Well as you may very well know I had been anticipating the Wooden Boat Show in Mystic Connecticut this past weekend. I am happy to report that I thoroughly enjoyed the event and came home with a renewed enthusiasm for boat building and some pretty good ideas as well. I made a quick go round on Saturday morning to see as much as quickly as possible and snap a few pictures, then I would be able to make my way back round and concentrate on what I was most interested in. Well I ended the first go round with some 220 plus photos of which more than half are worth keeping. You may view most of them in no particular order at http://picasaweb.google.com/sngatlanta also note these are unedited and not cropped. I can’t even begin to name the number of designs that were represented. Of most importance to me however was the presence of the multihulls at the show. Perhaps they are at last being accepted as equal in complexity and style to the monohulls. I spent the day talking with builders mostly, I’m not one to talk with suppliers much, and most everyone was genuinely excited to talk about their boat.
One of the boats we have considered was to be presented at the show. The Tiki 30 a James Wharram design and built by David Halladay of Boatsmith of Jupiter FL. Their web address is http://tiki30.blogspot.com/ if you would like to know more about them. The boat was extremely well finished and they had made a few minor modifications from the plans that seem to work well. First and most noticeable when you walk up is the teak foredeck that replaces the net or trampoline found on most forward areas of multihulls. Another change was the widening of both seats that run down each side of the cockpit area providing what should make for a very comfy place to not only sit but take afternoon naps as well.They also moved the outboard motor-well forward by a few feet allowing better movement around the cockpit and making the motor covering into a usable workspace or table. Seeing this boat has made me rethink some things about what we may want on our own catamaran. More on that another time.
Later that day on a little ½ hour ride around the harbor aboard the Sabino a 1908 coal-fired steamboat I met a older gentleman from Austin and as a fellow, although displaced, Texan I listen as he told me about his own boat building experiences which culminated with a couple of river boats of quite some size. I believe his last name was Fowler; he said he “was no gentleman though he was a damn attorney”.
All of this was enough for a day at a boat show but it got better. I had decided early on to attend the Tribute to Multihull Pioneers Banquet Saturday evening and was killing a little time before the event. Being at the show by myself I sat down at a table where I thought I would be able to see and here well enough but off to the side as not to get in the middle of strangers. As I sat for a moment a gentleman came and sat at the next table over and pulled out some papers from his jacket. It was James Wharram looking just a little nervous reviewing his notes for the presentation. I watched the people come and go drinks in hand mingling. Hanneke Boone, James associate came over and as well as a few others and “Trimaran” Jim Brown sat down with them. The couple across from me noticed they were beginning to serve dinner and I joined them in line to get a plate. Jim Brown has lost a good deal of eyesight and was asking for help when someone stepped in to fill his plate as I left the line and returned to my table. A voice from over my shoulder asked if the seat next to me was taken. I said no please fell free without turning around to see whom it might be. In a soft but firm voice the gentleman said “I’m Dick Newick”. I said, “I’ve heard of you”. He asked what my association with the tribute was and I explained that I had just recently become interested in multihulls and the opportunity to here the designers and pioneers speak was my only reason for attending. We talked about my interest and he pled his case as to the benefits if a tri vs. catamaran. He was attending with the owners of one of his designs and they also showed great interest in by project both present and future. Regrettably I have forgotten their names. Dick left me with the impression that these designers are regular guys with a passion to better the boating community by providing designs to fit the needs of an individual rather than everyone past and future that will sail a boat. He asked that I contact him before we begin to build our multihull and I most certainly will. I regret that I was unable to meet up with him the next morning as he requested to review some ideas but my flight did not allow the time.
I could make a short article of the event but should spend more time getting the SB 18 project back on track. We hope to get the hull completely glassed on the underside this weekend while we have a few extra days.
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