Commodore’s Message As I write this Tern sits in our driveway looking sad. It does not seem long ago that she was in the driveway with a fresh coat of paint ready for the season. It also does not seem like long ago when I had a call from Dick Salter asking me if I would be inter- ested in standing for Vice Commodore. That was four years ago. It has been an enjoyable four years and I am glad I said yes. As I have said in previous messages this is a friendly family oriented organization and I am glad that I had a chance to serve it. What made my time at the helm even more enjoyable are the members of the executive board. Commodores come and go, but what keeps the organization going is this board. I want to take this opportunity to personally thank all the members of the board. Their input and knowledge of the society’s history have been invaluable to me. As I step down the Society is in good hands with John Rand and the Executive board. We had a good summer. It was another year where we sailed to Maine without fog. I packed all kinds of cold weather gear and rain gear. This was based on previous trips to Maine. I could have had more room onboard Tern by leaving it all behind. I never needed it. I did not pack enough shorts and T-shirts. It was a good summer. We had three good races in Rockland thanks to our Race Committee. And there was a new addition to the race. The “Rum Line” I speak from experience in saying this was a great addition to the fun in Rockland. It is said that this was the result of a discussion between Don Huston and Harold Burnham. Well the Rum Line trophy ran into a Rum Squall that hit the dock shortly after the Tern tied up. Some of us may have a hard time remembering the Squall. I want to thank all who helped in Rockland this year. Between Ralph Stanley who donated his boat for the Race Committee, Dick Salter who donated his new Messing About for patrol along with Bruce Lanning’s boat and our Race (Continued to Page 2) Annual Meeting Reminder This years’ annual meeting will be held: November 9th The New England Center University of New Hampshire The Rockland Races of 2002 – – – And The Two-Headed Coin By David W. Graham, Race Committee chairman With the previous Friendship Sloop regatta of 2001 firmly entrenched on everyone’s mind, perhaps some would say that the 2002 races were conducted with cautious optimism, while others might feel that it was all played on the safe side. The simple fact is that during four meetings in the course of the many months prior to this past July, your Race Committee made some serious decisions on the manner in which it would conduct future racing within the Society. The primary thought centered around the need to communicate among ourselves and from the outcome of that came the firm commitment that all participating sloops and support craft will have operable and permanently installed on-board VHF transmitters capable of communications on the standard marine channels. Hand-held transmitters would be permitted as back-up equipment to the fixed VHF radios. In the course of the pre-race activity, no one seemed to disagree with the Race Committee policy that is standard fare elsewhere. With that behind all of us, Dick Salter provided us with a 5-minute rundown on procedures and use of the radio during the Tuesday morning skippers’ meeting. The weather for the three-day regatta was just what all of us had wanted; fair with good visibility and manageable winds. The Race Committee, employing its vast infinite wisdom, decided to flip its two-headed coin and run the first day’s race on one of the newly created “Inside” courses; that is, with the majority of the courses for both Divisions I and II being conducted inside the Rockland breakwater. To the great pleasure of everyone, partici- pants and committee alike, the “inside” race was deemed a huge success. With similar good weather condition of the next day, the two-headed coin was again flipped and the decision was once more made to do an “inside” race. Again, everyone was extremely pleased at the end of Wednesday’s race, especially our Commodore, Paul Haley – – – but more on that in a moment. In spite of the fact that the Thursday race at Rockland has traditionally been an “Inside” race day, the two-headed coin was again employed, just to be certain that the race Committee was taking the correct course of action. When it was all over, the history book on Friendship Sloop racing at Rockland may have recorded its first “All Inside” regatta. Ashore at the end of the race, there were big smiles on the faces of all the skippers and crew, indicating that maybe – – just maybe – – the Race Commit- (Continued to Page 2) Volume 14 Fall 2002 Issue 3 Friendships Newsletter of the Friendship Sloop Society

