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Dear friends,
I’m trying to take advantage of the little time I have, so I'm writing this letter while I sit in airports in New Bern, NC., Atlanta, and home in West Palm Beach.
I just had a great week up in Beaufort, N.C. Moores Marine Yacht Center is doing great. Nathan Smith, my partner, brother-in-law and my friend, is doing a great job. The Justice project is wrapping up. She is a 1929 Consolidated.
I talked Richard Ramsay into opening a satellite office near our North Carolina yard and he has played an important role in this project. They have built a breakdown cradle and a stainless cutwater. A cutwater is a metal shield installed over a knife blade stem. They are form and function. This is no easy piece to make the angle changes as the curve of the stem drops down below the water. It’s about 10 feet long. Chip Parsans and Jim Thomason, with Ramsay Marine and Nathan, worked together to build and install it. The finished work is incredible. All the welds are filled and sanded and polished out. Bernard Smith, our head painter, flew up to North Carolina for three weeks to varnish and paint Justice. She is just about ready to go just one last thing is to fit her to her break down cradle.
I think cradles will be the wave of the future for antique and classic yachts. I know that is a big statement. Let me explain.
Through the years, I have received photos from Trumpy yachts in slings, proudly taken by owners and captains from Michigan to Maine, even from Italy. A lot them gave me heartburn.
Many of these photos show the same problem. The Travelifts are too small or don’t have enough strapped areas for the boats. It’s pretty simple. If you pick up a boat and a third of boat is in the strapped area and two-thirds of the boat are hanging out, something has to give such as broken frames, floors and chine logs. This is a long way to get to the point but what Justice’s cradle does is pretty much everything. It will not only fit into a Travelift for hauling and storage but most importantly, the owner can take his yacht anywhere he wants.
The next time she is hauled out, she will be lifted on all five of her structural bulkheads and over 60 feet of her 75 feet length will be supported. The cradle breaks down and fits on a trailer so it can be moved to wherever the yacht will be. It’s an investment that will insure longevity and safety of Justice. It’s a new way of thinking and I like it a lot.
Going to Beaufort is great. I came up to meet El Presidente. She has traveled close to 2,000 miles from Chicago to Beaufort, N.C. The other reason was the Boat Shop Bash. It happens every year at the North Carolina Maritime Museum’s beautiful boat shop, just over the water in downtown Beaufort. It had everything: Zydeco music, Cajun food, and great new friends.
The next day, I got a call from Capt. John on El Presidente. Nate and his crew met the boat at the dock to take in the lines. As I walked down to meet them, Dan Nyes, one of our carpenters was walking up the dock. As he walked past, he said, “God, she is beautiful.” I smiled and nodded. Shortly after she docked, a reporter from the Carteret County News-Times came down to mark the day.
Frank Lynch, El Presidente’s new owner, said the words I have always wanted to hear. “I want to take her back in time.” We are removing the flybridge/cabin top wrap and the modern stack and that is just the beginning. No building plans for the stack, no problem. I called Kevin Walters, who owns Lunetta, a 95-foot Trumpy in Marshalburg, N.C., to borrow his stack as a template. Ramsay borrowed it to make an exact Trumpy smoke stack. Later in the week, I had Nate, Capt. John and Bruce Marek, a naval architect, visit Lunetta, to study the pilothouse front. Mr. John Trumpy is still the designer 68 years later.
In 1939, El Presidente was built for Joseph Cadahy and her original name was Innisfail. But she was not the first Innisfail. Contract 228, the 85 foot 1935 Trumpy yacht now called Enticer was the original Innisfail. I would love to get those two Trumpy yachts together for a photo. It would make a great cover shot for a book. Hint, hint. I am sure that it will happen someday.
Sea Hammock, the 83’ Trumpy is sleeping while a master plan is worked out. We are putting together a great team for this project. When I woke up this morning, I didn’t want to leave North Carolina. When I hit the airport, I was already getting a little home sick but I had to remind myself I live in Florida. I told Stephanie this and she said she gets the same feeling every time she leaves Beaufort.
Heading back to Florida is like going into a bee hive. Moores Marine South is buzzing, no pun intended. Jon Meek is leading the charge on the Summerwind team and they have worked through the long hot summer and now they are working even harder since the temperature dropped. Niels Hellsbherg, the naval architect, has rejoined the Summerwind team. He brings an infinite amount of wisdom with more than 35 years as a naval architect with John Alden. I love working with great people because I can learn so much from them.
Don Thibealt has his finally got the cast off his hand and is heading up Coconut Southern project, a 28-foot Rybovich built in 1954 owned by Mark Spillane, who also owns Coconuts, the 1965 Trumpy formerly named Exact and Patience II, Contract 420 building as Jimiana for James L. Knight.
As I write this, Coconuts just arrived in Beaufort for a quick stop and then she’s off to Ocean Reef for Vintage Weekend. While I am on the subject, Craig and Hanna of Stuart, FL just stopped by the North Carolina yard this week. They plan to take Atlas, Contract 393, built for Ralph Atlas in 1960. Bill Iler, owner of Windrush, gave me a call as I was leaving North Carolina. He’s is on his way to Ocean Reef. I don’t it’s too late if you still want to bring your boat. Go to www.oceanreef.com for more information.
I have one last story to share. A few years back at Ocean Reef, at the final awards brunch, I received the first John Trumpy award. It was an absolutely unexpected honor and I proudly display it my office. This summer, artist Stephen Kneipp, and I started sketching and designing a plaque. We went through many different designs. Stephen even went into clay modeling. We finally agreed on a final design. I pulled a thick, beautiful plank of old growth African mahogany from my stacks and Stephen laid out the patterns. We had just enough wood. Carving and shaping and sanding seemed to take forever but Stephen is getting close. It will be unveiled at Ocean Reef this Vintage Weekend. It is our way of saying thank you to Ocean Reef for the good friends, great times and magic that happens the first weekend in December in Key Largo every year.
Until next time,
Jim Moores
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Saturday, October 6, 2007
October 2007
Dear friends,
We have had a very exciting month, to say the least. This month’s Professional Boatbuilder has Nathan and Mike on the cover and an in-depth article on our company. Aaron Porter, an editor and writer at the magazine came down and spent a couple days with us in South Florida. He was everywhere and spent time interviewing everyone. When I read the first proof, I found it humbling. It only took me 52 years to become an overnight success. I have sent copies to some of you but I ran out so I have enclosed copies.
