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"Never to land on an island from a boat of one's own building,
is to miss one of life's great moments." -- Arch Davis
All plans from Arch Davis Design are backed by a free advisory service. If you have a question or a problem when you are building your Arch Davis designed boat, call 207-930-9873 between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm, including weekends, for advice from the designer.
A very busy summer put a stop to progress on our favorite project, the 30 ft sailboat in our workshop. However, we have been able to get back to it this fall, with good progress on planking the topsides. We have had help from daughter Grace and her friend Cori Shooter, and son Jack. We hope that the next posting will show the hull being turned over, early in the new year.
Dawn Zinn sent these photos of Little Detour, the Grace’s Tender built by her husband Andrew, with help from sons Zach, six, and Sam, four. They use their boat as a tender for their Irwin 31 sailboat, Diversion, which they sail on Corpus Christi Bay, TX. Andrew describes the boat as, “a joy to build .” He says that they sail the boat a lot – he notes that lengthening the daggerboard has improved the boat’s performance.
Bill Austin sent this photo of his Penobscot 14. He writes, “Thanks much for your well drafted plans and the DVD. I wasn't sure if I could build it but with the detail provide with your plans everything went well. It was built in my garage in Atlanta but will be using it in the 'Back River' on Tybee Island, GA.
Tony Bohorfoush sent these photos of his new Laughing Gull. He sails The Lady’s Spirit out of Lagoon Point, Whidbey Island, Washington. He reports that he built the boat over a period of about 16 months, working mostly evenings in his garage. “It was a rewarding project in every way . . . Can’t thank you enough for the video, booklet, plans, and most of all, your encouragement.” He adds, “Please congratulate [your daughter] Grace for me. He dinghy in WB’s Jan/Feb issue is a beauty. Every time I struggled with a construction problem my wife and I would watch the video and a frequent remark we would make was, ‘See, it’s so easy, Grace can do it.’”
The Penobscot 17 is now available, slightly modified, from Callisto Sailcraft as the Aurai 17. Tom Barrows built a P 17 for his own use, and liked the boat so much that he is now having them built professionally for sale in the US. He says, “Callisto Sailcraft is now ready to begin shipping its new Aurai 17. The Aurai 17 is a perfect adaptation of the Penobscot 17 by Arch Davis Design, the purity of its lines rendered in the traditional Whitehall family. Its beautiful hull is handmade in Europe by artisan craftsman using the
finest grade materials. The Aurai is finished and rigged by Callisto Sailcraft's small team located in Port Townsend and Wenatchee, Washington. A tremendous amount of energy, time and passion goes into each boat as Callisto Sailcraft endeavors to bring joy into the lives of others through the charm of its hand-crafted wooden sailboats.”
Bill Conley, of Raleigh, North Carolina, won this award for best sailboat at the NC Maritime Museum’s Wooden Boat Show this year. He tells us that he built the hull of Little Blues, “in a 9 day class at the NC Maritime Museum Boat shop in Beaufort, NC. I then finished it at home in Raleigh, eight months and about 2000 hours later. This was my first attempt at building a boat, and the experience was wonderful. My wife sewed the sails from a Sailrite kit, but everything else, including the oars and the hollow spars, was built from scratch with guidance from Craig Wright, the master boat builder at the Boat shop.” He adds that, “The boat is a delight to row and sail in the sounds around Beaufort.”
Hein Olivier got his boat back from having the 60 HP four stroke Yamaha fitted, and has had her out a few times on Moreton Bay. He reports a top speed about 35 mph, cruising at 20 – 22 mph at 4.2 thousand revs. He writes, “I am very pleased with the boat. On a previous run, I was accompanied by a very experienced pilot, who took the boat through some tight turns, speed tests etc. (as the mechanic that fitted the motor also did on a previous occasion), and he also had only praise for the boat.”
We have had several photos of Duane Kelm’s boat under construction on this page. This spring she was launched. Duane reports that the 50 HP Honda gives a top speed of about 27 mph, and a cruising speed around 20 mph. He says that he is very pleased with the performance of the boat, but he is concerned that the boat trims a bit high at the bow at cruising speed. He will experiment with moving some weights forward, and fit a wedge on the transom to allow the motor to be trimmed down a few more degrees. We expect that this should be enough to bring the bow down to where it should be.