..."to the vagrant gypsy's life"... WHERED THE SUMMER GO?

the intercoastal is a bit like the island hopping opportunities you guys have on the Baltic. Obviously we had to keep a tight eye out for shoaling and we hadda go outside the waterway twice , but its still a neat route to go up and down the US East Coast in a small boat.

The boat we had assigned was a bit on the rusty side and would require a whole lot of expensive redo for the hull and floor.
I suppose it can be done but Im venturing that the people who boght the boat got it really cheap and have resigned to an expensive "Rebuild"
I read articles in WOODEN BOAT magazine about such major refits and Id like to see this boat after shes done in the shop (projected to be late 2017)


PS, if youve got an urge to sing--FIGHT IT.

The "Western Flyer" a refitted fishing trawler was mqde famous in John Steinbecks , "...Sea of Cortez". In it, Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts spent several months exploring the Baja and collecting specimens for Ricketts business.

The boat, a 76 foot einer with a large sardine hold will be saved from further deterioration by a wooden boat enthusiast with a commitment of at least 3 million to refit the old tub. Its presently laid up at a Port Townsend bot yard.
The present owner wants to turn it into a fairly modern RV while still retaining the old materiqls qnd lines of the original.

Gas electric turbine engines over a diesel mudge pot, a lrge reseqrch center in the sardine holds qnd ample room for a 12 person team.

Where will it go?

Its du to be completed by 2017. Id seen the boat over 2 decades ago when its present owner wanted to partially disassemble it and move it to theme restaurant he owned near LA.

NIMBY's stopped him nd much to the Western Flyers good fortune.

Interesting information. I like old wooden fishing boats. Our own inshore fishing boats have changed out of all recognition since my youth. Along with much else.

Port Townsend is a "must visit" as a wooden boat town. Its like Lunenberg NS or several towns on the Chesappeake Easwtern SHore or SW Harbor Me. There are always big projectw of refitting these old relics and pilot boats qnd "commuter boats".
A lot of th craft nowadays is , once the rot is caught and excised, to refit a shiny layer of fiberglas clothing so that the ood hows sans any paint .

I sorta did that with my old "Iapetus" . We totally rebuilt it and had a basically new boat. It was great but I needed some cash for the business to buy some drill rigs so I sadly parted with it. Its now part of a Charter service off one of the Carib Islands.

We get pictures every so often and the owners are taking good care an hauling it out every year for a seasonal spiff-over and reglaze of the
hull.

Ive got a nice trawler for nwst season already lind up for a long term rental so qe will be with boat. I think e will stay in the inland waterway and the Atlantic between Dekaware and S Carolina.

Gonna go N to look at a 42 ft Beal Island Lobstah yacht . Ill get some pics if it looks good. It seems like a good deal (Bots, can actully go up after the first few years because the oners outfit em nd customiz with all the bells and whistles. This one has suffered neglect qnd will need a new fiberglas skin and painting. Im gonna meet with a marine architect and see what its going to take to reverse and drop the angle on the pilot house windscreen. (I hate those ass backward windows and Ive never hqd a good explanation why other than windshield wiping)

Gonna need 2 new radars/gps /plotter and finder.
Its a 2002 so Its due for some major work since its always been on or near the water and NEVER stored in the shed. I am so looking forward to spending more time in Maine. I am sick ass tired of the Delaware shore, its too damn crowded with people and assholes from LI New York who have this grating accent

Nice, fm, always a pleasure to read you.
Good luck with the project, and a fruitful new year to you.

The marine architect got ahold of me about an hour ago. (I trust him). He stated that the keel was rotten and would need a complete rebuild.
They were asking wht seemed to be a very low price so I fiv=gured another 50 to 75 K to do the skinning and resheathing with a glas finish, rewiring, new engines and new electronics. Now with the keel a sagging, thats like buying a whole new boat and these hulls alone run 250. SOOO, next boat will come along. AT least I saved me a trip to Machiasport

Better luck next time, fm.

yaaarrrggghhh

Havent yet found a decent big boat offered for sale. BUT, Im not without boat projects. I have this ALaska "Bar boat" with a really high pointy prow for plowing into roller waves head on. The bar bots are more like Polynesian craft used in the Pqcific Islands, (except the bar boqts are a bit beamier)
I bought this total POS boat lst summer for like 1200 bucks including a trailer. Its 22' LOA and its really strong annealed Al. Its Very heavily riveted up front and well proportioned for all kinds of storage and (even) a fabricn frame cuddy if it really gets rainy. (Id have to get a sailmaker to do that an I guess that will be the most expensive part of the work.

