2003 FSS Yearbook
📄 Download PDFThe Friendship Sloop Society’s 43rd Annual Regatta
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to Jericho Bay and across to Casco Passage. A prominent sundog hung in the sky, another sign of impending rain. We were about halfway across Blue Hill Bay when the wind finally died, and the Blue Hill Bay flies returned to nip at our ankles.The breeze would pick up, and they’d soon be gone; then it would die again, and back they were, the little devils. Just after crossing the Bar, we snagged a lobster buoy, but managed to shake it loose by jibing about and crossing back over the line. We sailed in *• through the Gut between Great and Little Cranberry, and tied up at the Islesford Dock. A spectacular sunset after a spec- tacular dinner put a final period on our cruise. Pendleton Memorial Scholarship Fund This Fund was founded in 1967 when Friendship sloops were racing in the town Friendship and has provided scholarship assistance for 35 years to 120 individuals, several of whom have received multiple year assistance. Named in memory of Commodore Bill Pendleton and his wife Beatrice, the Fund assists Friendship graduates of Medomak Valley High School to continue their educa- tion. Donations of $900 from individuals, $500 from a subsidy voted by the Society, and $201 from the auction at the Annual Meeting were made to the Fund this year. Due to the decline in value of the trust fund investments, how- ever, the Fund’s capital decreased to $64,158. Last year scholarships were awarded to graduates Jennifer Balser, Chad Benner,Timothy Ehle, Sarah Havener, Trevar Simmons, Amander Wotton, and Andrea York. Four awards were made to students continuing their education at Yale University, Gordon College, Wellesley College, and St. Joseph’s College. The young people of the town of Friendship need your support. Tax deductible donations in any amount will be welcomed. Send your contribution to Fund Treasurer David Bell, 35 Pumpkin Cove Rd., New Harbor, ME 04554 or to Scholarship Chairman Bill Zuber, P.O. Box 279, Friendship, ME 04547. 10 Make it Friendship Sloop Days …all year long! Keep those summer memories alive with a scale model of your favorite boat. Build a Friendship from our fine wood kit, in either 1″ = 1′ or 1/2″ = 1′ scale, or ask us to create a finished custom model of your own special sloop. Visit our gallery from 9 to 5, Man. through Sat., all summer 160 E. Main St. (Rte. 1) Searsport ME 04974 ‘SHIPtXCRAFTERS” 1-800-448-5567 www.bluejacketinc. com There’s only one place in the world where you’ll find craftsmanship as beautiful as the Maine coast… For comflete storage, repair, and ringing services, rely on Wayfarer Wayfarer Marine Corporation Sea Street -f Camden, Maine 04843 -f Tel: 800-229-4378 -f 207-236-4378 * Fax: 207-236-2371 -f mTO.wayfarermarine.com EPIFANES& Epifanes North America Inc. 70 Water Street, Thomaston, Maine 04861 207.354.0804 Fax 207.534.0387 www.epifanes.com •|PiRliS5SBfc fecORSON’SJJ «r.AUTO SUPPLY gj Over 250,000 Auto Parts & w A ccessories A va liable ^ If it floats or rolls we have parts! ;. THE LARGEST INVENTORY IN MID-COAST MAINE Open 7 Days A Week M-F 7:30-5:30 f Sat 7:30-4:00 Sun 9:00-1:00 596-6554 212 Park Street • Rockland SUPPORTER OF MANY LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS
The Challenges of Racing By Mary Cronin I am not fond of racing! Possibly I was when I was substantially younger and my body responded more readily to the bumps and bruises.When I am on vacation, I enjoy cruising, not hurrying to get here and there, sitting absolutely still if the winds are light, breaking fingernails trying to pull in the jib, racing around marks, trying not to foul other boats, and returning with the entire crew and the boat in good shape. Getting Tannis shipshape before our racing crew shows up means getting our family or guests that stayed aboard out of the sack. NO SMALL JOB! “Roll up your sleeping bag!” I sound like a broken record. “Don’t put anything on the Captain’s bunk!” “The chart table must be cleared!” “Stow your clothes in your duffel bag!” “Here’s a plastic bag to hold the dirty underwear and smelly socks so you don’t contaminate your clean clothes!” “Pick up those toys!” We do have small grandchildren aboard, and without fail at least one glass of milk will land on the cabin floor, but worse still a bowl of cereal soggy with milk, will saturate any clothing or sleeping bag on the floor. “Have you seen my hat? I left it on the table last night!” “Where is the sunscreen?” “What time is the Skipper’s Meeting? We’re going to be late!” Meanwhile two dozen sandwiches must be made, fruit sorted and prepared, water for the crew, and cookies. As the group heads for the skipper’s meeting, I hear “I don’t like wheat bread – make my sandwich on white!” “Don’t put mustard on mine!” “I don’t like American cheese!” “If you put peanut butter and something else, make sure the peanut butter is Skippy!” “I only eat peanut butter and jelly on mine!” “Put extra mustard on mine!” “Make plenty of peanut butter and crackers – yesterday we ran out!” “NO BEER until we get back to the dock!” What do they think this is – a floating Deli? And at the end of the racing, we end up with more items than we started with: hats, sunglasses, sweatshirts, single socks, one sneaker, sunscreen, belts, shirts.T- shirts, pants, towels, jackets, windbreakers, rain gear and one boot! AMAZINGLY, never claimed! 