The Haven 121⁄2 is the designer Joel White’s centerboard adaptation of the classic Herreshoff 12½, a lead-keel ballasted daysailer. Both boats measure about 16' overall and are named for the length of their waterlines. Both were designed without auxiliary power; a paddle, in most situations, was all that was needed to get a boat back to the mooring if the wind died. But when your mooring is a mile up a creek that empties into the Pawtuxet River on Chesapeake Bay, it can be handy sometimes to have auxiliary power—especially when the wind and tide are against you. Electric propulsion is a quiet and environmentally friendly alternative to internal combustion.
Bruce Halabisky and Tiffany Loney departed British Columbia ten years ago in their 34′ Atkin cutter, VIXEN. During their ensuing circumnavigation, they had two daughters and uncounted adventures while living on a modest budget.
The journey from concept to reality was a long one for David and Rosemary Lesser and their yacht’s designer, Paul Gartside, but patience and clear communication brought LA VIE EN ROSE to fruition. She was launched at Jespersen Boat Builders in Sidney, British Columbia, in 2012.
Like many wooden boat owners, the author kept expenses down by doing as much of the restoration work as she could on her own, taking advantage of the fact that Port Townsend’s Boat Haven facility permits maintenance by owners.
When I was in my late 50s, many of my retirement-aged friends told me they kept working because they felt they would have nothing else to do if they stopped. Others retired but said they felt lost without someplace to go in the morning.
Even on a calm autumn morning, it’s hard to imagine that it was ever quiet at Brooklin Boat Yard. The yard has been a Maine boatbuilding institution since naval architect Joel White bought out his boatbuilding mentor, Arno Day, to found the business in 1960. Arno had found it all getting out of hand, too big, what with three employees in addition to himself and Joel. These days, the parking area fills in quickly in the morning with ten times that many boatbuilders, who nod their greetings as they arrive at work and the first machine noises inside break the morning stillness.