The Rockland Races of 2002 – – – And The Two-Headed Coin (Continued from the Front Page) tee’s two-headed coin was working properly. This is not to be construed that all future racing at Rockland will be conducted in a similar manner. Indeed, given safe conditions, “Outside” courses may well remain a reality – – – but your Race Committee has developed options for racing at Rockland and will no longer be worried about setting three days’ worth of courses inside the breakwater. Now, back to the matter of our smiling commodore. An idea was brought to the Race Committee’s attention by Past Commo- dore Don Huston, who suggested that putting a little zest into the Class “A” races might spark some extra enthusiasm among that segment of our fleet. With some fine-tuning, the results of Don’s idea became know as “The Rum Line Trophy” for Class “A”. At the conclusion of the Wednesday race beyond the finish line, all the Class “A” sloops were invited to pick up one of several float- ing Clorox bottles, to which had been attached lines ending at weighted milk crates that were sitting on the floor of Rockland Harbor. All but one crate contained a nip bottle of Mount Gay Rum, while the winner’s crate held a 1.75 litre bottle of the same product. The smile on Paul Haley’s face was mirrored by the same smile of the following morning – – – but with the now emptied bottle that rumors claim had been shared by anyone desiring to “partake” in his trophy. This particular event was deemed a huge success and will be repeated at our future Rockland regattas. Indeed, it was even more of a success when one considers that there was but one true winner – – – and absolutely no losers. You can rest assured that if any further suggestions are brought to the attention of your Race Committee regarding innovative events within our Rockland regatta, the committee will not hesitate to seize upon the opportunity to evaluate and possibly implement them into our proceedings. We may even employ our two-headed coin to reinforce the use of any recommendations. Commodore’s Message (Continued from Front Page) Committee. In addition we owe a lot of thanks to Pete and his crew in the Harbormaster’s office and Share the Pride. With out their participation we would not be able to be in Rockland. This summer saw get togethers on the Chesapeake, South West Harbor, New London and Marblehead. I have not had the report from the Chesapeake, but they have a report in the newsletter. South West Harbor was well attended, but the turn out at Marblehead and New London was somewhat disappointing. I hope we can pick these numbers up next year. November 9th is the next stop on the 2002 season. We have a good meeting planned with a talk by Roger Duncan along with a silent auction and live auction. So let’s set sail for Durham, NH. See you there. Supporting the Rockland Races By David w. Graham, Race Committee Chairman During my many years of race management, it has all too often come to my attention that many folks simply assume that races “just happen”. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Friendship Sloop Society is blessed with many dedicated individuals who come together to produce racing at Rockland. For instance, there is the Race Committee whose members give freely of their time and their own financial resources to plan, in no less than four sessions each year, and then implement the Homecoming Regatta. Then, there are support people such as Miff Lauriat who spends freely of his own time to make certain that the Race Committee equipment, so necessary for running races, was prepared and tested for the coming race program. Dick Salter in Messing About and Bruce Lanning in Chicka- dee, who volunteer their time and services to oversee mark- setting and race course safety patrol, are absolutely indispensa- ble to our annual Homecoming. And then, there is Ralph Stanley, who has volunteered the use of Seven Girls as our Rockland Race Committee boat – – – a perfect platform for such activity. Without these extremely generous people who