12 “Spectators watching the Parade of Sloops in Rockland Harbor from the public land- ing. The parade will be at 10:30AM on Wednesday July 23. After the race, sloops will be on display at the dock at 4:OOPM.” Schooners of the Mid Coast 1 4K Gold and Sterling Silver Stephen Taber – Mary Day – Kathryn B Olad – Mercantile – Appledore – Grace Bailey Fine Jewelers 20 Main St. Camden 236-4367 www.RussellsofCamden.com Charlie’s Mooring & Dive Services Easy Number: 207-691-DIVE 207-691-3483 RELIABLE FAST 24 HOURS Towing Services available as well. Us ^transport ^Jou fo Jrlaaical ^/rlonneaan Jjslana… JVLonhegan offers hiking trails, inns, and a picturesque lighthouse. Summer day trips aboard the RLLzabeth Ann. Year-round passenger and freight service on the U.S. Mail Boat Laura B. Charters Summer Lighthouse Tours Nature/Puffin Cruises Please contact us for more information (207)-372-8848 barstow@monheganboat.com www. monheg~anboat.com 13
Heritage Restored; Part 1 By Steve Dunipace I consider myself very fortunate for many things in life, but one particularly perti- nent to this tale is the privilege I had of growing up on the coast of Maine in a small village named Friendship. I say growing up, not in the sense that I ever lived there, but rather in the sense that, being descended from General Ellis Spear of the Twentieth Maine Regiment and Little Round Top fame, my family has made a sum- mer pilgrimage to the coast since the late nineteenth century. Many, if not most, of my formative experiences occurred during those summers in Maine, including my first encounter with Heritage, a beautiful Murray Peterson designed Friendship Sloop. Heritage had been built in Camden Maine by Elmer Collemer in 1962. Her original owner, Mr. William Hadlock was a dear friend of my maternal grandmother. In the days when the Friendship Sloop Society’s annual regatta was truly a homecoming, I had a front row seat to the splendor and grace of Heritage and an entire fleet of likewise magnificent ves- sels. When my age allowed, I was sent off to sea by my grandmother as a member of Bill Hadlock’s crew. This was my first experience on what I will refer to as a “big” boat. There are many that would argue that at twenty-nine feet, Heritage is not particularly big, but to a young boy whose sailing universe had yet to expand beyond the day sailor, she was enormous. The way that her ballasted hull moved through the swells powered by her huge expanse of canvas was like nothing I had encountered. She did not bob on the waves like a skiff, but drove commandingly through them. She did not roll senselessly with every puff of air, but rather healed steadily at a determined and logical angle. Her song was not one of wire rope clanging incessantly against an aluminum mast, but rather the soothing groan of Sitka spruce and oak accompanied by the surging beat of a cold green Atlantic against thick strong cedar. My experi- ence that day was one that I will never forget. Without a doubt, it ignited my pas- sion for sailing, and in particular, for the Friendship Sloop. I continued to sail Heritage under the careful guidance of Bill Hadlock until the day came when I, like most, had to go out into the world and make something of myself. While I was busy doing just that, Bill sadly passed away and Heritage was offered for sale. I discovered her ad in the yearbook of the Friendship Sloop Society, but being still very far from making something of myself, was unable to acquire her. I had neither the resources nor time to support a Friendship Sloop. She was sold to Mr. Frank Sands who, in a stroke of good fortune, took up residence but a stones 1 A continued on page 16 HALLETT TRADITIONAL H. A. SAWYER. SAILMAKER Traditionally Built Custom Sails From Dorys to Ships P.O. Box 247 34 Atlantic Ave. Rockland, ME 04841 (207) 594-9810 www.hallettcanvasandsails.com Your Hosts: Liga and Len Jahnke 5 Harbor Hill Lane P.O. Box 35 Friendship, ME 04547 207-832-6646 In Connecticut • 860-647-1368 Two OF THE FRIENDLIEST PLACES IN FRIENDSHIP/ Friendship Village Hardware We deal in Hardware, Marine Supplies, Paints & Gifts Friendship, Maine 832-7781 Open Mon. – Sat. 8:00 – 5:00 BramhalPs Lobster Wharf Bradford Point Friendship, Maine 832-5153 Open June Saturdays only 12-5 July & August Monday-Saturday 12-5 Friendship Long Island Alice Ingraham 207-542-5400 15
