Low Tide

Yacht Designer Tad Roberts' Web Log
  • « prev
  • next»
Wooden seine boat Chelsea Lake. Sank 1987Documenting Historic BC Boats

Design History

WILLIAM GARDEN ON TUNNEL STERNS

By admin | Published: July 19, 2019
Paper Presented at the January 12, 1950 Meeting of the Society of Small Craft Designers TUNNEL STERNS William Garden, N.A., M.E. Shallow draft power boats are one of the most interesting and poorly understood problems with which the naval architect is confronted. The design and construction of such a tunnel constitutes a subject which can[.....]

Saving Old Boats

By admin | Published: January 14, 2019
Assessing the significance of a vessel From: Recording Historic Vessels by National Historic Ships, UK. The goal of researching a vessel’s history is to gain a fuller understanding of the significance of: A) The vessel’s uniqueness or typicality in terms of its type and function. Is she a surviving example of a once-common type or[.....]

IDAHO – A Lee & Brinton Halibut Schooner

By admin | Published: October 5, 2015
A couple of beautiful prints sent to me by John Rawlings. This is the Lee & Brinton design for Idaho, launched by Nilson & Kelez in Seattle in 1912. Idaho was 78’4″ x 19’5″ x 9’3″ and 76 gross tons. In the drawing the engine appears to be a three cylinder, and John reports original[.....]

Edwin Monk Sr. and Lorne Garden

By admin | Published: August 22, 2015
From the late 1940’s into the 1950’s, Edwin Monk Sr. and Lorne Garden were partners in the firm of Edwin Monk Naval Architects. Lorne was the older brother of better known Seattle/Victoria designer William Garden. Very little is said about Lorne in the available printed references. Ed Monk Jr. recalls visiting the office as a[.....]

The Wanderer Class Diesel Cruiser

By admin | Published: June 22, 2013
The Wanderer Class cruiser was designed by William Garden in about 1963. The idea of a tri-cabin diesel cruiser of a West Coast style was arguably originally created by Edwin Monk Sr., but there were others before him I’m sure. The tri-cabin arrangement (boats with a foc’sl, raised pilothouse, and aft cabin) was being built[.....]

Norgale, a Troller design by William Reid

By admin | Published: June 19, 2013
The Norgale is a William Reid design built in the Williams Boat Works shop in Sointula and launched in 1964. Actually this is the second Norgale built by the Williams family, the first one (41′ troller built by Albert W. Williams in 1949) became the Evelyn Gale. This Norgale is a big boat, 46′ by[.....]

Westcoast Troller hull form

By admin | Published: April 26, 2013
Above is the troller Anna B, built in 1968 at Maderia Park by Fred Crosby. Apparently Fred built 5 or 6 boats in the late 60’s, but that’s about all I know of him. The Anna B is the only one I can find in the Ship’s Registry. Other boats built by Fred Crosby include;[.....]

I Hate Perfect Boats

By admin | Published: August 21, 2012
I hate perfect boats. That’s not really true, I can appreciate all the work and effort required to achieve a perfect coat of paint or varnish. And I can appreciate replacing rotted wood with new. But often it seems as if history is being re-written, as if all the hard knocks of real life did[.....]

Harold Remmem and Remmem Boat Works

By admin | Published: December 29, 2011
Harold Remmem and Remmem Boat Works The 1960’s were boom years for wooden boat builders in BC. Remmem Boat Works was one of many busy shops building fishboats on the Fraser River. Rob Morris of Western Mariner relates that in the 1960’s the Remmem shop had a 10 man crew building three boats at a[.....]

Sail Assisted Powerboats

By admin | Published: December 8, 2011
This is a type we see very seldom any more. The sail-assisted powerboat or as this design from Al Mason is termed, an “Auxiliary Motor Cruiser”. I guess the auxiliary part is the short sail plan. Having just heard from the owner of the new Timbercoast Troller concerning performance under sail, a short rig coupled[.....]

Powered by WordPress. Built on the Thematic Framework.