The Herreshoff Forum - Index
Herreshoff Forum => Specific Herreshoff Vessels => Topic started by: Robert (Alerion Sailor) on October 19, 2012, 09:12:05 PM
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Well, I know own Buccaneer and look forward to the restoration. I have some question that I hope someone can help with the answers.
The registry says Buccaneer was built in 1917. My question is was it built before or after the sale of the HMC ?
Is it possible to obtain records ie (contract copy) from 1917 that can be obtained for my personal files.
Robert
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Don't have an exact date but the reorg of the stockholders was in "early" 1917. The construction record says 1/22/17 contract date. Unfortunately contract dates don't mean when she was built, or even started - In fact there could be many months between the contract and when work started. I have never seen an accurate completion date record.
As for the actual contract records - the construction record is published in "The Guide to the Heffenreffer - Herreshoff collection" (MIT). Some of the Hart collection includes "business records" but very little actually exists.
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I would be willing to wager that you won't be able to find a copy of your contract. Unfortunately, not much in the way of business records have survived. The company wasn't sold at auction to the Haffenreffer's until 1924, though the preceding years were a bit tumultuous from a business perspective.
Adam is spot on about the contract date. I would expect that a 1/22 order date implied she was to be delivered to Beverly in the spring in time for the new sailing season. Delivery dates are rarely recorded. I have been trying to compile them from multiple sources, but the information is till quite spotty. I know HerreshoffHistory is also working on thisd and may have a more complete set of results than I do. That said, I don't have a delivery date for BUCCANEER.
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>The registry says Buccaneer was built in 1917. My question is was it
>built before or after the sale of the HMC?
#822s Buccaneer was contracted for on January 22, 1917.
By that time, N. G. Herreshoff had already been in negotiations about
the sale of HMCo but without specific results.
In early February 1917 an agreement over the sale of stock was made
and on March 1, 1917 the transfer of stock took place.
I would expect Buccaneer to have been launched in about 1917 thus she
was built right during the sale of HMCo.
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Interesting, so BUCCANEER was delivered to Beverly Yacht Club.
And was contracted and possibly built while HMC still owned by NGH. The time line was very close. I wonder how long it would have taken HMC to actually build BUCCANEER.
So Buccaneer could very well have been one of the very last boats built under the watch full eye of Captain Nat.
This is very interesting.
thanks
Robert
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You are probably right to say that Buccaneer was built at the end of an era.
From March 1917 on a large percenage of the stock of the Herreshoff
Manufacturing Company was held by outsiders, even though N. G.
Herreshoff and his son Sidney would remain substantial stockholders.
N. G. Herreshoff carried the title of President but would go into
"semi-retirement".
I wonder how much he actually supervised the construction of
Buccaneer. She was the 71st of 92 Herreshoff 15s that would eventually
be built and no construction surprises were to be expexted. And the
reorganisation of the company, stockholders meetings and talks to new
personnel and new owners kept N. G. Herreshoff busy.
It'll be probably impossible to find out just how quickly Buccaneer
was built, but expect it to be between 50 and 100 days.
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HerreshoffHistory, is it possible for me to get a copy of the your info you have of the contract date record for #822.
I suppose that could be accurate that Captain Nat might have had his hands full at the time but I think it is also fair to say that BUCCANEER was built at the end of an era.
Maybe if he was a man of routine he found time to make his trips through the shops to clear his thoughts and find some peace of mind and sollice or just greet the men and provide the assurance that the company was secure and jobs were safe. It probably just felt good to tour the shops to see his creations being built as he designed them, this would have given great satisfaction or reminder of his accomplishment.
I wonder which other boats were contracted and built around this time.
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Just under the cleat that was originally installed mid ship for the main sheet appears to be an H shaped plate. It is directly between the bases for the cleat mounts I can't read it from the pictures but would this be the orginal Herreshoff builders plate. If you can zoom the picture you can just see that there is a plate fastened with about 10 round headed nails. Can anyone verify this as the builder plate. I looks different form the rectangular plate I'm familiar with.