throw away from Friendship on Bremen Long Island. I was able to visit Heritage annually and rekindle those fond memories of my early days of sailing. My efforts to make something of myself continued and may well continue for years to come. However, after serving for nine years in the United States Navy and learning the true definition of a big boat, good fortune found me once again. I returned to civilian life and embarked upon a career that provided those much- needed resources and time I had lacked years before. What was now missing, how- ever, was the “For Sale” sign on Heritage. This fact was not enough to keep me away from sailing, and in my search for a vessel, I had yet another encounter with good fortune. I discovered and acquired a beautiful cutter rigged sloop, which had been exceptionally constructed and impec- cably maintained by Mr. Paul Bryant at the Riverside Boat Company in Newcastle, Maine. She was not a Friendship Sloop nor was she even constructed entirely of wood, but her endearing qualities were endless and the purchase has never been regretted. In a twist of fate or perhaps another visit from good fortune, her off- season neighbor at the Riverside Boat Company was none other than Heritage. The two boats would now be wintering togeth- er in Newcastle under the watchful eye and meticulous care of Paul Bryant. It was the simple, yet tragic, failure of a single shackle that ultimately brought Heritage into my family. That shackle just hap- pened to reside somewhere between Heritage and her mooring block and played a critical role in connecting the two. When it parted, Heritage was left to her own resources to avoid the ubiquitous ledges of Muscongus Bay. She failed. The ensuing conflict between cedar and granite had its unambiguous and expected victor. In the opinion of the insur- ance company, Heritage was a total loss. They were, off course, speaking econom- ically and did not see, as would I, a loved one relying tenuously upon life support. I arrived in Newcastle in the spring of 2002 to discover Heritage bruised, bat- tered, and resting ashore in her cradle. She was scarred from stem to stern with countless jagged and penetrating wounds. Her hull, crimson red, appeared splat- tered with her life’s blood as she lay dying, a casualty of battle. She shed no tears, but silently cried out for relief from her acute pain. Her future offered no such relief as she was destined for a wooden boat school and the inauspicious fate of a cadaver. I was deeply saddened by the situation, but at the time lacked a solution. That summer was again spent sailing Down East and included yet another bit of good fortune. Attending the homecoming regatta of the Friendship Sloop Society now held in Rockland, Maine, my passion for the Friendship Sloop was re-ignited courtesy of the renowned Cronin family and a salvaged classic named Rights of Alan. My post was a main sheet routed via massive block-and-tackle to a boom, 16 which extended miles aft of the transom. I was charged with not only taming but also controlling acres of seductively soft and serene white sailcloth whose violent nature would instantly reveal itself to a moment of inattentiveness. I was hooked. Mr. Sands received a phone call that day from a complete stranger interested in purchasing his old wooden boat; a boat that did not float and which an insurance compa- ny saw fit to scrap; a dying boat from an era which, thanks to fiberglass, alu- minum, and mass production, was also dying; a boat whose restoration would require the skills of ancient and nearly extinct artisans; a boat with five thousand pounds of iron ballast which would cost considerably to move or just as much to store. A stroke of good fortune, some would say, for Mr. Sands quickly and graciously became a stroke of good fortune for me. I received title to Heritage free and clear. The only price: a willingness to breathe new life into her decrepit and lifeless body; a fair price by any measure, and one that I enthusiastically paid. Paul Bryant’s restoration of Heritage began in the fall of 2002 as what many would call an estimate, but what I would rather refer to as a vocabulary lesson. I suddenly had to come to terms with the entire gamut of nautical phraseology derived from a profession that has a unique word for everything. A boat is not supported by braces or struts, but rather by poppets. The area in the stern adja- cent to the rudder should not be referred to as “that wood in the back”, but must be properly labeled horn timber and dead wood. One should not describe the first plank at the keel as anything other than a garboard, and the groove into which said garboard fits is not a slot but a rabbet. Though often confused, the keel and the ballast are not the same thing, and a butt block is not a fifteen-yard penalty. Each stopwater fulfills