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!