Mid-Atlantic Musings

Abbott Moth design pix

2012-02-21T11:48:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of the promised photos of a Fran Abbott-designed Moth Boat. The boat featured, Nr 1600, is the one Fran built for his daughter Kay. This boat is currently owned by William Duffield.


Abbott Moth "Com-on-K" viewed from the bow with your diarist in the hot seat. The venue was the 2008 Brigantine YC annual Moth Boat Regatta.

The same boat a few years earlier, this time with Jeff Gerber skippering. NB: the sail was borrowed from another boat.

Just to put Bill Boyle's rather daunting project into perspective, below are some photos of his Abbott in "as found" condition. This poor boat is almost beyond salvation. Luckily the keel and major structural elements are sound and can be reused. This boat will look like a new penny after Bill re-skins her with new ply panels. Some of the hand made hardware specific to the Abbott Moth such as the combination bow handle and stem fitting, the drain cock, etc. have survived. However along with rebuilding the hull, Bill will have to make new spars and blades.

Nr 1603, port quarter. The item seen dangling from the bottom of the transom is one of Fran Abbott's hand made drain cocks. When this boat was build many items had to be made up by the builder. Fran taught himself the arts of bronze casting and metal fabrication in addition to woodworking. Specialty dinghy hardware manufacturing which we now take for granted was in it's infancy when this boat was built, with a just few small pioneer companies such as Race-Lite and Rollege producing a limited range. Harken and Ronstan were decades away into the future. Back then, if you needed something that the local hardware store couldn't supply you made it yourself!

Nr 1603 as found, behind a Chestertown, Maryland warehouse which Bob Patterson had just rented for his business. Perhaps someone will recognize this boat from the remnant of unusual green-blue colored paint seen on the side board towards the bow. It would be interesting to learn how this boat came to rest here, a long way from Ocean City, New Jersey.

Yet another Moth Boat restoration web site

2012-02-19T14:20:00.000-08:00

Bill Boyle, our fearless Fletcher-Cates rehaber, is also attempting to bring back a very neglected Abbott-design Moth that Bob Patterson found abandoned behind a warehouse in Chestertown, Maryland. How an Abbott Moth wound up there is anyone's guess but Bob muckled onto her and in turn passed her over to Bill, figuring Bill could use a bit of wet firewood. The poor neglected Abbott has sat in Bill's shed over the last couple of years and now has finally moved to the top of the project list. If you thought that old Moth Nr 264 looked pretty hopless at the onset, just wait until you get a load of this baby .

(cut and paste this link if the one above doesn't work: http://billsmothboatpage.blogspot.com/ )

A little history: Fran Abbott opened a small boat yard at 200 West Ave. in Ocean City, New Jersey just after returning to civilian life at the end of World War II. I bought my first Moth boat from Fran in the summer of '59--a nail sick old Ventnor which he was selling under consignment. I still have the bill of sale somewhere. Anyway, along with servicing various big boats for members of the Ocean City Yacht Club and selling small boats on consignment, Fran built a couple dozen Moths of his own design. Fran was strongly influenced by not only the Ventnor and Dorr Willey Moths which were current in those days but also he developed a rather strong opinion about the faster, lighter boats coming up from Florida! Fran didn't like tippy, flimsy boats and so build his boats strong (read heavy) and stable. Although he realized that the Moth was a development racing class he still pitched his boats more towards stability rather than ultimate speed. In Moth boating, as in most things, speed comes at the expense of stability and longevity. Fran over-built his boats to be able to take the abuse that beginner kids generally dish out. These were the days before Sunfish or Optimist dinghies--the boats that currently make up the beginner fleets (I've seen inexperienced kids ram dock pilings at full till in a Sunfish and just bounce off with no or minimal damage--an Abbott could to a degree do that as well). Having said all that, an Abbott Moth in the hands of a talented sailor was competitive against the best designs of those times. Most Abbott Moths however went to rookies rather than the top sailors in the fleet and so didn't often figure in podium spots at the end of a regatta. Be that as it may, I think a well sorted Abbott will be a VERY competitive addition to the CMBA's current Vintage division and look forward to racing against this boat when she's finished. Sadly, Fran passed away a few years ago and so won't be able to comment on this attempt to breathe life back into one of his boats. In the next few days I'll dig through my photo files and post a pix or two of what an Abbott Moth in race worthy condition looks like so that you'll have an idea of what Bill is shooting for. In the meantime, settle in for the ride at the URL above.

DC Auto Show, Part III--The Finale

2012-02-08T18:32:00.000-08:00

We made the trek to the upper level to take a look at the domestic car offerings. First display upon entering the hall was Cadillac.

At $75K this Cadillac station wagon seems cheap compared to that Ferrari! Plenty of room for tools and gear in the back.

Too bad the price doesn't seem to include factory roof racks and a trailer hitch for a two inch receiver. I could see a cooler full of beer and some aluminum folding beach chairs bungied onto the roof and a trailer load of racing dinghies on the hitch...

This Dodge Challenger could be yours for around $27,500.

Ford had a number of interesting displays including this cut away Explorer.

The crash dummy family didn't look too happy with their somewhat reduced circumstances but at least Ford didn't cut them in half.

Here are a couple views of Ford's "EVOS" concept car.

There were a number of cars with "gull wing" doors at this year's show.

Ford, like many manufacturers, had several electric cars on display. This "C-Max Energi" plug-in was claimed to have a range of 500 miles. That would be quite useful if true in practice as well as theory.

Motorheads need not worry about all the plug-ins and hybrids. Ford still caters to their needs.

Of course Chevorlet wasn't going to let Ford steal all the plug-in thunder. The Chevy Volt was prominently displayed in their area.

However this Camaro entitled "American Pride" was the most eye catching vehicle on the Chevy display.

The car featured various scenes from U. S. history.

Zooming in on Geo. Washington crossing the Delaware River.

The rolling history lesson ranged from Abe Lincoln to

Teddy Roosevelt, to great war dough boys, to

Rosie the riveter, to


a rendering of Alfred Eisenstaedt's famous photograph of "unconditional surrender" during V-J Day celebrations in Times Square. The history lesson continued on around the driver's side of the car.

After looking at the Chevys we'd seen enough and being a bit peckish we repaired to Capitol City Brewing's latest location. Long time readers of this blog will remember that we visited Cap City Brewing at their old digs last spring during the Cherry Blossom Festival. They were scheduled to move into Union Station but the station building was heavily damaged in last August's earthquake and so they are currently in this spot on the corner of 11th & H Street. Sorry about the blurry photo--my hands must have been shaking in anticipation of receiving a large schooner of beer!

DC Auto Show, Part II

2012-02-05T10:43:00.000-08:00

Picking up from my last post, Lotus displayed several of their road cars including this Elise SC.

This Lotus Exige attracted quite a bit of interest. It took a while before I could get a good photo of it! These cars are a far cry from the old Lotus 7 America and Super Seven that I owned way back when.

B is for Bentley.

This cabriolet would be fun as long as one didn't think too deeply when filling the fuel tank.

The "Spirit of Ecstasy" mascot from the business end of a Rolls Royce. This reminded me, in a random way, of a line from a Hilaire Belloc poem: "The rich arrived in pairs and also in Rolls Royces and talked of their affairs in loud and strident voices." I think that line is from Belloc's "Cautionary Tales for Children" but am not clearly certain of that. Perhaps someone can leave a comment and put me straight in that department; odd what triggers the mind.

Next up was Ferrari. This is the new all wheel drive FF. $377K seems like an awful lot of money for a station wagon!


Here is a two seater open Ferrari painted "refrigerator white". I didn't think such a thing was possible! This may well be illegal in some countries--in Italy probably so.

I heard a commotion behind me and turned to see this group of elegantly costumed Chinese reminding us that this is the year of the dragon. Not sure what that has to do with the Auto Show, but it was colorful never the less.

Meanwhile over at the Honda stand we inspected this Indy Car.

This particular car was driven to first place finishes at Kansas City Speedway in '08 (Dan Wheldon), Toronto in '09 (Dario Franchitti) and Milwaukee in '11 (Franchitti again).

Of course Honda is hoping that all that racing activity rubs off in the showroom and boosts sales of Accords.

What's an auto show without a few concept cars? This is the Lexus LF-LC.

Hyundai's concept car was the "Veloster". For the life of me I see no connection between this car and a "velo" as in cycling. Perhaps they plan to run over a few velos...

There were many other curious things to see on the lower level but with time running on we decided to head upstairs for a look at the domestic offerings. I'll report on the cars displayed on the upper level in my next post.

The 2012 DC Auto Show

2012-02-02T18:28:00.000-08:00

Since our son was shopping for a car, your diarist family decided to ring out the wimpy month of "Junuary" with a visit to the Washington, DC Auto Show. The show takes place about this time each year but it's been over 10 years since we've bothered to go. The show is held in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, near Mount Vernon Square.


The first thing that caught our attention as we came into the lower hall was the FIAT display. FIAT had a "test track" and was offering rides around this small driving range in a half dozen of their new 500 model. They also had a DJ constantly spinning Euro-pop and Hard Rock to keep the atmosphere hopping.

The various array of FIAT 500s included Abarth and Gucci versions.

This Gucci Cabrio started off at about $27,500!

Matching Gucci shoes and luggage could be had at extra cost...

Gucci-Schmucci--your diarist preferred this classic 500 FIAT better than any of the newbie 500s on offer.

Things were simpler when this baby was built. Bluetooth? Fogitaboutit.


Mini-Cooper was showing the new to the U. S. market 2-seater Mini Roadster and Coupe. Here is the Roadster.

And here's the John Cooper "Works" version of the Coupe.

We moved on to the Volvo area. Diaristwoman was initially taken with this felony red C30 coupe.

But she was less impressed with the lack of storage room in the boot.

Further along we discovered a display of classic cars offered by a local collector car company. Here is a '67 Corvette.

This '57 T-bird was a nice bit of eye candy.


Your diarist was taken by this tastefully hot rodded '38 Chevy Stepside pick-up.

Here's the Chevy's interior. Note that the windscreen cranks open at the bottom. Nothing worse than a stuffy cab...

Other tasty Chevys included this '69 Camaro RS/SS.

This nice '62 Impala had a 327 cubic inch V8. Back in the day, one of my high school buddies borrowed his Uncle Skeeter's brand new Impala and we hit 100 MPH on our way to pick up our dates for the senior prom. Beau could chirp the tires in fourth gear. "A fast car on a foggy night--sure hope the road stays straight." Yeah, we were reckless and stupid but somehow avoided collecting the "Darwin" award that night. Brings back memories...

The National Capital Region Mustang Club had a corral full of vintage Mustangs including this nice Shelby GT 350.

Now days, this soap box derby car is about my speed.

They race them down Capital Hill in the spring.

But then, perhaps your tastes run to Lamborghinis,

or Maseratis. You could find them here.

On my next post we'll move along and look at offerings from Lotus, Ferrari, Rolls, Bentley and more!

Moth Nr 264 restoration update

2012-01-30T11:45:00.000-08:00

Earlier I reported on the beginning stages of the restoration of an ancient Moth Boat, Nr 264. You can find that post here. Over the weekend Arch Farmer emailed me photos of their recent progress.

Here is a detail shot showing the new mast step and deck partner

The Farmer bothers used the old centerboard as a pattern for a new blade but recycled the 30 lb (!) chunk of lead.

The deck and hull have been varnished and painted. The new centerboard has been installed and the original rudder (with a new tiller) has been hung on the transom using the original hand made hardware.

Another view of the juniper deck planking after fresh varnish. Note the new splash boards. The Farmer bothers were able to reuse the original brass chain plates which can be seen poking up along the shear of the hull on either side of the splash boards.

Arch indicated that they have obtained a used sail and are now working on the standing rigging. They aim to race the boat at Elizabeth City in May. I can't wait to see the finished product up close and personal!

Old Pix from Wildwood Yacht Club

2012-01-18T11:33:00.000-08:00

I recently received these undated photographs of scenes of racing at the Greater Wildwood Yacht Club (in southern New Jersey) from Deborah Rau. The first one shows several Comet Class sloops (one of which is sail Nr 3400) in the foreground. More interesting to me are the several Dorr Willey-built Moths which can be seen in the background. This photo probably dates to the mid-1950s. The other photo shows a group of Moths perhaps waiting for the next starting sequence. This second photo can be dated to about 1961 or '62 by the highest sail number (2209) seen on one of the Cates design boats.

The boats in the foreground are Comet Class sloops. However, I "super-sized" this photo to better examine the group of Dorr Willey-built Moths in the background. The number of DIPPER, the furthest Moth tied next to the pier , is Nr 806. This can just be made out (you may need to click on the photo to enlarge the view). This boat is one hull number older than my Dorr Willey Moth, BLONDIE, Nr 807. I wonder if DIPPER was as lucky as BLONDIE and survives, perhaps tucked away in a barn or garage somewhere.

This photo shows several different Moth designs from the 1940s through the 1950s. Sail numbers 656 and 666 are examples of Ventnor Boat Works-built Moths and were probably built during the war years from scraps left over from VBW's war time PT-Boat construction. Numbers 1944, 2003 and 1666 are Etchells "Connecticut" design Moths. Skip Etchells formalized the Connecticut design in the late 1940s but Connecticut Moths were a popular choice for newbie racers and so this design was built into the early 1960s by various builders in addition to Etchell's "OG" (Old Greenwich) Boat Works. Number 1564 is a Challenger design Moth and numbers 2209 and 2084 are Cates "Florida" design Moths. The Cates Florida design was built by several builders in addition to Harry Cates of Miami. Hopefully not all of these boats are enriching the earth.

Skol deconstruction, part III: the finale

2012-01-07T13:25:00.000-08:00

Today we had a rare, way above average temperature for January, day in Maryland. It's 63 degrees as I assemble this post. The ten day forecast however looks like this anomaly will be short lived and by tomorrow we'll be back to temperatures which makes it hard to hold metal tools with bare hands. With that in mind I decided to do the last major job of deconstruction on the Skol hull before work can go the other way; namely cutting off the winglets and bringing the hull into compliance with CMBA measurement rules. I called Tweezerman to see if he wanted to come play but he and his wife were on their way to Bombay Hook (a bird refuge in Delaware). Perhaps he remembered to take his camera and if so, will have some pix of odd looking, long necked birds to share on his blogspot.

