Herreshoff bronze anchor windlass - NY40

[Adam]

This is interesting....Trying to find out which NY40....

http://cgi.ebay.com/Nathanael-Herreshoff-bronze-anchor-windlass-circa-1916_W0QQitemZ230441930053QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item35a768cd45

[Adam Langerman]

(914) 939-8388. Business Types: Antique Repair & Restoration. Nimble Thimble Inc the 21 Putnam Avenue Port Chester, NY 10573-2750

[Adam]

Let me guess you know more then your posting? 

[Adam]

Well this is what they said:

No. It was found in storage.

[julianscottmorris]

Great Forum!  I just removed a disfunctional Herreshoff bronze anchor Capstan-windlass from my...40' 1929 john alden yawl...no offense intended to this sacred Herreshoff site by speaking that name and had been searching for disassemble instructions and a crank but after some soaking it freed up fine. There is a 2 stamped on the base plate as well as the Herreshoff name and address. I'm searching for any information on how it operates and that is what led me here.  I do know that it spins in either direction freely, with a turn of either square crank protrursion no matter where the small 3 position spring loaded (switch) on the side is in and I have no idea what the knob on the opposite side of the capstan barrel, from the switch does. I don't see where I can upload a picture here but I can send one out.  Thanks Scott

[Adam]

Hi Scott - Welcome - Pic's have to be hosted somewhere else and then "linked" to the site...If you can't do this, then e-mail them to me I can post them for you. As far as how the Capstan works - I'm sure there are some folks on here that can help - but there are two places you might want to check for solid research - 1) the Herreshoff Museum in Bristol RI has a number of them and I'm sure they can help, and 2) at MIT - The Hart Collection has all the original drawings.

I'm curious - What Alden boat do you have? Who was the builder? Herreshoff built several...

[julianscottmorris]

Hi Adam,

Thanks for the quick response. I purchased (saved) the Alden from the estate sale of Donald Anderson, New Port RI. The boat was in RI for 40 yrs. and spent the last 10 on hard in Donald's driveway in downtown New Port. It was built by the Harvey F. Gamage shipbuilders of South Bristol Maine, John Alden design 699, one of a few known survivors from that year. It now resides outside my shop in Morris, CT. on Bantam Lake, so it gets a lot of stares and many more stupid questions..."are you puttn' that thar boat on the lake?"  I got a good jump on the restoration. It had been rebuilt in the early 80's so most of the wood is good. I've mostly been stripping out everything that was poorly done. That scrap pile is getting taller every day. I think that it was for sale for quite awhile and the entire boat, decks too, were coated with fairing compound (bondo) for not apparent reason only to give a smooth appearance once painted. I suspect all of the compound cracked 35min. after application. I've done a lot of grinding. Thanks Scott

[Adam]

hey Scott - would love to see pic's of her and the progress you make - please post them! A good "free' site is "www.Flickr.com" for hosting your pics.

For the lurkers - here is Aldens site with some of the "classic" designs that are still for sale. #699 is not listed but several right in that time frame are so you can get a sence of what he was up to.

http://www.aldendesigns.com/classics.html

[HerreshoffHistory]

Regarding where this NY40 winch might come from: In 1933, #780s Shawara sank when towed by a tanker. Somewhere I once read that all that remained of her was her winch at the end of the towing line. If only I could remember where I read that. So for all it's worth, the winch offered on Ebay, may have been from Shawara. Or not...

"... For five hours the Shawarah's decks had been awash. Several seams had given way and her hatch was bashed in.
After the tanker had made a lee, a lifeline was shot to the sloop with life rings attached. The men adjusted the line about Mrs. Parsons and she was hauled fifty feet or more through the water to the side of the tanker. It was at this time that a wave caught the sloop and hurled it high against the tanker's starboard bow. The men were able to leap to the well deck of the liner just as Mrs. Parsons cleared the tanker's rail.
Towed By Tanker
The Shawarah then was taken in tow with a hawser attached to her hand winch, but she was laboring heavily, with her mast gone and a great hole stove in her starboard quarter. After being towed for ten miles the sloop was struck by a heavy head sea. The hand winch was jerked from the deck bolts and the vessel sank. She was afloat under tow for three hours after the rescue.
Mrs. Parsons said that she thought all would be willing to race again, after they had recovered from their near-tragic experience." (Source: Anon. "Sunken Sloop's Crew Reaches N. Y. Seven Survivors Tell Of Facing Death In Gale Off Delaware Capes. Lone Woman Injured. Mrs. Edmund Parsons Bruised As Sea Hurls Shawarah Against Side Of Rescue Tanker." Baltimore Sun, July 5, 1933, p. 9.)

