Preview: Among Old Friends, Part 1 – On Center Harbor

30 Responses So Far to “Among Old Friends, Part 1 – On Center Harbor”

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  Brian Moon says:

  G’day to whom it may concern,
  Yesterday I wrote a reply which I didn’t finish about the video & I left an unfinished question when I was interrupted by my wife &I shut down the site before shutting it down, sorry.
  What I was going to ask you, is there a section in all of the videos you have about the construction of a small Catboat that I could build in timber please and if so where would I find that particular video.
  I am a keen boating enthusiast having over the many years owned quite a few sailing boats before my wife & myself moved to our last home which is in Waikerie, a Riverland locality in South Australia, Australia on the river Murray, probably the longest inland river here in Australia around 382 kilometres upriver from the river mouth.
  Currently we own a steel hulled, side driven paddle wheeler, driven by a 2.4 litre, 4 cylinder marinised Nissan diesel & she is around 14 metres in length (approx. 42 ft in length) & she draws 600 mm (2ft) & we have travelled around 5,000 k’s on this mighty river in the past 5 yrs that we have owned her after she was launched & we finished off her fit out. Our vessel is called PB CURLEW.
  Prior to coming to an inland river, we use to own many sailing vessels over our sailing years, starting off in our early sailing days with a Sabre 22 trailer sailor & a lot of different vessels throughout our sailing years but now we are a river which is quite narrow in places & the flow rate at times makes it quite difficult to sail against therefore we decided to go with a typical inland river vessel such as the traditional Paddleboat but we opted out for a steel hull like a lot of others of this type of vessel are constructed of. However that doesn’t mean we don’ t like the traditional timber hulled vessel which is what the very earlier Paddleboats where built of on this mighty river in the very early days, in the 1800’s.
  A mate of mine gave me a 10 wk subscription of this Magnificat magazine for Christmas hence I thought I would share a little of my history with your readers.
  I would like to pass on my congratulations for such a wonderful website and I certainly will enjoy reading all about your wonderful wooden boats in the following articles.
  Currently I am a member of the S.A. Woodenboat Association.
  I hope everyone throughout the boating world has a very safe and happy Christmas & a happy and safe new year wherever you are and please all stay safe.
  Kind regards, Brian Moon

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    Charles Irwin says:

    Brian
    Just caught your comment.
    If you want to take your Catboat ideas further, it might pay to drop into Riverside again next time you come downstream. Now 12yrs old, my Guzzle might be a start point. Jesse Wagner and I took plans from Wooden Boat by Charles Whittholz for his 17ft cat (he also has a 15ft). We left the hull and rig alone but added a few features: a hinged cabin top gives full head room above double plus single bunks and portable loo, whilst the cockpit houses two fridges, 100litre water tank, bowl sink, two-burner gas stove, and storage for a gas bbq, plates, stores, etc. Made the tiller a removable yoke to hold the boom at anchor which also eases the back as you don’t have to reach so far when sailing. Spars are carbon with the mast on a tabernacle and she’s driven by a submersed electric pod. Light enough on an aluminium trailer to be towed behind my 2litre car; we’ve taken her to the boat show in Hobart as well as Goolwa – where you might have seen her from a distance? You can get a lot into a cat boat. All works remarkably well as a Lakes and Coorong cruiser from our base on Hindmarsh Isl and, ten years on, I can recommend the way the Whittholz lines sail.
    All best
    Charles

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  Brian Moon says:

  G’day to whom it may concern,
  Yesterday I wrote a reply which I didn’t finish about the video & I left an unfinished question when I was interrupted by my wife &I shut down the site before shutting it down, sorry.
  What I was going to ask you, is there a section in all of the videos you have about the construction of a small Catboat that I could build in timber please and if so where would I find that particular video.
  I am a keen boating enthusiast having over the many years owned quite a few sailing boats before my wife & myself moved to our last home which is in Waikerie, a Riverland locality in South Australia, Australia on the river Murray, probably the longest inland river here in Australia around 382 kilometres upriver from the river mouth.
  Currently we own a steel hulled, side driven paddle wheeler, driven by a 2.4 litre, 4 cylinder marinised Nissan diesel & she is around 14 metres in length (approx. 42 ft in length) & she draws 600 mm (2ft) & we have travelled around 5,000 k’s on this mighty river in the past 5 yrs that we have owned her after she was launched & we finished off her fit out. Our vessel is called PB CURLEW.
  Prior to coming to an inland river, we use to own many sailing vessels over our sailing years, starting off in our early sailing days with a Sabre 22 trailer sailor & a lot of different vessels throughout our sailing years but now we are a river which is quite narrow in places & the flow rate at times makes it quite difficult to sail against therefore we decided to go with a typical inland river vessel such as the traditional Paddleboat but we opted out for a steel hull like a lot of others of this type of vessel are constructed of. However that doesn’t mean we don’ t like the traditional timber hulled vessel which is what the very earlier Paddleboats where built of on this mighty river in the very early days, in the 1800’s.
  A mate of mine gave me a 10 wk subscription of this Magnificat magazine for Christmas hence I thought I would share a little of my history with your readers.
  I would like to pass on my congratulations for such a wonderful website and I certainly will enjoy reading all about your wonderful wooden boats in the following articles.
  Currently I am a member of the S.A. Woodenboat Association.
  I hope everyone throughout the boating world has a very safe and happy Christmas & a happy and safe new year wherever you are and please all stay safe.
  Kind regards, Brian Moom

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  Jay Cody says:

  Can you identify the lobster boat shown @ 10 seconds in on Among Friends ?

