Preview: A Good Boat Up Close, The Melonseed Skiff

12 Responses So Far to “A Good Boat Up Close, The Melonseed Skiff”

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  charles parker says:

  Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington NC had a wooden boat show last month… I went to it. They have a fabulous boatbuilding program… Simultaneously they were building a Seaford Skiff and a Melonseed.. Someone asked if the “skiff” was a good sailer… I mumbled YUP. The guy looked at me and I said—sailed em as a kid…. and smiled…..

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  Nathan Bayreuther says:

  Interesting conversation at the beginning about airline pilots and sailing. I’m the President of the Mariner Class Association (usmariner.org), and in the Association’s 55-year history, there have been 51 National Championships. A whopping fourteen (!) of them were won by a gentleman who first flew helicopters in Vietnam and then flew for American Airlines as a Senior Captain. (He also had eight second-place finishes.) His record is unlikely to be matched any time in the near future, and he largely attributed his success to his knowledge of wind currents based on being a pilot.

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  Robert J England says:

  Here’s an interesting video of a simultaneous build of two melonseed skiffs by EyeInHand. I met the owner, Barry, at the Mid Atlantic Small Craft Festival in Maryland a few years ago. These are lovely boats. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKbVySkMfMo

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  stephen santoro says:

  Awesome

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    John Haswell says:

    Wonderful video. Thanks Guys

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  Andy Bullock says:

  I like her, but what is she like in a strong wind? She has a large sail plan combined with a relatively narrow hull with slack bilges. Is there any built-in bouyancy? I sail in Tasmania, where the winds can be gusty and sometimes savage.

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    Steve Brookman says:

    You can always reduce sail when needed and it has 2 sets of reef points. I’ve rarely used the deep 2nd reef and it was surprisingly docile in strong gusty conditions. Jibing in a strong breeze can be challenging.

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      Steve Brookman says:

      I opted for buoyancy bags in the bow and stern instead of built-in, easier maintenance.

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  charles parker says:

  like the seaford skiffs of the great south bay of long island;;;;;;no better boat to go messing around in……..

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  Walter Allan says:

  Here is Alex Hadden’s melonseed he built for me from the line drawing by Howard Chapelle that Alex got from the Smithsonian. A great boat and a nice video, Eric and Steve.
  http://scienceworksremote.com/melonseed/melonseed.html

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  Bruce Lyle says:

  Very nice very nice.

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  Philip Myer says:

  Pretty little boat.