Comparing the two areas of 678 and BUCCANEER it is different, BUCCANEER has what appears to be a narrower piece of trimming that the main sheet cleat is attached to. Did Herreshoff change their builders plates the an H shaped at anytime? What ever this plate is it also appears to be fastened the similar type round head nails as 678's builders plate.
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f118/Alerion111/NamePlatecloseup.jpg)
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f118/Alerion111/IMG00440-20110531-1549.jpg)
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Well I gues I'll have to wait, I'm picking up the boat in the first week of November, so I'll have to wait until then
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"HerreshoffHistory, is it possible for me to get a copy of the your info you have of the contract date record for #822."
See:
http://herreshoff.org/store/product70.html
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"H shaped plate...but would this be the orginal Herreshoff builders plate."
No they never did an H shaped plate that I know of. Ovals and squares....
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Ya' know Steve this thread has me thinking.... someday someone has got to corner Wendy Goodwin and get into the records she has. I wouldn't be at all surprised if there is a box somewhere at CCSB with bunches of HMCo. busuiness records that havent seen the light of day since '46.
Time for another call?
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Hi Adam, it may not be a HMCo plate but it does look sort of H shaped plate and it does look as though it is fastened with round head nails.
I have no idea how to find out the contract date other than through this web site.
Who else built these boat? could this be a plate of a different manufacturer and maybe it isn't an original HMC boat?
When I compare the 2 stern cock pit trim on BUCCANEER does look to be a a narrower size which would limit the ability to fasten a plate below the cleat.
But the gaff horn look original as well as the pulley's, stern post even the vent plate on the rear floatation compartment looks similar to one I have seen on another boat I think it was ELF..
Yes revewing the other records would be a good idea, for researching things.
I have asked Wendy Hurd if she would have a look and possibly take a close up picture of this area.
Did HMC ever install there plate under the cleat like in the picture of BUCCANEER?
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Adam I think I met you once at HMCo pier one morning about 2-3 years ago I helped you try free up a stuck haulyard flag line on the flag pole on the Pier.
Or a least it was fellow named Adam that I helped that day on the peer, I didn't catch the last name.
Robert
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Robert - the link I provided is to a book which has copies of the original HMCo. builders record - which has the contract date info. It is the primary resource for that info because the actual contracts primarily do not exist.
Other then reproductions built in the last 30 years all of the "original" 15's are built by HMCo.but keep in mind that you are dealing with 100+ year old boats that have probably been rebuilt several times so it is not unusual to get variations from the original. Past rebuilds probably did not take authenticity into account. That plate may or may not even be a builders plate -and I doubt it was original to the boat.
Also if you hit the "Document" link above you will see a short paper on the class that Steve wrote which might be helpfull.
The "Adam" you mention was probably Adam Langerman who is Halsey's partner at Herreshoff Designs. He's younger and better looking then I.... :D
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HMCo had several different builder's plates, but none of then were H-shaped. That H-shaped plate had to have been added by a prior owner. The plate on BUCCANEER would be a small rectangle of German silver, and would have been mounted on the aft bulkhead, centerline, just below the cleat.
Adam: Wendy did send me some information on the wooden 12s that CCSB built, though not as much as I would have liked. She is quite protective of the names and contact information of current owners (as she should be). As for her having boxes of old business records ... I don't think she has anything, but what a treasure it would be if she does! You are friends with her, right? ;D
The "rear vent plate" is not an original item. I added the one on ELF specifically for ventilation of the aft air chamber. That and the forward compartment were originally meant for flotation chambers, as these boats are not self-bailing. On ELF, I also added a large plastic, water-tight hatch from West Marine to ventilate the forward chamber. (Relax ... nobody could see it unless you crawled into the cuddy).
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A WB member put this up for me
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f118/Alerion111/77ea531fdeb713530d06e74d6cf7c8361.jpg)
Are there any other sources of info available for the Herreshoff boats that might turn up something.
