Boats Bring Us Together

Simple, general statements like this can so easily fall into cliché.

Meet Buster!

Buster is a twenty foot electric auxiliary Hampton Boat.

Schooner Actæon

In my novel, Shoal Hope a rum-runner sails a schooner named Actæon. It’s larger than this one, loosely based on McCoy’s Arethusa.

A 48′ Wheelhouse Schooner

This is a cartoon for a design that’s been long percolating. It all started with this sketch:

40′ Waterline Schooner

The 32′ Schooner Boat is as small as we could go with this type and have it retain any practicality. At 48′ LBP, this cartoon is of a larger craft. Considering that boats gain volume and therefore displacement by the cube root of their length this is a significantly larger, heavier boat. This does increase

The Schooner Boat, Coming Together

The Schooner Boat has grown a few inches longer and a little deeper. Most of the changes have been a refinement of the form. Proportions and shapes adjusted to unify the whole. Each part of a boat has to do different things. Early on it’s good to focus-in piece by piece. Looking at the midsection,

Scenes at the Philadelphia Wooden Boat Factory

April, 21, 2021, In checking links on updating this site I’ve discovered that The Philadelphia Wooden Boat Factory website is down. I encourage you to check out what they are up to. The program, run by Brett Hart, hosts inner city youth, working under boatbuilding instructor, Victoria Guidi. It has been a privilege working with

Dabbler to make Sails for Factory One Design

Stuart K. Hopkins’ sail loft will be making three sets. One for each of the three Factory One Designs now being built at the Philadelphia Wooden Boat Factory.

Update on the Schooner Boat

The Schooner Boat project has been moving forward, slowly.

Schooner Boat Update

The 32′ Schooner Boat Schooner Boat update at Boats for difficult times.      

Fortuitous Mashup?

One of the things I like best about this concept is that it removes the trappings of an adversarial relationship from between the designer & client. This should, and can be, a cooperative and mutually beneficial relationship. It thrives on trust and openness between the parties involved. The crowd-sourcing process “negotiates” the development of that trust and channels our overtures of cooperation into the start of a vital relationship. I’m excited about what this can lead to! I hope you are as well.

Boats I’d Like to Design: Canoe Yawl

Photo of Rozinante Courtesy of Rozinante.org One of the first designs I fell in love with was L. Francis Herresshoff’s Rozinante. There was one being built at the “Boat School” in Lubec in 1973. Reading L. Francis’ Compleat Cruiser fleshed out the story behind this wonderful craft. It’s fitting that coming to writing about designs