I got about 5 sheets of really good A+ marine plywood with a luann topcoat and cypress glue lams.

I have to redo the flooring , the front and rear compartments and all the seats and stuffy boxes.
(Ill get new piano hinges for the compartment lids and some slide locks instead of these damn flappers where you always lose the clips.

I hope to get the thing finished so we can use it flounder fishing and wave running at Indian River, and , If e dont manage to find a nice pilot boat this summer, we will take this up to Maine and putt putt around the lower Bay of Fundy nd make runs to Grand Manaan.

Hoping, everything works out as well as thought, farmer!

well, here again is capn farmerman and his CEO (mrs Fman), sitting and waiting for the fog and hit to lift for the summer. Weve trucked the boat Ive been piloting from the Etern hore to Wackville NB. Qeve been sittin her enjoying the clams, lobstahs n' scal'ps in the shitty qeathr. Gonna hve the lobstah boat railed from Sakville to the port near Cape Tormentine nd, if verything goes well, we will be finishing the run to PEI,leaving next Tues or Wed. (Tignish or the closest dockside) Weve been leasing a wee car and have travelled around doing photog and rock hunting in the Triassic basin of NB and Nova SCotia, Im going to Parrsboro tody nd Mrs F is staying at th cottage to read nd go shopping.(She got a bicycle somewhere near the cottage) Wanna go see the new "Magnificent Seven" so we willll prolly jaunt into Halifax
this weekend. We know some potters that we befriended yers ago at a National Craft Show. Their kids are all grown since we last saw em and theyve mde relly nice pottery (porcelain raku).

Enoying boating by delivering other peoples restored boats from the builder to the customer. Its fairly free,(Except for the pilot insurance qnd the bonding). Soma these Hinkley or Chestertown "lobster yatchs" are worth a pretty penny (or three).


WHY I KEEP MY commercial license, insurqnce, and bonding current

Good rockhounding around Parrsboro. We used to camp near there every second summer. I've still got rocks I picked up there 50 years ago. Some are in my parents' old garden. I figure they'll be good to confuse a junior rockhound in another 50 years.

The rocks might be nice, but navigation seems to be a bit difficult

And since I'm here: in Kiel, they watered a sailing yacht last week, worth three or four pennies


(More info at >wikipedia<)

were staying in Moncton NB for a day longer. Its been cold as hell at night. We should be piloting into NE PEI by some time next week and we will come back by rental car. The water is getting a bit cooler and the contrasts between water and air has really made fog a problem. I do not want to make this last leg only on radar. The guy spent a couple Hundred K on refitting his boat and Id hate to plow into some submrged jetsum. The new sonar unit has a transponder set forward and it has a separate "pilot" screen to see the way ahead. (Lots of these damned cable spools just flooping around in Fundy . We brushed by one near St John and I was concerned itd leave a mark. It buffed out nicely.

Its been a nice seafood fest (we went up to Chatham for a few nights and hqd some really good meals). I even had a small glass of a 2010 Puligny Montrachet. The proprietor had been so kind that I could NOT refuse, especially since we spoke NO FRENCH.

we did not pilot into the Parrsboro area. I didnt want to leave you with that assumption. Weve chosen our routes very carefully to be easy and safe. That big mud flat can leave boats stuck for weeks . The rock headlnds are where the big fields of zeolite rocks and amethyts are located. (It was a land trip, the boat was actually rqilroaded to Sackville and its sitting nd waiting for us to rraange a berth spot on PEI ith the owner)

Since all those who are interested are on this thread (that's where I took part during the cutter races at Kiel week, both sailing and rowing the cutter)





Some infos about this sailing boat: Sailing Yacht A

Ive seen some other pix of that big beast. There is a research vessel that plies the N Atlantic into the Elsmere Island area , it has a set of sails almost like your pix. Thy look like huge Venetian blinds but the vessel (even though its very long and narrow , is relatively stable "on station"

Usually the RV's are kinda beamy so the drill rigs on board arent buffeted around when sediment core sampling in higher seas.

PS, I just saw the charts you posted at Parrsboro . There is always at least an 3+m channel all the way in. When wed take our on boat, We could chug "Iapetus " (my 40 loa footer) into the channel and wed stay there over night at the oil terminal docks or several tide changes. There was a small town with a neat restaurant , but youd have to wear yer "MUCK BOOTS" when you landed the dinghy (we had a zodiac). Youd still be in marshy areqas and the mud was this red gypsum rich crp tht would suck you in. SO youd always have to carry shoes in a back pack.

Ah Mmories of red mud and scallops and fried clams