Measure a bazillion times 'cause you only get one shot with the jig saw. That curve looks fair on the port side. Can I duplicate it on the stbd side and have a symmetrical boat when I'm done? It's hard holding the fairing batten with one hand and a knee while drawing the curve with your free hand...

The wings came off easier than I expected. I was able to trim off both sides with the same saw blade. Old fiberglass can be hell on saw blades.

Well, the pieces from both sides sorta look alike. Close enough since I cut on the conservative side of the curves. I figure I can make required adjustments with a power sander.

More or less symmetrical! With the rolled lip of the deck removed (along with the wings) the hull is now quite floppy and easily damaged. Care is essential when turning the hull over.

Aft of the leading edge of the centerboard trunk slot, the hull must pass the CMBA's string test. The test requires that if a string is placed around the hull, the maximum depth of the cord where a taunt string does not touch the hull can not exceed one inch. This rule prevents hiking wings and extreme bottom hulls shapes I've still got about a 1/4" to remove from each side to squeak inside the rule.

Remember that old damaged area on the starboard side? With the lip removed I now have better access to repair it.


There are a couple more small holes like this one which I'll fill with thickened epoxy since the day is warm.

Since I don't have room to bring this hull indoors, work on installing new bulkheads, beams, a centerboard trunk and decks will probably have to be put off until spring. But with global warming you never know--I just might get another warm day to play! Stay tuned.

Another Classic Moth Boat Blog Spot

2012-01-05T17:30:00.000-08:00

At last year's Mid-Winter Regatta, long time Mothist, Merv Wescoat decided that he had too many boats and asked me if I wanted his old wooden Fletcher-Cates. I thanked him for the offer but told him that I had more projects than time but that I'd cart the boat back north and see if I could find her a good home.

Merv Wescoat (on left with orange cup) engages in a bit of "bench racing" with his long time rival, Beans Weatherly. Merv turns 85 this January and still occasionally races Moth Boats--and with great effect I might add. When he's having a good day he's a hard man to beat. Growing up on the Atlantic City waterfront as the son of a tug boat Captain and seventy five+ years of experience racing Moths and other small boats just might have something to do with that...

Bill Boyle put his hand up first and indicated that his son Shane would race the boat at the Wooden Boat Magazine's Wood Regatta provided they could get her repaired in time. The 48 year ago mahogany ply was delaminating in several places on both the hull and deck but father and son epoxy filled, faired and repainted the worse places and indeed BUCKSHOT made it to the starting line back in May.

BUCKSHOT (silver hull/white deck) lined up next to several newer Moths. This photo permits a quick study in the evolution of Classic Moth designs.

Shane was able to race the first of two days of that regatta and then the delamination problems returned. Upon returning home, Bill and Shane decided to tackle the problem head on by giving the boat a deck-off restoration. You can follow their progress here: http://fletchercatesrestoration.blogspot.com/

Bill is a beginning blogger so the blog spot is currently a minimalist's delight but I'm sure he'll quickly catch on. He and I live about an hour and half apart and so the next time I'm his way I'll attempt to answer some of his blogger questions. Meanwhile, enjoy the story of this boat's return to race worthy condition.

Old Town Alexandria, Part II

2012-01-02T12:09:00.000-08:00

Today is my last day of freedom--tomorrow it's back to the grind. So with that in mind let's clear out some unfinished business from the old year, namely our visit to Old Town Alexandria.

King Street is basically old brick houses now turned into restaurants and boutiques.

Most shop windows were still in Christmas mode.

However this Irish specialty shop wanted to remind us that there's only 78 days left before St. Pat's Day.

This lingerie shop which opened a year or so ago was initially controversial and in some minds thought to be a bit too risque for genteel King Street but it has apparently weathered that storm and looked to be doing a roaring trade.

"Why Not" is a toy store. Remember, back before shopping malls took over, when just about every town had a shop dedicated strictly to toys?

I was pleased to see that Babar the Elephant is still in vogue.

An apron in a fetching pirate motif, complete with a variety of kitchen tools, was on offer for the aspiring domestic Goddess on your shopping list.

Missing some animals for your Noah's Ark display? They can be obtained here, two by two.

The next Punch and Judy show will be held at 6:30. Bring your own pig's bladder...

After all this the diaristwomen were getting peckish. La Madeleine is a good place to take care of that.

Can't afford to pop over to Gay Paris to see the real thing? Not a problem mon ami, you can study this scale model of Gustave's masterpiece while waiting for your Croque Monsieur.

Absolutely NO dessert unless you finish your lunch! Sadly we didn't have room for dessert and so headed back out on the street.


Oh dear, oh dear... Your old diarist told diaristwoman he'd touch base with her in a half hour's time.

Walking uphill from la Madeleine one passes Market Square with it's large fountain (drained for winter). City Hall is the building in the background with the large flag draped over the entrance.

Adjacent to the fountain is this pleasant garden. The sculpture is BRIO by Jimilu Mason.

Zooming in on these interesting trees just beyond BRIO. I think they are sycamore trees but I'm not entirely certain. Can anyone identify them?

Further along, King St. crosses Washington St. I've always wanted to take a look at Christ Church. Let's pop in.

Construction of Christ Church began in 1767 and was completed in 1773. This building replaced the initial C of E chapel-of-ease which dated to 1753. The architect of Christ Church was James Wren (not a relative of the better known Christopher Wren).

The interior of the church looking towards the altar. Several of the box pews are associated with notable people from U. S. history.

This is Geo. Washington's pew. I asked where in the pew did George sit? The answer: "Wherever he wanted!" In the early days of World War II FDR, Winston Churchill and FDR's wife Eleanor used this pew during a National Prayer for Peace. FDR sat closest to the camera with Churchill beside him and Eleanor beside Churchill. I briefly sat in Churchill's lap.

Another well known parishioner was Robt. E. Lee. He and his family used this pew.

The building abounds with interesting details such as this "wine glass" pulpit which was installed in the 1890s. The two tablets which flank the pulpit, containing the Apostles' Creed, Ten Commandments and Lord's Prayer, are original to the building and were hand lettered by James Wren, the architect.

It being Christmas, there was of course, a Creche. We see the animals, shepherds, Joseph, Mary and Jesus, but where are the wise men?

The wise men are here on this window sill just before the Creche. They haven't "arrived" yet and so will not be moved to the nativity scene until Epiphany.

My half hour of freedom was quickly evaporating and just as I stepped out of Church my mobile rang. Diaristwoman was shopped out and ready to head for the barn. And so, dear reader, I wish you the best for the new year!

End of the year post for 2011

2011-12-30T13:41:00.000-08:00

It's been exactly one year since I started this blog. Last year on the 30th of December I was digging out our beach house after a strong nor'easter dumped several feet of snow on coastal New Jersey. This year it's 62 degrees F. as I type this and today I drove my bugeye sprite to the liquor store with the hood down.

First things first. Xenopus required a quick bath before going to town. Nigel the Mini Cooper looks on with interest. It was in the low 40s when I got under way so I decided to put the side screens on.


Our first destination was Bay Ridge Wine & spirits. We needed to pick up several bottles of Champagne for tomorrow night. This is a good bottle shop with a wide selection and the fact that it's also cheek by jowl with a West Marine store doesn't hurt in my book.

With the Champers procured I headed down to the city dock area to see what if anything was going on this last Friday of the year. A crew was busy erecting large tents for tomorrow's "First Night" in Annapolis celebration. We attended this a few years ago with relatives up from Georgia and froze our butts off. This year should be pleasant but we have other fish to fry.


Looking out across the barren mooring field towards SSA there wasn't a boat to be seen--not even the usual Laser frost bite guys.

The same empty scene greeted the eye on the Naval Academy side of the harbor.

Tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer than today but I won't have time to drive Xenopus so I wrestled with the cloth hood which I rarely use and cleaned the oil off the garage floor. This may be Xenopus's last ride until April since I don't take him out once the highway dept. starts salting the roads.

Xenopus will end his 52nd year with a palindrome on the "clock". Maybe I ought to play that number on the Pick-5 lottery!

Old Town Alexandria walkabout; Part I: The Torpedo Factory

2011-12-30T06:49:00.000-08:00

Diaristfamily has the days between Christmas and New Year's Day off from work. Your diarist has been using the mornings to go ice skating thereby allowing diaristwoman the luxury of sleeping late into the morning. After returning from yesterday's session at the rink (I won't bore you with a lot of moaning about falls or post any pix on my spectacular bruises--just use your imagination) we decided we needed a day trip. We hadn't been to Alexandria, Virginia in a while so that's where we went. As usual, your diarist took way too many photos of our wanderings through out the old part of the town so I'll break them up over the next couple of days.

After parking the car we walked downhill on King Street towards the Potomac River. Alexandria is just over the river from Maryland and is an easy 45 minute drive from out house. Here we see the exterior of the former U.S. Naval Torpedo factory which is right on the river front.

As the name suggests, this building was a site of torpedo construction during the second world war. This display of a Mk XIV submarine torpedo and period artifacts briefly describes those times. This particular torpedo had a range of 4500 yards and a top speed of 46 knots. It retains the bright green color used during test runs for easy sighting and recovery.


That was then; now this huge, airy three story building has been converted into a center for local artists and the town's archaeology finds.

This Dromedary was one of several Christmas animals which the artists had built for the holiday season.

Other animals included this elephant

A zebra

A hippo

This giraffe

and even a human animal.

The old factory building has been broken into a collection of artist's lofts. The artistic talents on offer run through various disciplines including ceramics, weaving, graphic art, painting, sculpting, and jewelry making. Opportunities to speak with the various artists abound as do opportunities to purchase their work.

Some of the lofts are quite small while others are expansive as is the case of this painter's studio.

She has a wonderful view over the Potomac looking back at the Maryland shore.

Around the next corner I encountered more animals, this time "Christmas" fish.

Even the duct work had fish!

Evert Hill's loft had a number of eye catching geometric paintings on display.

The Alexandria Archaeology Center had a number of interesting displays including this one which encouraged hands-on interaction.

Of course, this being America, there were T-shirts, etc. on offer to satisfy shopping urges at all price points. Your diarist was sorely tempted by the soft toy version of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" seen on the display below the T-shirts. However just as I was reaching for my wallet, the mobile phone rang: diaristwoman, who had already moved on to a clothing shop up the street from the torpedo factory, was on the other end and was wondering what was taking so long and what on earth was I looking at (this time)?!

God Jul och God Booz!

2011-12-24T20:52:00.000-08:00

It's the evening before Christmas Day, or Jul Afton as the Swedes would say. I'm a reluctant Episcopalian and reluctant Pagan. By upbringing I observe Christian holidays but by nature I tend to follow the more ancient rhythms of the earth: the changing of the tides, the rising and setting of the sun and moon, the turn of the seasons, the migration of birds and animals, the shortening of day light, evergreens, the winter solstice (my birthday) and so on. Luckily for me both traditions embrace a common element: booze. I've been to Swedish Church earlier today and after a bit of quiet introspection and drinking I'll soon be off to an Episcopal evening service. Two doses of Jesus in two different languages in the same day. What does all this mean? I have no idea and am still trying to work out all the strange juxtapositions of good and evil, hate and love, joy and suffering, life and death, but in the meantime you can take a look at some of the earlier elements of my day.

This is our Julbord before the meal. Diaristwoman works very hard to present a festive table.

Your sinful old Diarist also works hard. This photo is for Gunnar. The Rimmersholms Svenska Nubbar collection ("little Swedish tacks") is a nice introduction into the realm of snaps and can be had at almost any Systemet the next time you're in the old country: http://www.systembolaget.se/ Both the Herrgårds aquavit and Hallands Fläder are fine accompaniments to the Julbord. I find the Jägermeister to be useful at the end of the meal if one goes once too often to the Julbord...

Beyond snaps there's wine, beer and rum to be considered. We didn't have a chance to sample beers or ales tonight (but the Jul season is just beginning). However we did sample two wines: Cycles Gladiator Merlot and a nice South American Malbec by Jean Bousquet. Both were met with great enthusiasm. Afterwards we rounded off the evening with rum while opening presents.

Good old Grogham

To sweethearts and wives--may they never meet...

We didn't sample this jug tonight. I enjoyed it's contents years ago. I don't normally save each dead soldier I manage to empty but I do save the more interesting ones. Henry McKenna was a lovely sour mash Bourbon made by a very small distillery in Kentucky . I used to loyally drink their product back in the '70s and '80s but sadly there was a fire and the distillery was a total loss. This jug now holds only air and pleasant memories. What does it have to do with Christmas? It is a totem for shared pleasures. Simple as that. I'd hang it on my Christmas tree except it would break the branches.

This last "Spirit of Christmas Past" is a little green bottle in which Pennsylvania "Old Cabin" Whiskey once resided.

The maker was Edmund Booz, a man who's surname has been incorporated into the English language. This particular bottle is not that old, dating to the end of production in the 1950s--but like the very much more collectible bottles of 100 years earlier, this one was made by a small glass works in the sandy pine barrens of southern New Jersey for the same distiller. Like Henry McKenna, Edmund Booz is now just a pleasant memory. And so with these and other pleasant thoughts dancing in your heads, I bid you a good night, a very Merry Christmas and En Riktig God Jul!

Shreveport Moths

2011-12-19T17:36:00.000-08:00

Back in the early days of Moth Boating in the US, there were fleets of Moths scattered quite a distance from the east coast hot beds of racing. Examples were the fleets at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Topeaka, Kansas, New Orleans, Louisiana and Shreveport, Louisiana. Occasionally a boat or two featuring that club's best sailors would make the long trip to the site of the Nationals or the World Championship. The boats featured in today's post were from the Shreveport Moth Club. I've puzzled over these images for several years and have attempted to communicate with that yacht club but have received no reply. Perhaps someone will recognize the boats and sailors in the following photographs and provide a bit of information to help preserve their history.