so willingly give of themselves, the Rockland races would become very diffi- cult to run – – – if at all. In short, it doesn’t “just happen”. The Society is indeed fortunate. Rockland Homecoming 2002 Results State of Maine Trophy Best Overall Performance Salatia Division I Herald Jones Trophy Salatia Bruno & Stillman Trophy Celebration Lash Brothers Trophy Echo Division II Commodore’s Trophy Phoenix Winslow Trophy Tannis Rockland Trophy Rights of Man Class A Wilbur Morse Trophy Gladiator Charles Morse Trophy Sazerac Alexander McLain Trophy Tern Rum Line Trophy Tern Special Trophies Chrissy Trophy Betty Haley Spirit of Friendship Jeff Cohen – Lisa K. Gladiator Trophy Banshee Nickerson Trophy Braman Cronin Owner/Builder Trophy Bob Monk Jr. – Phillip J. Nichols Danforth Trophy Queequeg R.W. Stanley Cup Paul Haley – Tern Liberty Trophy Gladiator Jarvis Newman Trophy Salatia Cy Hamlin Trophy Bill Zuber – Gladiator – 2 –

The Marblehead Race Program By David W. Graham When all was said and done, five (5) sloops crossed the start- ing line to race at Marblehead in 2002. While the racing condi- tions were perfect and the race courses were improved upon, five racing sloops cannot sustain the commitment required by the Corinthian Yacht Club. Competition for race programs is extremely keen to the extent that there is a waiting list at Marble- head for available slots. When the powers-that-be see five Friendship Sloops, where at one time there were as many as triple that number, some very serious questions are asked. Over the past few years, I have tried to explain at the Society’s annual meeting that I am no longer in control of the seasonal race program at Marblehead. My strong emotion for supporting Friendship racing there is simply not held by others who are now running the seasonal program. As we all may have heard at one time or another, we either “use it or we lose it”. We are now at the very edge of the cliff at Marblehead – – – and a strong wind is at our backs, everybody. Membership News Membership Chairman Bill Cronin has sent along the following news about our members and their sloops. Sail #50 Heritage was bought by Steve and Dee Dunipace in August 2002 from Frank and Brinna Sands. This sloop was formerly owned by Bill and Barbara Hadlock. Steve sailed in Rockland this past summer on Phoenix and Rights of Man. He had also sailed on Heritage when the Hadlocks owned her. Steve and Dee summer in Friendship, Me and live in Browns- burg, Indiana. Sail #38 Eleazar, listed as lost, is now owned by David B. Schuler of Rochester, NY. He bought the sloop from Carl Arra in 1996. This boat was built by W.S.Carter in 1938. #7 Tannis (1937) and #45 Flying Jib (1936) were also built by W.S. Carter. Sail #1 Voyager is now owned by Jim Salafia of Warren, ME. This is the sloop that Bernie MacKenzie owned when the society was founded in 1960. The sloop is currently located in Warren, ME. Al Doucette of Mattapoisett, MA launched #228 Mermaid this July after a three year rebuild by Al. The sloop will be homeported in Mattapoisett. Finally, in Southwest Harbor, ME, Ralph Stanley has a sloop under construction scheduled to be in the water for the 2003 season. The owners, Sean and Tamara McCarthy of East Hampton, NY plan to have her at the Rockland regatta next year. According to Richard Stanley (Ralph’s son), it will be similar to the “Dictator” model, but will be 35 feet length on deck. 2nd Chesapeake Bay Friendship Sloop Regatta By Tom Berry The 2nd Chesapeake Bay Friendship Sloop Regatta was held May 17, 18, 19 & 20 at the Chesapeake Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, MD, once again this year. We deem the regatta a success this year because 2 sloops (one more than last year) and 3 skippers/owners (two more than last year) were in attendance. Dave Sell came all the way from the head of the Bay in their 21′ ANSA, a true slog into southerly winds and nasty waves for Dave. His wife Julie arrived the smart way, by car, and secured accommodations ashore for both of them, which turned out to be a very wise move. Dave Niebuhr promised to be there with his Perseverance but his boatyard was unable to get Miss P back in the water in time; so Dave joined Tom Berry on his Wenonah for the ride across and down the Bay to St. Michaels on Friday. Please note the word “ride” in the previous sentence. This was mostly an iron-genny trip as their wind died