Eleanor's B/log
It is a thrilling to watch as the Hudson River Historic Boat Restoration and Sailing Society community volunteers steadily restore Eleanor to her former self. When she sails again on the Hudson River she will be there for the general public’s enjoyment and education: an intimate class room on the water where people will learn to sail, communicate and work together as a team, and gain both an appreciation of the River’s history and environment and a keen awareness of nature’s unstoppable forces.
This year, as illustrated by the contributions and grants received both locally and on a state level, HRHB can proudly declare that we are recognized and trusted to be an organization managed with integrity.
After much research and evaluation beginning in the summer of 2014, we placed the money received by grants and contributions for the building of our mast, boom and gaff into the capable hands of the Beetle Boat Shop in Wareham, Massachusetts. Our spars look great.
Progress during 2015 was impressive. Our volunteers installed the new keelson, scarffing the bow and stern sections together. They cut, steamed and shaped elm for mast hoops.
At the last Thursday restoration session only four of the 40 floors which are shaped out of White Oak still remained to be fitted and installed. We still have a chance!
Our goals for 2016 include completing projects begun this year: finalizing the design of and building the new deadwood, completing the transom rebuild, beginning the deck repair and installing new ribs made of White Oak purchased from Newport Nautical Timbers in Rhode Island. This last job is a difficult project requiring steaming and bending wood, and it requires a great deal of our volunteers’ time.
We worked with Nat Wilson, Master sailmaker from East Boothbay Harbor, Maine on the design of the sails. Eleanor will join a long list of boats and ships that have Wilson sails and rigging, including the U.S.S. Constitution, Clearwater, and Mayflower II. We had no drawings and Nat worked closely with our members who had sailed Eleanor and were familiar with her sails and how she maneuvered, and with Beetle Boat, so that the sails and the spars will work together and will perform as in the past. We anticipate that this next major expense will be about $6000, and 2016 fundraising will be to “Raise the Sails!”
While she is being restored, community volunteers learn, hands-on or through discussion, how boats like Eleanor were built back in 1903, using the materials and craftsmanship of boatbuilders at the turn of the century.
We encourage organizations and classrooms to schedule visits to our restoration site to see what we are all about. To schedule a visit or inquire about volunteering as a woodworker or a crewmember on our unofficial committees write to us at elearnorrestorationproject@gmail.com
View the complete timeline of Restoration Progress
See you down by the riverside — with your deck shoes on!
Artie Christie, a member of Hudson River Historic Boat, recently sailed his Quest from Athens to the Tappan Zee Bridge and back to Hideaway Marina in Kingston, where she will winter. The Quest, named by her previous owner, is a Dutch Treat, a 25′ hard-chined mahogany-on-oak sloop with a draft of 4’11” and a beam +- 7′. She was built in Holland in 1954.
On the return trip Artie spent two days at a Beacon boat club dock where Greg Grann, “a great guy,” helped with the outboard.
It was hard picking the photos to include in the post.
Suzanne Leahy, Spar Builder at the Beetle Boat Company in Wareham, Mass. and her crew have been taking the work of building the mast for the sailboat Eleanor very seriously. The Hudson River Historic Boat Restoration & Sailing Society contracted with the Beetle Boat Company last summer to build the 35’3″ mast, the 25′ boom and the 14′ gaff. The light weight mast is built using staves cut from Sitka Spruce from the north western part of the United States. Suzanne says that the spruce stock is some of the best/clearest she has ever seen. The photo shows the staves in the birds mouth technique of spar building before they are clamped. The mast will be loaded onto a 40′ lathe which will shape the mast into its final round shape.
The goal of $18,000.00, the cost to build the three spars, was achieved through sales of souvenir hand crafted wooden Eleanor ornaments, tee shirts, contributions from members and friends, and fund raisers; the most recent one, The Great Lawn and Grand Porch Party held in May at Rokeby, Barrytown. The next major fund raising effort will be for the sails which are being custom made for the 1903 Clinton Crane sailboat by Nat Wilson, in East Boothbay, Maine. To insure that all parts of the rig are in balance it was necessary for Wilson and Leahy to collaborate on the sail and spar plan.