Here we see Peggy Conrad in her Moth WAHOO, Nr 1037. This boat should not be confused with the boat in the previous post (Nr 215) with the same name. Note the incredibly flat "shovel" nosed bow of this design. WAHOO was probably fast as long as the water also stayed flat. I'd hate to think about sailing this design in any kind of chop.

Viewed from the stern, WAHOO appears to be fairly conventional for the late 1940 design period,

This photo shows fellow Shreveport Moth sailor Ricky DeLee sailing REBEL. This exposure gives us a better look at that unusual bow shape. Can anyone tell me more about these Moths (who designed and built them) or about the two sailors or the Shreveport Moth Club?

Vintage Moth Boat racing in south Florida

2011-12-14T20:12:00.000-08:00

Louis Pillon is heavily involved with Classic Moth sailing in France and the other day he emailed me a copy of an old photograph he bought from an American vendor on "flea-bay". A close examination reveals a number of interesting points.

Although text on the back of this photo mentions Tampa Bay and the Moth Boat Nationals I doubt if this scene is from that regatta. For one thing, although the Nationals were hosted by the Miami Yacht Club in 1949, this particular regatta was never held on Tampa Bay in the 1940s. Also, the Nationals were never part of a multi-class regatta as seen in this photo. Finally, the National Regatta attracted a much, much larger fleet of Moths than the five boats seen here. Having said all that, this photograph, probably taken on the east coast of Florida, offers an interesting tableau. The two closest Moths are WAHOO, Nr 215 and Nr 414. These Moths are typical examples of pre-war scow designs. Sadly, I can find nothing in the old Moth Class records about Nr 215. However Nr 414 appears in the records registered as BO BO in 1949 to Chuck Hasker who sailed out of the Coconut Grove Sail Club. Besides the five Moths one can see a Snipe class dinghy (sail Nr 1508) and a couple of Cricket class dinghies (the boat with the wishbone boom, sail Nr 121, is a Cricket; BO BO is obscuring a second Cricket but one can just make out the forward end of the wishbone and also the sharp stem of the hull). The Cricket class was a popular dinghy class on both coasts of south Florida prior to the second world war but by the time of this photo that class was dying out as sailors abandoned it for newer designs. The Snipe was one of those designs that thrived at the Cricket's expense. The Snipe class continues to be actively raced to this day.

Another cruising Moth

2011-12-08T18:28:00.000-08:00

Earlier I posted a few photos of Louis Pillon's "Camping Moth" Fend la Bise. Another example of a camping Moth is Warren Bailey's "cruising Moth". George Bailey recently sent me a few period photos of his father's boat. Warren, who designed and built his own boats was the 1954 Moth Class World Champion in his break away design MACH 1. George offered the following comments:

"In Sept/Oct 1964 Jerry Keuhner, also a MYC sailor, who was just out of the Navy and I were (back) in Miami. I was on my way to an new duty station (USMC). We sailed the cruising moth out Government Cut with the fleet starting a big boat race to Nassau (I think it was the Miami-Nassau race). The officers on the Coast Guard cutter following the fleet kept suggesting we turn back but we did not and they gave up as we were not violating any rules. On a broad reach the fleet was making around 6+ knots and under main and jib we were making around 4. Finally, when land was out of sight to the west and the last big boat out of sight to the east, we returned to Miami. Compass? What compass? You could not miss where Miami was to the west even though you could not see it sitting low on the water as we were."

"In this same time period (before I left for Scotland) Jerry and I sailed down to one of the Keys just north of Key Largo, catching fish going down and fighting sand fleas while sleeping on the beach at night. What was interesting about this trip was (1) leaving at 9:00 AM from the Coconut Grove Yacht Club we were in a rare dense fog until around noon. Not having a compass we sailed by "feel", orienting to the bright spot in the fog where the sun was and just guessing when we should turn south. We did fine. (2) The wind came up and we blew out our old jib 2/3rds of the way down. This was interesting as it was flapping apart and did not want to fall down but neither of us could go forward to reach up the headstay and pull it down, given the design of the boat and the strong wind."


This photo, taken in the summer of 1962 shows George Bailey standing next to his father Warren's cruising Moth on her road trailer. George is looking east, towards Miami Yacht Club. The tow vehicle is a Studebaker Lark convertible. I like the neat canvas cuddy on the boat.

Here's a photograph of the boat with the sail up. Sail Nr 1470 was from one of Warren's racing Moths called MACH 2. I'll post some photo of MACH 1 & 2 if/when George B. finds them.

In this final exposure we see the boat at anchor somewhere in south Florida. George's sister Katheryn demonstrates the comfort of the cockpit. The Baileys had added a bowsprit and a fore mentioned jib by the time of this photo.

MAYBE II, Moth Nr 853

2011-12-07T17:10:00.000-08:00

Note: this is a very early post that was displaced to the top of the heap while I was attempting to add labels to all the accumulated posts to make them easier to find. Since I've forgotten the exact date I published it I'm going to leave it here--so you can all read it again! Many thanks to Tweezerman for his tuition on labeling--your hmble & obt diarist.

When I posted the photo of the Browns Mills YC trophy presentation I mentioned that I knew two of the individuals. One was Bea Kratz the other is Bob Kalmbach. The posting of that photo caused William Duffield to send me some photo's of the boat Bob built after Bea and Marion got their Dorr Willey-built Moths. Bob named his boat MAYBE II. Bob sent us his recollections of the early days of sailing on Mirror Lake, site of the Browns Mills YC. Among other things, this letter reveals a connection between Browns Mills and Greenwich (where William lives) as well as one with Brigantine (where I grew up):

Mirror Lake in Browns Mills, NJ, is about two miles long with a cove off to the North side. There is about a mile of good sailing water. The width varies, but is usually about 100 yds. With the prevailing wind blowing the length, a race was usually a windward beat and a downwind run. It was about a mile between marks. We sailed one or two laps depending on the wind. There are some stumps in the shallows that can bring an unsuspecting skipper to a screeching halt. This was one of the reasons for the popularity of pivoted centerboards that will pop up when an obstruction was encountered. Centerboards are also more prone to shed weeds that also could be found in the lake. At times, there were nasty little gusts coming off the trees that would frequently flip some of the light skippers. The four light Ventnors on the lake were particularly vulnerable.

George Sloan of the Greenwich-Cohansey River Sloans was the mover and shaker of our club. He arranged for the acquisition of three Moths from the Cohansey fleet around 1940. There were also several non Moths on the lake at that time. George had built what I was told was a scaled down Snipe, and John Dotter had built a monstrous flat scow with more than enough sail to cause frequent capsizes and swampings. It seemed that he often had a covey of sweet young things on board when it turned over. In retrospect, one could wonder if John's frequent abandon ship drills were the forerunner of the wet tee shirt bit. But, be that as it may, during that period there was no club and no formal races. Then came WWII and things went on hold. The war ended in mid August of 1945, and by Labor Day about eight miscellaneous sailboats had come out of Moth balls (pun intended). George organized a race with prizes donated by the Improvement Association, and away we sailed. It became obvious that because of the size of the lake, the Moth was the perfect boat. The following season we organized the club, joined IMCA, and started Sunday point races.

Our first opportunity for outside competition came the year Lloyd Morrey won the Antonio at Brigantine. Norm Parker, our first place sailor, took his very heavy "Stinker” one of the original Cohansey Moths, to the regatta resting on a mattress on top of the family Dodge. It became obvious that our old Moths were no match for the new generation of boats since Norm finished near the back of the fleet.

The following year I took four of our boats, two trips each way, stacked two high, on a borrowed pick up truck, to the first Governors Cup Regatta at Riverton, NJ. Once again, a rude awakening, TIDE!! I well remember being passed by about ten boats as if I were standing still, the only difference was they were standing still and I was going backwards fast! The tide at Riverton runs at about 3 or 4 MPH. One of our members had to be towed back from a point about half way down to the Ben Franklin Bridge. The next day you can bet we all found anchors so we could keep up with the rest of the fleet when the wind dropped.

Each year a few more Moths would be built or bought to add to our fleet that had grown to about sixteen active members at the starting line. At one time or another I counted almost three dozen Moths on the lake.

Then in 1949 it happened. As you know, while at the Evening Star Y.C. regatta in Brigantine, our Dr. Bea Kratz happened to be by Dorr Willey when he came in from a race in a well steamed mood because of a collision on the course that broke his traveler. In a fit of pique he asked if anybody wanted to buy “Termite” #807 (NB: #807 is my boat, currently named BLONDIE). Bea jumped at the chance to get the Cadillac of Moth Boats. Being in charge of transportation, it became my job to bring this prize back to Browns Mills. As mentioned in our phone conversation, I had taken four boats down in a borrowed 12' stake truck, two on the bottom and two on top of the stakes. The only way I could bring five Moths back was to place three on top of the stakes 11' across the road. The 60 mile trip back to Browns Mills with an 11' wide load was some fun, but we got “Termite” back to her new home without incident. Then that October while at the Nationals in Elizabeth City, we found that Charley Higgins wanted to sell “Punkie” #948. Knowing that the Glovers wanted a Dorr Willey for daughter Marion who was away at college, we arranged for the sale and brought “Punkie” back to Browns Mills.

Now with two Willeys on the lake the handwriting was on the wall and it was obvious that many of our old Moths including mine, would be left in the wake of the Cadillacs of Moth Boats. What else to do but to go back to the drawing board and build a better Moth. In the dark of night that Fall (actually on a Saturday afternoon), I took the measurements of both “Termite” and “Punkie” and developed a table of offsets for each. Since “Termite” had a 48" beam and “Punkey” was 2" wider, I decided to build a clone of Termite that was to be known as “Maybe II” #853. “Maybe II” was launched in time for the 1950 season. The main difference was that she was planked with 1/4" Spanish cedar (at the time, I couldn't find any white cedar), and the front of the dagger board trunk was sloped for two reasons. It allowed the center of lateral planes to be slightly adjusted aft, and it permitted the dagger board to give if an obstruction was encountered. Also, unable to get a solid block of mahogany for the nose block, I made it from 2 or 3 pieces of 6/4 stock. To this day, I don't know how Dorr did it and kept the nose block from checking.

Greetings from Uncle Sam washed out my sailing in 1951, but I was able to sail in 1952 since I was fortunate to miss that slow boat to Korea and got stationed at Fort Hancock at Sandy Hook, NJ. I guess ‘52 was my best year and unfortunately the last year for our favorite regatta when the old Evening Star bagged it's sails for the last time. That year “Maybe II” won the Atlantic City Tuna Club Challenge Race and was part of the winning four boat team. I think John Clark in “Touché” our third Dorr Willey, was on our team. During that period, Marion Glover in “Punkie” was going head to head with Jane Bateman of Margate and Peggy Kammerman for the ladies honors.

In 1954 the wedding bells and employment transfers started taking a toll on the old regulars of the club. We ran free sailing classes that had some success, but it was obvious that we were getting burned out. In October of 1958, following the conclusion of our Central Jersey Championship, Dick Dell and I pulled the marks for the last time and we sailed off into the sunset.

From 1958 until 1971, “Maybe II” rested in her old winter home under the family summer cottage in Browns Mills, and then I moved her to our corn crib in Morrestown when the cottage was sold. In 2000 we moved to Tabernacle where we had a nice heated three car garage. Being a sentimental old fool, the old cracked up girl came along and sat outside under cover for the first winter. In the spring, from the conversations I had with Nancy and you, I learned that there was still interest in Moths so I decided to restore her. Her bottom and deck were badly cracked up, and the boom had rotted away, but the basic structure looked OK. Through the Tuckerton Seaport Boat Shop, I located a source for Jersey white cedar, and the restoration was under way. First a new bottom and then a new deck of 5/16" white cedar fastened with new stainless steel screws and the greatest glue called "Gorilla Glue”, a new boom, new rudder pin (the old one was worn about half way through) and finally the multi coats of marine spar varnish and new lettering and “Maybe II” looks better than new. Wrapping the mast with fiberglass cloth is all that remains. It will need a warm day above 60 degrees since the process produces odors that do not belong in the house. I plan to take her for a sail for old time’s sake and then sell her to somebody that can enjoy her as much as I did. Unfortunately, I don't think my aging body is up to the rigors of Mothing anymore, and Tabernacle is a long way from sailing water. I really enjoyed the rebuilding project for it brought back many pleasant memories of my youth, and the aromatic smell of white cedar drifting through the house was most delightful.

Bob wrote this letter in 2002 when he was in his seventies. Maybe II currently is on display at a museum in Pemberton, Pennsylvania. As the photos which follow reveal, Bob did a splendid job of restoring his old racer.

Bob Kalmbach takes the newly restored MAYBE II for a sail.

The bow of MAYBE II. Note the symmetrical pattern of the plank fasteners and the mahogany bow block.

A close up of MAYBE II's bow block (the small piece of wood with the eye bolt was for supporting the boat while being car-top carried). Dorr Willey carved his bow blocks from solid wood. Bob couldn't figure out how he did this but didn't have problems with the wood cracking and checking. William Duffield told me that the secret resides in the choice of material; Dorr's bow blocks where made from the notch of a tree limb. By selecting a notch Dorr was using a piece of wood which had grain running in different directions within the same chunk of wood, hence check-resistant. Bob made his bow block by laminating many small blocks of mahogany together and then shaping the block to fit the bow of the boat. Both approaches are VERY labor intensive!

The lettering on the bow of the boat. Many Moth Boats of this era carried their name and hull number on the bow. John Clark, another Browns Mills Moth Boat sailor, reveals the following: "On Bob's original MAYBE, he asked me to do the boat name lettering. I was just a young teenager and thought I could do as well as the sign painter who did Dorr's boats...not even close!. The lettering that I have seen on Maybe II looks identical to that which I did on the original... Well John, it looks good to your diarist!

Chesapeake Light Craft's Open House--A good day out.

2011-12-04T00:16:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Chesapeake Light Craft's annual Open House. CLC manufactures well designed kits for plywood canoes and kayaks and more recently cedar stripe small craft as well. Along with showcasing their various kits with holiday price reductions, CLC also hosts a number of useful demonstration seminars on various aspects of boat building during the open house and, although most of what's presented is elementary, there's always a trick or two to be learned plus the opportunity to ask questions and closely examine boats in different stages of completion makes spending the day worthwhile.


