Bringing Logs from Hog Island by Boat

Harold, Steve Willard and Bruce Slifer were on Hog Island today and came back with logs that will become the spars for the schooner Adventure

Harold is glad to get the spars down river

Two spars coming down river

Nice job guys!

That you Lenny Burgess for these photos of Harold, Steve Willard and Bruce Slifer coming down river today. A steady crew of volunteers has now cut down two spruce trees and shaped them into pieces that will be used to make the fore gaff , the fore boom and the .jumbo club for the schooner Adventure. Harold, Pierre Erhard, Bill Whitney, Bill Holmes, Steve Willard and Bruce Slifer have now all been to Hog Island and back this past month and have done a great job!

Love this Video

Len Burgess and others including Barry O'Brien, Kirk Williamson at GateHouse Media put this recent video together on the launch of the Schooner Ardelle on July 9. We really love this one. Thanks!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oelt0yRIhnI

A Passing Shot

Harold went to look at a boat the other day and Perry was driving in the passenger seat so after her Dad took a look at the boat, he wrote this note.  Classic Harold!  It says "Bill, Dig out all rot. fill with frozen snot. - Harold P.S. Don't make a mountain out of a molehill."  Well, thanks for the friendly boat advice Harold. Wish going to the doctor was this easy! Thanks for the photo, Perry.

Adventure On the Rails

Getting ready to bring the Adventure around.

Bill Holmes on the bow of the schooner Adventure

Grab a line!

Before she is hauled out.

 The schooner Adventure came out of the water yesterday  at the Gloucester Marine Railway at Rocky Neck in Gloucester. The marine railway is the current "home" of the schooner Adventure and Harold is involved with this original Essex schooner doing some contract work this winter and spring. The hope is that the Adventure will sail in late summer and all involved - including Executive Director Johanne Sousa and the non-profit organization members are keeping fingers crossed. The photos are of the yard staff and the woman behind the scenes is Viking Gustafson. She is the manager of Gloucester Marine Railways and operates the railway herself. The operation yesterday was a success with Viking on the railway and the "Old Lady" being hauled up the rails looking great!!

Stern looks good!

Coming around...

The railway operates pretty much as it always has.

A big chain is key!

Adventure getting set up on the railway

Getting closer.

Here she comes up on the railway

Just a few mussel shells on her hull..

Bruce Slifer and Bill Holmes on deck.

The manager of Gloucester Marine Railways and operator Viking Gustafson on the railway

Well done, Viking!

Cape Ann Beacon staffers Nicole Boyd and Kirk Williamson Honored for Ardelle Work by New England Press Association

Two very awesome Cape Ann Beacon staffers Nicole Boyd and Kirk Williamson - who spent many hours photographing and videotaping the building of the schooner Ardelle won very big this past week at the New England Press Association's annual meeting. Nicole won Photographer of the Year ... and that means throughout all of New England up against hundreds of newspapers. They were particularly noted for their coverage of the schooner Ardelle. Kirk Williamson won first place for his video coverage of the schooner Ardelle.

These two folks really deserved these awards and we are very honored to have had them coming by the yard so often in all kinds of weather and conditions. Yep, Kirk even endured a bite in the leg from Daisy, and Nicole was at times covered with paint, apoxy and sawdust but she always got her shot.  Great job both of you and thank you so much for all you have done for us! One of Kirk's videos is on this blog - our maiden voyage from Essex to Gloucester when Kirk sailed with us all the way and helped us navigate well into Rockport harbor...Nicole is just the sweetest person we know...and she had a soft spot for Daisy and I have put her photos of the boatyard dog here.  Again, congratulations on winning big!!

Gloucester —

Wicked Local North of Boston photographer Nicole Goodhue Boyd was named New England’s weekly newspaper Photographer of the Year at the New England Newspaper and Press Association’s annual awards banquet Saturday night, Feb. 11.

The Cape Ann Beacon took home first place for Best Front Page, as well as awards for its online and print coverage of the building of the schooner Ardelle. Check it out at www.wickedlocal.com/essex/ardelle

Goodhue Boyd, who shoots for 21 Gatehouse Media New England newspapers and their Wicked Local websites north of Boston, was also honored with five other photography and video awards in the association’s annual Better Newspaper Competition, including a first-place award for best photo series. Her subject for the photo series was St. Peter's Fiesta in Gloucester.

She’s worked for Wicked Local North of Boston and its family of newspapers and websites since 2001.

In addition to the award for best front page and best photo series, the Cape Ann Beacon earned three additional first-place awards.

Photo chief Kirk R. Williamson won Best Pictorial Photo for his sea smoke photo.

The Beacon staff also won for Digital/Print Convergance, which involves covering a story online as well as in the print paper. The award was for the Beacon's coverage of the building of the schooner Ardelle, under the direction of photo chief Kirk R. Williamson.

Williamson also won first place for his video of the building of the Ardelle.

Read more: Wicked Local staffer named ‘Photographer of the Year’ - Essex, MA - Wicked Local Essex http://www.wickedlocal.com/gloucester/news/x1676719949/Wicked-Local-staffer-named-Photographer-of-the-Year#ixzz1mOiJpzba

Squaring Up the Timber

On Thursday and Friday last week, Harold and Bruce Slifer returned to Hog Island to begin "squaring up the timber" before they remove it by boat from the island. First, they limbed out the trees and neatly put the brush in piles as part of their kid glove approach to forestry. Then, they cut the spars to length and started squaring them up. Right now the fore boom and the fpre gaff for the Schooner Adventure are ready and waiting for the next good tide to bring them off the island.

This spruce log will be used for spars for the schooner Adventure

Pierre Erhard cut two spruce trees on Hog Island last week. Bruce Slifer and Harold  set about making them into spars. They will then tow the spars down river from Hog Island to the Burnham yard.

Harold is making a flat on the log which gets rid of the waste and prepares the log to be made into a spar.

Taking a slab of the tree will make it easier to tow off the island.

This is the log with the slab split off. 

This is for your Deb!

Before the log slab was cut, Bruce knocked the  remaining limbs off.

Bruce using a large axe.

Good day on Hog Island

Adventure on Hog Island

Yesterday, Harold, Bruce Slifer and arborist Pierre Erhard, who is also the tree warden in Wenham. MA took the skiff out to Hog Island and cut down two trees to fashion into a new fore boom, fore gaff and jumbo club for the schooner Adventure. Pierre is a professional arborist who has worked with us on many projects including the schooner Ardelle and Bruce helped build the main mast and several other spars for the Ardelle so we were glad to have them both with us. We would really like to thank the Trustees of Reservations for giving us permission to harvest these wonderful specimens of spruce from the island as they did with the schooner Lannon, the Lewis H. Story and the schooner Fame. It was nice to be out on the island again and it brought back great memories of working on these boats. Thanks, Bruce and Pierre for taking these photos! 

Harold Burnham 

Chain saws for cutting down two spruce trees on Hog Island

Hog Island looms ahead.

Getting ready to cut down the tree.

This looks like a good spruce.

Getting ready.

The two trees were cut on a slope

Tree coming down.

Pierre Erhard is a trained arborist and the tree warden in Wenham, MA.