Lew Barrett in Classic Yacht Magazine

[C. Ross]

Nice work Lew!

See it here. http://www.classicyachtmag.com/currentissue#

Also, there is a really nice article about Mer-Na, a Lake Union Dreamboat that was purchased and moved to Lake Minnetonka, out our way. She's a beauty, and the renovation work was done by Mark Sauer and crew at St. Paul Shipwrights, who also tend to my boat.

[elf]

Wow! Congrats, Lew. You did it again!

[Lew Barrett]

Bill can put better articles in the magazine, but I doubt he can pay less for them:D

It's virtually a 100% true story, including the hotel incident, by the way.

Mer-Na's an "old friend" and I have spent time sitting in her cockpit with the former owner...who (Elf, this will be of interest to you) was Marty Loken. Mer-Na also belonged to Greg Gilbert, who hosted us on his boat, Winifred, at Port Townsend when Margo was in town. I hear they're really doing it to her. Good. She's a very sweet boat.

I thought Bill did a fine job on this issue all around.

[StevenBauer]

Well I sure enjoyed it. :)


Steven

[BETTY-B]

I was bummed to see Mer-Na go. She was from my marina at the time. Although I cant seem to remember which part of the ship canal that was right now... I'm glad she's being taken care of...

Now, on to read Lew's newest stuff.

DAN

[Russ Manheimer]

Congrats Lew. I'll read it this evening; busy day.

Russ

[capt jake]

That is great Lew! Nice story. :) Now, where I come from, if you get you mug in print, you have to buy everybody ice cream!! :) Rocky Road is fine! :) LOL

[Lew Barrett]

Dan,
At the end of her time here Mer-Na lived at Lockhaven in a very nice custom boathouse. That would have been right up by the Chittendon Locks on the south side of the canal.
Ice cream for all, Jake!

[emichaels]

Nice article Lew. and that online magazine format is pretty spiffy too.

Eric

[BETTY-B]

Dan,
At the end of her time here Mer-Na lived at Lockhaven in a very nice custom boathouse. That would have been right up by the Chittendon Locks on the south side of the canal.
Ice cream for all, Jake!

Oh that's right. I was in Ewing St. Marina at the time. But my film/video studio was right across the street from Lockhaven. Which incidentally used to be where Bill Gardens office was. Now forever an ugly condo with even uglier boats....

For some reason I remember Mer-Na on a trailer and being told she is headed East. Maybe BETTY-B was at New Hope and they pulled her there for the last time?

Great article by the way. I was cracking up and being embarrassed again at remembering my own stupid crap that I wont ever tell the world about!:o

DAN

[Gulfcoastbreeze]

Very impressive! I have admired Rita from afar in recent years and it is fun to read about a boat I have actually seen.

Here's hoping for more.

[Rob Stokes, N. Vancouver]

Nice job Lew - well written and well told.

(and I think I may well now the fireman that came out to see you ;) )



Rob

[boylesboats]

I gotta read this later on when I am settled down. like in the mornin' while I have my coffee..
Lew I will be looking forward to see your article..

[Lew Barrett]

I'm delighted you guys enjoyed it. Thanks!

[boylesboats]

Hi Lew, I read that article... Man, that is cool....

[Gulfcoastbreeze]

I just read the Mer-Na piece, too. Very interesting that she's in fresh water now in Minnesota. Its getting to be that time of year...

[Bob Smalser]

Articles are nice, but don't do justice to meeting Rita and the Barretts in person.

The accolades are well deserved.

[carioca1232001]

I enjoyed the article too and circulated it to some of my friends at the Club.

Does Rita have a page in the Internet dedicated to her ?

[Lew Barrett]

Thank you all. Feeling's mutual, Bob.

Alas, I have never done a page on Rita.
When I get the time. Much of our early days with Rita are poorly documented from a photographic point of view, but of late I've been more conscientious in taking pictures.

[carioca1232001]

Thank you all. Feeling's mutual, Bob.