CLC is located in Annapolis, Maryland about 20 minutes from my house.

Here are just a few examples of the many different kayaks which CLC offers in kit form.

Seen in the staff break room...

"Cocktails, anyone?" A new addition to the CLC line up is the "Cocktail" class racing hydroplane. This little boat is based on a design from the 1930s and has become something of a local obsession on the East coast. The rules are fixed around this hull shape and allow an 8 hp engine for skippers weighing more than 180 lb or a 6 hp engine for skippers weighing 180 or less. The boats have a top end speed of about 20 mph and one of the guys who works at CLC said that these boats are "stupid fun". One of my Moth Boat buddies is lusting to built one. Although CLC's kit version is still a work in progress, enough prototype boats have been built to hold a few races this past summer. I believe that plans are available separately.

The engine on this one is an Evinrude.

Here's a Cocktail under construction.

This is a strip-built "Nymph" design canoe. Although difficult to seen in this photo, this canoe has a significant amount of tumblehome in the shearline. In the background one can see a building jig and set of station molds for a kayak. Just to the right of the bow of the canoe are a stack of novel, at least to me, spacer blocks for locking the molds in place along the jig's strongback. I'll come back to this point later in the post.

One of the co-founders of MAS epoxy was on hand demonstrating basic glass sheathing techniques while extolling the virtues of his line of products opposed to those of his competitors. MAS claims that their epoxy wets out glass cloth better due to lower viscosity than other brands and also does not produce a waxy amine blush during the curing process. It did seem to saturate the cloth with less trouble than I've had with other brands. I may have to try it the next time I run out of goop.

A new to me tip is to use a small piece of peel ply on the stem to get the wetted out cloth to behave and not wrinkle and pucker as it sometimes does. The slippery peel ply cloth is easily removed from the fiberglass surface once the resin has kicked off.

Meanwhile back at the kayak building jig, Joey, one of the CLC staff, demonstrated a novel way to lock station molds in place without needing screws or other fasteners. The U-shaped wooden spacers are built to the exact lengths required to position the various molds at the correct distances along the strongback with the last spacer being locked in tight with wedges. The main advantage of this system over cleats and screws is that it's easier to get the finished hull off the jig by knocking out the wedges and thus freeing all the molds instead of struggling to remove screws which may be hidden by the built up boat.

Positioning the molds

Adding the wedges to lock the spacers and all the molds in place. He demonstrated the tightness of this system by picking the stongback up off the jig and turning it upside down. Nothing moved.

There was a lunch break before the next demo and I went outside to walk around. A well known specialty bicycle shop is located just a few doors down, in the same block of warehouses as CLC but sadly they were not open. Interestingly, the original owner of CLC sold that business to it's current owner and then went into the custom bicycle business. I've done business with Chris Kulczycki in both ventures.

After the lunch break there was a quick and dirty demonstration of the hollow grind sharpening technique for plane irons and chisels. After this we were treated to a tour of the wood working shop.

This machine takes flat boards and mills them into 1/4" strips complete with bead and cove edges in one pass! Those who have done the labor involved with making "canoe strips" would be suitably impressed.

David feeds a 3 1/2" cedar board into the machine on this end...

and ready to use bead and cove edged strips emerge from this end--amazing! Note that there is no odd piece of wasted wood as there probably would be if doing this by hand with a table saw and router. Also, the edges were all perfect.

Next up in the tour was the CNC (computer numerical controlled) cutter with a vacuum table which can accommodate multiple sheets of plywood at a time. This machine allows CLC to produce their high quality kits at reasonable prices. The kits for the Nutshell pram and the Shellback dinghy which Wooden Boat Magazine sells are produced for them by CLC.

David took a junk sheet of plywood and quickly set up the machine to cut out the shape of a monkey.

Voila! In addition to cutting out components for their own kits, CLC will do custom cut work provided that the design is formatted so that their computer can read the file. The designer of one of the hydrofoiling Moths here in the local area has taken advantage of this resource for the pieces that made up the vacuum bag molds for his boat--it ain't cheap however...

The final session of the day was a demonstration of varnishing over cured epoxy surfaces. I picked up a couple of useful tricks but, operating under the "if you've seen one you've seen 'em all" principle, I didn't bother to take any photos of varnish drying. At the end of the day I found some useful cut-off pieces of marine grade ply in the bargain bin and also bought a scrap piece of an adhesive-backed, foam non-skid material called "sea dek" which CLC uses in some of their kits to try out. So, the day ended with your diarist in possession of useful information and bargain priced stuff--what's not to like?!

Skol Deconstruction, part II

2011-11-28T09:01:00.000-08:00

The thanksgiving turkey had vanished and the tide of relatives had receded and so with a couple weekend days of warmer and drier than usual weather in the forecast I decided to have another go at the Skol.

A quick session with a Fein multimaster tool had the cockpit tub and decks removed without too much trauma.

This shows how Rondar constructed the original king post for the deck stepped mast. Basically it's a piece of 4mm plywood sandwiched between a pair of timber staves. This was in turn bonded to the bottom of the fiberglass hull with glass tape. Not seen in this photo is the big chunk of mahogany which capped off this king post to help spread the load from the mast.

That big piece of mahogany lived under this domed portion of the fore deck. I measured and noted the distance from the bow to the center between the two screw holes for the missing mast pivot pin. The mahogany beneath the fiberglass was rotten. The additional screw holes, diagonally flanking the ones for the pivot pin, were from fairleads for sail shape controls.

In order to remove the remaining bits of decking from the shear of the hull without inflicting too much damage I used a chisel and mallet. If you have friends with high class woodworking skills, don't tell them that you use good woodworking tools in this fashion--they'll call you names which shouldn't be repeated in a family oriented blog spot.

I returned to the Fein multimaster to remove the cockpit scupper drain.


The next item for removal was the strong back which tied the centerboard trunk to the transom. It was filled with foam which provided both stiffening and floatation.

Should I stay or should I go? No apology to the CLASH. I never liked that song--what a bunch of whiners! When Joe Bousquet converted another Skol to Classic Moth spec he decided to keep the original CBT. He later regretted that decision and wished that he'd installed a trunk which would have permitted the dagger board to be raked in addition to being positioned straight up and down. I decided to take his advice.


Final decon photo shows a clean hull with all the internal furniture removed. Joe B. also removed the glass transom and replaced it with a wooden one. I may or may not do that but for now I'll leave the original one in place since it provides a bit of stiffness to the unsupported floppy hull. The only tasks remaining before a rebuilt can take place are to repair a few small holes which I've previously noted and trim the winglets off to satisfy the CMBA string test and max beam rules. Maximum beam for a Classic Moth is 60 inches and this boat is roughly 64 inches wide with the wings in place.

Skol deconstruction

2011-11-22T10:09:00.000-08:00

Dear faithful reader: you may recall that a few weeks ago I dragged home the hull of a somewhat forlorn Mk I Skol Moth and posted before and after "scrub up" pix of the boat. Since then I've cut away some of the decks and cleaned out the debris. What follows is an update of the progress thus far.


No wonder this boat weighs a ton! She's packed chock a block full with squirrel's nests, wet dirt, leaves and water logged flotation foam!

After removing a bit more of the transom decking and getting out the pitch fork and shovel one can see the tube connecting the cockpit scupper with the transom drain hole. I should have weighed the black bag of detritus. Must have been 40 lb if it was an ounce. The scupper tube will also go and the drain hole in the transom will be sealed off. These have a nasty tendency to leak without warning, silently filling the boat with water--much to the later dismay of the skipper! I also now have access to the back sides of the holes in the bottom and transom seen in the earlier post about this boat. I know purists are howling that I'm detracting from the boat's original spec and that there aren't many intact Skols left, but the decks were already damaged, all the wood hard points throughout the hull for hardware were rotten and the winglets have to be trimmed off to meet CMBA measurement rules. Purists may take some comfort in knowing that this hull didn't go straight into the rubbish tip.

More debris under the side decks and cockpit tub. Note to self: never, ever store a boat outdoors with the inspection ports removed! In this photo one can see the reinforcing "strongback" which ties the centerboard truck to the scupper tube and provides fore and aft stiffening of the hull and supported the now absent false cockpit bottom.

After cutting away part of the main bulkhead one can see the king post for the deck stepped mast. If nothing else, this little yacht is a good deal cleaner at this point. With the damp dirt and leaves removed she should dry out a bit before winter. This project will have to pause briefly at this point. Thanksgiving is looming upon us and, with relatives coming, Diaristwoman has several "shovel ready" projects with my name all over them. Stay tuned.

The resurrection of Moth Boat 264

2011-11-18T18:42:00.000-08:00

Back in 1998 I was contacted by a young sailor who had an old Moth Boat that had been his initial introduction to sailing but now was excess to his needs. The boat had been stored in his parent's back yard up until a week or so before he called me. When they pressed him to do something with the boat or junk her, he moved her to the marina where he kept his big boat and then towed her out to a spoil island in Dredge Harbor (a cove off the Delaware River near Riverton, New Jersey) and then pulled her up on the bank. When he called he said "you can have her if you beat the local vandals from burning her on the island." A day or so later I met him at the marina and we made the run out to the island in the 8 foot dinghy which served as the tender for his sloop. The dinghy had a 2 or 3 horsepower motor which with two of us aboard provided just even oomph to propel us against a stiff headwind. The timing of this meeting was in late fall and we met up in the late afternoon so daylight was quickly becoming limiting. After arriving on the island we found the boat--the local kids had pulled her higher up the bank for some reason but had not inflicted any new damage. I could see at once that the Moth in question was a very old one, probably dating to the early 1930s and thus was worth saving. The US Moth Class started in 1929 and this boat may well be the earliest surviving example. She was heavily constructed and a thick layer of fiberglass did nothing but add more weight. With a good deal of effort we managed to drag and push her back down the bank and into the water. She floated but in the dim light we could see that she was taking on water. We rigged a tow line and after several frustrating pulls on the starter cord the little engine finally barked to life. With the old Moth in tow, it was all that little engine could do to get us the mile or so back to the marina! We made it but then the next problem was getting the hull out of the water and onto the roof racks of my old Jeep Cherokee. Luckily another boat owner happened by and we pressed him into service and the three of us managed to lift the boat (now partially filled with the Delaware River) out of the water, over a railing and then with a lot of cussing and panting up on the roof racks. The racks visibly bowed under the weight but there was no going back at that point. I lashed her on and followed the owner back to his parent's house for the sail, rudder and other odds and ends. Remarkably, I made it back to Maryland without incident, and the next morning enlisted two naive neighbors into helping me get the boat off the racks and onto a dolly. Over the next few weeks I removed the fiberglass so that the wood could dry rather than continue to rot and took a few photos to document the boat.

Note the plank on frame construction and the wide seam gap visible on the outer edges of the garboard planks. There was no caulking in the seams. This boat was designed to be sunk in the spring until the planks swelled and "made up" the difference.

A look at the centerboard trunk. Note the wooden cleats. Most of the surviving "hardware" was made by hand.

Here is a view of the "transom" style bow.

This is the rudder blade which I believe is correct for the boat. The hardware is a collection of brass and bronze sheet formed by hand.

This is the centerboard. The hole for the pivot pin can be seen at the extreme lower left end of the blade. Note the slab of lead which was cast into a hollowed out area in the lower right hand corner of the blade.

A closer look at the lead cast into the centerboard to keep it from becoming a "pop tart".


The Dacron sail which came with the boat dates to the early 1970s, the time period in which the American Moth class adopted the Australian rig and the "squashed bug" insignia in favor of the circle-M insignia. Local New Jersey sail maker, Brad Linthicum, built the sail to suit the boat's original low aspect rig but used the insignia then in use rather than the one which is correct for the boat's age.

Right from the beginning I knew that I would not restore this boat but instead seek a good home for her. It took a number of years but two years ago Arch Farmer from Elizabeth City, North Carolina approached me at the Nationals and asked about the boat. Arch and his brother had a similar Moth in their younger days and wanted to restore old Nr 264. I agreed and they drove up one sunny fall day and took her away. A few weeks ago Arch sent me a few photos of their progress. I think the results are splendid. See if you don't agree. I look forward to seeing this boat back on the water. She'll never be fast but she'll be marvelous never the less.


The Farmer brothers have retained as much of the original boat and construction methods as is practical. They have made a few major departures including using plywood for the bottom instead of individual planks. As a result, she'll be stiffer, lighter and less prone to leak.

They've made a nice job of the planked deck.

A view of the new deck from the bow end of the boat. Arch and his brother hope to have the boat raceworthy in time for next year's National Regatta in September.

Cape Cod: Day 2, Part 2

2011-11-10T18:31:00.000-08:00

After leaving the Millicent Library, Clayton directed us to Fort Phoenix which is now a state park. Fairhaven (and Fort Phoenix) are on the east side of the Acushnet River estuary which in turn empties into Buzzards Bay, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean. The famous whaling town of New Bedford occupies the opposite side of the harbor. The fort dates to the beginning of the American Revolution and the first naval battle of that war occurred within sight of the fort when 25 Minutemen aboard the sloop SUCCESS captured two British ships on the 14th of May 1775. However the British returned in September of 1778 with 4000 troops and burned the town of New Bedford, the fort and several homes in the town of Fairhaven. The remainder of Fairhaven was spared the torch by the arrival of the Wareham Militia under the command of Major Israel Fearing. The fort was enlarged prior to the War of 1812 and helped repel boats loaded with troops launched from the HMS NIMROD in the early hours of the 13th of June 1814. The fort was decommissioned in 1876. OK, pencils down; your history lesson is over. Let's take a look around.

A captured British cannon from the Revolutionary period.

The Royal Navy's "broad arrow" mark is clearly visible on the barrel.

There are several of these 24 pound guns which date from 1828. These were put in place in 1861as part of an upgrade of defenses during the Civil War. These are fired every year to mark Fairhaven's Independence Day celebrations.


One can walk across the harbor from Fairhaven to New Bedford via this promenade/bridge. The sky has that fall look.