In other news, I went on a great adventure on the northeast. That story will be on the web site under letters. It was going to be my next newsletter but there has been so much more going on that I changed mind.
On Summerwind, our schooner project, Jon Meek and crew have installed the stern post. We had to cut off the back part of the keel and the deadwood so the rudder, keel area is new.
Carpenter Don Thibeault, who many of you will remember from his many years at Rybovich Spencer, and Spencer before that, is made of some pretty tough stuff. He broke his wrist removing the shaft log on Stargazer and he was mad at himself because he couldn’t finish it because he had to miss a few days of work. After surgery, with his wrist in a cast, he’s back at work in restoration of a little Rybovich at our yard.
In North Carolina, I got a call from Capt. Jeff on the Sea Hammock, 83’ Trumpy yacht formerly called Eskimo. Unfortunately, it wasn’t just a friendly chat. She was just south of Beaufort, N.C. and there was serious duress in his voice. Cruising along just south of Swansboro, around Cherry Point bombing range, Sea Hammock struck something underwater while running in the middle of the channel. The stabilizer and the hull surrounding it broke free. Capt. Jeff did what was best for his ship, running it into a sandbank just ahead that jutted out in the channel. He placed her aground where the aft filled with water. She settled down right in the middle of the channel. Towboat and Capt. Rod and his crew covered the hole and pumped her out. I was in Florida but I told Capt. Jeff that Stephanie, Nathan and Jimmy Berkeley and crew were up there and could help and they did.
As Towboat pumped and patched, we were planning what to do with Sea Hammock’s engines. She has big Caterpillar engines with ZF transmissions. Our neighbor at the marine park include Gregory Poole Caterpillar dealer and ZF marine. Hoses, dehumidifiers and other stuff were already being prepared so I could call Jeff Fulcher, Jarrett Bay’s yard manager. I told him what I knew. It was a Saturday. I said Sea Hammock might be towed in around 1 or 2 o’clock in the morning. Jeff said, “Okay.” He didn’t even flinch. At 1 a.m., the slings were dropped in the water and slid under Sea Hammock and lifted her up just enough to hold her for the rest of the night. The next day, Nate would laser target Sea Hammock before hard lifting her. Nathan, like a rock, got everybody working on cleaning and preserving as many things as possible. When I flew in, they had everything under control. Looking at the Sea Hammock, my heart sank deep in my chest.
She is a grand houseboat, Contract 400, built for John Kimberly and launched as “Eskimo.” In the next few days, I was receiving calls like there had been a telegraph sent out in the Trumpy community. I repeated the same answers: “No, she is not cracked in two. No, she did not sink! She flooded aft.” The fact is most of the damage I could see was water damage. So if you hear a lot of nonsense, set things straight.
I know I’ve written about my concerns about stabilizers before. Trianon, for one, has moved her forward ones. I think it’s especially dangerous because it seems there’s less money spent on keeping waterways clear these days. I talked to Mark Spillane, the new owner of “Exact,” renamed “Coconuts” and we talked about stabilizers. Mark said, “ I don’t want them. Let’s get them out of there. They don’t work anyway, right?’ I said, “Not really. I should introduce everyone to Mark. He loves Trumpy yachts, Rybovich and big game hunting. He’s a self-made man who is tremendous fun to be around. I think he’s the type of young owner who will bring new life, with zest, to our community.
Someone else I want to introduce is Frank Lynch, who is famous in the world of Rock & Roll and is soon to be the proud owner of El Presidente. He plans to take her from Chicago to Charleston. So what makes Frank famous? You’ll just have to meet him. The guy speaks in a soft Irish/Scottish brogue that makes my wife swoon every time she talks to him, not that I’m jealous.
As for Joe Bartram, he loves Trumpy yachts, and I don’t see him too far from the water. His firm is celebrating its 40th anniversary soon and Joe’s been around these boats much longer than that.
Matt Howard won’t have El Presidente but he still has a schooner, the Allegro, his 1929 John Alden. If it wasn’t for Matt’s vision to structurally rebuild El President, she might not be here today. Thank you Matt, for your caring stewardship.
In closing, there’s going to be something very special that will be unveiled at Ocean Reef’s Vintage Weekend and only Vicki, Allen and I know. So it’s time to make plans to meet in Key Largo the first weekend in December.
Until next time,
Jim Moores
We have had a very exciting month, to say the least. This month’s Professional Boatbuilder has Nathan and Mike on the cover and an in-depth article on our company. Aaron Porter, an editor and writer at the magazine came down and spent a couple days with us in South Florida. He was everywhere and spent time interviewing everyone. When I read the first proof, I found it humbling. It only took me 52 years to become an overnight success. I have sent copies to some of you but I ran out so I have enclosed copies.
In other news, I went on a great adventure on the northeast. That story will be on the web site under letters. It was going to be my next newsletter but there has been so much more going on that I changed mind.
On Summerwind, our schooner project, Jon Meek and crew have installed the stern post. We had to cut off the back part of the keel and the deadwood so the rudder, keel area is new.
Carpenter Don Thibeault, who many of you will remember from his many years at Rybovich Spencer, and Spencer before that, is made of some pretty tough stuff. He broke his wrist removing the shaft log on Stargazer and he was mad at himself because he couldn’t finish it because he had to miss a few days of work. After surgery, with his wrist in a cast, he’s back at work in restoration of a little Rybovich at our yard.
In North Carolina, I got a call from Capt. Jeff on the Sea Hammock, 83’ Trumpy yacht formerly called Eskimo. Unfortunately, it wasn’t just a friendly chat. She was just south of Beaufort, N.C. and there was serious duress in his voice. Cruising along just south of Swansboro, around Cherry Point bombing range, Sea Hammock struck something underwater while running in the middle of the channel. The stabilizer and the hull surrounding it broke free. Capt. Jeff did what was best for his ship, running it into a sandbank just ahead that jutted out in the channel. He placed her aground where the aft filled with water. She settled down right in the middle of the channel. Towboat and Capt. Rod and his crew covered the hole and pumped her out. I was in Florida but I told Capt. Jeff that Stephanie, Nathan and Jimmy Berkeley and crew were up there and could help and they did.