after the first 2 hours. Saturday morning the wind increased to a howl out of the SW, bringing horizontal rain. While the crew still slept aboard Wenonah the wind suddenly shifted to the NW and increased to over 30 knots, pinning Wenonah in her slip and ANSA to her berth at the end of a pier. Meanwhile, Dave and Julie slept comfortably ashore. Without even waiting for a skipper’s meeting all racing was canceled for the day. Replacement activi- ties included touring the fine museum exhibits and watching the wind snap support lines and a couple of poles holding up a huge tent that was protecting about 12-14 antique cars from the elements. The remaining poles and lines held, so there was little damage. Dave’s wife, Lauren, joined us by car in the afternoon, bringing drier weather with her. We continued our Friendship bonding over dinner at the Carpenter St. Saloon. Since it was yet another unplanned windless day on Sunday, the Sells and Niebuhrs decided to drive home after a late break- fast. Tom and his daughter, Mariel, pulled tourist duty in the afternoon, wandering through St. Michaels and its shops. Monday dawned bitter cold with a pleasant NE wind. By the time Wenonah reached the turning point to head out Eastern Bay the wind, God bless it, had died. But the cold hadn’t. It turned into a painfully cold, “powered by Volvo” journey home. All participants deemed this regatta a success despite the inclement weather. Maybe next year the weather gods won’t mess with our agenda. Auction Items Needed As has been the practice in the last few years, the business meeting of the Society has been concluded with an auction. The auction will be for the benefit of the scholarship fund and the operating fund of the Sloop Society. If you have any quality items that you think would be of interest to our members, and wish to donate them to the auction, please bring them along to the meeting, and please designate to which fund you would like the proceeds from your items to be allocated. Your donation will be greatly appreciated. – 3 –

SOUTHWEST HARBOR — There was only a light wind, but plenty of action in this year’s Friendship Sloop race. Saturday’s Southwest Harbor Rendezvous attracted nine sloops from Maine and as far away as Essex, Mass. The Southwest Harbor event, which was a warm up for this week’s homecoming in Rockland, saw nip-and-tuck racing with the final seven boats crossing the finish line with only a six-minute spread. The seven-mile course began off the mouth of Somes Sound off the west side of Greening Island. From there, the route turned around Sand Point, headed east past Bear Light and around Sutton Island, back west toward Southwest Harbor and then turned northward in a tacking run to the start/finish line. Under partly cloudy skies, the course was set to include a minimum amount of windward sailing in the 8-10 knot winds. The course was designed to get the most out of the boats. “Friendship sloops reach the best,” said Salatia owner and skipper and race organizer Miff Lauriat. After a brief skippers’ meeting on Greening Island to go over the course, the race began shortly after 1:30 p.m. All the boats, except Phoenix, made a clean start. Phoenix, a Carver’s Harbor- based 30-foot Bruno and Stillman built in 1970, put her bow sprit across the line early and was forced to circle around the starting line again. The seven-minute delay only postponed the inevitable. Phoenix, which was the only sloop running with topsails, easily made up the ground and overtook the other entrants. In one of the race’s more exciting moment, Phoenix caught up with Southwest Harbor’s own Endeavor and Salatia on the run to Sutton Island. Though Phoenix had built up a good head of steam heading into the pass, it stalled when it attempted to pass the two smaller sloops down wind. Chrissy soon joined the pack and the four sloops ran bow-to-bow. With Endeavor, Chrissy and Salatia stealing her wind, Phoenix was forced to move downward in an effort to pick up the breeze. Once it did, it took off and never looked back. Phoenix built a commanding lead and completed the seven-mile race in 1 hour, 41 minutes and 14-seconds. “Phoenix wins nearly every year,” Mr. Lauriat said. After 100-years on the seas, Gladiator still held her own. The 32-footer out of Friendship was built in 1902 by Alexander McLain. Gladiator worked a solid lead over the pack, but could not catch