Susan Skiff Launched

Well fall has come and quite possibly gone, but it has been fabulous. I've had great weekends hiking with Nicole and Jessie in Franconia Notch, and watching Phillip and Krista get married in Vermont.

The apprentices took a 3 day sailing camping trip up to Warren Island, which is only about 15 miles north of us, but depending on the wind and the tides (I've learned to respect the tides here) can take you a very short or very long amount of time to arrive. We ended up having to motor to get there (after sloughing along for about 5 hours only to make it about 2 miles from home), but made the return trip in about 3 hours.

I also got to go on another Schooner trip. This time on the Corwith Cramer. Quite a ship... 135 feet overall. And unlike the Spirit of MA, this one had a friendly crew.

At the shop, my first project is complete. The 12' Susan Skiff floated, and it can be yours for a mere $1200 (a bargin at twice the price). Here are some pictures.

That's Vanya on the right... he did the Port side, I did the Starboard.



Now it is on to the big boats (remember the lofting?). Here is the first boat's molds all set up. This one is being built upside down. Just for fun, the other one will be built right side up. Usually small boats are built upside down because it is easier to plank. Then you flip it over to finish it off. Large boats are built right side up because of the flipping part. This size boat is kind of in the middle... so we'll find out which is easier. (Note... this is only about 1/2 of the boat in the picture)


My first contribution will be to put the stem of one of the boats together. More on that next time.....