As Towboat pumped and patched, we were planning what to do with Sea Hammock’s engines. She has big Caterpillar engines with ZF transmissions. Our neighbor at the marine park include Gregory Poole Caterpillar dealer and ZF marine. Hoses, dehumidifiers and other stuff were already being prepared so I could call Jeff Fulcher, Jarrett Bay’s yard manager. I told him what I knew. It was a Saturday. I said Sea Hammock might be towed in around 1 or 2 o’clock in the morning. Jeff said, “Okay.” He didn’t even flinch. At 1 a.m., the slings were dropped in the water and slid under Sea Hammock and lifted her up just enough to hold her for the rest of the night. The next day, Nate would laser target Sea Hammock before hard lifting her. Nathan, like a rock, got everybody working on cleaning and preserving as many things as possible. When I flew in, they had everything under control. Looking at the Sea Hammock, my heart sank deep in my chest.
She is a grand houseboat, Contract 400, built for John Kimberly and launched as “Eskimo.” In the next few days, I was receiving calls like there had been a telegraph sent out in the Trumpy community. I repeated the same answers: “No, she is not cracked in two. No, she did not sink! She flooded aft.” The fact is most of the damage I could see was water damage. So if you hear a lot of nonsense, set things straight.
I know I’ve written about my concerns about stabilizers before. Trianon, for one, has moved her forward ones. I think it’s especially dangerous because it seems there’s less money spent on keeping waterways clear these days. I talked to Mark Spillane, the new owner of “Exact,” renamed “Coconuts” and we talked about stabilizers. Mark said, “ I don’t want them. Let’s get them out of there. They don’t work anyway, right?’ I said, “Not really. I should introduce everyone to Mark. He loves Trumpy yachts, Rybovich and big game hunting. He’s a self-made man who is tremendous fun to be around. I think he’s the type of young owner who will bring new life, with zest, to our community.
Someone else I want to introduce is Frank Lynch, who is famous in the world of Rock & Roll and is soon to be the proud owner of El Presidente. He plans to take her from Chicago to Charleston. So what makes Frank famous? You’ll just have to meet him. The guy speaks in a soft Irish/Scottish brogue that makes my wife swoon every time she talks to him, not that I’m jealous.
As for Joe Bartram, he loves Trumpy yachts, and I don’t see him too far from the water. His firm is celebrating its 40th anniversary soon and Joe’s been around these boats much longer than that.
Matt Howard won’t have El Presidente but he still has a schooner, the Allegro, his 1929 John Alden. If it wasn’t for Matt’s vision to structurally rebuild El President, she might not be here today. Thank you Matt, for your caring stewardship.
In closing, there’s going to be something very special that will be unveiled at Ocean Reef’s Vintage Weekend and only Vicki, Allen and I know. So it’s time to make plans to meet in Key Largo the first weekend in December.
Until next time,
Jim Moores
September 2007
Dear Friends,
I was cleaning out my office and going through some papers when I found a little story I wrote a long time ago. A while back, someone asked me how I got interested in boats and I thought about it and later on, I wrote it down.
I can pinpoint the event that started what would draw me to the sea, before I ever sailed on one. As a child, we had a creek behind our house, “Cool Creek.” It was a swimming hole and we built dams and as kids, it was OUR place. It was winter in late 1960s and we were living in the Causey House back in Indiana. From the back porch down the hill lived a crazy farmer and I mean crazy. He used to chase us around with his tractor and throw pitch forks at us if he caught us on his land. He was the only thing between us kids and the creek.
I was around 11 years old at the time. It was winter and a very cold one. John, my little brother, and I sat one Saturday watching an all-day buccaneer movie marathon. I think it was every one ever made. By early afternoon, we were stir crazy. We grabbed out coats and makeshift swords and out the door we went, headed down to the creek. It was frozen over. Skating in our shoes and swinging our wooden swords, we had a good time. As we played, John saw something in the ice so we slid that way. What we found was our “ship” frozen in the ice and dirt. It was ours for the taking and she was six feet or so long and made of galvanized steel. It was really a watering trough for cattle that belonged to the farmer. John and I made a pact to dig her free of ice, no matter what it took. After school every day, we would dig a little and then little more. We swore an oath to tell no one of our ship. We did not want the other kids to find her and steal her.
One day, she broke free and we dragged our prize into the woods. It was still too cold to take her out. Besides, we needed a plan and even more desperately, paddles. Spring thaw came and the water rose and some boards from the farmer’s barn, and we had a plan and paddles. My brother was much younger than me, meaning smaller, and we needed someone with power and size to crew. There was a new subdivision up the road and we picked a kid, and swore him in to our secret oath. The plan was to make it to the White River. The water was rising in the creek and one Saturday morning, we decided to launch her. The water was swift and she bounced around on her flat bottom, but she was pretty stable. Our first leg of the trip, we had some mishaps and a couple of sinkings but we were men of the water. We pulled her up into the woods and our hands were numb and our lips were blue. We wet buccaneers had a long walk home. The next weekend, we went again.
We were now more organized and we could manuever our ship better. There was a large tree laying across the creek and as we went under it, we got wedged and she sunk to the bottom. We tried to get the trough unstuck and back up but the water was so cold, we finally gave up. The following weekend, we came back. The water had dropped and upon our return, she was gone. Sadly, we never made it to the White River in our trough and our first adventure was over.
I didn’t realize it at the time but it wasn’t the destination, but the journey forward that makes the adventure. Not knowing what was next or just around the corner, that’s what makes life interesting. Shortly after this, we would move to the ocean.
I learned to sail and found that real boats were a lot easier than a cattle trough and my adventures would be a lot grander. But it was that farmer’s cattle trough frozen in the ice of Cool Creek in Indiana that started it all for me.
Now that I’ve shared my story, I’d like to hear from you. What’s your story. How did you get started with boats?
Jim
I was cleaning out my office and going through some papers when I found a little story I wrote a long time ago. A while back, someone asked me how I got interested in boats and I thought about it and later on, I wrote it down.
I can pinpoint the event that started what would draw me to the sea, before I ever sailed on one. As a child, we had a creek behind our house, “Cool Creek.” It was a swimming hole and we built dams and as kids, it was OUR place. It was winter in late 1960s and we were living in the Causey House back in Indiana. From the back porch down the hill lived a crazy farmer and I mean crazy. He used to chase us around with his tractor and throw pitch forks at us if he caught us on his land. He was the only thing between us kids and the creek.
