For many millennia, sailboat masts have been made from trees. Trees are an obvious choice, as they are essentially ready-made masts, as if designed and grown for that purpose, which indeed they are, right down to the correct taper. Dry them out, strip the bark off, seal the wood, lash on hardware and rigging and off you go! Of the tens of thousands of years that this has worked for us, it has...
The Whiskey Plank
The whiskey plank, traditionally, is the last plank fastened into the hull. The occasion is typically marked by a party to celebrate.
The views expressed are those of the authors and may not necessarily reflect those of WoodenBoat.
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November 18, 2013 -
October 24, 2013The Roslyn Yawl MINOCQUA under sail in the 1890s—note the “balance jib” (photo courtesy of Gordon E. Hurley, Jr.). In the late 19th century, the sharpie type of inshore fishing boat began to insinuate itself into the world of yachting. In addition to the obvious qualities of speed and shoal draft, the low cost and simplicity of sharpies encouraged a new breed of yachtsman, who previously had not... -
October 07, 2013I spent the majority of my childhood in Bay Shore, on the south shore of Long Island. My father had died in 1950, when I was four years old, and my mother didn’t remarry until 1958. During the intervening eight years, two very kind local men endeavored to fill the roll of father figure and mentor. One was the janitor/handyman of the apartment complex where we lived. Eddy Pladdys had been... -
October 02, 2013A LORCHA sail plan, based on 16th-century Chinese/Portuguese technology. A common question people ask me is why masts are raked, and why, in many instances, they are raked differently. In ocean-sailing three-masted Chinese Junks, for example, the main mast is often nearly vertical, but the fore and mizzen masts rake strongly away from the main. The simple answer (really evading the question) is... -
September 23, 2013A band-saw mill cutting slabs from a big white pine tree. Wooden boats have souls. No, I’m not getting metaphysical on you, necessarily. But think about it: Wooden boats are made from organic, living trees, by hand, each one unique. Each piece of wood is, to me, a minor miracle of life on earth—beautiful, strong, flexible, unique, alive. I own a small sawmill, locally-made here in Maine. It...