Phoenix. Gladiator finished the race in second with a time of 1:44:56. Though the smaller, Salatia and Endeavor held their own early, under prevailing winds the larger vessels usually triumph. That was certainly the case on Saturday. Chrissy, a 30-foot Charles A. Morse built in 1912 and based in Essex, Mass., and Northeast Harbor’s Blackjack, a 33-foot Wilbur A. Morse built in 1900, came from behind early and held close to each other throughout much of the race. Chrissy finished with a 1:52:59 and Blackjack with a 1:53.16. Freedom, a 28-foot Ralph W. Stanley built in 1976 and based on Islesford, was just nine seconds behind with a 1:53:25. Endeavor, a 25-foot Ralph W. Stanley built in 1979, returned to the racing circuit with a classic battle for the finish against Salatia, the 25-foot, 1969 Jarvis Newman. Skippered by Richard Stanley, the wood-hulled Endeavor shares a friendly rivalry with its cross-bay, fiberglass counterpart. Endeavor led most of the last leg, and though it looked as though Salatia might make a successful final push, Endeavor crossed the line in sixth place, a couple of boat lengths and 19 seconds ahead of Salatia, which finished with a 1:55:32. The race marked the first Mr. Lauriat has sailed without his topsails since 1975. The decision to forgo the sails was based on a desire to try something different, Mr. Lauriat said, and because topsails make Friendships top-heavy and more work to handle. The Helen Brooks, with a time of 1:56:02 and Caroline B, with a 1:58:46, rounded out the field. “I was happy that everything went well and everyone had a good time,” Mr. Lauriat said. “We just like to go out there, have a good time, sail a lot and look pretty.” New London Sloop Rendezvous The Seventeenth Annual Friendship Sloop Rendezvous again coincided with the City of New London’s three day Sailfest. Five sloops attended this year’s event which , for the second year, was based at the City Pier where the city had provided a float for rafting all of the sloops together. The City Pier was also the venue for a majority of the activities Sailfest, including an outstanding Grucci fireworks display on Saturday night. Sloop activities started on the Friday night with dinner for the skippers and crews, hosted by Jack Vibber, at Buckley’s not far from the Custom House which also served as the location for the skipper’s meetings and the awards presentations on Sunday afternoon. Saturday’s race start, off of the Coast Guard station, was a downwind start which soon became a beat to windward straight down the harbor channel to G1, the entrance mark to the channel. The sloops rounded the mark and enjoyed a broad reach back through the finish line to G13 off of the City Pier, then back to the original starting line for the finish. The breeze held throughout the race at about 10-15 knots. The racing on this day also included classic wooden boats who started with the Friendships and raced in their own class. Sunday’s race also started off the Coast Guard station and the course was again a beat down the channel, except with a lighter breeze than Saturday. The course was south only to G5, but was twice around, again passing through the starting / finish line at the end of the first leg. (Continued to Page 7) – 4 – Phoenix Is Top Friendship By Craig Crosby Reprinted with permission of the publishers of the “Mount Desert Islander”

2002 Treasurer’s Report For the year ending September 30, 2002, The Society was one dollar better off than the plan approved at the annual meeting in November 2001. It was still a deficit year, losing $321. Almost all categories of income were below expectations, but so were several categories of planned expenditures. The proposed budget for 2003 is included here. It has been approved by the Executive Committee, subject to membership approval at the annual meeting this November. ACTUAL BUDGET 2003 Year End Year End Budget 9/30/02 9/30/02 MORE (LESS) Receipts Membership 5,300 5,130 5,300 Chandlery 4,918 6,750 5,000 Regatta Events 760 850 760 Annual Meeting 2,086 2,175 2,000 Year Book/Bulletin Board 525 700 600 Contributions (to FSS) 264 600 300 All Other 223 360 180 Total Receipts 14,076 16,565 14,140 Expenses Chandlery 3,691 5,400 3,550 Regatta Related 2,350 2,850 1,880 Annual Meeting 2,999 2,250 3,050 Charitable Contributions 1,400 1,300 1,300 Secretary Compensation 1,000 1,000 1,000 Yearbook 500 700 600 Administrative 