Cangarda under way!

In answer to all the angry emails demanding information, I'm now doing continuous coverage on Cangarda.

[Breaking news] Sunday the 24th Cangarda raised steam and maneuvered for about an hour in the Richmond Ship Channel. The owner was at the helm and Chief Pete Jordan (ably assisted by Alex David of Maritime Controls) was controlling the boiler and engines. I missed the whole thing (windsurfing)...if anyone has a photo of it under way, email it to me and I will post it here.

Pete came in this morning, jonesing for coffee, and reported that the engines and propulsion worked well. He doesn't have any idea where they actually went, because he and Alex were so busy controlling the boiler, furnace, pumps and engine that they couldn't even stick their heads out the companionway.

As I wrote previously, the intention is to automate much of the operation; however, essentially none of that has been done yet. The electricians are not close to finishing their work (the vessel operated Sunday with a temporary load center), and until they do, Maritime Controls can't hook up and calibrate the dozens of valves, gauges, etc required for normal operation.

So in answer to all the emails about Cangarda's schedule...she still has a long way to go. I will keep you posted.

Lake Champlain Sail Ferry

Here's an odd little vessel we designed and built in 2001:

Weatherwax from port quarter

Ha, ha. The first caption was fake -- it's double ended, and the rig is on one side (the leeward side, duh)! It's stange, but we didn't just invent this thing up in a caffeine fueled weekend, in fact, the double ended sailing ferry is a historic type that was unique to Lake Champlain. Bordered by New York and Vermont (and maybe Quebec), the prevailing wind on the long and narrow lake is along its narrow north/south axis, which let the double ended sailing ferries reach back and forth across it.

People used to wear nice hats

Weatherwax is licensed by the USCG to carry passengers and now lives at the Champlain Valley Transportation Museum. Find out more about the vessel.

In the first sentence, I wrote "we designed and built...", which I suppose is strictly true, but doesn't give Douglas Brooks, the project manager, the credit he deserves for getting the contract, motivating the project, and then actually building ~90% of the vessel himself.

Douglas caulking the bottom

Since the fery project, he's kept himself busy. Here's his latest creation, a glued lapstrake replica of a Henry Rushton Catboat.

Under way

Douglas is an interesting mix of scholar and practical, Yankee boatbuilder. Without a doubt, he is the living expert on the tarabuine (japanese tub boat). Go to your local bookstore and ask for his book, The Tub Boats of Sado Island: A Japanese Craftsman's Methods. Yeah, well that's supposed to be a joke too...let's say you won't find it at Barnes and Noble, but you can get it through his website.

As far as being an excellent, completely no-fake, Yankee boatbuilder, I will now bestow upon him the highest praise that a Yankee boatbuilder can give to another, "Boy, you are clever. Why you are good enough to make a set of false teeth."