More from St. Michaels

[Woxbox]

Like lots of folks here, I've long been wondering what the best beach cruiser is. After seeing a couple of Caledonia Yawls at the fest today, I'm thinking this is about it. Seems like just the right balance of size, capacity and seaworthiness without getting too big or too heavy.
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/Woxbox/Caledonia.jpg

[Steve Paskey]

The Caledonia yawl is certainly a great boat, but it's a touch bigger than I'd like, and I'd want to redo the interior if I were going to use one as a beach cruiser.

I saw two boats I really like at St. Michaels. The first was a work in progress -- one of Paul Fisher's 15-foot northumbrian cobles. See: http://www.selway-fisher.com/OtherDB.htm The second was a sailing swampscott dory skiff (aka "fat boat") built to the design from John Gardner's "Wooden Boats to Build and Use." (She's 13-7 long, and 5-3 wide.) First time I've seen one in person, and I thought she was a really sweet boat, more attractive than the drawings and dimensions would suggest.

I forgot to take my camera -- I don't suppose you have pictures of those two?

[Woxbox]

I don't have a shot of either of those, but I'd suggest that if you're really going to do some salt-water beach cruising, or even in the big bays, you'll never regret having gone for the bigger boat.
Fact is, all boats shrink when they leave the shop and get wet. And as you leave the coast behind, they shrink even more. The Caledonia Yawl and other boats of its size are not too big to row -- you probably noticed that of the two present at the fest, one had a small inboard in a well, the other did not.