  Jaycody, new member ,would you please PM me
  Thank You

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  Joseph Wl Haley III says:

  We have a JOEL WHITE on the north Florida boarder,(north of Tallahassee) who comes from a family of boat builders.
  Joel is still building to this day. Wonder if he knows of this northern branch of his clan.
  Really like the video. At 82, I just sold my Nova Scotia built cuddy sloop. by McVay.

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  John Swansey says:

  Wow. This is a GREAT video. Gives the eyes a chance to linger on the hulls and details as the experts describe what makes them special, with no exaggeration or hype. Really makes me want to take a row around the harbor some day to experience this first hand. Whenever I’m in a new harbor, I can’t resist the temptation to row, sail, or motor around the local fleet to see how the boats measure up to my “critical eye.” Center Harbor looks like a 10 out of 10!

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  Stephen Morison says:

  Thanks for this!

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  Jesse Terry says:

  This video is a reminder of when I first saw my current wood boat, Abigail, for the first time after her spring time launch in Center Harbor. The environment certainly supported love at first sight. I bring her back every year since from Connecticut.

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  Michael Naumann says:

  Bill and Maynard, you are the curators of my most pleasant memories – thank you. And see you next year! Thanks, Michael

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  Mark Weber says:

  Love this video – keep them coming. Maybe feature one or two of the boats in a related link (like you did with Vortex)?

  Day tripped around Little Deer Isle on a gorgeous day last week and pilgrimaged to Wooden Boat harbor (virtually empty this late in the season) and BBY (Virtually full). What a great trip by water to a great place!

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  Joe Hill says:

  Love the cold moulded yachts you show us here, I am taken back to the design of Uffa Fox who designed and built the AIRBORNE LIFEBOAT dropped from Hudson bombers and later when they grew in size to 22feet by Lancaster bombers, they saved the lives of 600 allied aircrew and went on to be the inspiration of many modern dinghys.
  John Fairfax rowed Brittania across the ATLANTIC in 1969 which was a modern development of the Uffa Fox design. the Mosquito multi purpose fighter/ bomber was also cold moulded construction. As an aside please excuse my spelling I am Welsh and grew up with Queens English, just want to visit someday Center Harbor is a lot like the West Coast of WALES. Please keep up the good work.

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  Gordon W Hunter says:

  Great to hear some history and stories about some unique and beautiful boats all in one harbor from some old pros.

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  Roy Gerard says:

  Greetings. I was introduced to OCH and the Brooklin Boatyard after reading A Unit of Water, A Unit of Time by Joel White. What a great inside look at what is most likely a great place to work (if you want to call it work…) I’d prefer to call building boats with co-workers who are friends a luxury.
  I am seriously considering building your Oonagh as a retirement gift to myself.
  Great video from a couple of great guys. Keep up the good work.

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  Harold Wheeler says:

  Just wonderfull to see and outstanding to be able to listen.

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  David Rawls says:

  I vote for “The Bill n Manard” show regularly! One sparks the other and fire bursts forth! I enjoyed the warmth this afternoon! Don’t give up the ship! Keep rowing! Many of us count you worthy of our prayers!

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  John Wujack says:

  OCH, Bill and Maynard, Thank you once again sharing. Stunning! With appreciation and best regards from the Pacific Northwest, John

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  David Tew says:

  Great! What informative commentary. Looking forward to Part 2. Wild beards seem to be an equal part of the Brooklin scene. too ;>

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  Gene Nelson says:

  In the summer, I live right across the Reach from BB. My boat “Eider” is now stored for winter at BB.We’ve come to our beautiful place for 20 yrs. and Center Harbor is a favorite for our visitors. Please keep it coming

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  Robert Matzke says:

  Some years ago I was sailing the BVIs on a charter with Brooklin friend Barney Boardman (Madrigal). We were moored at Marina Cay when Barney spotted Vortex sailing into the harbor. He hailed Steve and we rafted that night. To me one of the most beautiful parts of Vortex is the laminated and bent wood wheel, which is covered in canvas in the video. Steve told his story about the name, which ends with the yard asking a panicked charter skipper…”have you tried pulling your anchor today..” On a tangential note, my father was at Camp Otter in Canada with Steve’s grandfather E.B “Andy” White. I loved the video.

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  David Stiller says:

  A wonderful insight into Center Harbor and it’s boats. Very different than Sunny Southern California.
  Dave Stiller
  Marina del rey
  California

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  Mark Twichell says:

  Wonderful. Like visiting the Holy Waters for a 40+ year WB subscriber.

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  Al Winters says:

  What Stephan sez ❤️ Please keep it coming

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  Sean Hogben says:

  I vote Wood Drift for her and purity.

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  alex lemon says:

  Bill and Maynard are national treasures. Great video.

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  charles parker says:

  Thank You

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  John Supan says:

  Great cup of coffee this morning. Thanks for the tour. I’d go sailing afterward if I wasn’t up north leaf peeping with my bride.

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  carey harmon says:

  great educational video

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  Kent and Skipper says:

  The only better way to spend a morning would have been to be there in person, sitting quietly among friends, absorbing knowledge and beauty. Thank you for the tour.

  Cheers
  Kent and Audrey

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  Stephen L. Clark says:

  Starting the day with Bill and Maynard talking about boats is like listening to great music while looking at great art. Thanks, Steve

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  Richard Hollis says:

  Gentlemen, Mr. Bill and Maynard. So good to be with you among old friends on Center Harbor. I’ve read WBM for fifteen years but to actually be in the boat with you on such a beautiful day is so rewarding. I believe I saw Constanza from the 2009 mag cover or a sister. God Bless You neighbors for your dedication and direction in life. We do have water and boats in Arkansas but not the deep history and skills for blue water. God’s speed friends