We didn't walk the walk, but we did drive over to New Bedford after Clayton suggested a visit to the New Bedford Whaling Museum was in order. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

After reading this sign I was all set to go in.

MOBY!

Argh! The White Whale!

OK! I'm ready to go in! What's this? They've just gone to winter hours and are closed on Mondays?!!! What sort of Halloween trick is that? Long time readers of this blog know of my mixed success with Museums. Curse you, red giant squid! I will return...


Across the street from the Whaling Museum is the Seaman's Bethel. Of course it was closed on Mondays too.

Herman Melville fans can break out their copies of Moby Dick and read about this sailor's chapel. This is the very one that Melville describes in his novel.

The museums might have been closed but the shlock shops were open. I liked this USA map cunningly contrived from state license tags.

Across the street a shop offered this well done replica of a Beetle Whaleboat. Note the similarity between this whaleboat and the peapod under construction at the Beetle Boat shop. The Beetle family has been in this neck of the woods a good long time.

Not wanting to leave New England without a visit to a clam shack, we stopped off at Barnacle Bill's. The chowder and lobster rolls were delicious!


The day was waning and it was Halloween. We dropped Clayton at his house and thanked him for a great day out!

We returned to the warm embrace of the Earl of Sandwich Motel and, after drawing the drapes against the night's chill, steeled ourselves for the morning's long ride home with a bit of wine and cheese. Adieu, dear reader!

Art, Beetle Cats, Model A Fords, more Art, old cannons, Moby Dick, Lobster rolls--a busy day out.

2011-11-08T18:29:00.000-08:00

My head is spinning just thinking about the busy itinerary which former Moth Boater Clayton Fuller had lined up for us on the Monday morning of our Cape Cod adventure. Recall that Clayton, who will turn 95 this November, sent me the 8mm movie clip of Moth Boats racing down at Miami YC in the mid-1950s and also the lovely old Egyptian cotton Moth sail a few months ago. We met Clayton at his home in Wareham and quickly got on the road for a busy day of guided touring. Clayton first took us to a park in the town of Onset where he showed us his "Aquene"


Clayton Fuller shows Elisabeth his bronze statue of "Aquene". The statue, dedicated in 1989, was at first controversial due to the bare breast presentation. Attempts to clothe Aquene, including a bra which Clayton still has in his collection of Aquene artifacts, where part of the early reaction to this work of art. Clayton indicated that things have since calmed down and Aquene enjoys the passage of the seasons unmolested.

Next on tap, Clayton guided us to the Beetle Boat Company, formerly located in Padanarum, Massachusetts is now located in Wareham.

Michelle graciously took the time to give us a very thorough tour of the Beetle Boat Shop.

In the fall the Beetle boat shop collects customer's Beetle Cats and cleans and stores them over the winter in a pair of sheds. There were several hundred Beetle Cats "resting" for the winter on the day when we visited. More were coming. I need a boat house like this! Click to enlarge the photos.

The boats are cleaned and the centerboards and rudders are removed for painting and varnishing. Each blade is tagged for return to the proper boat in the spring.

Here is the work room where spars are sanded and revarnished.

Along with building and maintaining Beetle Cats, the Beetle Company also builds custom boats like this Herreshoff Alerion. The Lyman lapstrake runabout is in for winter storage and maintenance.

Another shed full of Beetle Cats waiting for spring.


One of the employees is building this peapod on his spare time. She's reminiscent of a Beetle Whale Boat.

A close up of the peapod showing the clamps used to hold planks in place during shaping and fastening. The shop had that wonderful smell of cedar.

Need a cedar skiff? Beetle will make one for you.

We enjoyed our visit to the Beetle Boat Shop but it was time to move on. Clayton had many things for us to see before the sun set. He directed us to the town of Marion to see his son-in-law's A-model Ford trucks.


Clayton's son-in-law Charlie with two of his three model A trucks. The truck on the left was restored from a derelict which had been buried by a falling tree and left under it for many years. This truck spent its entire life in the eastern Massachusetts area. The Model AA on the right came from Montana. Both have been restored to Apple Pie order. Charlie also has an A-model roadster pick-up which he refers to as his "summer car".

Next Clayton took us to the Millicent Library in nearby Fairhaven. This library, built in the Italian Renaissance-style, was donated to the town by Henry H. Rogers, a nineteenth century industrialist in memory of his daughter Millicent who died at age seventeen in the year 1890. Millicent was fond of poetry and so her father decided that a library would be a fitting memorial. Mark Twain visited the Millicent and described it as the "ideal library". More can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millicent_Library

The Millicent Library


The Millicent library houses a collection of memorabilia from the rescue of Manjiro Nakahama in 1841 by a Fairhaven whaleship. Manjiro eventually returned to Japan. A very interesting account of Manjiro's story can be read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakahama_Manjir%C5%8D The samurai sword on display is a replacement for one presented to the library by a descendant of Manjiro in the early 20th century. The original sword was stolen from the library in 1977.

The library has a fine collection of Geisha dolls. Here is a representative example.

This stained glass window shows us a depiction of Millicent Rogers portraying Erato the Muse of Poetry. Note the carved paneling. This, friends, is one special library.

This statue of the Messenger of Love by Caroni was first displayed at the Columbian Exposition of 1893 (aka the Chicago World's Fair).

Column detail. My library back home isn't like this!

We could have stayed all day at the library but the sun was waning and it was time to move on and see other wonders on Clayton's agenda of which I'll relate on my next post.

A quick trip to old Cape Cod

2011-11-05T07:42:00.000-07:00

Ah, old Cape Cod, the land of quaint "thickly settled" villages on narrow curvy roads, lovely old buildings, clam shacks, chowder, Pilgrims and, during the summer months, soul destroying traffic jams on those quaint,narrow, curvy roads. Your diarist prefers the "off season". Lodging is cheaper and many (but as we shall see, not all) things are still open. Diaristwoman had a couple days off from the school where she works and so we decided to stretch that into a long weekend and head up to the Cape. We left on Saturday morning in the midst of a Halloween Nor'easter--rain lashing down and temperatures falling. The weather progs were bleating about significant snow accumulations but we went anyway figuring we'd be close enough to the coast to miss the white stuff. We got to about Newark, New Jersey and the rain transitioned into snow. Traffic slowed to a crawl as we approached the George Washington bridge which leads into NYC. Long story short, the snow did make the roads greasy and people were doing stupid stuff with automobiles but by the time we got to the Connecticut/Rhode Island border the snow switched back to rain and remained in that state all the way to the Cape. The slow pace gave diaristwoman plenty of time to research lodging and we eventually called in at the "Earl of Sandwich" motel in East Sandwich, Massachusetts. After the long drive, the highlight of the day was a fine dinner at a restaurant over at nearby Mashpee Commons called "Bleu". The chef is irresistibly named Fredric Feufeu. Bleu us not cheap, we dropped a cool Benjamin with Chef Feufeu, but we highly recommend it. And yes, Gunnar, evenings at truly great restaurants are part of why diaristwoman lets me accumulate a backyard full of Moth Boats. You can check out Bleu here: www.bleurestaurant.com

Sunday morning dawned grey and rainy. Although the Cape missed the snows that indeed did fall west of route I-95, it got the full brunt of the winds which were also associated with this early snow storm. Gusts during the night and up to mid-morning were in the 50 to 60 MPH range. We were almost the only ones staying at the Earl of Sandwich Saturday night, but by the time we returned Sunday evening from a dash to the outer Cape the joint was jumping, mostly with locals staying at the motel (which still had electricity) after losing power at home. But enough of power outages--what did we see that day as we drove out to the fist end of the Cape? To start off with, we took route 6A, which runs along the north shore of the Cape rather than the faster but less scenic route 6 which runs through the middle of the Cape. Route 6A is that typical narrow, winding Cape Cod style road which would be perfect in my Bugeye sprite but requires restraint as it goes through small villages such as Barnstable. Sadly the shoulder-less. two lane road didn't provide many good places to pull over for photography along the way, but in truth, the rain discouraged exiting the car for photo ops as well. In the village of Truro we stopped at Truro Vinyards and sampled their offerings: trurovinyardsofcapecod.com Refreshed, we carried on toward Race Point which is just north of Provincetown.

Approaching Race Point. One can see the wildness of the dunes and the buckling of the road surface. In many places the tarmac was well covered with sand. Don't forget to click on the photos for larger views.

By the time we got to Race Point the rain had stopped but the wind was still up. The sea was boiling. We attempted to go for a walk along the beach but were immediately driven back to the car by the sand blasting we received as soon as we opened the door.

Herring Cove is a clothing optional beach. No doubt something of a showplace in summer. There were no Moth Boats to distract your diarist this day.

Another look at the dunes and shattered roads along the outer Cape.

Looking across the dunes one can see the Pilgrim tower which is in the middle of "downtown" Provincetown.

Zooming in on the tower. It kinda reminds me of the Bromo-seltzer tower in Baltimore! See if you don't agree: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerson_Bromo-Seltzer_Tower

Finally, we leave you with a look at Wood End Light, one of three lighthouses found at the outer end of Cape Cod. I'll continue with more of our Cape Cod adventure in the next post. Stay tuned.

Missing identity

2011-10-27T09:01:00.000-07:00

Readers of this blog spot no doubt appreciate my addiction to all things Moth Boat and Europe Dinghy related. One little mystery that I've failed to work out is the identity of the builder of my all wood Europe dinghy, GYPSY. A previous owner thought that she was built in Italy but offered no proof to back up that assumption. I'm fairly confident that my boat is NOT a Roland or a Christalli (the excellent craftsman who took over Roland's shop in Belgium) for reasons which I will advance in the following photos of both GYPSY and a genuine Roland-built boat.

First, let us exam a boat known to be a Roland

Note the athwart-ship frames running across the cockpit sole of this boat. The aft one serves as an attachment point for the hiking straps.

Here we have GYPSY prior to her restoration. Note the absence of those athwart-ship frame elements. Instead GYPSY sports a pair of fore and aft stringers on either side of the timber keel which the Roland-built boat does not have. Another distinctive feature between this boat and the Roland is the shape of the hatch cut out in the main bulkhead: triangular on GYPSY and rectangular/oval on the Roland. Finally, although not visible in this photo, GYPSY's toe straps terminate at a clam cleat on the keel just ahead of the transom. Thanks in advance for any help identifying the builder of this boat!

Skol! (Rondar Skol, that is...)

2011-10-26T18:33:00.000-07:00

No, not Skol, as in the traditional Swedish toast, or Skol like in snus (snuff to English speakers) as in "just a pinch between the cheek and gum". No, this Skol is the name given to a Moth Boat designed in Britain and built by Rondar Boat Works when they did business in New Milton, Hants. To make a long story short, last Saturday was fall work day at the Brigantine Yacht Club and after floating docks were broken down and hoisted out of the water, hoses drained, race committee boats tidied up for winter shrink wrapping, etc. your diarist had a bit of time on his hands and so I met up with a friend who knew of a Moth that wanted liberating from her long period of slumber.

This was my first view of Moth Nr 4065. She was leaning against the side of a garage building and appeared, from the layer of grunge, to have been undisturbed for many winters.

Here she is flopped down on her keel. Love the pine needles trapped under the 'whales.

Her owner (from new) told me that the boat had been picked up by a wind storm and dropped onto dock pilings. I can believe it. This photo, while representative, doesn't begin to show all the damage to the decks and bulkheads.


Here's a view from the stern. This boat is clearly crying out for some TLC.

The builder's tag is missing part of the Boat Work's name. She was built by Rondar Boats Ltd. doing business in those days on Stem Lane in the town of New Milton in Hampshire. Rondar is still in business but at a different location. I ought to write them to see if they can supply an intact builder's tag with the old address.

Well, what can I say? I'm a sucker for a Moth Boat what's down on her luck. I made the owner an offer and he took it. The hull was promptly loaded on my trusty Volvo's roof racks and off we went to Maryland. On the way back to Maryland every time I touched the brakes, brown murky rain water gushed from the holes in the deck onto my windscreen! After arriving home she was a good deal lighter than went we hoisted her up to the roof racks! A few days later I decided to wash as much of the filth as possible off the hull to see what I'd purchased.


After a vigorous bath she looks great from 10 feet away! She doesn't look like the same boat does she? I love the Swedish flag blue.

The Mk I Skol has a very fine entry and less rocker than either a Duflos or a Mistral. Also, towards the transom she's as round as an apple and thus trickier to sail than the Mistral design which flattens out towards the transom. The difference is that when these two designs heel, the Mistral gives her pilot a few vital seconds to mend his evil ways before going for a swim. The Skol on the other hand is much less forgiving: once she starts to roll she keeps right on going! And that ultra fine entry is also a mixed blessing. Yes it knifes through the chop with the greatest of ease but it lacks the buoyancy of a fuller bow shape and thus is some what prone to "submarining" down wind when a big gust hits the rig.

Washing a boat gives one the opportunity to really see what's what. Here we find a puncture in the bottom near the transom that wants mending. Also visible in this photo is evidence (extreme lip of the hull) that the boat was dragged along the beach during launchings.

Here is a repair of an ancient war wound--evidence of a port/starboard encounter at some long forgotten regatta.

Yes, the gel coat is rougher than what the photos suggest. Indeed there are lots of gouges and deep scratches, lumps and bumps but there are no soft spots in the laminate so this hull is worth the effort to breathe back into life. The next step will be to flip her over and remove the deck hardware in preparation for new decks a la Joe Bousquet's famous roll tank deck system: http://www.mothboat.com/Building/bousquet.html Stay tuned.

Annapolis Sailboat Show

2011-10-11T18:57:00.000-07:00

Columbus Day weekend marks the annual in the water sailboat show in Annapolis, Maryland. The following weekend is given over to an in the water show for powerboats. Your Diarist and diaristwoman enjoy the show regardless of the weather. This year the weather couldn't have been nicer: mild temps and sunny with a slight, cooling breeze. Unlike previous years we parked at the Annapolis High School instead of the Navy-Marine Corps Stadium. The Stadium is where boat show visitors usually park and then ride shuttle buses to the dock area in the old park of town. This year the Stadium parking lot was filled with "tail-gaters" doing their thing prior to a home Navy football game. So it was over the the high school to catch the same school buses to the docks. As can be imagined, Annapolis traffic was rockin' with both the boat show and a Navy home game going on at the same time.