Robert
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"1944. ... Jack Mahony bought two of the Herreshoff 15-foot class knockabouts, Buccaneer [#822s] and Monsoon [#1079s], at Newport, kept Buccaneer for himself and sold Monsoon to Dick DeCubellis; ..." (Source: Davis, Jeff. Yachting in Narragansett Bay. Providence, 1946, p. 122.)
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I wonder how long Jack owned Buccaneer? There is an attorney in Providence named John Mahoney in Providence he might be related to Jack. I sent him an email to to if he remembers Buccaneer.
Robert
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Robert - besides books there are three main library's of documents - the Hart collection at MIT, The Herreshoff Marine Museum library, and Mystic Seaport. Those are the main ones. Other sources include local Yacht Club records (if you can deturmin any of the clubs your boat was out of), local papers in those days also published racing results - which can help with past owners, and periodicals such as Rudder and loyds also will have info.
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What material would the sails be made of, They are supposed to the original cross cut sails.
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f118/Alerion111/BUCCANEERSAILNUMBER.jpg)
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f118/Alerion111/BUCCANEEROUTFORASAIL.jpg)
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f118/Alerion111/BUCCANEERGETTINGREADYFORASAIL.jpg)
These were taken in the mid 70's
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Would have been cotton - American or Egyptian. Dacron was not introduced until the 50's sometime. A number of sailmakers make special dacron sails that have the look and feel ofthe old cotton sail for restoration purposes.
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That what I thought, When I was a kid my father had an folk boat the sails were a beautiful cotton material the had a nice feel to them. I'm pretty excited about this boat. I was researching th Rudder Magazine in May 1978 had an article about a boat named BUCCANEER, I don't know if it was this Buccaneer. I will have to research this lead a bit more.
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When I restored ELF, we used modern Dacron sail cloth in an off-white color with cross-cut construction.
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The colour of Elf's sails looked real nice. If you don't mind me asking how much did it cost for Elf's sails?
Got a price from Nat Wilson Quoted $2,600 for J&M made of a creme colour Dacron Does sound about right?
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"1944. ... Jack Mahony bought two of the Herreshoff 15-foot class knockabouts, Buccaneer [#822s] and Monsoon [#1079s], at Newport, kept Buccaneer for himself and sold Monsoon to Dick DeCubellis; ..." (Source: Davis, Jeff. Yachting in Narragansett Bay. Providence, 1946, p. 122.)
H R, I did get an emails back from John Mahoney his comments were as follows.
I spoke to my grandfather, Jack Mahoney, this past weekend and he informed me that in the early 1940’s, approximately 1942, he purchased a racing sailboat called a “snipe.” He could not recall the name of the boat but did not recall the name BUCCANEER. He could not recall the manufacture but was fairly certain that the “snipe” he purchased was manufactured after 1917, likely closer in time to the boat’s purchase in the early 1940’s.
Also, my wife tried to look up the boat to which you were referring on the internet to provide the information to my grandfather to spur his memory. Unfortunately, the listing for the "Yachting in Narragansett Bay" that we saw listed the boat as a catamaran. I told my grandfather that the boat may have been a catamaran, which may have thrown him off a bit. My grandfather informed me that he never owned a catamaran.
Robert
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Not for anything but in Southern New England the name "Jack Mahony" is about as common as sand on a beach....Being the Jack you are looking for kept the boat in Newport - you might want to call a few of the clubs and speak to whomever is their historian....Newport YC and Ida Lewis YC come to mind - as well as the Narragansett Bay Yacht Racing Association. certainly if she raced she would be in the yearbooks and race results.
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Adam I think you're right, I'm checking the Yacht Club you mentioned to what I can find out. I wasn't able to find any Jack Mahony spelled without the e. And thought that I would try the John Mahoney I was pretty excited when he spoke of a boat in in 1942 his grand father bought but a BB15 should be memorable enough over a Snipe.
