Not Bad for A Week's Work

Harold and Ben Spivak have been working at a rapid-fire pace this past week (just another day in the boatyard for Harold) but he now has a much needed repair job near completion on Sara Beck's 1936-built Friendship Sloop the Flying Jib. Ben and Harold (and Kate & Sara, too!) have used one red oak log to complete a masterful job where they scarfed a new piece on to the after-end of the keel; replaced the stern post, replaced the after deadwood and they also added a new horn timber, added a new transom knee and are currently building a new rudder. As Ben commented just now," not bad for a week's work and all out of one red oak log." And, as Harold mentioned,  to paraphrase "I  did use red oak over white oak  [and yes, Harold is saving his coveted white oak for his new schooner to begin construction next month) but the Flying Jib was originally built with red oak over 70 years ago and will still have some good sailing days in her!" The Flying Jib is having its first major refit in some time and it is nice to see new life in this 74-year old boat.

Sistering Frames with Old Fashioned Ingenuity

Ben Spivak of Colorado and Kate Tansky are pictured here working on the Flying Jib, owned by Sara Beck of Topsfield, here at Burnham Boatbuilding. Ben and Kate are a great team and they have been very diligently sistering frames in the Flying Jib. Ben and Kate are driving these new ribs down through the covering board all the way to the keel. It is a great way of adding new life to an old boat...and hopefully giving the Flying Jib many more seasons (or at least a few!) and we are very impressed by the hard work and dedication of Ben and Kate. We also love their banana bread!

Flying Jib Gets Some TLC

Work continues on the Flying Jib Friendship sloop owned by Sara Beck of Topsfield, MA. Sara's nephew Ben Spivak of Colorado, who is a schooner sailor in his own right, and his girlfriend Kate Tansky are replanking and reframing the Flying Jib in part to get her ready for the 50th anniversary of the Friendship Sloop regatta in July in Rockland, Maine. Ben and Kate are a welcome presence in the yard and - with Harold's guidance - they are doing a great job on the old girl. Sara also comes down on weekends to work hard. It is tough work but they are doing it with a smile as always. In the first photo, Harold is bending a frame into the hull of the Flying Jib, in the second photo he is under the bow using a crowbar to push the still warm frame up and in the third photo he is bending the plank after it came out of the steambox...so the photos are actually in reverse order!

Spring Is Here in the Boatyard

                                           The Canadian flagship Bluenose II under sail..

Harold has been gearing up for a busy month of late and is in the midst of both finishing up work, starting new jobs, and giving a lot of time, thought, sweat and tears (?)..OK, not tears but a good deal of mental and physical preparation is going in to his gearing up to build the pinky ARDELLE. Yeah!

Things are beginning to fall into place..time is a major factor as he does not have enough in the course of the day to do it all but basically a year from now life could be very different, and very, very much the place to be for anyone who is interested in learning about wooden schooner construction. And, for the rest of us, it is an opportunity to photograph, write about, and join in a great project.

Looking Back to a Fun Visit from FOX news

Despite the national mood regarding politics and which TV station leans more to one side of the political spectrum, locals in Essex really enjoyed a visit from Fox News two springs ago...when Harold was chosen to answer a series of questions about Essex in a kind of pop quiz format.  When he was asked where to get the best fried clams in Essex in rapid fire format his answer was the Village Restaurant.  A few days later, Harold walked into the Village to have a bowl of Italian fish chowder and unbenownest to him the owners broke into a shout and gave him a big hug. They were very happy that he had thought of them and they were very happy with his praise of what is a great local restaurant. The other day, the Village Restaurant underwent a remodeling and they are very proud of it and the place looks great. Harold felt that they might need one more thing for their remodeling and he dashed to the barn and came back with a beautiful handcarved half-model, dusted it off and presented it to them. So, if you are at the Village Restaurant in Essex anytime soon, check out their new decor and the new half model somewhere in the restaurant!

A Short Video of a Visit to the Boatyard

Dan Freund and Jonathan Rummel came by the boatyard on Monday and Dan, who is a videographer for Shortstream TV;  a community-based media network showcasing the working lives of talented artists, craft-people, and professionals from across the region based in Portsmouth, NH. Dan spent some time filming while Harold cut Jonathan a nice piece of wood for a project he is working on. It was great to have them come by and below is the link to the two short videos.

http://www.shortstream.tv/v3/node/1137


http://www.shortstream.tv/v3/node/1136

Gloucester Times Writes about Harold's American Schooner Association Award

The Gloucester Times was kind enough to mention Harold on Saturday and his award from the American Schooner Association which was presented to him at the annual ASA meeting in Mystic, CT where he was also the featured speaker. It was a great event and well worth driving down to Mystic, CT.  Prior to the event, touring Mystic Seaport in the off-season, at dusk, in February was unique. It was a Friday afternoon and the place was about to close but we were able to have a quick walk around.  

Looking around at the schooners covered at the dock, shrouded by the dim street lights and the grey water it made that feeling of winter hibernation complete. But, the return of the sailing season is not as far off as it seems!

When the ASA gathered to meet on Saturday, we also got the treat of being around good people and hot coffee - always a great combination. To read the Gloucester Times article, click here.

- Laurie Fullerton