Don't even think about parking downtown during boat show season. Just go to one of the remote lots and ride the shuttle bus.

Diaristwoman had prepurchased our tickets at the boat show's website so we went to the head of the queue, showed our preprinted tickets, got wristbands and breezed in with minimum fuss. I love it when stuff like that actually works.

We concentrate mostly on the small boats and the vendor's tents. E. liked this "little" Herreshoff H-121/2.

My bride has a good eye! Sadly, even this little boat exceeds your diarist's pocketbook. I'll stick with Moth Boats!

The boat show exudes a carnival-like atmosphere. There are lots of demonstrators hawking polishes, glues, odd tools, hardware etc. Here is a sampling:

Of course there are big boats in the water. I used to go aboard these luxury yachts but don't bother any more.

This one costs more than most people's homes.


In comparison, these seem almost reasonable!

The boat show stands common logic on it's ear. This sign is the reverse of the ones I more usually encounter which state something along the lines of "No shoes, no service".

When you're done gawking at how rich people live and come off the boat, the rule of thumb is if you can't find your shoes at least get a good pair.


A new and warmly received addition to this year's boat show was the Hendrick's Gin barge.

Free drinks! What's not to like?


I'm hoping that Mt. Gay Rum takes note of this and steps up to the challenge next year!

After being refreshed by the Hendrick's folks, we took another stroll through the small boats and spotted several nice dinghies, canoes and other small boats.

I can't imagine the number of hours required to varnish, let alone build this lovely canoe.

Details from the canoe shown in the previous photo: m'lady's cane bottomed seat.

Another canoe, this one has a small sailing rig.

A local Annapolis builder, Chesapeake Light Craft, had one of their "Pocket Ships" in the water. This design is perhaps the largest offering from this company, better known for it's line of kayaks and canoes in kit form.

After one last look around, we made our way towards the exit. The dome of the Maryland State House is currently shrouded for painting.

Tenth Annual Carl Patterson Regatta: Chestertown, Maryland

2011-10-05T16:01:00.000-07:00


Carl Patterson (right), with his older brother Harold building a Skip Etchells "Connecticut" design Moth circa mid-1950s. The boy with the lively expression is Harold's son Craig. Family photo courtesy of Nancy Patterson Tidy.

Carl Patterson was instrumental in establishing the Moth Class at his home club, the Yacht Club of Sea Isle City, New Jersey during the the 1950s and '60s. Carl built boats not only for his children/relatives but also for other club members as well. Carl passed away in 1968 but his memory is celebrated each October when Classic Moth Boats come to Chestertown, MD to race at a regatta organized by his son Bob at the Chester River Yacht and Country Club.


Bill and Shane Boyle rig up prior to the Skipper's Meeting.

Two weeks after the Nationals, those of us who attended this year's Carl Patterson Regatta had even more wind and cooler temperatures than we'd seen in Elizabeth City. At least the expected rain held off until later that night. John Pugh and I were waffling back and forth on whether or not to try our "big" sail experiment, by entering our Europes in the Gen II division with the Europe Class-legal "fat head" sails instead of using the CMBA's "pin head" sail and sticking with our usual Generation I division assignment, but I reasoned that the 120 lb elite women who originally sailed our boats in the Olympics only had a big sail to race with and they survived. With that in mind, we shouldn't think too deeply about the BIG gusts which were singing through the flagpole halyards while we were rigging up on the beach and just get on with it. And, so we did.

This photo gives a good comparison between the slightly larger Europe Class sail (Nr 110) and the CMBA-legal sail carried on the following boat (Nr 64). Click to enlarge the photo.

For those not familiar with the Europe Dinghy, that boat started life as the "Europa" Moth design back in the early 1960s. When newer Moth designs made the Europa obsolete, the Moth Sailors in North-Western Europe broke away from the Moth Class and formed a separate strict one-design class around that particular design. (Moths are sort of like religious denominations--there are a number of splinter groups...) Later, the Europe Dinghy, as it was then called was selected as the single-hander boat for women in the Olympics and served in that capacity for four Olympic Games starting with the Barcelona Games in '92 and finishing with the Athens Games in 2004. Since the 2004 Olympics the Europe Dinghy has been replaced by the Laser Radial Dinghy and because of this a clutch of excellent Europe Dinghies were offered for sale at fire sale prices. The majority of those boats have been recycled back to being Classic Moths by substituting a CMBA-legal sail for the Europe Class item.

During the time of the break away, the Europe Class introduced a number of improvements to the boat, including an update of the sail shape. Europe sails still fit Classic Moth spars but the Europe sail has a much more efficient shape, particularly at the head of the sail compared with the ancient "pin-head" shape retained by the Classic Moth Class. This can be seen in the photo above. At present, the Europe Dinghy sails as a Classic Moth in our Generation I division, providing the boat remains at the stock weight of 99 lb and carries a CMBA-legal sail. Compared to the fastest designs in the CMBA's Generation II division, the Europe suffers by being heavier (99 lb vs 75 lb) and by having more wetted surface than designs such as the Mistral, Duflos, and Skol. John Pugh and I wanted to know if the more efficient Europe sail would off-set the weight and wetted surface penalties with which the better behaved Europe design suffers. We reasoned that the combination of a better sail and a good skipper might allow the Europe to punch above her weight.

An additional twist in this year's Carl Patterson Regatta was that 6 former Moth skippers, none of whom had set foot in a tippy Moth Boat in about 50 years, were planning to come spectate. Instead, Bob, operating under the conviction that it's better to race than merely watch, got several of us to bring extra boats to loan out to the "geezer" fleet. We had three loaner boats for six skippers so a "round robin" series was cooked up with the six skippers rotating through the three loaner boats. That all looked good on paper but the wind had its own ideas, which I explain directly.

John Pugh gingerly tests the conditions during the early going, no doubt wondering if my notion of using bigger sails for this event was one of my better ideas--or just another fine mess that I'd talked him into!

After rigging the boats and attending the Skipper's Meeting we started to launch into the Chester River. The wind was blowing around 15 mph out of the NW with gusts just a touch under 20 mph. A lot of big boat sailors scoff at this amount of breeze but let me tell you something: in Moth Boats, when the wind strength starts to approach 20 mph, with harsh, unpredictable gusts tossed in, these little boats get seriously physical! After sailing out to the starting area I told myself that conditions didn't seem that bad. Of course right after thinking that thought, I flipped! The river water temps in early October are still "refreshing" so that wasn't too bad. The bad part was that during the capsize I managed to break the hold-down mechanism on my rudder. This allowed the rudder blade to float like a pop-tart which in turn made the boat uncontrollable. The upshot of this is that I missed the first race (taking max penalty points) while I floundered around attempting to lash down that *%&!@## rudder blade with my bow line--a great start to my big sail experiment!

Rudder repairs!

Diaristwoman was the PRO for the race committee and she later remarked that she didn't know whether to score me as "DNS" or "DNF" because while hanging off the end of the boat putzing with the rudder I did actually drift across the starting line to the on-course side. I suppose I should be thankful that she didn't mark me down as "DSQ" for that race! Meanwhile, I did manage to get the rudder to "sort of" stay in the down position, but with even a small amount of backwards rake in the blade from vertical, the boat acquires a massive amount of weather helm. At least I was able to sail the boat in the next two races with 4th and 3rd place finishes. At the lunch break John Pugh produced a length of thin, hi-tech line and with that, he and I were able to make a more effective repair for the remaining two races of the day. While I was struggling with the rudder, the rest of the fleet was engaging in various bits of drama as well with several capsizes, swamped boats, car keys lost overboard, etc. Did I mention the winds were strong?

Bottoms Up!

Swamped Shelley during race 2.

Mud on the head of the sail after this boat turtled during a capsize. Moth masts are about 16 or so feet above deck. We now know the depth of the Chester River in the racing area off the Club's dock!

Ben Tice flipped and swamped and lost his truck key during the early going. Much to his credit, he bailed the boat out and continued racing while waiting for a locksmith to arrive. The boat is my son Erik's former racer "FLIPPER"--a most appropriate name for this yacht! FLIPPER is a Challenger design Moth from the mid-1950s. Challenger Marine Corp. was an early leader in using the then new fiberglass technology on a production scale.

So, was the Europe sail experiment a success? I will grade it a qualified success. The busted rudder muddies the water a bit but by the end of the day I was second to Mike Parsons although he was steadily pulling away from me as that particular race wound down. I need another chance to race with that sail to learn how to shape it while sailing. For example, I discovered late in the day that I had way too much vang on.

At the end of the day Mike Parsons was first and Bob Patterson was second in Generation II, while Victor Stango was first and Bill Boyle was second in the Generation I division.

And what of our "Geezers", none of whom had stepped into a Moth Boat in almost 50 years only to be thrown into unfamiliar boats on a VERY windy day? They were impressive! Although the swamped boats and retirements due to gear failure don't permit a full and fair analysis, from what I was able to observe, Frank Adshead, John Hilferty, John Leonard Harvey Ludlam and brothers Brian and Kevin McAnaney still have fire in their bellies. Harvey took the Geezer prize--don't ask me about Bob's convoluted calculus for making that determination--but I can say that during the last race in which I finished 2nd to Mike Parsons, Harvey was sailing my wooden Europe Gypsy (so he and I were in equivalent hulls) but he didn't have my advantage of a fat head Europe sail. Even so, he camped out on my transom the whole race and if I'd have made one mistake he'd have rolled me! So hat's off to the geezer fleet. I hope we'll see some of them get Moth Boats over the winter and come back next season.

Just like that group photo of the Browns Mills sailors which I posted a while back: http://mid-atlanticmusings.blogspot.com/2011/05/browns-mills-yacht-club-trophy.html

From left to right: Bob Patterson, John Leonard, Brian McAnaney, Harvey Ludlam, Frank Adshead, Mike Parsons (holding large trophy), Bill Boyle, John Hilferty, Shane Boyle, Kevin McAnaney, your diarist and Victor Stango.

Elizabeth City Nationals part II: a rogue's gallery

2011-09-25T14:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's post was all about boats and the weather. Today we'll take a look at some of the players. Photo credits: Amy Linton, Elisabeth Albaugh and Lennie Parker.


First up we have Mike Parsons' wife Barb. Barb doesn't sail but she plays an active and much appreciated role helping launch and retrieve boats. Barb is an aggressive Corn Hole player (think bean bag toss, you dirty minded lot) at regattas where the weather is kinder. Barb also likes a good chair and a good beer and even with the nasty weather we had at this year's Nats she was determined to get in her share of good brewskies. Oh, and watch you mouth if you're trash talking Philly sports teams. Barb will give you an ear full if she hears you bad mouthing the Phillies, Eagles, 76'ers or Flyers.

This is you diarist kitted out in his sailing gear. Sarah Pugh asked diaristwoman why I'm allowed to dress myself. The answer to that question is that the gear helps prevent me from getting beat up by the boat and as an extra benefit qualifies me as a MAMIL (middle-age men in lycra) in good standing. Note to the cyclists in the audience: check out the stylish Campagnolo bike cap.

Walt Collins is our chief measurer and a fellow MAMIL even if that isn't apparent in this photograph.

New member Patrick Burger tweaking some string or other. I thought the Europe had a lot of stings to pull until I saw Patrick's boat!

CMBA President Greg Duncan strikes a suggestive pose for Ms Linton's camera. We're still puzzling over just what is being suggested here!

Charleston, SC area sailor, Lewis Hay is shown here adjusting the outhaul of his Europe.

Bill Schill rigs his Fletcher-Duflos on Saturday morning. Bill was the 1963 Moth World Champion.

And now for the trophy presentation. The wind was still up so we gathered in the lee of John Pugh's garage to collect our loot.

Bill Schill receives the Turtle Trophy from Joe Courter. Joe initiated this "award" for the sailor who has the most spectacular capsize during the current racing season, including the Nationals. My son Erik won this dubious honor a few years ago and allowed as how there are a lot of good names on that trophy! John Pugh's Korean War era Jeep can be seen peeking out of the garage.

Patrick Burger receives the "youth" award from Greg Duncan. Generally this trophy goes to the best sailor 18 years old or younger but with this year's low turn out Patrick was the youngest. Well, at least he was under 50...

John Pugh was 3rd in the Generation I division. It was good to see our host bag some loot. Now he'll have no excuse for drinking from the bottle! John was also 2nd in the Masters standing for those over 65. Your diarist is (slightly) too young to figure into that scoring. Next year look out!

Believe it or not, your diarist somehow managed to take 2nd in Gen I.

Walt Collins was both 1st in Gen I and 1st in the Masters ranking. Walt had a hell of a regatta, often deviling boats in the faster Generation II division. Is there no stopping him?

Speaking of Gen II, John Zseleczky took 3rd.

Mike Parsons took 2nd in Gen II

Finally, wait for it, Jeff Linton was 1st in Gen II and the overall National champion, successfully defending his title. That's all folks. Next stop on the regatta circuit is the annual Carl Patterson Regatta at Chester River Yacht & CC in Chestertown, Maryland.

2011 Classic Moth Boat National Regatta: Elizabeth City, North Carolina

2011-09-23T20:28:00.000-07:00

The weather forecasts leading up to this year's CMBA National Regatta were calling for cold, rainy weather with significant winds (20 to 30 MPH out of the NE). The various websites like Sailflow.com and Windalert.com waffled back and forth right through the regatta weekend which was an indication of how unpredictable the movement of coastal low pressure area off of Cape Hatteras had become. The cold and wet part of the forecast held up, particularly on Saturday but although the gusts were stiff at times, the sustained winds hovered in the 10 to 12 MPH range on Saturday and less on Sunday. That said, the gusts were in the high teens and one needed to either pay attention or pay the price for electing to goof off. Saturday morning offered grey but initially dry skies which was a good thing as we hoisted sails and launched boats. Photos were taken by diaristwoman and where indicated by Lennie Parker.