I was around 11 years old at the time. It was winter and a very cold one. John, my little brother, and I sat one Saturday watching an all-day buccaneer movie marathon. I think it was every one ever made. By early afternoon, we were stir crazy. We grabbed out coats and makeshift swords and out the door we went, headed down to the creek. It was frozen over. Skating in our shoes and swinging our wooden swords, we had a good time. As we played, John saw something in the ice so we slid that way. What we found was our “ship” frozen in the ice and dirt. It was ours for the taking and she was six feet or so long and made of galvanized steel. It was really a watering trough for cattle that belonged to the farmer. John and I made a pact to dig her free of ice, no matter what it took. After school every day, we would dig a little and then little more. We swore an oath to tell no one of our ship. We did not want the other kids to find her and steal her.
One day, she broke free and we dragged our prize into the woods. It was still too cold to take her out. Besides, we needed a plan and even more desperately, paddles. Spring thaw came and the water rose and some boards from the farmer’s barn, and we had a plan and paddles. My brother was much younger than me, meaning smaller, and we needed someone with power and size to crew. There was a new subdivision up the road and we picked a kid, and swore him in to our secret oath. The plan was to make it to the White River. The water was rising in the creek and one Saturday morning, we decided to launch her. The water was swift and she bounced around on her flat bottom, but she was pretty stable. Our first leg of the trip, we had some mishaps and a couple of sinkings but we were men of the water. We pulled her up into the woods and our hands were numb and our lips were blue. We wet buccaneers had a long walk home. The next weekend, we went again.
We were now more organized and we could manuever our ship better. There was a large tree laying across the creek and as we went under it, we got wedged and she sunk to the bottom. We tried to get the trough unstuck and back up but the water was so cold, we finally gave up. The following weekend, we came back. The water had dropped and upon our return, she was gone. Sadly, we never made it to the White River in our trough and our first adventure was over.
I didn’t realize it at the time but it wasn’t the destination, but the journey forward that makes the adventure. Not knowing what was next or just around the corner, that’s what makes life interesting. Shortly after this, we would move to the ocean.
I learned to sail and found that real boats were a lot easier than a cattle trough and my adventures would be a lot grander. But it was that farmer’s cattle trough frozen in the ice of Cool Creek in Indiana that started it all for me.
Now that I’ve shared my story, I’d like to hear from you. What’s your story. How did you get started with boats?
Jim
Saturday, August 25, 2007
August 2007
Dear friends,
I opened up a copy of this month’s “Yachting” magazine, its 100th year edition, and the magazine commissioned a T-shirt with a Trumpy yacht on the back. It’s a photo of an Annapolis Trumpy. Of all the yachts from 1907 to 2007 featured in the magazine, they chose one of my favorite Trumpys. So which one is it? I guess you’ll have to pick up a copy or go online at yachting.com because I don’t want to spoil it for you. Suffice it to say, I have the T-shirt.
And, these Trumpy yachts do get around. I got a call from France, from a Trumpy captain asking for help. It seemed that one of the shaft couplings broke and he could not find one so instead, he found me. I gave him a name, Kurt, of Anchor Miami Propellers, who has done of a number of these for me. But first, I had a couple of questions: “Did you re-power?” “Did you change the shifters?” The answer was “yes” to both. It turned out that during the engine refit, they installed electronic shifters. Mr. Trumpy chose Panish controls for a reason. They have a built-in delay. When you are turning a shaft 30 to 40 feet long, the shafts are long and narrow. With the force and energy of a modern engine and new controls, well something had to give.
Panish controls is still very much in business in Bridgeport, Conn. Their website is www.panishcontrols.com. Their addresss is 191 Bennett Street, Bridgeport, Conn., 06605. Tel. 203-333-7371.
My next story involves a recent trip I took to Chicago to spend some time aboard El Presidente, with Matt and Tracy Howard. Along with the 1939 96-foot Mathis-Trumpy, the Howards also have a 1929 John Alden Schooner, named Allegro. We had lots to talk about. So after taking care of business, I was invited to take a sail. The wind was fresh but by the time we weighed the mooring, it was flat calm. That didn’t stop us so we motored around outside the harbor. With the skyline and the clouds touching them, it was quite a picture. We drank red wine and our conversation danced from one thing to another.
Matt told me about his adventures of going to Florida and back on El Presidente and his favorite part was at Ocean Reef. On his way down from Chicago, he called me to ask about something while he was in town. He was in the Tom Digby Canal about 400 miles away from Key Largo headed south. I asked him, “Do you want to go to Ocean Reef’s Vintage Weekend? His reply was, “Sure, why not. Where is it and when?” Well, they did and El Prez won the top prize, the Spectator’s Choice Award.
As we motored about, Matt kept eyeing my hat, a Trumpy hat. “So where do you get one of those?” I told him it was a gift from Bill Waskey and it was the first time I had worn it. Well, Matt is a Trumpy enthusiast to the end and deserved that hat, as much as I hated parting with it. And, I had my old one back at the shop. It looked good on Matt’s head. They invited me to dinner at Columbia Yacht Club. It is a true sailors club, the clubhouse is a 300-foot ice breaker that is permanently moored in the middle of the harbor. We dined on the foredeck with the city lights at sunset as our back drop, while the fog moved in and out. Our conversation flowed until we closed the restaurant down and headed to the lounge at the stern to meet Matt’s friends. Chicago by night has its own magic. The next morning, I spent it aboard El Prez. Matt gave me an Allegro hat with his schooner on it. More than a fair trade. I had only been to Chicago once before, in winter, when the city was asleep and I didn’t realize then the beauty of this city.
Matt’s schooner was inspiring. Our schooner project is moving forward rapidly. We are over four weeks ahead of schedule. Our schooner, and I do mean ours, because everyone here feels she’s a part of us, is being fitted to carry more sail. She was built to cruise but is being refitted to race and cruise with square top foresail and three head sails. And, with her new ring frames, the rig can be turned tighter than ever before. She will carry 1,400 to 1,800 more square feet of sail. John Alden would be proud.
When we unplanked the aft part of the bottom, we found that the stern post needed attention. There has been many steel plates added aft so the decision was made to replace it but where do we get the wood?
