Harold Presents Ernestina Slideshow to American Schooner Association

Harold attended the annual meeting of the American Schooner Association this past week in Mystic, CT which is always a worthwhile place to visit for any shipwright. By arriving on Friday, it gave time to tour Mystic Seaport which was great to do in the off-season. Harold was able to join an ongoing private tour of the whaling ship Charles W. Morgan, the last surviving American wooden sailing ship and the oldest American merchant ship afloat. Master shipwright Quentin Snidecker led the private group into the lower hold where the ceiling has been removed to expose the frame. The exposed frames of this 109-foot ship were lit with a soft light that, for Harold, was like viewing the Sistine Chapel. After finally leaving the ship and with the museum closed up for the night, Harold visited the famed Griswold Inn in Essex, CT (a great old inn with a pub that has a pot belly stove that has been serving customers for two centuries. The inn is full of museum quality paintings, authentic memorablila while the pub has great, live music every night).

The following day the ASA gathered for their meeting where Harold was the keynote speaker and he talked about the restoration of the schooner Ernestina. The group was assembled from areas like the Chesapeake Bay, Provincetown, Gloucester, and further afield where many of these towns hold fantastic schooner races during the summer and fall.

Harold Burnham

Harold was given a great introduction by the board members of the ASA and an ASA award...and for those who did not know Harold and the work he has done, a contingent from his hometown of Essex that included the lovely Daisy Nell were there to speak about how important Harold is to the Essex community. A good time was had by all.

Harold "Professor" Burnham Gets a Gig at MIT

Hands on teaching the Burnham way gives students a chance to loft a schooner. As part of a course on lofting at the Hart Nautical Museum, Harold taught for three days at MIT last week to students where they lofted the Maine a quarter scale from the model. As much as being a good teaching tool, this lofting will be used as a preliminary sketch for the full scale lofting which will take place in late February and early March. The students were great and said they hope to come by for the frame up and other activities coming soon!

The "graduates" from left to right: include  Kathleen O'brien, Kimberly Santos, Kurt Hasselbalch (curator at the MIT Hart Nautical Musueum) and in the front row Dave Cope and Leah Hokanson.

February Will Be a Busy Month

We have lots of news for February and unfortunately Janaury came and went without too many postings and yet there was plenty of news. We also had our post holiday party in late January which is an annual tradition that started way back and was formerly held at the Waterline Center at the Essex shipbuilding museum. It evolved into a party at the barn and has now stretched into the house and aboard the Pinky Maine where we stash the rum.  Harold has been really working on a number of projects that will be included in an upcoming post. In the meantime, we will find out tomorrow on Ground Hogs Day how long the winter will continue..we hope to get the Maine moving again out of the creek so we assume the groundhog will let us know how much longer we have to wait.

White Oak Logs - A Good Sign for 2010

A batch of beautiful white oak logs arrived just as the old year ended and 2010 may prove to be a promising one as these particular logs may be used to build a schooner. The delivery process is quick and efficient and soon enough Harold will be at the sawmill cutting them up into planks and storing them in the nearby drying shed. Currently, white oak is the preferred wood for boatbuilders so Harold was particularly pleased when this wood arrived. Anyone interested in learning more about Harold you can also go to his website at http://www.burnhamboatbuilding.com/.

Harold Burnham featured in December 28th Boston Globe

Harold was interviewed by the Boston Globe recently and the story appeared on the front page of the Dec. 28 issue today. The story was written by veteran Globe reporter David Filipov and is called Masters keep Antique Presses Printing, Indian Drums Beating and the gist of the story is about Massachusetts artisans who have received special grants to pursue and preserve their craft. Harold was a grant recipient in 2006. The quote Harold gave the Globe is worth reading and the overall story is great.
The link is posted here - http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/12/28/masters_keep_knowledge_of_crafts_alive_with_support_from_state/









http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/12/28/masters_keep_knowledge_of_crafts_alive_with_support_from_state/

Seasons Greetings from Burnham Boatbuilding!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Best in 2010!

Putting the canvas covers on the sloops

Getting boats covered here at Burnham Boatbuilding is an important part of the winterization process. Harold is pictured here covering the Dream and the Maria with canvas cloth.  All the boats in the yard have canvas covers which is more attractive and sounds a lot different than plastic or shrink wrap when old man winter hits.  On the bottom left, is Harold's Dad, Charles standing on the dock a few weeks ago and on the right is Harold getting the cover on.