Blake
Boatworks
P.O. Box
91
Gloucester, North Carolina
(252) 729-2641 blake@blakeboatworks.com
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Notes from the Field - "Cherokee" Huckins Restoration Project
July 7, 2006 While
the crowds enjoyed the tall ships in Beaufort this weekend, Down East
quietly worked on its small ships and traditions - Bryan Blake and his
sixteen-year old son Aren are refurbishing a 28-foot skipjack Maggie,
originally the Nattie Lou, built by Blake Boatworks
in 1982 for Joe and Natalie Parker. Maggie,
now owned by Jeff Williams of Topsail Island, was damaged in one of the
many hurricanes that ravished the barrier island. She got a good
beating, including lightning that hit and split the top five feet of
mast. Bryan found out recently that hurricane Katrina totalled
a motor sailer that he built - the Kingston Girls -
which was moored in Lake Ponchartrain. Fortunately she too is getting
repaired.
Removing the Engine
Drifting the Engine
over the Side
Skipjacks were originally used for oyster dredging in the
Chesapeake Bay. They were also used in the sounds of North Carolina -
the shallow draft of a Skipjack is ideal for the shoals of water bodies
like Core Sound. The favorite sail vessel
around these parts was the Core Sound Sharpie - a flat bottom boat with
leg-o-mutton sail. Bryan has built several happy sharpies throughout
the years.
Hoisting it Over
Loading Engine in
Truck, Damaged Mast in Foreground
The deck of Maggie will be entirely re-calked in cotton. Her mast
will be repaired and varnished. She'll receive a new paint job, with
some interior work as well. The Volvo engine will be replaced, and
she'll likely get
new sails. Building sails for traditional boats is becoming a lost art,
as Skipjack sails were built for power - plowing through the water with
a heavy dredge. Modern sailboats typically require sails that are cut
for speed.
Aren Reefing the Deck
Above, Aren is reefing the deck seams with a "reefing iron" (old screw
driver with tip forged into a sharpened hook) which involves pulling
all of the old rubber and cotton out so that new cotton can be put in
and deck leaks repaired. This is a very labor-intensive job that often
requires a Walkman and some
Grateful Dead jams. Below is an old photo of Maggie
with her sister vessel, the Emmy Lou, built by
Blake Boatworks in 1983. There's no finer ride than sailing to the Cape
on these
boats.
Sister Ships - Maggie
on the left
It's been a trying time Down East - the building boom has finally
crossed the North River bridge, and strange asphalt
cul-de-sacs are popping up everywhere, seemingly floating on marsh.
These, of course, will soon be followed by big houses in subdivisions
with names like, "Marsh Haven", full of some of the 10,000 baby boomers
who are retiring in this country a day! What will this development
do to the traditional fishing villages and fragile estuarine
environment? Will our tasty oysters survive, or will they join the
ranks
of permanently closed shellfish beds that become polluted with
stormwater runoff? Citizens have formed a grassroots group called,
"Down East Tomorrow," and petitioned Carteret County commissioners to
enact a one-year moratorium on high density growth so communities can
plan wisely for the future.
Despite 2,600 hundred names on a petition and expert testimony
emphasizing the need for a moratorium, the commissioners declined to
support this request and instead are planning their own set of
ordinances without community involvement. One commissioner supported a
moratorium Down East and lived to tell about it, winning the primary -
Jonathan Robinson, a commercial fisherman from Atlantic. There he is
below, doing what he loves best - long-hauling in Core Sound. Let's
hope the next election brings aboard commissioners like Jonathan who
care about citizens, the environment, and the communities dependent on
clean water and healthy resources. Signing off for now, Barbara
"Fish Doctor" Blake
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