I showed Jon Meek, the lead carpenter on the project, where I had hidden away lumber from 500 plus year old trees, Angelique from Brazil. They were 20 feet long, 48 inches across and we would slab laminate. This stern post would weigh 1,000 to 1,500 pounds once it is laminated so we had to think smart. We would laminate and rough out the stern post at the shop using a forklift. It would be loaded in a truck and then unloaded by forklift at the boat yard but we will still need to get it in place..
We have constructed a steel frame to support the aft area, making it hard to get a forklift in the sternpost area. We decided to go low-tech, use Egyptian technology, meaning many men with many ropes and braces. It will be put in place by brute manpower just like we did on the keel forefoot. Summerwind has come so far. We have a lot more still to do but this is such an emotionally rewarding project that everyone’s passions and energies are high.
Now to North Carolina. First, Nathan and Rene became the proud parents of a baby girl, Nicoletta Smith a few days before Nathan’s birthday in July. The Iva W has been launched after Nate and his crew replanked, refastened, caulked and painted her. Our Florida store provided supply support, sending up materials and the wood, old growth cypress, came from our North Carolina supplier, Churchill.
The North Carolina crew just started Cherokee, a 1907 launch and also are working on putting the finishing touches on the store, including varnish on the pilothouse from Ibis, a 1912 Trumpy yacht. She still has some paint work to go and needs a skirt at the bottom but she will be the centerpiece of the store. I recently sent up two bundles of Bangkirai decking so that the store will have a wrap around deck.
Before we started constructing the buildings, I decided that I wanted to name each building after someone special. The first was the Myron, after the young engineer who helped create the boat yard, Myron Meadows. And the second, the store, is named after Mr. Hollis Baker. The first time I met Mr. Baker, he told me that he built a sailing bark with 30 plus sails. I said, “Sure,” with some doubt in my voice. The next day, he brought me a copy of magazine with his bark in full sail on the cover. The man has had my attention ever since and he has had many yachts since then. Mr. Baker is a true yachtsman and a fine gentleman and I’ve been honored to know him all these years. When I told him that I named a building after him, He smiled and seemed pleased. “Well, Jim, no one has ever named a building after me,” he said.
It’s time someone did.
Until next time,
Jim
P.S. It’s never too soon to start making plans for Vintage Weekend at Ocean Reef Club, which runs from Nov. 29 to Dec. 2. Contact Cindy Elverman at 305-367-5874 or by email: celverman@oceanreef.com.
I opened up a copy of this month’s “Yachting” magazine, its 100th year edition, and the magazine commissioned a T-shirt with a Trumpy yacht on the back. It’s a photo of an Annapolis Trumpy. Of all the yachts from 1907 to 2007 featured in the magazine, they chose one of my favorite Trumpys. So which one is it? I guess you’ll have to pick up a copy or go online at yachting.com because I don’t want to spoil it for you. Suffice it to say, I have the T-shirt.
And, these Trumpy yachts do get around. I got a call from France, from a Trumpy captain asking for help. It seemed that one of the shaft couplings broke and he could not find one so instead, he found me. I gave him a name, Kurt, of Anchor Miami Propellers, who has done of a number of these for me. But first, I had a couple of questions: “Did you re-power?” “Did you change the shifters?” The answer was “yes” to both. It turned out that during the engine refit, they installed electronic shifters. Mr. Trumpy chose Panish controls for a reason. They have a built-in delay. When you are turning a shaft 30 to 40 feet long, the shafts are long and narrow. With the force and energy of a modern engine and new controls, well something had to give.
Panish controls is still very much in business in Bridgeport, Conn. Their website is www.panishcontrols.com. Their addresss is 191 Bennett Street, Bridgeport, Conn., 06605. Tel. 203-333-7371.
My next story involves a recent trip I took to Chicago to spend some time aboard El Presidente, with Matt and Tracy Howard. Along with the 1939 96-foot Mathis-Trumpy, the Howards also have a 1929 John Alden Schooner, named Allegro. We had lots to talk about. So after taking care of business, I was invited to take a sail. The wind was fresh but by the time we weighed the mooring, it was flat calm. That didn’t stop us so we motored around outside the harbor. With the skyline and the clouds touching them, it was quite a picture. We drank red wine and our conversation danced from one thing to another.
Matt told me about his adventures of going to Florida and back on El Presidente and his favorite part was at Ocean Reef. On his way down from Chicago, he called me to ask about something while he was in town. He was in the Tom Digby Canal about 400 miles away from Key Largo headed south. I asked him, “Do you want to go to Ocean Reef’s Vintage Weekend? His reply was, “Sure, why not. Where is it and when?” Well, they did and El Prez won the top prize, the Spectator’s Choice Award.
As we motored about, Matt kept eyeing my hat, a Trumpy hat. “So where do you get one of those?” I told him it was a gift from Bill Waskey and it was the first time I had worn it. Well, Matt is a Trumpy enthusiast to the end and deserved that hat, as much as I hated parting with it. And, I had my old one back at the shop. It looked good on Matt’s head. They invited me to dinner at Columbia Yacht Club. It is a true sailors club, the clubhouse is a 300-foot ice breaker that is permanently moored in the middle of the harbor. We dined on the foredeck with the city lights at sunset as our back drop, while the fog moved in and out. Our conversation flowed until we closed the restaurant down and headed to the lounge at the stern to meet Matt’s friends. Chicago by night has its own magic. The next morning, I spent it aboard El Prez. Matt gave me an Allegro hat with his schooner on it. More than a fair trade. I had only been to Chicago once before, in winter, when the city was asleep and I didn’t realize then the beauty of this city.
Matt’s schooner was inspiring. Our schooner project is moving forward rapidly. We are over four weeks ahead of schedule. Our schooner, and I do mean ours, because everyone here feels she’s a part of us, is being fitted to carry more sail. She was built to cruise but is being refitted to race and cruise with square top foresail and three head sails. And, with her new ring frames, the rig can be turned tighter than ever before. She will carry 1,400 to 1,800 more square feet of sail. John Alden would be proud.
When we unplanked the aft part of the bottom, we found that the stern post needed attention. There has been many steel plates added aft so the decision was made to replace it but where do we get the wood?
I showed Jon Meek, the lead carpenter on the project, where I had hidden away lumber from 500 plus year old trees, Angelique from Brazil. They were 20 feet long, 48 inches across and we would slab laminate. This stern post would weigh 1,000 to 1,500 pounds once it is laminated so we had to think smart. We would laminate and rough out the stern post at the shop using a forklift. It would be loaded in a truck and then unloaded by forklift at the boat yard but we will still need to get it in place..