John Mahoney's father was going to speak to Mr Jack Mahony (Grampa) to see if he rattle some of those memories from 70 years ago. I'll keep my fingers crossed or maybae a pictures might surface who knows.
Robert
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Aloha Robert,
Congratulations on your find. Some unsolicited advice given in the spirit of getting you sailing sooner rather than later.
When you get the vessel restored and sailing, people are bound to come up to you and say, "I sailed on that, or I know something about that boat." Same thing if you restore it in a place with visibility. They will also congratulate you for getting her on the water again. Then you will make your own memories aboard and people will do the same thing 30 years from now about Buccaneer and you.
Tracing the lineage via race results is time consuming but interesting work. However, I'd consider focusing on the restoration, the research is a means of procrastination. A Project plan might be a good activity at this point if not done already. If you are well on the way with project planning, perhaps you could share with the group. Steve Nagy's paper on BB15 restoration, mentioned above, is an excellent primer. Ghastly thought to cut the deck off with a chainsaw but he's right, getting through the preliminaries quickly let's you get to the frames, planks etc.
The owner of the S-Boats Squaw and Papoose also put up a website to check and detail their restoration progress which certainly produced some valuable insights on the boats history. Highest regards to you for saving another classic.--Charles
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I think the same way, my new shop at the lake is being built 32x36, I have read several restoration article on mostly Herreshoff boats. I think the first step once it has arrived safely in her new home is to loft and build stations to craddle the hull to bring the hull back to its original shape and then open her up, reframe/plank/floors . Then flip it and start on the keel. Steve's article was well written as well as the article on the Herreshoff web site and several youtubes vids have been very helpful.
Thanks again
Robert
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Here is a high level plan that might be useful....From the very best at it....
http://mpgboats.com/atypicalrestoration.htm
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Thanks Adam I will definately be following this it is very systematic process that will come in handy.
Robert
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Robert: The sails on ELF were about $2000. They were built by Geoff McKonly, then of the Philadelphia Wooden Boat Factory and now of Rockin' The Boat in NY. Nat Wilson's reputation precedes him. If I were you, that's where I would go.
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Thanks guys for the info.
Well I'm on the road. I have a big drive ahead of me there and back to get the boat
I'll let you know how it goes.
Robert
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Good luck - And dont forget the pics - Lots and lots of Pics......
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AdamI arrive this morning I will post pictures soon
Thanks
Robert
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Well Buccaneer is loaded on the trailer and looking better. We had a great day. The crane came out pick her up and with a little josling around and help of the owner and several friends of the owner we got it loaded up on trailer a then spent several hours getting ready for the trip. Here ia a picture of the trailer.
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f118/Alerion111/Ipad110912237.jpg)
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Good luck!
Jon 8)
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Thanks John, I think this will be a interesting project. Buccaneer is pretty much complete but does require new frames, keel, floors, full deck and beams. I do have all the hardware and spars.
Robert
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http://s46.beta.photobucket.com/user/Alerion111/library/BUCCANEER?#/user/Alerion111/library/?&_suid=135300106708705797325471183361
Here is the photbucket web site with a bunch of pictures of my Alerion and Buccaneer
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She looks far better than I thought she would. Excellent pic’s keep them up with the progress…Did you ever locate a plate? Was there any writing on that “H” shaped one….? Very exciting stuff!
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The H shaped tag was a piece of leather. I couldn't see anything on it but maybe it was a tag from another company that did work on the boat at one time.
They did have the builders plate at one time, but could not find it, Wendy said she would keep looking for and mail it to me when she finds it. I'll have to wait and see, I have my fingers crossed. The previous owner was a collector of all sorts and didn't seem to be the kind of person to toss anything. He may have placed it somewhere for safe keeping and it will turn up.
The previous owners were great people they owned Buccaneer for 40 years, it was my pleasure to meet them.
Robert
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Did HMC ever have a habit of marking pieces on the boat with the number. I've checked the tiller but don't see any markings unlike the tiller from MissQ that I purchased from Ebay. I thought I could see some numbers on the bottom of the mast but it wasn't clear enough to call it anything.
