Birchbark Canoe - Boats of the Year 2009

The boatbuilding crew at RUMERY’S BOAT YARD of Biddeford took advantage of a lull in boat work and turned its attention to improving the shop’s layout. They knocked a large hole in the side of the main building— an old brick coal-fired power plant—and constructed 2 new 60' x 20' work bays with radiant heat, and a mezzanine level for additional office and parts inventory space. A centerboard Alerion was built and launched in time for the MAINE BOATS, HOMES & HARBORS SHOW (sporting a wasabi-green hull), the yard’s General Marine 26 workboat was repowered, and routine repairs were made to 20 storage boats. The shop’s new line of oven-cured carbon fiber Saco River Rowing Shells is extra light, with a 55-foot, 8-person shell weighing in at about 210 lbs. “We’re hoping the hulls will require some ballast to hit the legal weight” said Rumery’s Sean Tarpey. www.rumerys.com; 207-282-0408.

Sabre Yachts 40 Express

Jacques Marron

Last May, SABRE YACHTS launched the new Sabre 40 sedan, the first Sabre with a fully resin-infused hull and deck, featuring the Zeus pod propulsion system. See page 86 for more on the Sabre 40. The Raymond company builds sailing yachts—the 36' Sabre Spirit, the Sabre 386, and the Sabre 426 sailing yachts, and motoryachts in sedan and express models—the Sabre 34, Sabre 38, Sabre 40, Sabre 42, and Sabre 52. Flybridge versions of the Sabre 40 sedan and the Sabre 52 are next in the development queue. www.sabreyachts.com; 207-655-3831.

BIRCHBARK CANOE PENOBSCOT MARINE MUSEUM by Ben Fuller

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F JOHN CABOT had either beaten Columbus to America, or had not been lost on his second voyage, we might be calling the small boats we paddle “aquiden” (an Abenaki word for canoe that was recorded by Waymouth in 1605) instead of canoes. When Cabot arrived in the New World, ca.1497, he landed on the eastern edge of a birchbark canoe-building belt that stretched from the Atlantic coast beyond the Great Lakes, wherever birch trees grew. This was the region that provided the craft that, ironically, was to be the principal tool used by Europeans to penetrate the American continent.

For a couple of weeks last summer, a chief attraction at the Penobscot Marine Museum was the building of such a birchbark canoe. Noted bark-canoe builder Steve Cayard led a group of Native Americans—Passamaquoddies, Penobscots, and Maliseets—as they turned out a splendid 16-footer. David Moses Bridges served as assistant instructor. Eric “Otter” Bacon, an accomplished Passamaquoddy basket maker, came to Searsport to learn a different style of bark work. Penobscots Joe Hugga Dana, Gwenuhet Dana, and Nicholas Dow were part of the crew, as were Maliseets G. Wayne Brooks and his son Cody. Their boat is a simple, functional example of the practical craft of canoe building.

This was actually the third birchbark canoe to be built at the museum since 2005.

That year, as part of an exhibition and program that contrasted the Native and European visions of Maine in 1605, David Moses Bridges of the Passamaquoddy Nation built a birchbark canoe. It was funded by a National Endowment for the Humanities

1 Seal Cove Boatyard: Stormy A restoration done at SEAL COVE BOATYARD

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Bob Holtzman(6), courtesy Penobscot Marine Museum

struction of a 30' McIntosh sloop, “A beautifully simple yacht based on the type that Bud perfected over his career. A plumb stern, outboard rudder, and a long cast-iron keel are what you want for a cruising boat so that you can hit those pesky ledges,” said Rollins. The boat is pine planked, which filled the York shop with sweet aromas instead of the “usual toxics.” Once the rudder was hung and the mast shaped, the boat was off to be completed at home by its new owners. www.rollinsboatbuilder.com; 207-351-7609.

Jeff Scher

2009 BOATS OF THE YEAR

2 1. Construction begins with a building bed.

2. A frame with temporary uprights defines the bottom and sides of the hull.

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BOATS OF THE YEAR 2009 grant that was designed to encourage native artisans. The canoe was purchased by the late Andrew Wyeth, and it now lives on Allen Island.

