
situation, however. Getting the thing down the stairs would be a real
trick.
David Ryan, as usual, presented some interesting conundrums. That
classic sharpie hulk looks like a ton of work. Tom Krieg, a Cooperstown,
NY, wooden boat restorer I know, would just shrug. "A couple of planks,
some caulk and paint--no problem. It's just work." Yeah, right: weeks
and months and years of work....
Speaking of Tom Krieg, he and I took the ballast keel off my Benford
Gunkholer a few years ago after the boat, er, sunk at the dock right
after launching. Seems the builder (me) forgot to seal the keel bolt
holes (oops). We removed the seven 5/8" diameter keel bolts and tried to
lift the boat off the ballast with the yard's Travelift. The 1250 lbs.
of lead went right up with the boat, held to the hull with a couple of
1/4" beads of, you guessed it, 3M 5200 Adhesive! It took us about six
hours of chiseling and sawing to free that sucker from the wood keel and
deadwood. Moral: Don't use 5200 on anything that you might someday want
to remove.
David Ryan also raises the issue of why the Bolger 55' sharpie has a
pointy bow. I guess whoever originally requested the proposal specified
such a bow. I notice that Bolger has a lot of issues with such things as
centerboards and engine wells, but goes right ahead and designs them
*if* that's what the owner wants. I personally wouldn't dare ask him to
design a sailing dory, however. I suspect that there are lines he will
not cross.
Btw, after seeing the whirlpool bath effect in Lady Kate's bow in the
photos on Tim Fatchin's site, I'm inclined to think pointy bows make a
lot of sense. I still can't think of what to do with all the room in a
55' boat, though; a bowling alley, perhaps?
Thanks again,
david galvin
I am gratified to everyone who wrote me both on and off the list
concerning my latest faux pas. All your reassurances made my self
flagellation less stinging. Thank you.
I have returned from under my rock. Actually, I just got back from the
Adirondacks, a very nice place for messing about in (small) boats, at
least when it isn't raining. It rained all the time I was up there, of
course. Still, I heartily recommend the Adirondack Museum to anyone
going anywhere near Blue Mountain Lake, fair weather or foul. The
guideboats alone are worth the price of admission. I wish I had the
patience to build to such a level of craftsmanship.
A few comments on subjects recently posted:
Concerning boatbuilding in New Yawk City; I built my second boat, a
Danny Greene "Two Bits" nesting dinghy, in a second story walkup
apartment in Park Slope, Brooklyn, in 1982. The only problem I had was
timing the work so it wouldn't wake up my (then) very colicky infant
daughter. I wouldn't recommend trying to assemble an AS-39 in the same
situation, however. Getting the thing down the stairs would be a real
trick.
David Ryan, as usual, presented some interesting conundrums. That
classic sharpie hulk looks like a ton of work. Tom Krieg, a Cooperstown,
NY, wooden boat restorer I know, would just shrug. "A couple of planks,
some caulk and paint--no problem. It's just work." Yeah, right: weeks
and months and years of work....
Speaking of Tom Krieg, he and I took the ballast keel off my Benford
Gunkholer a few years ago after the boat, er, sunk at the dock right
after launching. Seems the builder (me) forgot to seal the keel bolt
holes (oops). We removed the seven 5/8" diameter keel bolts and tried to
lift the boat off the ballast with the yard's Travelift. The 1250 lbs.
of lead went right up with the boat, held to the hull with a couple of
1/4" beads of, you guessed it, 3M 5200 Adhesive! It took us about six
hours of chiseling and sawing to free that sucker from the wood keel and
deadwood. Moral: Don't use 5200 on anything that you might someday want
to remove.
David Ryan also raises the issue of why the Bolger 55' sharpie has a
pointy bow. I guess whoever originally requested the proposal specified
such a bow. I notice that Bolger has a lot of issues with such things as
centerboards and engine wells, but goes right ahead and designs them
*if* that's what the owner wants. I personally wouldn't dare ask him to
design a sailing dory, however. I suspect that there are lines he will
not cross.
Btw, after seeing the whirlpool bath effect in Lady Kate's bow in the
photos on Tim Fatchin's site, I'm inclined to think pointy bows make a
lot of sense. I still can't think of what to do with all the room in a
55' boat, though; a bowling alley, perhaps?
Thanks again,
david galvin