We have constructed a steel frame to support the aft area, making it hard to get a forklift in the sternpost area. We decided to go low-tech, use Egyptian technology, meaning many men with many ropes and braces. It will be put in place by brute manpower just like we did on the keel forefoot. Summerwind has come so far. We have a lot more still to do but this is such an emotionally rewarding project that everyone’s passions and energies are high.
Now to North Carolina. First, Nathan and Rene became the proud parents of a baby girl, Nicoletta Smith a few days before Nathan’s birthday in July. The Iva W has been launched after Nate and his crew replanked, refastened, caulked and painted her. Our Florida store provided supply support, sending up materials and the wood, old growth cypress, came from our North Carolina supplier, Churchill.
The North Carolina crew just started Cherokee, a 1907 launch and also are working on putting the finishing touches on the store, including varnish on the pilothouse from Ibis, a 1912 Trumpy yacht. She still has some paint work to go and needs a skirt at the bottom but she will be the centerpiece of the store. I recently sent up two bundles of Bangkirai decking so that the store will have a wrap around deck.
Before we started constructing the buildings, I decided that I wanted to name each building after someone special. The first was the Myron, after the young engineer who helped create the boat yard, Myron Meadows. And the second, the store, is named after Mr. Hollis Baker. The first time I met Mr. Baker, he told me that he built a sailing bark with 30 plus sails. I said, “Sure,” with some doubt in my voice. The next day, he brought me a copy of magazine with his bark in full sail on the cover. The man has had my attention ever since and he has had many yachts since then. Mr. Baker is a true yachtsman and a fine gentleman and I’ve been honored to know him all these years. When I told him that I named a building after him, He smiled and seemed pleased. “Well, Jim, no one has ever named a building after me,” he said.
It’s time someone did.
Until next time,
Jim
P.S. It’s never too soon to start making plans for Vintage Weekend at Ocean Reef Club, which runs from Nov. 29 to Dec. 2. Contact Cindy Elverman at 305-367-5874 or by email: celverman@oceanreef.com.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
July 2007
Dear friends,
For all of you who did not make the Trumpy reunion, let me tell you what you missed: A lot. There was a great show of Trumpy yachts – Stately Lady, Contract 446, 1972 owned by Mr. Hollis Baker; Sirius Contract 448, 1972 owned by Mrs. Susan Max; Liberty, Contract 368, 1954; Manatee, Contract 341, 1958; Claudette, Contract 438, 1970. And, at the museum dock, Windrush, Contract 424, 1966; Celebration, Contract 415, 1964 and the queen of the ball, S.S. Sophie, Contract 328, 1947. Sophie made a brief appearance like a queen should.
There were a lot of people who came great distances to be there. This was the most intimate reunion I think I’ve ever attended. Quiet conversations on aft decks, small cocktail parties, and dinners water side with friends. It has been five years since the last one so this has been a much anticipated event.
At the last one in 2002, the late Peter Max was president. I made a promise then, at that general meeting, that I would share all the secrets of the trade that I have learned over the years to help preserve these great yachts. Thirty-two letters later, I can say I have kept my promise. I hope that I have entertained you and enlightened you.
The other promise I made to Peter was the web site. Boy, I thought I’d never find a web master who wasn’t all hot air but I found Andrew Peeling, a great young man, very patient. We sat side by side every Saturday for several years building Trumpyyachts.com. He has graduated college and is a webmaster for a television network affiliate, but he still comes in on Saturdays to work on the site. It is something that fill both of us with pride.
I am ready to take on the next challenge, a book about the evolution of design in John Trumpy’s yachts. This is not to compete with the Trumpy book but more to complete the story on these great yachts. Sigrid and Trudy Trumpy and I are talking about writing it together.
A few years ago, I bought a G5 Mac computer and a high resolution scanner just for this task. I still don’t know how to use it by I have young people who do. I need photos, lots of photos of Trumpy yachts past and present. I have started with building the web site. This project will take on a life of its own. We will need many people’s help. This is going to be a great adventure. I have thought about it for a long time. If you would like to help and you have old photos, if you send them to me, I will scan them and return them to you. If we use them in the book, we will give you a photo credit with “photos courtesy of YOU.” Writing a book is a lot like building a boat. There are lots of little pieces that have to go together.
On the way back, I stopped in North Carolina. Rolling into Beaufort is instantly relaxing. I stopped along the waterfront to listen to some music. James, my son, has quickly made friends in summer camp and he is enjoying himself. I have sat along the boardwalk sipping red wine. I called a friend and James and I were swept off for the weekend, sailing out to Cape Lookout. We caught fresh mackerel and invited them to be dinner. The waters here remind me of the Bahamas, clear blues and green, but with the wind and the surf pounding. There is a euphoric feeling I get every time I travel here. Staying in South River, the nights are still cool and the wind hums through the needles of yellow pine tree canopy, see-sawing the rocking chairs out back.
I am really proud of what Stephanie and my brother-in-law Nathan have accomplished. Stephanie has taken our river cottage and made it into a home. At the yacht center, the two of them have transformed tin buildings into a home for our company.
The Ibis, the 1912 Trumpy deck house, is being restored and will be the heart of the new store. We plan to have as many photos in the store and the boat shop as wall space allows.
We are looking for a winter restoration project to fill the boat shop. The door is 20’ wide and 18’ tall and the boat can be up to 68’ long but can’t weigh more than 30 tons or 60,000 pounds.
For all of you who did not make the Trumpy reunion, let me tell you what you missed: A lot. There was a great show of Trumpy yachts – Stately Lady, Contract 446, 1972 owned by Mr. Hollis Baker; Sirius Contract 448, 1972 owned by Mrs. Susan Max; Liberty, Contract 368, 1954; Manatee, Contract 341, 1958; Claudette, Contract 438, 1970. And, at the museum dock, Windrush, Contract 424, 1966; Celebration, Contract 415, 1964 and the queen of the ball, S.S. Sophie, Contract 328, 1947. Sophie made a brief appearance like a queen should.
There were a lot of people who came great distances to be there. This was the most intimate reunion I think I’ve ever attended. Quiet conversations on aft decks, small cocktail parties, and dinners water side with friends. It has been five years since the last one so this has been a much anticipated event.