Alas, I have never done a page on Rita.
When I get the time. Much of our early days with Rita are poorly documented from a photographic point of view, but of late I've been more conscientious in taking pictures.

I searched Rita on WBF and in one of your posts a link was provided to SonyImageStation for photos of the same. Alas, SIS is no more.

[Lew Barrett]

I'll make a new album in Photobucket, and link to it in the next few days. Meanwhile, I'll put a few up here later this morning. Thanks for your interest, Carioca. Like all of us who have been involved for years on these sorts of projects, I'm proud to show her off at the drop of a hat!

[carioca1232001]

A new album is definitely in order as Rita does deserve it.

Brazil has some similarities with the US, but in matter of possessing a short-lived memory, Brazil comes in top place ! Plastic and fibreglass has literally obliterated the woodenboat from our shores.

You may find a nutcase or two - in case I am included in the count - who would rennovate a charming woodie, but generally, such people are the laugh of the town.

One of our past presidents (Joscelino Kubitschek), partly descended from Ukrainian immigrants, built a new capital called Brasilia in the late 50´s/early 60´s. Well, Brasília was also provided with an artificial lake and his 50 ft motor-cruiser left the waters of Rio de Janeiro and was relaunched in that lake.

Well, someone (a rarie bird !) in Brasilia is rennovating that 50 footer. I´ll post the YouTube video once I learn to do it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QlLvAw8Ego

[Lew Barrett]

Here's a new album on Photobucket. I haven't done much by way of organization, but it replaces most of the stuff lost to the Sony debacle.

http://s240.photobucket.com/albums/ff76/LewBarrett/Rita%20images/

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff76/LewBarrett/Rita%20images/settee.jpg

[Paul Girouard]

Lew where was this one taken ? Seattle area ??

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff76/LewBarrett/Rita%20images/launchshot.jpg

Interesting all the suits and hats , hands on hips style of the day . Lots of materials laying about as well. Times have changed eh!

[Lew Barrett]

That is taken at Lake Union Dry Dock, off Eastlake, which is still there today, Paul. I love this image. I found it in a wonderful book, "Northwest Legacy" by Jeremy Snapp, and scanned it in.
Note the transporter with the custom cradle, which one assumes was used to move "Marilyn III." The straw hats, workers and the onlookers taking interest are a kick. As you say, the piles of wide, 60 foot long lumber alongside the pier represent an era gone. This is literally her launching day. She wasn't built at LUDCO, but was splashed there. A great treasure to have this published shot, and to see that all of her stuff has stayed with her over the years.

[Paul Girouard]

I bet you where excited the day you found that photo, I figured it might have come with the boat / former owner type deal , what a find!

She is a looker , still after all these years, I hadn't noticed (till you mentioned "onlookers" must be seven or eight in that little group ) , how many are grouped up right along side her.

[carioca1232001]

Marvellous photos and a deserving homage to your painstaking care ! Will spread those images around.

Those wide, long pieces of lumber are beginning to become scarcer and scarcer here, too, at lumber yards and dealers. No yards for sure that cater to woodenboat rennovation.

You will find woodenboat yards in Camamu and Valença, north of Rio, on the coast of Bahia State that still build the traditional 'saveiro' (schooner). Construction techniques are pretty antique, though, and some people will go so far as to suggest not to buy one for this very reason.

South of Rio, in Santa Catarina State, with a large Germanic population, there is a coastal town with several woodenboat yards that still build commercial tuna-fishing vessels.

[Gulfcoastbreeze]

One wonders where the line is/should be drawn between "traditional construction" and "don't use these guys". This could be fodder for a whole new thread.

[Lew Barrett]

Well, someone (a rarie bird !) in Brasilia is rennovating that 50 footer. I´ll post the YouTube video once I learn to do it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QlLvAw8Ego

Portuguese has a great, musical sound. I didn't understand a word she said, but I got the point. He's got himself a project, but when he's done, he'll have a presidential yacht. Looks like a Monk design; a boat that could be used here as well as Brazil!

