WoodenBoat contributor Bruce Halabisky and his young family have been cruising in a 34′ wooden boat for the past seven years. Most recently the family crossed the Atlantic from Maine, via the Azores, and then sailed on to Senegal.
Boating in fresh air may be invigorating, but there’s nothing like settling into a cozy cabin at the end of the day. It soothes the spirit and is one of the great pleasures of being out on the water.
Our so-called “bateau” boat is not yet five minutes away from the dock before we spot our first gator. It isn’t very big–maybe four or five feet. I glimpse the crest of its head and the black, reptilian eyes glaring at me above the brown water. Then there’s the flash of a tail, and it is gone. I remember what “Mr. John” Benoit said after the fog had lifted this morning and J.B. Castagnos had launched our 20' cypress-planked bateau at Mr. John’s camp on Bayou Pidgeon.
WB No. 233: Lessons of the BOUNTY — We’ve received numerous requests for reprints of Capt. Andy Chase’s article “Lessons of the BOUNTY: Drawing experience from tragedy.”
Leo Goolden, a native of England who learned boatbuilding in yards in Bristol and Cornwall, wrote in WB No. 266 about the daunting task of replacing the 48′ LOA yacht’s timber keel.