I did see HMC marking on the bow chocks though.
Winter has settle in and while I my new shop built I think I will go over all the spars and start to restore them first.
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I did find out 2 more former owners of Buccanner that Wendy's Dad had tracked down when he purchased Buccaneer in the 70's.
Tom Carson owned Buccaneer for 5-6 years
William Johson owned Buccaneer for 15 - 20 years ( this fellows owned a yarn and string factory in he was from Bristol R.I., he was apparently a big cars collector.
I also know that Eric Foster Buccaneers previous owner purchased the boat from Moultonboro Marine in Center Harbour N.H.
Robert
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Robert,
Not an easy drive to Edmonton and what a find, you must be thrilled. Good luck. The spars will keep you going.
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Robert: Sometimes, HMCo would put the casting pattern number on bronze hardware.
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Charles it was a very long drive. I'm glad to be back in Edmonton. When I left Edmonton about the 30 minutes into the drive it was snowing and the roads were icy, the thought to turn around go home and get a flight to Phoenix and join my family crossed my mind and stayed there for about an hour but I'm glad I stuck with my plan. When I arrived and first saw the boat of course I was only seeing the areas of the boat that required lots of work and it was dicouraging me but I pressed on and got her loaded up and felt 100 % better. The drive home was easier than the drive there because I had what I came for and was looking forward to the opportunies on the way back to look her over when I pulled over for gas or a break to refresh my mind.
Robert
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Beautiful! Simply beautiful.
Driving carefully, a 100 year old treasure behind, that very few people could view as a treasure. Your mind bounces back and forth between the road, the ice, the problems and the vision of you sailing this vessel some summer hence...what a road trip, maybe with your kids or grandkids--'hold the tiller more gently son...'. Stopping every now and again to get gas or liquids and look her over and admire through the plywood that shouldn't be there, the dry rotted frames under the deck, the peeling paint, and the good timbers and planks that can be restored. The conversations with truck driver or person getting gas across the pump. Keeping an eye out for the rogue deer that might jump across the highway and bring it all to a crashing halt in a ditch, or worse. Thoughts of the previous owners and how you will never let her come into such disrepair balanced by the notion "Do I have enough left in me for another restoration?"
Beautiful, manly exertion. Too bad you couldn't share it with a friend. But you have us instead. Good on you, Robert.
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Thought I would post a picture of some pullies that were on the deck one of them had a P etched on the shell. I think this was a jib sheet. Either P was for a boat name starting with a P or someone started to Buccaneer and gave up halfway thru the B
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f118/Alerion111/BuccaneerPullies009.jpg)
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f118/Alerion111/BuccaneerPullies007.jpg)
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Maybe it was the Port side block?
Jon 8)
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Port = possibility.
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Well I checked the sails Buccaneer came with there are 2 sets both have Spiniker sails. One set made by Thurston with a Yellow and black alternating colour much like a yellow jacket hornet which seem to the nicer set the other made by Hood Sails which does seems to be an older set. Both set have the E 19.
I post some pictures of the tiller and Jib club.
The Jib club has checked pretty bad it looks original I thin I might try to repair to see how it goes but I does have a nice sitka spruce club as a back up and I'll transfer the hardware.
I think I will try mold remover one more time.
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f118/Alerion111/BuccaneerTiller001.jpg)
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f118/Alerion111/BuccaneerTiller002.jpg)
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f118/Alerion111/BuccaneerTiller003.jpg)
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A badly cracked Jib club and a really nice jib club, a decent spiniker pole and Miss Q's tiller,.
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f118/Alerion111/BuccaneerSaprs013.jpg)
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f118/Alerion111/BuccaneerSaprs001.jpg)
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f118/Alerion111/BuccaneerSaprs003.jpg)
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Wow! You got all those old track screws out without twisting off the heads! Good for you!
Jon 8)
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all the screws were falling outI actually thought I was going to lose some on the trip back.