2,457 3,387 3,125 Total Expenses 14,397 16,887 14,505 Net cash In (Out) (321) (322) (365) A few comments about the proposed budget for 2003 are in order. First it is another deficit plan, very similar to our actual results in fiscal 2002. If we operate by this plan, 2003 will be the third deficit year in a row. While there is sufficient cash to handle this deficit, over $9,000 in cash on hand, we face the continuing pressure of increasing costs, but only a stable membership base. Among the increasing costs is the annual meeting, for which we have incurred a net outflow of roughly $1,000 in each of the last two years. We spent much of the Executive Committed meeting discussing ways to hold costs and raise additional money. It has been something like ten years since there was an increase in the membership fees, and we prefer to avoid any increases in required membership charges. On the other hand, in light of the increasing costs, we are asking members who are able, to make voluntary contributions to the general fund of the Society (the Scholarship Fund is not part of the Society’s finances). More information will be available at the annual meeting, but if you have any questions in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact me at treasurer@fss.org Submitted by Jonathan Leavy, Treasurer. Annual Meeting Notice Saturday, November 9, 2002 New England Center University of New Hampshire Noon – 3:30 PM – Pre-Meeting Social 3:30 – 5:00 PM – Business Meeting 5:00 – 5:30 PM – Guest Speaker – Roger Duncan 5:30 – 6:00 PM Auction 5:45 – 7:00 PM – Social Hour with cash bar 7:00 PM – Sit-Down Dinner 9:00 PM – ? Commodore’s Hospitality Suite Room Reservations – 800-590-4334 $95.00 Single / $105.00 / Double (Call Immediately for Reservations) Special Features of the Annual Meeting: – Extended social opportunities!! More chance to elaborate on those sea stories – Picture Swap Area – bring a picture / take a picture. We all have so many pictures of other people’s boats – why not share the wealth with everyone! – 50/50 Raffle – held during the pre-meeting social. This is a way for us to defray the cost of renting the conference room – and a lucky winner has taken home over $100 each time we have held this raffle. – Business Meeting which wll focus on the key areas of concern and interest to the membership. Chandlery News The chandlery will have a number of articles for purchase at the annual meeting. Start your holiday shopping early this year, stop by and see Kathy and Bill Whitney and purchase those special gifts for someone on your shopping list. If you are not able to attend the meeting, you can still purchase by mail by contacting Bill and Kathy at the address below. The Friendship Sloop Society website (FSS.ORG) has a list of the items for sale and an order form. This year’s t-shirt was white with the society pennant and a listing of all the race locations on the back. If you have any suggestions for next year’s design, or suggestions for additions to the chandlery list please contact Bill and Kathy. Bill and Kathy Whitney 75 Kingsbury Street Needham, MA 02492 – 5 –

Bucephalus never made it into the water last year, but waited patiently, a bit sulky on the really fine days, beneath her canvas. I got used to her cover, peaked high above her decks, and its depressing obfuscation of her lines. My boat became a shape; a sad state of affairs that shouldn’t ever happen to a boat, and one that I had determined to remedy. Now the winter rains had let up and the canvas was finally dry enough to loosen from around the framework of cheap, hardware store lumber. The fights to wriggle my head under winter-wet canvas for reassuring peeks were over. I folded the cover back into great piles of grey that draped wearily; over coarse rafters and lashdowns of retired climbing webbing, and sat for a while. Just sat, one arm over the coaming, one hand on her tiller, the framework casting shadow geometries over dust and mummified yellow jackets. In that first moment, though, there is too much yet to be done to take great pleasure in just sitting. The brightwork, chafed by lines or incautious docking, with days of spot priming before the first real coat can go on. Those ‘holidays’ of last year that didn’t fade over the winter; worse yet the subtle curtains of paint that show where spring’s teasing distracted me from my brush. The summer drought that roughened her