At the last one in 2002, the late Peter Max was president. I made a promise then, at that general meeting, that I would share all the secrets of the trade that I have learned over the years to help preserve these great yachts. Thirty-two letters later, I can say I have kept my promise. I hope that I have entertained you and enlightened you.
The other promise I made to Peter was the web site. Boy, I thought I’d never find a web master who wasn’t all hot air but I found Andrew Peeling, a great young man, very patient. We sat side by side every Saturday for several years building Trumpyyachts.com. He has graduated college and is a webmaster for a television network affiliate, but he still comes in on Saturdays to work on the site. It is something that fill both of us with pride.
I am ready to take on the next challenge, a book about the evolution of design in John Trumpy’s yachts. This is not to compete with the Trumpy book but more to complete the story on these great yachts. Sigrid and Trudy Trumpy and I are talking about writing it together.
A few years ago, I bought a G5 Mac computer and a high resolution scanner just for this task. I still don’t know how to use it by I have young people who do. I need photos, lots of photos of Trumpy yachts past and present. I have started with building the web site. This project will take on a life of its own. We will need many people’s help. This is going to be a great adventure. I have thought about it for a long time. If you would like to help and you have old photos, if you send them to me, I will scan them and return them to you. If we use them in the book, we will give you a photo credit with “photos courtesy of YOU.” Writing a book is a lot like building a boat. There are lots of little pieces that have to go together.
On the way back, I stopped in North Carolina. Rolling into Beaufort is instantly relaxing. I stopped along the waterfront to listen to some music. James, my son, has quickly made friends in summer camp and he is enjoying himself. I have sat along the boardwalk sipping red wine. I called a friend and James and I were swept off for the weekend, sailing out to Cape Lookout. We caught fresh mackerel and invited them to be dinner. The waters here remind me of the Bahamas, clear blues and green, but with the wind and the surf pounding. There is a euphoric feeling I get every time I travel here. Staying in South River, the nights are still cool and the wind hums through the needles of yellow pine tree canopy, see-sawing the rocking chairs out back.
I am really proud of what Stephanie and my brother-in-law Nathan have accomplished. Stephanie has taken our river cottage and made it into a home. At the yacht center, the two of them have transformed tin buildings into a home for our company.
The Ibis, the 1912 Trumpy deck house, is being restored and will be the heart of the new store. We plan to have as many photos in the store and the boat shop as wall space allows.
We are looking for a winter restoration project to fill the boat shop. The door is 20’ wide and 18’ tall and the boat can be up to 68’ long but can’t weigh more than 30 tons or 60,000 pounds.
June 2007
Dear friends,
Three or so years ago, we were working on a Trumpy bottom refit when it started to rain and wouldn’t stop. It was like something out of the Bible.
The next 30 days of rain set a Florida record. As the rains kept coming, the ground shifted and I had to re-blocked and reset the jack stands several times. No damage was done but I wasn’t going to do another project like that on soft ground again.
We constructed three concrete pads out of high-compression concrete at a cost of $22,000 on someone elses land. One pad got cut up to lay a new water main. The second had containers placed on it. And, the last has our currant schooner project on it. We constructed 16 steel pole arms with jack stands mounted upside down on them to gently support the weight of the whole hull.
We are building a boat backwards. We have a top and we are building a bottom. It’s a dream job. Each person involved in Summerwind has been handpicked. We have the best materials that can be found anywhere and we are walking in the foot steps of great masters and those are very big foot steps to fill. The only changes we are making are to better distribute the stress that modern rigging has placed on 1929 built Summerwind,. The mast step and ring frames will be high tech but buried deep inside the yacht. Then there’s our crew: Jon, Dave, Don, Jim, Arie, Rich, Jacob, Jermaine, Bernard, Alejandro, Brian, and our metal man Kip who looks like he should be on the set of Pirates of the Caribbean. It’s one heck of a crew. So how does John Trumpy get into this letter as he invariably always does in my letters? We are working on Trianon, 80 feet, built in 1960, Contract No. 392.
She is out for some bottom repairs. With her long graceful hull, we picked her up on the nine sling Travelift and set her down. We only had 3/8” of deflection from when we laser targeted her in the water to when we blocked her on land.
Through the years we have turned lifting wooden boats into a measurable science. I’ve decide to put together those great masters John Trumpy and John Alden on the Summerwind. project. I told Mr. Williamson that when we re-do the master stateroom on his Alden schooner, I would like to use parts we saved from Ibis, a 1912 Mathis Trumpy. Ibis’ inset mahogany panels, handmade doors with Tiffany glass and one of the finest Trumpy writing desks I’ve ever seen.
I know Mr. Trumpy liked sailing and I think it’s fitting. I don’t think we’re going to take on anymore major projects in Florida for a while. Our hands are kind of full right now. We will continue to take care of our clients and paint and varnish but any more major projects will have to go to our North Carolina yacht center, which is up and ready to work. Mr. Hollis Baker and I have gone through four boat projects together in the last ten years and he always asked before we start if Nathan was going to be working on his yacht. Mr. Baker is not alone. Webster Rhoads, Capt. Jim Twaddle, Capt. John Russell and many others all ask for Nathanial.
Nathan’s mathematical mind and seriousness nature make him one of the most well-rounded and sought after craftsmen I have ever known. My focus is the Florida operation and Nathan’s is North Carolina, that’s the best of both worlds. The next time I pour a concrete slab, I will own the dirt underneath. It will be in North Carolina.!
Until next time,
Jim Moores
P.S. I hope you have made your arrangements to be at the Trumpy meet. Hope to see you there on June 15th – 17th at St. Michaels, Maryland.
Three or so years ago, we were working on a Trumpy bottom refit when it started to rain and wouldn’t stop. It was like something out of the Bible.
The next 30 days of rain set a Florida record. As the rains kept coming, the ground shifted and I had to re-blocked and reset the jack stands several times. No damage was done but I wasn’t going to do another project like that on soft ground again.
We constructed three concrete pads out of high-compression concrete at a cost of $22,000 on someone elses land. One pad got cut up to lay a new water main. The second had containers placed on it. And, the last has our currant schooner project on it. We constructed 16 steel pole arms with jack stands mounted upside down on them to gently support the weight of the whole hull.