[carioca1232001]

Lew Barrett,
You have a fine ear, which doesn´t surprise me, judging by the fine taste as displayed on your rennovation of Rita !

Did you hear what one of Joscelino´s old-timer friends had to say about the boat being called Gilda ?

Well, said he, Rita Hayworth was one hell of a pretty and charming gal, definitely not the throw-away sort and the same can be said for Joscelino´s boat, which was beautiful, inside and out ! So, the boat was named Gilda, one of Rita Hayworth´s finest performances on screen !

I am going to do some research into which yard built that boat in Rio or São Paulo. Does it look like a Monk design ? Any particular features that suggest that ?

I have some photos sent me by a friend, from when the rennovation first started some 2 years ago and could PM these to you, if you are interested. More detail on these.

BTW, it is said that Joscelino also cruised aboard a sister-ship of Gilda´s when he´d come to Rio and that the former is laid up somewhere in the hangars of our Naval Yards in Rio. I am looking into this too....could make for my next rennovation project, as the first one is nearing completion :)

[Lew Barrett]

Carrioca,
Of course I haven't any way of knowing who designed Gilda for real, but in the quick glimpses we were given, I fancied I recognized this profile:

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff76/LewBarrett/monkdesign.jpg

Monk drew this basic line over a ten year period or so between the late forties and late fifties. This look and his semi-displacement or full displacement hull forms were used in a vast array of designs running between 30 feet and over 60 feet or so. For big boats, 50 feet plus or minus wasn't uncommon, with everything scaled up appropriately. Above is a 35 foot design.

There's a wide range of variations of course, and it's hardly the only style he drew in those years, but this is the iconic one. Yous ee this look up here, and you know it was a Monk design, or someone taking after him. Variations in the boats were either ordered by his clients, or reflected the ideas of the many builders he worked with. He was active up and down the coast, from Southern California to Northern British Columbia.

The picture I have is not particularly fine nor the best representation of his stuff, but it gets the idea across. Gilda is bigger,
has a somewhat different house, with interesting curves in the roof line (not unlike Jensen's work when he built Monks) but there are enough variations in what I saw in the film clip to make me say "it looks like" rather than "it is." Is the architect known?

Rita Hayworth didn't have anything to do with our Rita that any of us know about, and I saw the photo but didn't make the connection until you prompted me. Then, I watched a second time, and I swear; I heard it even in Portugeuse.:D Yes....gorgeous sounding language. Absolutely delightful to listen to.

[TimH]

Enough to make a sail boater like power boats Lew :-)

[C. Ross]

Carioca, Gilda looks like a splendid boat and I hope they do right by her.

I love the double-decker windshield openings, and the deckhouse sure does look like a Monk.

Just because it's a fun puzzle...the broken sheer line in a Monk always seems to be convex, rather than concave. Some Chrises in the early 40s and late 50s used the same line, but it seems like a signature of the Monk pictures I've seen. Is that true, Lew? And the bow of a Monk always seems to be pretty plumb, and Gilda's is more raked.

I really enjoyed seeing the Australian Halversons in the Sydney boat show pictures (as well as the other amazing boat photos). It might be interesting to compare designs of European, Australian, North American and South American powerboats of the same eras to look for design influences. Sailboat design would probably spread more easily since they are often bluewater craft, but it's the rare powerboat of less than 40' that would cross an ocean to influence a designer.

Maybe someone should write an international compare and contrast piece for the next Classic Yacht Magazine, Lew.

[Lew Barrett]

Just because it's a fun puzzle...the broken sheer line in a Monk always seems to be convex, rather than concave. Some Chrises in the early 40s and late 50s used the same line, but it seems like a signature of the Monk pictures I've seen. Is that true, Lew? And the bow of a Monk always seems to be pretty plumb, and Gilda's is more raked.

