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Vol. II Issue # 1
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January 2010
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Greetings!
Contained in this issue is the answer to the most asked question, who won the Swampscott Dory. We are lucky; the dory will be here this summer in Springs. Included also in this newsletter is a short review of the mast-building workshop and a review of our annual holiday dinner party and how two cars never made it home in the blizzard of '09. I will also summarize the success of '09 and begin to layout the plans for the coming year.
Your Skipper,
Ray Hartjen
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Swampscott Dory - And The Winner is............
Tom Collins of Springs, NY is the lucky winner of the 2009 raffle. For us at the Classic Boat Society this is a particularly significant occurrence for several reasons. The one that stands out most in my mind is the fact that Tom Collins is the cousin of one John Collins. What's so great about that, you say. Well, John Collins is the boatwright who began the whole classic boat building program in the old lobster shack on the Commercial Dock at the end of Gann Road on the edge of Three Mile Harbor more than 30 years ago, a predecessor to our current organization.
Among the boats that were built by John is the Polinska, a Connecticut River drag boat that I remember having participated in sistering 16 ribs and several planks and a new stem when our version of the society spent a winter in the Wentworth Barn on Long Lane many moons ago. This boat is now in the hands of member Burt Van Deusen who, by the way, helped John Collins build it in the '80's.
Now, the second reason I am delighted that Tom won the boat is the fact that we have arranged with Tom to borrow it back for display at our annual Classic Boat Fair in July and our annual Boat Meet at Louse Point in August. This means when you come to Louse Point the first Sunday of August, you too will have the opportunity to take her out for a row. What could be nicer???
I want to thank the volunteer members who helped build the dory and all of you who participated in the 2009 raffle. Your purchase of raffle tickets will help maintain the boat shop and support more boat building activities.
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Hollow Mast-Building Workshop
What remained in the afternoon was the gluing process. The eight pieces were laid out with birdsmouth facing up and many hands helped spread the epoxy. The next step involved almost all 12 pairs of hands rolling the eight segments up into a perfect octagon. Plastic cable ties were used to temporarily hold the pieces together. Hose clamps were then used to secure the bundle. Then came the interesting part. Jim, with a rubber mallet, began hitting the mast at critical points to bring it to a perfectly straight mast. This took a great amount of sighting and rotating and tapping until all of the bends were out. What was so impressive is that within the space of a day a mast had been created.
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Those who were not helping with the shaping of the eight mast segments began the process of rounding the other fully glued mast which Jim had also brought with him. The process involved planing the apex of the eight points to the point where there were now 16 evenly spaced points. The next step involved again planing the points until 32 equally spaced points brought the mast to almost perfectly round. The last step involved sanding, lots of sanding.
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Annual Holiday Dinner Party
On the morning of our scheduled holiday dinner party at the boat shop, I considered canceling the event because of the forecast blizzard. But, all those I called encouraged me to go forth. Even afterwards, in talking to member Dee Kaufman who didn't make it home with her car, when asked if I should have canceled the event she replied, "we are adventurous sailors. No, it was a great evening and a great adventure."
Thirty-four intrepid members and friends made it to the annual dinner, a little more than half of those who planned to come. We all enjoyed the fine wine from New Zealand which members Andy Harris and his wife Sally Richardson had provided (thank you Andy and Sally). The food was up to its usual high standards and the companionship was at it best. Everyone seemed to appreciate my remarks which summarized our year's accomplishments (see separate heading below). Member Richard Davgin and his elves deserve our many thanks for cleaning up the shop and arranging for the dinner.
The ride home for all of us was truly an adventure. Everyone spoke of driving in whiteout conditions through the blizzard. My route home was through the woods of Amagansett on Old Stone Highway. I could hardly see the tracks left by a vehicle that preceded me. I rode with my heart in my throat, but I did make it home. Two others didn't. Nick Stephens, a fellow member, spent the night at Quail Hill Farm and Dee Kaufman, whom I spoke of earlier, had to abandon her car and walk the last quarter mile home.
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Bill Good - Master at Promotion
We are indebted to fellow member Bill Good for all that he has done to promote the Classic Boat Society throughout 2009. He created a master list of all the local media and beyond to which he sends carefully worded press releases and photos for every conceivable happening at the boat shop. I am convinced that the awareness of the work we are doing in celebrating the revival of classic boat construction has become household knowledge hereabouts due to his efforts.
We owe him another round of applause for his effort to help promote our raffle boat, the Swampscott Dory, at every major festival and fair that took place on the East End in 2009. It began with the Montauk Harbor Festival in June, the Fisherman's Fair at Springs in August, Harborfest and the Greenport Maritime Festival in September and the Annual Fall Festival at Montauk in October. Assisting Bill at each of these events has been a small crew of dedicated members who have been super salesmen and women promoting the Society and the sale of raffle tickets. My hat's off to Bill and his support team for all they accomplished in 2009 at these events.
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2009
was our first full operational year for the boat shop. During the year we
completed the construction of the Swampscott Dory and sold 3,000 raffle tickets
for the boat, raising over $12,500 for maintenance of the boat shop and boat
building programs. With the help of fellow member Tom Rosko, we were able to complete the landscaping of the lawn in front of the boat shop, which was enhanced by the donation of ten yards of top soil by Mark Edwards, the contractor who did all of our excavation work.
We
enabled six individuals to build their own stitch and glue wooden kayaks. We also
taught two students from the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in the Bronx, NY how to build a boat in a week's time for their senior school
project.
We
held our first Classic Boat Fair at the boat shop in July, our annual Boat Meet at Louse Point by Accabonac Harbor in Springs during August, and our
blizzard of an annual Holiday Dinner party in December at the boat shop.
We
ended the year with a more comfortable cushion in the bank account when our
major benefactor upped his annual contribution by 50%. In addition, other
members made donations that added a little more padding to our cushion. We
increased our membership to over 170 individual and family members.
We
are ever so thankful for the fantastic support we receive from our dedicated
membership, many of whom I have never set eyes upon. So, please come by the
boat shop this winter to see what we are up to.
What's Ahead for 2010
2010 promises to be even more rewarding. As you can see here, we have set up the molds for the construction of the Cats Paw Dinghy and already steam bent the keel. This will be our raffle boat for this year.
Two of our members are finishing their second wooden kayaks for their wives to join them as they explore the bays and creeks of the East End. We are exploring the inclusion of students more often in our facility by sending two of our members to a workshop in Alexandria, VA where others who have had years of experience with student boat building will give us insights into how to expand the use of our facilities for others in our community. All of the major events of the past year are on our calendar for this, our second year of operation of the boat shop. The dates of the events will appear in the next issue of the newsletter.
In the next few weeks there will be a Saturday workshop on steam bending the ribs for our Catspaw Dinghy. And I will be conducting a workshop on knot tying, whipping rope ends and splicing. I am astounded at the sight of the variety of inadequate knots that some of our members tie when working around the shop and when securing our boats in Accabonac Harbor in the summer. It's a wonder that the boats just don't float off when the wind blows hard. Knots are critical to survival around the water and elsewhere. I will be delighted to share my knowledge of rope work in a free workshop at the boat shop!
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Your Skipper,
Ray Hartjen
East End Classic Boat Society
rhartjen@hamptons.com
631-324-2490
P.S., You can forward a copy of this and future e-newsletters to a relative or friend by clicking the Forward email link below. You will have the option of including a short message. You are welcome to invite them to see the boat shop in action any Wednesday or Saturday year-round. Admission is always free.
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