a crucial role much like the lad from Holland with his finger in the dyke, and with any luck, I hope to some day be able to identify a broad strake. For one who felt so nautically fluent after years of sailing and naval experience, Heritage’s estimate made it clear that both she and I had far, far to go. In December of 2002, Heritage moved into her shed where removal of many of the aforementioned parts began. To replace those parts, a large quantity of white oak was required. It was here that I learned three valuable lessons regarding white oak: It does not grow to sufficient size in the state of Maine for Heritage’s keel. It is very heavy. And, shippers charge by the ton. It seems that for one to in fact build a wooden boat in Maine, our nation’s wooden boat-building capital, he must first acquire his oak from Connecticut. Cedar, considerably lighter and used for planking, is however, readily available in Maine. This clearly illustrates Murphy’s Law with regards to boat building:The heaviest materials required for the task will be located farthest from the project. I had perceived Heritage as the picture of defeat when I discovered her dam- continued on page 18 ~j
aged in the boatyard. I can unequivocally state, however, that she looked remark- ably healthy then as compared to her dismantled state during the winter of 2003. Her skeletal remains stood propped up in the shed appearing ready to crumble with the mere slamming of a door or draft through an open win- dow. Like the bones of a long-deceased prisoner shackled to the dungeon wall, Heritage hung precar- iously from her sup- ports, clearly anticipat- ing her fate as a heap on the cold stone floor. Light and air, as would water, trav- eled blatantly throughout her hull no longer impeded by absent planking. She had been gutted like a fish with her interior, berthing, and sole scattered about the shed, and a diesel which had brought her to life in the past lay floundering in her cockpit; hoses protruding like a heart ripped from her chest. Adding only a touch of humor to the otherwise macabre setting was the site of Heritage’s fuel tank. Meeting all of the requirements of the job, a retired Narraganset Beer keg was mounted adjacent to the engine room. It was clear that my boat was as anxious to share a cold one with me as I was with her. My dismay culminated at discovering the head. Removed and mockingly perched atop the precise spot aft of the helm where, had she a true captain, Heritage’s commanding officer would sit. I could only dream of the day I would occupy that throne. Lying alongside her in the shed was the aforementioned product of Murphy’s Law and the key to Heritage’s rejuvenation: a twenty-six-foot-long monolith of Connecticut white oak glistening proudly in the sunlight exuding its confident ability to hold Heritage together. As solid as any granite foundation, this white knight sat patiently awaiting the call to reunite framing and ballast by its steadfast and endur- ing grip. I had discovered a whole new world in Heritage, and this pillar of oak was to be her Atlas. As the winter of 2003 comes to an end, and the Riverside Boat Company gears up for another summer boating season, Heritage is taking a much-needed break from her rehabilitation. She will venture back out into the yard to show off her new keel and chat amongst the fleet about her new-found optimism. Like most who venture out to the Maine coast for the summer, Heritage will make time to relax, enjoy the weather, and recharge for the off-season work ahead. With any luck, this story will be continued and, more importantly, have a happy ending soon. I have the utmost confidence in the skills possessed by Paul Bryant and his extremely talented team at Riverside Boat Company to make just that happen. 18 Race Committee Boat Seven Girls at the start of one of the 2002 races at Rockland. Skipper and Committee Chairman Dave Graham at the helm with the Race Committee hard at work. * Monhegan Island Trip scenic trails, inns, galleries * Harbor Tour a short scenic cruise – day & night * Sail on a Friendship Sloop sail near Boothbay’s scenic islands * Mackerel Fishing * Burnt Island Tour vessels: * Balmy Days II * Bay Lady * * Novelty * Miss Boothbay * CAPT. BILL CAMPBELL (207) 633-2284 • (800) 298-2284 Boothbay Harbor 04538 Pier 8 http://www.balmydaycruises.com E-mail: diane@lincoln.midcoast.com l –:^ “UM SAIIMAKmi “‘MINI: Yacht Sails Rigging BUILDERS OF HIGH-QUALITY HAND-FINISHED SAILS c-» -—-• :1 —’ –.ing loft P.O. Box 71, Lincoln St., East Boothbay, Maine 04544 (207)633-5071 ****************** *** *** ********** *** ** ***** *********** Midcoast Since 1928 Classic Clothing for Men & Women Boothbay Harbor 633-2293 Camden 236-3943 Furnishings for home & cottage. Gifts from Maine and points beyond. VILLAGE STORE & Children’s Shop Townsend Ave., Boothbay Harbor 633-2293 Open 7 day
