A Boat by Any Other Name

From the materials and photos that have been passed down with the boat, I know that one of her former names was 'Rum Tum Tugger', from the second owner, Mary Rose Shaughnessy.  She sharec a lovely album and personal narrative about the 15 years she owned and sailed her. I also found the name 'Jupiter' stenciled on a sail bag.  She came to me without any name signs, so I believe she deserves a new name befitting her new cruising grounds.

A Florida native, I'm quite enamored with the long and vibrant history of this wonderful state.  And while I would like to think of myself as a Florida Cracker, I and my own family are but relative new comers. My admiration lies with the indigenous peoples, Timucuan and Seminoles and the first European settlers who came and fished, hunted, and cultivated the land here long before. I've lived a substantial portion of my life in close proximity to the St. Johns River and have enjoyed many hours of sailing, fishing, and exploring on her. When we finish the boat, one of our first multi-night cruises will be from Sanford to Jacksonville going 'down river' - North, and then returning 'up river' - South. It promises to be a beautiful and picturesque trip plying the same route of commerce as the paddle-wheelers and coastal sharpies of the 18th and 19th centuries to my own family origins in central Florida.

A wonderful book that explores not only the early history of Florida's residents, but also the geologic and natural history of the St. Johns River is "A River of Lakes: A Journey Down Florida's St. Johns River" by Bill Belleville.  In the book Bill shares an earlier name for the river - "From the Seminoles came a version of a word first used to describe the St. Johns, Welaka, —a corruption of Ylacco. It was said to mean "river of lakes." Ylacco is a graphic description of a water system that seems to be a series of broad inland bays linked together by a channel. Then, there is another, lesser known interpretation of Ylacco. For me, it fits just as well, for it wanders into poetry: It hath its own way, is alone contrary to every other." (1)

As a hopeless romantic, I can think of no better name for this boat for the time in which I'll sail her than Ylacco. For it is by the whim of the wind and tides, and for the less popular and more natural destinations that we will sail - 'contrary to every other' in our own time.

(1) Belleville, Bill. River of Lakes: A Journey on Florida's St. Johns River. Athens: U of Georgia, 2000. Print.

Before The Mast

At 25 feet from step to mahogany masthead and I'm guessing about 70 lbs., the mast is too unwieldy for me to step by hand. As an experiment in handling the mast,  My wife Tammy and I stood the mast up on end out in the soft lawn - but then in my attempt to lower it back down, at about 45 degrees whilst I braced the mast about 10 feet up from the bottom and with arms fully extended over my head- gravity took over in earnest and the base of the mast kicked up and out and the masthead accelerated down hard striking the grass, as the mast whacked Tammy in the shoulder on its way down.  The Admiralty admonished me for my poor judgement and lack of balance and all thoughts of ever stepping the mast by hand, evaporated.

Forty-five years of paint and weather

I thought for a moment that I might get away with stepping the mast from the dock down to the boat, but the public boat ramp on our lake doesn't even have a dock, so I'd have to motor home to our dock to try and step the mast. Besides, who knows what I would encounter at the many other trailered destinations we planned to cruise from. Ultimately, one day, I would loose control of the mast an ultimately find myself and a badly damaged mast on the asphalt of a boat ramp. The solution is one that was common on many coastal boats in the prior two centuries - a tabernacle.  With only a fore-stay and a couple of halyards to contend with, the HA-18 is a relatively quick mast to rig without the need for shrouds, spreaders, back-stay, or head-sail.

A post on a catboat forum from author Rick Spilman led me to the blog of Miguel Angel San Miguel and his restoration of the HA-18 Platero. Thanks to both Rick's and Miguel's posts, I had some nice examples of successful DIY tabernacles.  Platero's Tabernacle  Peregrine

Upon removing the mast step from the bottom of the mast, there was a stinky wet piece of foam rubber wedged up inside with some 1/8" line tied around it. I pulled on the foam rubber and line and eventually removed 22 feet of line and foam rubber squares about every 3 feet.  I kept wondering what its purpose was - maybe to absorb condensation?  Then it dawned on me - to keep the wire that runs the length of the mast up to the anchor light from slapping inside the mast and to also deaden the potential sound of the halyards ringing at anchor. I've decided I'll try using the several diameters of pool noodles and pipe insulation available when I run the new wiring.  At a minimum they are closed cell foam and will potentially add enough flotation to help support the mast if it went overboard or if I ever experienced a knock-down.

I chose the material Rick Spilman recommended, a 4 foot length of structural schedule 40 T6061 aluminum pipe.

Over several weekends I stripped 45 years of paint off the entire mast, also enabling the pipe to sleeve over the lower 4 feet of  mast.

I attempted to remove the mahogany masthead, including trying to bang it out with 24 feet of 1 1/2" PVC pipe as a ramrod, but it didn't budge.  I'll have to refinish it in place.

A New Beginning

At the suggestion of my friend Vic, I'm beginning to document my journey to restore a Herreshoff America catboat. Since 1972, this HA-18 hull # 85 has passed through at least five owners. I'm just the next in what I hope is a long line of custodians.

In her prime - Rum Tum Tugger on Lake Michigan

In June of 2016, while browsing Boat Trader Online and looking at trailerable sailboats, I came across an HA-18 for sale in the Florida panhandle. The price was attractive and the shoal draft, gaff-rig, and trailer-ability of the boat intrigued me. It was also made of hand laid fiberglass with aluminum spars and just enough teak and oak bright-work to keep it salty looking. I was currently busy enough with our powerboat, but the image of the little Herreshoff stayed with me. Two weeks later I saw that the boat was still listed and wondered, why? After talking about the boat with my wife Tammy, I decided to call and investigate further. The owner Michael related an unusual story of rescuing the boat from salvage and working to stabilize it from further deterioration. Then after deciding that completing and sailing the boat themselves was not a personal goal, decided to find the boat a good home and pass the next phase of restoration on to someone else. Surprisingly, several prior attempts to sell the boat had fallen through for what seemed to me to be almost providential reasons. The original short-shaft 6 hp outboard in the motor well had ceased and was unserviceable- I had an almost new 6 hp Nissan 4-stroke hanging on the back of my Gheenoe.  I simply said, "Yes, I'll buy her," and I forwarded on a check for a boat I wouldn't actually see until two months later, when time allowed us to travel the 16 hour round trip drive to pick her up. An unexpected surprise was meeting the owners, Michael and Alicia - two kindred spirits that immediately felt like the best of old friends. Life experiences like these come along too infrequently for me - but when they do, I have the innate sense that the world around us exists on so many more levels than we are normally conscious of and appreciate.

Photos From the For-Sale Posting