We are building a boat backwards. We have a top and we are building a bottom. It’s a dream job. Each person involved in Summerwind has been handpicked. We have the best materials that can be found anywhere and we are walking in the foot steps of great masters and those are very big foot steps to fill. The only changes we are making are to better distribute the stress that modern rigging has placed on 1929 built Summerwind,. The mast step and ring frames will be high tech but buried deep inside the yacht. Then there’s our crew: Jon, Dave, Don, Jim, Arie, Rich, Jacob, Jermaine, Bernard, Alejandro, Brian, and our metal man Kip who looks like he should be on the set of Pirates of the Caribbean. It’s one heck of a crew. So how does John Trumpy get into this letter as he invariably always does in my letters? We are working on Trianon, 80 feet, built in 1960, Contract No. 392.
She is out for some bottom repairs. With her long graceful hull, we picked her up on the nine sling Travelift and set her down. We only had 3/8” of deflection from when we laser targeted her in the water to when we blocked her on land.
Through the years we have turned lifting wooden boats into a measurable science. I’ve decide to put together those great masters John Trumpy and John Alden on the Summerwind. project. I told Mr. Williamson that when we re-do the master stateroom on his Alden schooner, I would like to use parts we saved from Ibis, a 1912 Mathis Trumpy. Ibis’ inset mahogany panels, handmade doors with Tiffany glass and one of the finest Trumpy writing desks I’ve ever seen.
I know Mr. Trumpy liked sailing and I think it’s fitting. I don’t think we’re going to take on anymore major projects in Florida for a while. Our hands are kind of full right now. We will continue to take care of our clients and paint and varnish but any more major projects will have to go to our North Carolina yacht center, which is up and ready to work. Mr. Hollis Baker and I have gone through four boat projects together in the last ten years and he always asked before we start if Nathan was going to be working on his yacht. Mr. Baker is not alone. Webster Rhoads, Capt. Jim Twaddle, Capt. John Russell and many others all ask for Nathanial.
Nathan’s mathematical mind and seriousness nature make him one of the most well-rounded and sought after craftsmen I have ever known. My focus is the Florida operation and Nathan’s is North Carolina, that’s the best of both worlds. The next time I pour a concrete slab, I will own the dirt underneath. It will be in North Carolina.!
Until next time,
Jim Moores
P.S. I hope you have made your arrangements to be at the Trumpy meet. Hope to see you there on June 15th – 17th at St. Michaels, Maryland.
May 2007
Dear friends,
This is a short letter from the South. I want to thank you for all the e-mails and phone calls about bilge ventilation. The cost is about four to six thousand to install, houseboats with dry stack are harder than cruisers with stern exhaust. It is well worth the investment.
I want to continue on about air cleansing systems. My writing is based on my observations, and living in Florida. We have a damp, hot summer and houses, buildings and boats are air-conditioned and air quality is very important. HEPA filters remove dust and air particles. The problem is that with small AC systems they can freeze your compressors. It goes like this—your AC works by moving air over the condenser, these filters work only on systems that are designed for them and most massive systems can handle the HEPA filters. The reduction of air will also reduce the amount of cold air that moves about the cabin and mildew can grow in your filters reproducing it more.
The next is negative ion generators. The ocean creates negative ions. Some say that’s why man is drawn to the water in the first place. Ion generators are used to remove smoke and particles. I personally bought and installed them in our house. The metal strips are charged with electricity, as the air passes it pulls the air particles towards the strips. After one season I did not find they really did anything to speak about. Even though they were expensive, I was not impressed. There was an article in The Wall Street Journal that dispels the hype.
So what is next? Sunlight! Sunlight does a great job of cleaning air. I remember in Maine after a long winter we would pull out the rugs and mattresses and set them in the sun. The UV would clean them and they smelled fresh and clean. Open a boat or house and let the air flow through and in a short period of time the quality is refreshed. Sunlight; it’s that simple. So that is what my next newsletter will be about—sunlight in a can.
Just a quick update. I hope that I will be seeing you at the Trumpy meet at St Michaels Harbour Inn, June 15th to June 17th. If you have never attended one, I hope you don’t miss this one.
Last, the schooner project Summerwind is really taking shape. The large chunks of white oak have been cut and shaped into ribs and floors and keel forefoot. We are rebuilding her from the outside in. Using the inner ceiling to connect the new ribs to and patterning the old ones, we are building her new bottom. I hope to have photos on our website soon.
Hope to see you in June.
This is a short letter from the South. I want to thank you for all the e-mails and phone calls about bilge ventilation. The cost is about four to six thousand to install, houseboats with dry stack are harder than cruisers with stern exhaust. It is well worth the investment.
I want to continue on about air cleansing systems. My writing is based on my observations, and living in Florida. We have a damp, hot summer and houses, buildings and boats are air-conditioned and air quality is very important. HEPA filters remove dust and air particles. The problem is that with small AC systems they can freeze your compressors. It goes like this—your AC works by moving air over the condenser, these filters work only on systems that are designed for them and most massive systems can handle the HEPA filters. The reduction of air will also reduce the amount of cold air that moves about the cabin and mildew can grow in your filters reproducing it more.
The next is negative ion generators. The ocean creates negative ions. Some say that’s why man is drawn to the water in the first place. Ion generators are used to remove smoke and particles. I personally bought and installed them in our house. The metal strips are charged with electricity, as the air passes it pulls the air particles towards the strips. After one season I did not find they really did anything to speak about. Even though they were expensive, I was not impressed. There was an article in The Wall Street Journal that dispels the hype.
So what is next? Sunlight! Sunlight does a great job of cleaning air. I remember in Maine after a long winter we would pull out the rugs and mattresses and set them in the sun. The UV would clean them and they smelled fresh and clean. Open a boat or house and let the air flow through and in a short period of time the quality is refreshed. Sunlight; it’s that simple. So that is what my next newsletter will be about—sunlight in a can.
Just a quick update. I hope that I will be seeing you at the Trumpy meet at St Michaels Harbour Inn, June 15th to June 17th. If you have never attended one, I hope you don’t miss this one.
Last, the schooner project Summerwind is really taking shape. The large chunks of white oak have been cut and shaped into ribs and floors and keel forefoot. We are rebuilding her from the outside in. Using the inner ceiling to connect the new ribs to and patterning the old ones, we are building her new bottom. I hope to have photos on our website soon.
Hope to see you in June.
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