Sunday, June 5, 2016

Can this Moth be saved dept, Nr 2

Earlier I posted about a fiberglass Moth in desperate shape.  This time the Moth on offer is a wooden boat dating to somewhere in the early to mid-1950s.  The current owner took  possession of the boat after the previous owner threatened a bonfire.  Sadly, the current owner can't provide long term storage or a dry place to work on the boat or she'd keep it.  So while this boat has survived her long time owner's pyromania, her new lease on life is limited to the next two weeks.  If no one steps forward, this little yacht will be broken up for bulk trash pick up. Those interested can PM me at the email address found in my profile for contact info regarding this Moth.  A series of photos follows.


From this prospective the bow strongly resembles an Abbott Moth.  One can see the remnants of fiberglass cloth.  The current owner indicates that the wood beneath is stable and not rotten.

Port side view.  The fore deck is not typical of one of Fran Abbott's boats. Fran's boats had a softer crown rather that a peaked shape to the fore deck.  However, the darker wood may be a replacement deck.

Transom view.  Again, from this angle the boat looks very Abbott-like.

One can just make out the hull number under layers of old varnish--Nr 1493.  Checking the old Moth Class records I found a mention of this boat in  the Cooper River Moth fleet report from the year 1956.  However, the owner's name was not indicated.


Starboard side.
The frames are on 12 inch centers.
The rudder shape is like that seen on early Ventnor and Dorr Willey Moths.  Abbott's blade shapes were more evolved than the one seen here.

At the time of this post, the PO has looked in his garage and found the mast, dagger board, and sail so the story is getting a little better in terms of completeness. 

1 comment:

  1. I offered the woman 50 bucks and said I'd pick it up. She laughed and me and said she would burn it before taking that offer. I mentioned that there were not too many moth sailors left and fewer builders/restorers. She is quite content to burn the boat. Good luck dealing with her.

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