Rigging up in John and Sarah Pugh's backyard. The races are sailed in the Pasquotank River which flows through Elizabeth City. As always, click on the photos to enlarge them.

Launching my Europe over the bulkhead. The water level in the river was high which aided in getting the boats overboard. The wind on the other hand was blowing straight across the river which made launching and retrieval mildly challenging.

The Saturday prediction of a 70% chance of precipitation proved correct so everybody geared up to face the rain and we launched boats about an hour before the 11 am first gun to familiarize ourselves to the conditions. As mentioned earlier, the gusts were a tad on the harsh side but overall the wind was manageable.


Joe Courter helps Patrick Burger launch his new boat. The boat is patterned after the Mistral design but with Patrick's interpretation for the deck layout and sail shape controls. This was the boat's first race and the gusty conditions soon revealed some teething problems.

A few seconds before the start of the first race. Although the gusts were harsh and unpredictable, the sustained wind was in the 10 to 12 knot range which is perfect for Classic Moth Boats. We only had 13 boats at this year's National Regatta in part due to the weather forecast which called for 20 to30 knots of wind. Fortunately the forecast was a tad pessimistic and those of us who braved the trip were rewarded with good if a bit wet sailing conditions.

Both Bill Schill and Patrick Burger were casualties during the first race. Bill flipped and swamped, Patrick suffered a dismasting when a small bit of line on one of his stay adjusters broke and allowed the rig to collapse. Bill decided he'd had enough. Patrick was able to fix his boat but decided that the deck configuration he'd designed was not a good match for the conditions and bagged it for the day in the hopes that Sunday's conditions would be more forgiving.

Bill Schill does a bit of synchronized swimming with his Duflos Moth. Bill retired for the day.

The highlight of my regatta. Although the camera shows me chasing Walt Collins, we were beyond the finish line by this point. This was the conclusion of the second race and I managed to just hold Walt off and get my bow across the line ahead of his. For me it was all downhill after this!

Bill Schill helps Patrick with the latter's boat after a bit of line for the bow stay adjuster broke during the first race. Patrick and Bill were towed back to the dock at some point toward the end of race two. Patrick was able to make the required repairs and resume racing on Sunday. Later in the day, Mark Saunders was another casualty of Saturday's wind. One of his stay stays broke and his rig collapsed. Mark also was able to make repairs and return to the race course on Sunday.

Are we having fun yet? Nearest to farthest from the camera: Mark Saunders (Mistral), Randall Swan (Skol), John Zseleczky (Mistral) sail down wind in a rain squall (or "liquid sunshine" as the Chamber of Commerce would call it).

Almost planing. The gusts, like the rain, came and went sometimes without much warning. Here your diarist, sailing his Europe, is windward of John Pugh's Mint design.


Downwind leg. Oh Dear Oh Dear--I'm DFL in this picture! I was having stop watch problems during the starts (the damn thing would stop randomly during the five minute count down) and as a result spent much of the day playing catch up. After racing concluded for the day I hot footed it over to a near by "Wally World" store and purchased a cheap replacement watch. The large green roofed building in the background is the new Museum of the Albemarle. The MOA building dominates the downtown Elizabeth City skyline and to my eye is somewhat out of place. I suppose I'll get used to it sooner or later.

Eventual overall winner (and defending champion) Jeff Linton sails past the camera with another E. City skyline icon, the town water tank, in the background. Yes, the water tank has a Moth Boat painted on it's side. Is this a great town or what?

Lining up for one of the starts on Sunday. The rain had for the most part stopped but the skies were still dark.

Patrick returned to the race course on Sunday. As can be seen here, his open deck configuration was ill suited to the blustery conditions which prevailed at this year's Nationals. Patrick soon went back in and packed up his boat for the ride back to Florida. No doubt when we see this boat again at next year's Mid-Winter Regatta she'll be sporting different decks. Photo credit: Lennie Parker.

An Ooh La La moment. Even your diarist was not immune from a bit of drama! A gust of wind hit my rig just after I'd rounded the leeward mark causing me to lose control of the main sheet. Since I was fully hiked out, the boat tried hard to capsize to weather. I managed to avoid flipping and clawed my way to the high side before things got ugly. The best part is that I was able to get sorted out before losing any of the boats which were behind me. This somewhat compromising exposure was taken by Lennie Parker.

Joe Courter leads John Pugh during a lull in the wind. It almost looks pleasant doesn't it?!

However, as noted earlier, the wind was still quite frisky at times. John Zseleczky leads Mike Parsons and Mark Saunders around the leeward mark.

After hauling the boats out of the water, trophies were awarded by CMBA President Greg Duncan. Greg raced the first three races but had to take over race committee duties when the principle race officer became ill. The rest of us who raced owe Greg a beer at the next regatta.

Once again this blogspot is getting wonky so you'll have to wait for a separate post for further photos from this event.

A matter of perspective: Classic Moth Boat transom designs.

2011-09-22T18:09:00.000-07:00

The photos of Moths generally featured on this blogspot are often bow shots with spray flying and the skipper with his main sheet and hiking stick all crossed up, such as the one below:

Your diarist rounding the leeward mark in OOH LA LA at the recently concluded 2011 CMBA National Regatta. The venue is Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Photo credit for all images in this post: Lennie Parker.

However in a continuation of my earlier attempt to help both of my readers in the task of distinguishing between various Classic Moth Boat designs,(see the Gulfport, Florida Mid-Winter Regatta posts), this post will concentrate on an aspect of the boat which rarely is highlighted: the transom.

Here we see Walt Collins driving his Europe towards the weather mark. Click on photos to enlarge.

Next we have John Zseleczky on the same point of sail in his Mistral design Moth.

Here are the two boats side by side. Note that the Mistral (Nr 2000) has a deeper and more elliptical transom than the Europe. What is less obvious in this exposure is that the Mistral also has more rocker in her keel line as well.

In an attempt to introduce a degree of stability into the Mistral design, Jeff Linton has tortured the stock Mistral skin panels to fit the shallower Europe transom shape. Jeff calls his modification a Mousetrap, as in "built a better one..." Note the cassette style rudder on Jeff's boat.

This is Joe Courter's Maser. The Maser is a Moth Boat derived from a dead Laser hull, hence the name of the design is a contraction of the words Moth and Laser.

The Maser has a similar transom shape and amount of rocker as a Europe but has a narrower maximum beam. This can be discerned by comparing the two boats seen in this photo.

Finally, John Pugh's Mint design reminds us that hard chine designs can be competitive.

Rödqvarna!

2011-09-01T16:06:00.000-07:00

Along with the bicycles in my collection I also have a couple of motor bikes, one of which is the subject of today's post: my little Rödqvarna. The Rödqvarna is a small (118cc), single cylinder bike which was manufactured by the Husqvarna Vapenfabriks Aktiebolag. In English HVA translates into Husqvarna Weapons Company, Incorporated. The company, which in the US is best known for dirt bikes, chainsaws, and sewing machines got it's start in 1689 making muskets for the Swedish army. Over the years demand for weapons fell in Sweden, and in order to keep it's skilled work force busy HVA branched out to make many other products ranging from cast iron skillets to highly complex items such as sewing machines and one of my personal favorites, microwave hot dog vending machines: a great idea which was a little to ahead of the times; you put in a few coins and a minute later out popped a hot dog complete on a warmed bun.

Among the items produced was a range of motorcycles, which started in 1903 by the addition of a motor to a beefed up version of the pedal bicycle which Husqvarna already had in production. During the 1930s Husqvarna raced their bikes in a number of the Classic race races such as the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy. The well known British racer Stanley Woods was HVA's main works rider. In the years leading up to the second world war HVA introduced a series of pedal assisted light motor bikes with 98cc engines. After the war the engine size was increased to 118cc and the pedals were deleted from the design. Although in later years Husqvarna motor bikes are best known in moto-cross competition, the early two-stroke singles like my little bike were envisioned as cheap road transport. HVA start the 118cc series with the all black painted "Svartqvarna" ("black-qvarna") in 1946. My bike is a later "Rödqvarna" or "red-qvarna" and dates to 1952. The red painted Rödqvarna is also called the "Rödmyra" (red ant) which is also a good description based on the color of the paint and the size of the engine! I acquired my Rödqvarna from my Swedish in-laws when they were preparing to move from Sweden to Australia for three years to work for an Australian mining company. My father-in-law told me I could have the bike provided I was willing to pay the costs of shipping and custom duty. So, lets take a look at this fiery red ant.

Here she is, viewed from the left hand side. The bike dates to 1952 and was the working man's go to work vehicle for those well off enough not to ride the bus or walk to work in the immediate post-war years. To me she looks very much like a scaled down Indian road bike. Note the fat fenders and "fishtail" exhaust. The engine is a 2-stroke single that displaces a lusty 118cc which was rounded up to "120" for the purpose of advertising.

Zooming in on the left side of the engine. K. L. G. spark plugs are getting very hard to find. I think I'll keep this one for show and use a modern plug when I ride the bike.

A close up of the "fishtail". I need to tidy the wiring for tail lamp! Yes, that's XENOPUS in the background.

The right hand side of the Rödqvarna. For my Swedish viewers, the registration plate reads "P5600" and is the original one issued when the bike was new. The cycle in the background is my BSA b25--almost 20 years newer Remember that you can click on the photos to enlarge them for better viewing.

Classic tank shift. The gearbox is a 3-speed.

The right hand side of the engine. I love the script cast into the side cover. Language lesson: the company spells its name "Husqvarna" using antiquated Swedish spelling conventions. The town, which incidentally diaristwoman hails from, spells its name "Huskvarna" which conforms to modern day spelling rules. A "hus" is a house and a "qvarn" is a mill. So Husqvarna started out as a mill house around which a town grew.

Last shot: a look at the nice decals on the tank. She's a beaut!

Irene wrap up

2011-08-30T15:31:00.000-07:00

OK, for the two readers who are not related to me and wonder how things turned out on the barrier island of Brigantine I can happily report that although Irene passed quite close to the island as a Cat. 1 hurricane (estimated to be about 10 miles off the coast, with sustained winds above 74 mph) we had very light damage at the "Hotel George"--just a few shingles off the roof. Both the states of Delaware and New Jersey imposed travel bans while the storm was in play but we were able to go check our house on Monday. Getting there was frustrating due to many detours around downed power lines and deep, standing water in places close to lakes or swamps in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey.

This isn't storm damage. My evacuating renters need to learn how to back up, or get their vision checked or maybe both.

After checking the rest of the house I went through my collection of cedar boards and found a suitable replacement. After an hour's work my driveway gates are back in service.


Down on the beach a goodly crowd was enjoying a break from clean up duties. This was mostly a local crowd since tourists had been forced to leave before the storm.

Although the life guards had returned with their beach stands, the surf boats were still absent.

The bay side home which was all boarded up in my last post was almost back to normal by Monday afternoon.

The Yacht Club was much as I'd seen it the previous Friday with only some of the windows and doors boarded up. But, true to Yachting priorities, the windows and doors which got attention were the most important ones: those for the club's bar...

And finally, the fates were kind to the owner of "BAD DOG" the poorly secured Opt seen in the previously post. She filled with rain water and thus weighted down, stayed on her launching trolley despite the high winds and absence of lashings. Double click and you can see the depth of the water in the hull and the floating sponge near the mast partner. "BAD DOG" managed to live up to her name!

Good Night, Irene.

2011-08-26T19:57:00.000-07:00

Enjoy the Weavers. It might put you in the proper mood to plough through the rest of this post! Diaristwoman and I spent the day driving up to Brigantine to secure the house before the arrival of Hurricane Irene. Of course today was a beautiful day with gentle wind--perfect for goofing off with a good book and a beach chair. Regrettably we spent the day preparing for the storm. We left Maryland early in order to get on the island before the 2 pm deadline, after which the police were closing the only bridge leading to the island to oncoming traffic. On the ride east to the coast we encountered a solid stream of traffic heading west. It was good to see that tourists were heeding the evacuation orders but one had an unsettling feeling going against the flow! Did we miss reading the daily memo? Was there something we didn't know?

The local newspapers had one story to report. Double click to read "all about it".

Our house looks good from across the street. Hope the joint is still standing on Monday.

Down on the beach the beach patrol was busy moving surf boats, life guard stands and other paraphernalia to higher ground.


The last weekend in August and hardly a soul to be seen! If the dune grass was brown instead of green this could easily be a winter time picture.


This lone surfer was out testing the surf. Come back tomorrow dude!

Some people take their window boarding seriously. Today the bay water is almost mirror smooth. That won't last.

Like most businesses, Aversa's Bakery was boarded, sand bagged and closed for the duration. Where will the police get their donuts tonight?


At the Yacht Club, some took the club's orders to tie their boats down seriously...

but others, not so much. It will be interesting to see if these Optimist dinghies are still here after the storm passes.

A touch of defiance flying from the club's yardarm.

Lighthouse circle is near the south end of Brigantine Boulevard. The bridge off the island is about a mile beyond this point. Once we leave the island we won't get back on until Monday at the earliest. What will the "after" photos look like? Hopefully not too different. Stay tuned and don't touch that dial...

Bill Boyle's Cates: Sea Isle City daze...

2011-08-24T18:21:00.000-07:00

Both Bill and I cut our Moth Boat racing teeth with leaky old Ventnor Moths. We both graduated to new boats after our respective skills improved. And again, we both moved up to Cates Florida-design boats. I bought mine from George Szabo, a Cooper River Yacht Club racer who built a couple boats each winter, one for himself and the other for speculation. I bought Nr 2249 from George S. in 1962. Bill, on the other hand, teamed up with the Patterson family, down at Sea Isle City, and built his own boat. That boat is the subject of today's post.


Bill Boyle in his Patterson-Cates in 1965. The Sea Isle City, New Jersey back bay marsh can be seen in the background. The Patterson clan modified the Cates design by converting the originally designed hollow bow sections to the faster convex or "full" bow shape. The modification produced a slightly faster, but much wetter boat (note the presence of the larger than usual splash boards just ahead of the mast). The rectangular window in the sail and the rakish, stylized sail numbers were a signature mark of Bob Seidelmann's sail loft. Located in Westmont, NJ, Seidelmann Sails made most of the sails used by south Jersey racers in the early to mid 1960s.


