by Bob Comet
Categories:
- Build type: [Scratch]
- Material: [Wood]
- Scale: [1:32 (3/8" = 1')]
- Subject Type: [Trawl / Dredge]
- Era: [1815-1914]
- Nationality: [United States]
- Propulsion: [Sail]
Model Images
About the Vessel
In his book American Small Sailing Craft, Howard I. Chapelle describes a small skipjack or two-sail bateau. The boat was built about 1900 for a poacher. In this work she was renamed whenever she came under enough suspicion to become notorious. On the death of the owner the boat was sold and used as a pleasure vessel (named MESSENGER) for some years until a gasoline explosion in 1942 blew her up. The boat was built at Oriole, Maryland. The earliest name for the boat that Chapelle shows on his drawing, made from lines taken off in 1942, is SHOREBIRD. This is the name chosen for the model as it is rigged for oystering with a band winder and dredge.
The lines are generally those for a Maryland skipjack, but it is sharper forward and has a longer run than most. SHOREBIRD’s length between perpendiculars was 35′ 7-3/4″ and beam 10′ 0″. This is less than a 3:1 length beam ratio, whereas most skipjacks would be 3:1 or more ratios. This is accounted for by the “oyster pirate’s” need for speed, to evade police vessels. The long head ends in a billet head rather than the more common eagle head.
About the model
The dredge and hand winder shown on the model are based on measurements taken from prototypes on display at the Mariners’ Museum. The winder is a working model complete with clutch and ratchet device.
Model scale is 1:32.
Links
- Wikipedia
- Model of a skipjack by HRSMS member Henry Clapp
- Model of a skipjack by HRSMS member Ulrich Guenther
- Model of a skipjack by HRSMS member Bob Krumpen