bottom and opened the south- facing seams; the winter rains that stained her topsides. Though loosened, the cover stays on, sheltering her from the blinding heat of summer, shedding the fresh water that does no bilge any good. The rafters get shifted this way and that as I sand deck and toe rails. The ridge beam now suspends drying wipe rags and leaves dents in my head as I move, chimpanzee-like, about the deck. Then the brightwork is done. Over the days the rafters have become a nuisance, been removed, and lie stacked against the fence. I’ve stopped intentionally not counting the days left until she might touch water and am now hurrying to finish all the extra- neous details that I once procrastinated on – finding a launch ramp, renting a slip, digging the lifeiackets out from under the bed. One week left, if the weather holds. One week left, if the spot prime dries properly. One week left, and though I never actually count the days, 16 years of watching Bucephalus come alive tell me all I need to know. One week. I wait until evening. Though all is sanded and pre-prepped, tomorrow I’ll be hurrying to lay paint before noon heat stymies even Penetrol and I’ll take any head start I can get. Completely dry, the cover weighs almost nothing as I mound it up on the foredeck. The ridge beam breaks into two pieces for easy handling, makes a vindictive swing at my new brightwork, and is foiled with a hair’s breadth to spare. The three vertical supports, more dry than ever, ring as I drop them beside the trailer. A moment to position the sump box, the hatch covers, the slider. Another to stow sandpaper and scraps of carpet padding where the dew won’t get them. A few more to stack the framework bits against the back fence. All the time, Bucephalus is hovering over my shoulder. It’s like getting dressed in the morning, feeling my wife still just waking up, half asleep and half watching me. Before I leave, I touch Bucephalus’s bow, already cooling as the day fades, then go to attend the trivia of the evening. The hardware store for a new brush. The supermarket for milk and salad stuff. The bicycle store for new brake cables. Tomorrow: topsides, deck and cabin, provided it doesn’t rain. Another coat on the mast if the day isn’t too hot. Cover draped and piled over my shoulder, I stop to lock the back lot, and look back. The shape is gone. Glowing in a sunbreak, all that remains is… Bucephalus! Sleek and unmarred, free at last from cumbersome framework and dowdy cover. She’s like a cat stretching, waking up, making the decision to abandon the winter hearth for the warmth of summer sunlight. Even in her trailer, clutched by poppets and chocks, she exudes anticipation. Her long, low sheer is ready to dip and sign her fizzing, sapphire-and-diamond signa- ture with varnished quill; her irascible bow waits ready to shoul- der aside, trample down, or climb whatever hinders her flight. I can’t turn away; for a moment I can’t breathe. I can feel her hull itch where water should be, feel her deck and keel wriggling expectantly for the thrust and strain of mast and rig, feel her stirring to the wind in the trees as a sleeper stirs to the first light of day. Not quite awake, unquestionably alive. A cloud shadow falls across her, and as though she has acknowledged the correctness of my excitement, I can breathe again. Still, it is all I can do to turn away, back to the necessities of mundane life. One week. At my back, free of her cover, I can feel her waking, eager. One week. Assistant Yearbook Editor Needed The Society is in need of someone to assist Roger Duncan in producing the yearbook for the upcoming year. Richard Langton has assisted Roger the past few years, but is unavailable this year because of business travel. It would be helpful if this person lived in Maine. If interested, please contact Roger at: PO Box 66, East Boothbay, ME 04544 Dues Reminder If you haven’t mailed your annual dues in for 2003, please send them to: Caroline Phillips Society Secretary 164 Sturbridge Road Charlton, MA 01507 – 6 – Winter Cover By Alexander Forbes Due to a technical error, the continuation of the Winter Cover story on page 24 of this year’s Friendship Sloop Yearbook did not appear! We have reprinted the story in its entirety below. We wanted to make sure that everyone had an opportunity to read the complete story. The publisher of the yearbook apologized for the error.