A year later, 1966. Here we see Bill (shirt tail hanging out) and Erik Illenberger standing by Bill's boat on the beach next to the Sea Isle City Yacht Club. The mast in the foreground belongs to Erik's boat. Bob Patterson's cousin, Lynne Berlinger, can be seen wading ashore in the background. This was Bill's last year of Moth racing. The following year he sold the boat and went surfing. He's returned to racing Moths, but he still has an Oceanside Instrument surf board hanging up in the shed to remind him of the old days.

Here's a recent photo of Bill back sailing an old Ventnor Moth which he restored a year or so ago. He calls the boat "Last One" not because it's his last boat but rather this is probably the last Moth to come out of the old Ventnor Boat Works. Bill is also working on an old Fletcher-Cates for his son Shane. The more we change, the more we stay the same!

MG J1 featured in an old Swedish movie

2011-08-18T18:49:00.000-07:00

I'm a stubborn soul and I've been trying without any luck to identify the name of the movie, the names of the actors and actress and to discover if the movie survives intact or if this youtube clip is all that remains. None of my Swedish in-laws remember this film. Nor does anyone I've contacted in various MG clubs both here in the States and in Scandinavia. The movie dates to no earlier than the car. The car is an MG J1. The MG Car Company didn't introduce the J-series model range until 1932 so that gives us the earliest year this movie could have been made. The J-series included the J1, a four seater as seen here, the archetypal J2; a two seat sports which set the basic formula for small sports cars up through the mid-1950s, and the J3 and J4 which were also two seaters. The J3 was used for sporting trials and rallies where as the J4 was a full on road racer. The J3 and 4 had destroked 750cc engines to comply with class regulations for their respective events and both of those types were also supercharged. The J1 and J2 were produced with normal road use in mind and had non-supercharged 850cc engines. Any help answering my questions regarding the film clip will be appreciated! In the meantime enjoy this little trip in the "way-back" machine.

Early days at Brigantine Yacht Club

2011-08-08T18:59:00.000-07:00

Back in the late '50s and early '60s I was racing an old Ventnor Moth and mostly stayed within the comfort zone of my own club's home waters. One of the kids I raced against was Kenn Claus. Kenn's half-brother Fred sent me some photos taken between the years 1959 and 1960. Enjoy!

Here we see the original BYC club house. This building was a former gas station building located at the south end of the island, near the lighthouse circle. The club members bought it and had it moved to 10th Street and Bayshore Ave. in the late 1940s. This photo pre-dates 1960 because that was the year when the "new" addition was added (look at the Yacht Club building in my opening post of last December to see the present structure). The old gas station is still part of the building, it's just been cleverly added on to.

The houses,across the street, in the background, are still there but the one to the right has been enlarged over the years. This photo also pre-dates the renovation of the club house and grounds. Look at those mahogany speed boats! The red burgee on the cross staff indicates the start of a race.

I know that this photo is from the year 1960 because that was the first year I raced in a large invitational regatta. As a junior sailor I broke into racing within the safety of the waters of my home club and later, after gaining experience, started to travel to "away" regattas at other south Jersey clubs like Margate and Ocean City. In this exposure I'm sailing my trusty old Ventnor, Nr 774 (using a sail from my other Ventnor, 764, which was in even worse shape). I called Nr 774 THE SIEVE, as in she leaked like one. Kenn Claus is sailing his brand new Titan design Moth, MISS AMERICA, Nr 1608. Kenn's boat still survives. The fate of poor old 774 is unknown. As always, click on the photos to enlarge.

This photo was snapped just after the start of one of the races. I'm several boats ahead of Kenn but he's upwind of me. Kenn didn't stay behind me very long. The eventual winner of this regatta, George Kelly from Ocean City YC, can be seen almost falling out of his Abbot Moth INKY PINK, Nr 1593 (at the extreme right side of the picture). In the background one can seen the Gerber brothers' sailing GEMINI, Nr 1540. GEMINI is a Challenger design Moth.

Three Moths on a summer afternoon. The boat closest to the camera is Kenn and probably Fred in CLIPPER, Nr 912. CLIPPER was a Moyer design Moth. The Moyer was very similar to the Ventnor and was probably a knock-off. In the center, Nr 505 was an old pre-war home-built Moth that John Walton redecked like an early Sailfish, ie: no cockpit; essentially a sailing surfboard. The red and white Moth furthest away is a Ventnor. This photo is also pre-1960 since Kenn is sailing his old boat.

Meanwhile, back on Mirror Lake...

2011-07-30T06:55:00.000-07:00

Ed Silvers grew up in Browns Mills, NJ in the 1940s and '50s. You can see him in the group photo of awards winners from Mirror Lake which I posted earlier. Ed currently lives in the British Virgin Islands and sent me the following old photos of him sailing his Ventnor Moth, Nr 987, named LENED, a contraction of his and his brother's and mother's first names. These photos are undated but according to the old Moth Class records, Ed raced this boat from 1948 through the 1951 racing season. After the 1951 racing season the boat was sold on to new owners who allowed LENED to winter unprotected on the beach. Ed assumes the boat is long gone but perhaps someone will see these pictures and connect the dots between them and an old Moth Boat sitting in a barn. Your diarist always hopes for a happy ending.

Here Ed is captured mid-way through a tack from starboard to port. The iconic Mills Browns town water tank which shows up in many old photos from Mirror Lake can clearly be seen here. Also note that Ed has the dagger board raised slightly even though he's going upwind. Racing at Mirror Lake rewarded those with "local knowledge" in that there were (probably still are) numerous tree stumps lurking in various places throughout the lake bed! Back when I bought my Dorr Willey-built Moth BLONDIE from a Browns Mills family I received both the original, full length dagger board which Dorr had made plus a locally produced Mirror Lake "shortie" board which I still have kicking around in the garage--a silent testament to those hidden tree stumps! Remember to click on the photo to enlarge it for better viewing.

Tack completed, Ed sails way from the photographer. The wind appears to be in the sub 10 knot range but anyone who has sailed on lakes knows just how fluky the wind can be: drifting one moment, hiking hard the next as one passes between the wind shadows cast by shoreline trees, etc.

A lovely bit of aged Egyptian cotton

2011-07-23T18:11:00.000-07:00

William "Buddy" Enos was the owner and chief sailmaker of East Coast Sailmakers back in the 1950s. Many of the Moth Boat racers at Miami Yacht Club used Buddy's sails. This particular one was sent to me by Clayton Fuller, the man who shot the 8mm film clip of racing in the early days at MYC that I featured on this blog earlier.

I found this regatta measurer's mark in the tack of the sail. As you can see it reads "OK BE 7/54" I wonder if the BE is Buddy Enos. I assume the date is the World Championship regatta for the year 1954, the year which Warren Bailey won in his boat MACH ONE and Bill Lee sailed my boat MINT to fifth place. If so, it's interesting that the man who made this sail also approved it as measuring legal! Those were truly simpler times!

Yes, this sail has some rust stains and small tears but is apart from that is in remarkably good condition for being 57 years old. I wonder what is the best way to remove the rust stains? If anyone has suggestions please leave a comment. Also, does anyone have a good source for 4 or 5 oz Egyptian cotton sail cloth for repairs to small boat sails?

This sail was the one Clayton's brother Charlie used in the 8mm movie. Modern synthetic sail "cloths" are far better in many ways but they can't beat the creamy beauty of Egyptian cotton.


Buddy's version of the circle-M Moth insignia. Sadly Buddy passed away in July of 2000. Here's a seed pod to carry around in your pocket: Will any of your work survive well beyond your death and be worthy of preservation?

Stone Harbor disappoints but the Cape May-Lewes Ferry makes up for it.

2011-07-18T16:35:00.000-07:00

After spending most of Saturday morning cleaning house, diaristwoman and I headed down beach to the town of Stone Harbor to visit the local town museum and perhaps catch up with a Moth Boat rumored to be on display.

We rowed the mightly Volvo S60 down the Garden State Parkway against a prodigious armada of weekend traffic and then banged the corner that leads cars over the tidemarsh causeway to the barrier island which Stone harbor shares with the town of Avalon. These two towns have always had a "tonier" (might be a word) reputation than the "lesser" beach communities like Brigantine and Sea Isle City but take it from me, that's just talk...

The Museum, located at 325 93rd St., seemed quiet for a busy summer Saturday. Too quiet... Obviously your diarist should have phoned ahead but who knew they'd take a holiday on a sunny weekend day when the town was heaving with potential visitors?


Oh Bother! What's all this then?!

We huffed off a bit disappointed (as least some of us) and drifted over the main shopping district a couple blocks away for a bit of "shopping therapy". Diaristwoman restrained her purchases to a few scones at a bakery and after a brief look-see in the pricy clothing shops we headed back to the car. We got on the road and after a quick peek at the time realized that we might catch the 4:30 boat to Lewes, Delaware instead of driving back north to the Delaware Memorial Bridge at Wilmington, our more usual way back to Maryland. Stone Harbor isn't that far from the Cape May-Lewes Ferry terminal. When we came to this decision the clock read 4:12 and the boat was a dozen miles away and so enticingly within reach if we put a stick to our steed. Nothing like a challenge says I. We went for it and I figured we had things well in hand since it was only 4:20 or so by the time we got to the Parkway exit for the ferry dock. The last few miles proved to be a nail-biter as we hit absolutely every red traffic light between the Parkway and the dock and in between those crawled behind ponderous camper-caravans moving at what seemed a snail's pace! We pulled into the pay booth just as the ferry hooted its horn to back down the slip but Mr. Toll Taker radioed over and held the boat a minute or so while money was hastily exchanged for tickets and we and one more car JUST got on board as the gangway was pulled away!


We were the next to last car to catch this boat!

Our boat was the MV (Motor Vessel) New Jersey, one of several boats which ply the 17 miles across Delaware Bay between Cape May, NJ and Lewes, DE. On a good day the trip across takes an hour and ten minutes. Info about the fleet of boats and the history of the CMLF can be found here: http://www.capemaylewesferry.com/Ferry-Info

As we were leaving the MV Delaware was making her approach.

One of the last sights as one leaves the New Jersey shore is Cape May Lighthouse. The 157 foot tower is still used as an aid to navigation.

A half dozen ships on the horizon--a U-boat skipper's dream. Click on the photo for a better look.

All too soon we passed the first of two breakwater towers that mark the Delaware side of the bay. This white one is still functional. Click for a better look.

The red breakwater tower was restored back in the '90s but is no longer in use.

We passed this sandy strand just before the Captain called for drivers to return to their cars.

The tan colored tower to the right of this photo is a WW II look-out and gunnery fire control tower. There were over a dozen of these towers built on the Delaware side and at least one on the Cape May side of the bay to keep watch for U-boats. The towers were designed to last for about 20 years. The survivors are now over 65 years old--they built 'em good back then!

Beach Walk to the south end jetty.

2011-07-09T15:45:00.000-07:00

Today I'm alternating between watching the Tour de France on tv and sanding down the decks on a Moth boat. Neither activity is all that photogenic. So instead of speculating on whether or not Thor Hushovd will retain the yellow jersey until the first big mountain stage this coming Thursday, or whether or not my impending varnish job will turn out OK we'll take a little walk to the rock jetty at the very south end of the island of Brigantine.

From my house in the middle of the island to the south end is a walk of about two and half miles, so our walk down and back will be around five miles. A nice distance that calls for a beer as a reward.

The tide was coming in and the life guards were busy moving their surf boats to higher ground.


I encountered this American Oystercatcher (Haemaptopus palliatus). These birds range from New England to north Florida but this is the first one I've spotted in several years of walking this beach. Click on the photo to enlarge the image.

The Atlantic City skyline from 2.5 miles away. AC is across Absecon inlet from Brigantine. Atlantic City shares Absecon Island with the cities of Ventnor, Margate and Longport. Brigantine on the other hand is the only town on our barrier island. It's a little hazy today, but that's OK--it keeps the heat down.

I'm a fast walker. We're here at the jetty. People like to fish off this pile of rocks. There must be thousands of hooks and bits of fishing tackle snagged on the submerged rocks which are just off the jetty and hidden from view. Looking out to sea, the next bit of land is Portugal.

This dredge is one of two currently working to remove sandbars that were created by storms last winter. The bridge in the background is the causeway bridge that spans Absecon Inlet which separates AC and Brigantine. When I was growing up, the bridge was a low, draw bridge. The high, fixed bridge seen here replaced the old one in the mid-1970s. The bay just to the west of the bridge is called Man Killer Bay. Why "Man Killer Bay"? The current that sweeps into this inlet moves at over six knots during full flood. Many have tried to swim against the tide and many have failed.

Here's the dredge working the ocean side of the inlet.

This tug was busy taking workers to and from the dredges.

Looking back at Brigantine. If you click on this pix you can just about see the Brigantine Hotel way up beach. The Hotel is one of the surviving buildings from the Island Development Company's 1927 attempt to make a killing selling lots on the island. They spent a ton of money building the hotel, a country club, and cluster of fancy houses and laid out the main roads and streets, just two years before the great depression, in an attempt to lurk people from Philadelphia and New York City to invest in island property. I've been told that during the depression, which started in 1929, one could have purchased just about any lot on the island for the back taxes--which in those days were only $7.00 per year, but people still defaulted. How things have changed...


Zooming in a bit. There were a fair number of surfers this day.

Zooming across the inlet we can see the old lighthouse at the north end of AC, now dwarfed by high rise apartments and casinos. Believe it or not, Absecon lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse in New Jersey and third tallest in the nation. It was built in 1857.

The Water Club is a new hotel that is located next to the Borgata Casino. The houses in the foreground are part of the "Bungalow Park" area of Atlantic City. The camera's zoom makes both the Water Club and the windmills seem closer than they actually are.

As I turned to walk back for that refreshing beer, the excursion boat "Cruisin' 1" departed for a cruise along the ocean front of Brigantine and AC. This is a popular activity for day trippers who have tired of the casinos.

Walking back I encountered this lady with three fish poles deployed. Nothing was biting.

This guy had better luck--he apparently found this truck!