Abbott Moth design pix

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

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 II

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

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

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

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

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.