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Miscellaneous Herreshoff Topics / Re: Herreshoff Drawings

« on: August 06, 2014, 05:30:04 AM »

Regarding Pleione:   Sometime around 1967-71 I was at US Submarine School and later based out of Groton/New London on Submarines. Having a strong interest in boats and sailing I became aware of Mystic Seaport and the shore between Westerly and Old LYme.   Back in those days I could get an afternoon off and would head over to Jamestown, RI, where one could catch the ferry to Newport (no bridge yet!)  Of course the draw was that on those summer days in the passage to Newport we would get up close and personal  views of the 12's practicing for the America's Cup........But one day I was kicking around the Mystic shipyard (I think-first one S of the Rt 1 bridge on the East/Stonington side)  I was surprised to find the largest piece of lead I had ever seen-sitting in the launching cradle was a ballast keel so big I thought "where could this have come from?"  Fresh from the recent 12 meter activity over in Newport I could only think of one of them!   Then I remembered that Pleione was up the river at the Seaport.   (Of course Vayu  nee Doris was across the river!) So I ran on up to the Seaport and being after hours (and I was  a member!), I jumped the fence.   There alongside the south bulkhead was Pleione afloat.  Her deck structures and hatches had been cutout of the deck and were lying on the lawn.   Her bilges were freshly filled with concrete .   The last 2 feet of the boat, transom and all had been sawn off and , like a tombstone, lay there with the name Plieone visible.     That transom ended up in the NYYC Clubhouse at the Seaport.  Her mainmast for a time became the flagpole just North of Cottrell's lumber yard on the East bank of the river.  A very sad story/  JC

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Herreshoff Designs Not Built By HMCo / Re: Herreshoff Carpenter

« on: August 04, 2014, 06:06:16 AM »

HI DDD-  I would be interested to see those photos of Carpenter.  What ever actually came of the boat?

Beyond that- for comparison- I have built replicas of Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship's boat which came to be known as the "James Caird"  Being aware of the Carpenter design (and a student of L. Francis H.) I had it in mind when we were building and sailing the James Caird both for the movie cameras and for exhibitions and also for some plain fun.  James Caird is a bit larger than Carpenter at 24 ft, has a standing lug mainsail and would sail along quite nicely.   Having no centerboard or much of a keel and no rocker she was slow to tack, however.  But other than this shortcoming she was just fine.  (On the "replicas" I actually left more of a curved keel exposed below the rabbet line than on the original in hope of giving it something to hang on a little going to windward and also maybe to help her turn when tacking)
    I am betting that the Carpenter would do better to windward and tack better as well with the center board as drawn.  I would really like to know more about it.  Probably Carpenter is a better rowing boat that the James Caird.
    Recently I made the acquaintance of Charles Welch, grand nephew to C.A. Welch.  He remembers his great uncle and I will hope we can learn something.......    (maybe about why Albatross was not built?)   Cheers/   JC