The Art of Boat Building The following commentary was written by Ralph Stanley and appeared in the July issue of “The Working Waterfront and Inter- Island News” which is published by the Island Institute. Fifty years ago, most of the boats built on the Maine Coast were built of wood in the traditional way with plank on frame construc- tion. There was a certain mystery about the art of building a boat and most boat builders liked to keep it that way. However, at that time there were a lot of builders. A lot of boats were being built and if a young person wanted to become a boat builder there was ample opportunity for him to learn the art. Old builders were quick to recognize ability and sincerity in a young person and would teach the aspiring boat builder a lot of the tricks of his trade. If the young person was a know-it-all and a bluff the old builder would not be fooled and the young person would not learn much. In a way, this kept unqualified people from becoming boat builders. Many people learned to build boats from the old builders but that was two generations ago. In the meantime fiberglass came to be a viable building material and not many builders had the desire or the incentive to continue building entirely out of wood. It became increasingly difficult to make a living as the market for a wooden boat was drastically reduced. Consequently there were few opportunities to learn the art of wood boat building, although there were people who had the desire to learn the mystery of building boats of wood. Today not many builders are designing and building boats out of wood. Boat schools are attempting to teach the art of boat building. Educators today seem to regard boat building as menial work where a person need not be very smart. Some years ago one of the staff of the Eastport boat school, a branch of the Washington County Technical College, traveled to high schools around the state to recruit students for the boat building course. He would put on a program at an assembly period for the entire school. One school, however, told him there was no need to hold an assembly since they had picked out several students for him to talk with. They implied that these students were not very highly motivated to learn anything but perhaps they could get through a boat building course. This man had some pull with the state board of education and that school had him come back to make his presentation. For the most part a graduate of a school teaching a course of two years in boat building can get a job in a boatyard but his work will mostly entail finishing off fiberglass boats. I believe that in order to learn the art of traditional boat building a person should study and work at it full time for four or five years. At that he or she would have to be a person of exceptional ability and skill to master the art, not to mention making a living from the business of building boats in wood. Today a builder trying to run a boat yard is faced with many obstacles and restrictions that boat builders years ago did not have to contend with. Shore property is so valuable that a builder cannot afford to buy or to pay the taxes on the property once he owns it. I have been told that I should sell my one-third acre with 80 feet on the shore and buy some land in the woods to build boats. I replied that I could not build boats in the woods; being able to see the water is my inspiration. Building boats leads to the storage of boats. Some towns have codes that disallow the storage of boats on shore property unless grandfathered. Many of the people for whom I have built boats ask me to store and maintain their boats when not in use. This leads to expansion of the business with more regulations to overcome. When a boat shop gets big enough to hire workers a visit from OSHA or MIMIC can be expected. In some ways OSHA seems to took at a small boat shop as they do a large business like Bath Iron Works. MIMIC or workman’s compensa- tion insurance was started in 1905 to protect the employer from being sued by the worker if he was hurt on the job. Now the situation seems to be turned around. Premiums are as high as the employer can bear even if there are not injuries on the job. A disabling injury could result in premiums large enough to bankrupt the employer of a small business. Much of the small boat builder’s time is taken in trying to conform to all these regulations and takes time from the boat being built and adds to the cost of the boat. State government should look with pride on the art of traditional boat building and ease some of the high tax burden and mundane regulations. One obstacle faced by the small boat builder today is the attitude of the people. When I started to build my first boat in 1950, all my friends and neighbors encouraged me to keep it up. They loaned me tools and money and extended me credit when I needed it. They took an active interest in what I was doing and gave me advice and encouragement. They put up with a lot of noise without complaining when I was caulking a boat or planing lumber. Today most of these people are gone and many of the people who have taken their place seem to have a different attitude about having a working boat shop in their neighborhood. There are still a few people today who appreciate a wooden boat and recognize the importance of preserving the art of wooden boat building. Thousands of years of effort have gone into the development of building boats of wood. Many of the skills developed over the years have been lost already. In a couple of generations without a wooden boat being built all the skills and techniques could be lost. Preserving the art of wooden boat building today must rest on the shoulders of a few qualified people who have the ability and the determination to build boats. They have their work cut out for them. New London Rendezvous (Continued from Page 4) The results of the three days of racing was: Class A 1st Place #197 Natanya Joe Hliva 2nd Place #208 Lisa K Jeff Cohen 3rd Place #147 Mara E Barrie Abrams Class B 1st Place #180 Banshee John Wojcik 2nd Place #262 I Got Wings Jim Wright Thanks to Barclay Thomas for providing his cruiser Carpy Diem which served as the committee boat for the weekend. – 7 –