[Adam]

That is kind of a cool story - do you know whart race they were in?

[Adam]

here are some deck shots (athough I cant see tha capstan) of Shawara in better times....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jayheritagecenter/4011389646/sizes/o/in/photostream/

[HerreshoffHistory]

>That is kind of a cool story - do you know what race they were in?

The Gibson Island race. Shawarah was Rhode-Island-owned back then.

Those Shawara shots on Flicker are fascinating!

"1933. ... Parsons and Jim Tillinghast bought the New York 40 sloop Shawara to enter in the Gibson's Island race. ... The Gibson's island race started from New London June 25 [1933] with five Rhode Island boats, the two New York 40's Rugosa II [#608s] and Shawara in class A and C. B. Rockwell's Wild Goose [#1155s], E. P. Jastram's Black Friar and Graydon Abbott's Friendship sloop Highland Ball in class B in the fleet.
Rugosa finished 4th and Shawara 6th in their class; Wild Goose 3rd ... Shawara, on her way home, ran into a northeast gale off the Jersey coast and opened forward and sank about a half hour after her crew was taken off by a passing tanker. ..." (Source: Davis, Jeff. Yachting in Narragansett Bay. Providence, 1946, p. 61.)

"New York, July 3 [1933]. --- Six men and women on the disabled sloop 'Shawarah,' of Providence, R. I., were picked up ofr the Delaware capes today by the oil tanker 'Yorba Linda,' said a wireless message to the ship's operators, the Standard Transportation Company tonight.
The message said the sloop was taken in tow at 1 o'clock this afternoon and at 4 o'clock filled with water and sank. The report to the company did not say whether any of the rescued persons had suffered any ill effects from their experience.
The 'Shawarah,' a 40-foot boat, was headed north after sailing to Gibson Island, Maryland, in the yacht race from New London.
Providence. R. I., July 3 [1933]. ---Those aboard the 'Shawarah' rescued today by the tanker 'Yorba Linda,' were: Mr. and Mrs. Edmund S. Parsons, Warwick; Clarke Freeman, Richard S. Pratt, Hingham, Mass; William Crossley, Pawtucket; Joseph Lawton, Phenix, R. I., and Walter White, Oakland Beach." (Source: Anon. "Tanker Rescues Six From Sloop 'Shawarah'; Disabled Craft Sinks." Hartford Daily Courant, July 4, 1933, p. 7.)

[julianscottmorris]

Great story!  It is conceivable that the previous owner of my boat, which is a 1929 John Alden #399 41', I had previously stated that it was #699, probably due to a bourbon induced memory laspe, purchased that windlass. He was a well known resident, builder and boat owner in New Port RI and could have been in a position to aquire it in salvage yard in that time for an earlier boat and got past along as a vintage piece of equipment.

[julianscottmorris]

I posted a 1/2 dozen pics on flicker but I'm at a loss to know what to do next. Thanks for any help to get them over here. 2 are of the windlass. http://www.flickr.com/photos/28746141@N00/         

think I got it!

[Carlotta]

Regarding where this NY40 winch might come from: In 1933, #780s Shawara sank when towed by a tanker. Somewhere I once read that all that remained of her was her winch at the end of the towing line. If only I could remember where I read that. So for all it's worth, the winch offered on Ebay, may have been from Shawara. Or not...

"... For five hours the Shawarah's decks had been awash. Several seams had given way and her hatch was bashed in.
After the tanker had made a lee, a lifeline was shot to the sloop with life rings attached. The men adjusted the line about Mrs. Parsons and she was hauled fifty feet or more through the water to the side of the tanker. It was at this time that a wave caught the sloop and hurled it high against the tanker's starboard bow. The men were able to leap to the well deck of the liner just as Mrs. Parsons cleared the tanker's rail.
Towed By Tanker
The Shawarah then was taken in tow with a hawser attached to her hand winch, but she was laboring heavily, with her mast gone and a great hole stove in her starboard quarter. After being towed for ten miles the sloop was struck by a heavy head sea. The hand winch was jerked from the deck bolts and the vessel sank. She was afloat under tow for three hours after the rescue.
Mrs. Parsons said that she thought all would be willing to race again, after they had recovered from their near-tragic experience." (Source: Anon. "Sunken Sloop's Crew Reaches N. Y. Seven Survivors Tell Of Facing Death In Gale Off Delaware Capes. Lone Woman Injured. Mrs. Edmund Parsons Bruised As Sea Hurls Shawarah Against Side Of Rescue Tanker." Baltimore Sun, July 5, 1933, p. 9.)