The purchase of that first canoe allowed the museum to use NEH funds to build a second one, the thought being to use it as a teaching opportunity. In 2006, Abenaki canoe builder Aaron York came to the museum to build a 20-foot-long Penobscot/Passamaquoddy ocean-style canoe. He was assisted by two Penobscots, Joe Hugga Dana and Gwenuhet Dana, and volunteer Ken Weeks.

That second canoe is now part of the museum’s educational collection. It has traveled to several festivals, and groups have borrowed it to use for demonstrations. A 20foot birchbark boat is remarkably light—two people can carry it quite easily—and the boat is very fast, especially with four paddlers. It’s easy to see how these canoes outdistanced the heavy rowing boats used by seventeenth-century Europeans.

Grant funds were raised by the museum to build a third canoe. Originally conceived as a demonstration project, the construction provided an opportunity to go beyond that and, more importantly, preserve and teach canoe building skills.

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brought to mind the words of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in The Little Prince: “What is essential is invisible to the eye.” Despite a perfect exterior and gleaming bright hull, a survey of the 32' 1965 Sparkman & Stephens sailboat Stormy revealed that the frames in the bilge area were delaminating. The owner challenged the Harborside shop to “disassemble what you must, repair or replace all frames necessary, and retreat so artfully that no one knows that you have been there.” The process involved removal of the V-berth, new joinery and bulkheads in the head, cabin joinery, and repair of frames that had delaminated from the keel to the bilge. Lead carpenter Vaughan Peters and crew then employed a method of “staggering the butt joints of each of the 8 lifts in the ribs so that they ended just below the waterline on thoroughly sound sections, and put brand new frames into the bilges.” The artful reassembly and retreat followed, “as if nothing had ever happened.” www.sealcoveboatyard.com; 207-326-4422.

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Shaw & Tenney Whitehall SHAW & TENNEY, known for its handcrafted

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6 3. Shaped stems define the ends of the canoe.

4. Spruce roots are used to sew the seams.

5. Split cedar is used for frames; they are inserted after the hull has been shaped.

6. Sewn seams are waterproofed with hot spruce gum.

Building a birchbark canoe is much more than just construction. Natural materials need to be gathered. Birch trees big enough to harvest bark from must be found, and that is not an easy matter. White cedar ribs and planking have to be split, not sawn, and yards and yards of spruce roots are needed to sew the canoe together. Hot spruce gum, used for waterproofing, isn’t exactly available at the local chandlery.

By encouraging the preservation of these skills, the museum provided opportunities for tribe members to learn from experienced builders and then teach their acquired skills to others. Visitors to the museum had an opportunity to learn about these remarkable craft, which are as light and well-shaped as anything built today.

Last summer’s canoe is the best style for recreational use, as it can be paddled and carried easily by one or two people. As of press time, it was for sale; the proceeds will allow this fine program to continue.

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oars and paddles, introduced a new Whitehall pulling boat in June, available in “plain” or “fancy” models. The 17'9" boat is lofted and built at the Orono shop, and combines the lines and attributes of the traditional Whitehall design with modern construction.

(See page 88 for more about the new Whitehall.) www.shawtenney.com; 207-240-4867.

SIX RIVER MARINE of North Yarmouth performed annual maintenance work for its regular customers. Hull no. 1 of the West Pointer was in for upgrades, including a new teak deck, an all-bronze hardware package, new electronics, and a custom aluminum fuel tank with increased capacity. Its owners, who live in Florida, were granted use of hull no. 2 for their daughter’s wedding while the boat was in this shop. This required a well-orchestrated boat ballet. The boats met in North Carolina in April after traveling from Maine and Florida for the swap. May brought the wedding, and summer the return trip to North Carolina for one last exchange. The West Pointer’s lines reflect those of Maine skiffs, and the hull is constructed by laminating cedar veneers with epoxy; customizable options include the cockpit layout and finish. www.sixrivermarine.com; 207-846-6675.

Penobscot Marine Museum, P.O. Box 498, Route One, Searsport, ME 04974.

207-548-2529; www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org

www.maineboats.com

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