I really enjoyed seeing the Australian Halversons in the Sydney boat show pictures (as well as the other amazing boat photos). It might be interesting to compare designs of European, Australian, North American and South American powerboats of the same eras to look for design influences. Sailboat design would probably spread more easily since they are often bluewater craft, but it's the rare powerboat of less than 40' that would cross an ocean to influence a designer.

Maybe someone should write an international compare and contrast piece for the next Classic Yacht Magazine, Lew.


The next article is spoken for, but the one after is open:)

Monk's shears break both ways. It's easy to show an example of that; early and later boats demonstrate the "innie" and "outie" nature of the shear line in roughly equal proportion.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff76/LewBarrett/MicroShip.jpg
"Microship" has gotta be an early 50s design, I'm thinking.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff76/LewBarrett/away.jpg
Rita is of course pre-war

I saw Gilda's high house, opening forward windshields, and figured that it made perfect sense in a tropical climate. She also looks like she may carry some beam. Some of the fifties boats were quite commodious. We won't know until we learn more about her, but she's of a style for the era that made the rounds. I look forward to learning more about her.

That design, the bridgedeck/tricabin look with deco overtones is a classic version that was indeed widely popular because there are still many survivors built on the theme. The plumb bow is a natural consequence of the semi-displacement and full displacement
hull form, though I can show you clipper versions too.

When I get home I could scan some photos I have, or just make an album and link to it, but trying to figure out just who drew these boats would be an interesting bit of research indeed, and worthy of some ink. Thanks for the encouragement. Carioca needs to get back to us with some more details;)

[carioca1232001]

Lew Barrett and C Ross,
I ran into a friend last night who actually knows the person rennovating Gilda.

The plan is to contact this gent in Brasilia sometime next week, once the excesses of Easter have waned ! Hopefully, there will be more data for me to post , not long from now, aside from the pictures that I already have.

The downside is that all the old wooden boat yards have disappeared in Rio and together with them, all the records on paper. On the positive side, there is an 80-90 year old gentleman at my Yacht Club who was proprietor of one of the major yards in Rio, Car Bras Mar. He told me they had come to Rio from S. Paulo in the early 50´s to start a bus-manufacturing plant over a Volvo truck chassis, and named the business Car Bras. The Swedes then suggested they had a go at building boats, so they did and added Mar to the name, so on and so forth. He is perfectly lucid and comes to the Club for lunch every Thursday from his home in S. Paulo. He can be thought of as a living testimony to a part of the wooden boat era in Brazil.

BTW, may be a good idea to look at the Yacht Club´s archives too.

Happy Easter to all !

[C. Ross]

Carioca
Please post more when you get details.
Wonderful that you have a living connection to when the boat was made. I found a lot of information about my boat's yard in the Ontario and Toronto historical societies. Building permits, as well as blueprints and film that I hope to see in person some day. Not sure if the situation is comparable in Brasilia.

[Gulfcoastbreeze]

Sheerlines are fascinating things (I hope this is one audience that accepts my oddities for what they are). To this day there are some contemporary Carolina cold-molded sportfish builders using very traditional "outie" sheers, and some turkish yards building cartoon impressions of traditional boats with "innie" sheer steps.

One wonders if the plumb/reverse bow is back again to stay, along with classical sheers. I've seen Feadship's axe bow and a design from Classic Yacht's own publisher using modern versions of them. Maybe there is a mainstream return to traditional boats up the creek a few years?

[Lew Barrett]

One can hope. The classic approach buys some benefits, though most of these are not about "packaging" as it has come to be accepted in modern design jargon. But if the sort of easy going displacement/semi-displacement styles (and dare I say....classic good looks?) of these forms catch on, one justification can be fuel efficiency. I'd love to see modern techniques applied to classic designs, just as I enjoy the renaissance of form that one sees in architecture. With cars the boxy old designs and high weights aren't enough to overcome the benefits of lesser rolling resistance of narrow tires and relatively low speeds to yield truly great MPG performance. But with boats, the old hull forms are generally very efficient.
Wouldn't it be nice to see them building sensible boats again for the general public? Enough with the Winnebagos on keels!