Seabird yawl question!

[brian watkins]

Well, this isn't about a B&B design (my usual hangout), and it isn't a Stevenson design, but I have a question regarding the old Seabird yawl. If you're interested in my idea, it would help if you had a copy of Woodenboat's first catalogue of boatplans or other drawings of the two versions. I got the plans for the plywood version (MacGregor, 1939) some time ago (more for my education than anything else), and while I find the hull design fascinating, I find the rig very complicated. This version has a keel (2'6") with lead ballast (1230#) and a bronze center-plate. The original plank-on-frame version (Day, Mower, 1903) has a very simple gaff rig, shallower keel (1'11") and a larger plate. I would consider the idea of giving up some windward performance for a simpler rig (at about half the cost!) by putting the older rig on the newer hull. The big question, and why I'm taking up all this space, is this: would deleting the smaller plate of the plywood version make the windward performance much worse? If not, this boat starts looking VERY interesting in terms of simplicity, strength and seaworthy-ness. After all, Capt Day sailed the original (with added keel) across the Atlantic, and Capt. Voss weathered two Pacific typhoons in another early version. Thanks for wading through all this! I'm hoping someone in here enjoys this sort of speculation as much as I do! Just dreaming, I'm in no position to build, but I love "pocket-cruisers", and I haven't found a lot of info on the Seabird.

[Frank Hagan]

I can't seem to find my book "100 Wooden Boats You Can Build" from Wooden Boat (is that where the plan is?) Is this her?

That's from http://www.dngoodchild.com/5667.htm, a site that offers reprints of classic designs.

I'm all for the simplier version, but I don't have an idea regarding the smaller plate, and the windward performance. She is a pretty boat, though!

[brian watkins]

Yes, that is her in her original rig. The catalogue is "Fifty Wooden Boats"; the first of a series of three. The original design by Day (the editor of "The Rudder") and Mower was for an easily-built cruiser for two that would appeal to persons of moderate means. MacGregor was one of the first designers to explore the possibilities of plywood. Two more boats were designed in the Seabird series. The largest was the Seagoer at 34 feet LOD. A man named Pidgeon built one (sans engine) in California, sailed it around the world twice, but was wrecked on the third lap (he was quite elderly, and had his new wife with him as well!). They were rescued and returned to America, where he commenced building a Seabird. He died in his eighties (I think), before it was finished. He was the second (after Slocum) to solo around the world. The interior is improved in the plywood version by the reduction in size of the center-plate case, but both boats have a basic civilized two-berth interior, and a huge amount of storage. Captain Voss (of Tillicum fame) sailed in 1911 from Yokohama with two men on their Seabird. They carried 130 gallons of water, three months of provisions, and a gramophone, so it's safe to say that the design has good weight-carrying capacity. Their voyage had to be aborted after two extremely severe hurricanes, but they made it back to Japan both times. Thanks for the link to the other site, and thanks for running this site, Frank. I get a lot of enjoyment out of it! Anyone else with comments on my hybrid?

[Guest goldzz]

http://community.webshots.com/scripts/editPhotos.fcgi?action=viewall&albumID=174241972 Hi ...........above is a url for my online photo album ......of many photos of a Seabird Yawl that I spent a year cruising Baja in 1975 - 76.......this was the last boat that Harry Pidgeon owned and lived on before he died. I sold her in La Paz Baja....to a lady and her dog that intended to sail her to South America...The last I saw of her (the lady or Lakemba)Been hoping to hear word of either one some day........ another of my albums (Lakemba's Fate ....has a magazine article that is interesting --about Lakemba and the Laqdy......Hope all this is of interest ....she was a great boat and it was a high point in my life.........Jim Morris e-mail goldzz1@comcast.net