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.