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By now, dear reader, you will know that I have a strange affliction in which almost every day something grips my stomach and says: YOU must BUILD a sharpie NOW!
I guess it’s partly because I’m not terribly skilled in the carpentry department, and however elegant they may be, sharpies always look a lot easier to build than any round-bottomed boat.
It’s a bit like that moment when you buy your first house and walk into a DIY shed. Young and impressionable, you look around, size up the hardware and the free instruction leaflets, and all of a sudden you’re thinking ‘I could install a new back door and put in a central heating system system while I’m at it – and everything I need is here in front of me, right now. I CAN do anything if I want to! DIY sheds are of course meant to make any man feel that way. They even fill them with a syrupy love song soundtrack to remind us we can do it all for our partners…
The idea that I have the power to build a sharpie is only one of the reasons I get gripped by them. Another is that I read Howard Irving Chappelle’s book American Small Sailing Craft far too early in life – I wasn’t yet 40, and it had a terrible and long-lasting effect. And yet another is that they can be such elegant boats, despite their relative simplicity.
Here’s a sweet example of one of these boats. It’s an 18ft sharpie that many sharpie enthusiasts read about first in Reuel Parker’s The Sharpie Book. In this case it was built by a chap called Mack Horton, and a very nice job he has made of it.
Anyway, I’ve included it here partly because I’m nuts about sharpies, and partly because that warm blue sea and water is really attractive when viewed from Southern England in February!
Mack Horton builds a sharpie here:
http://mackhorton.com
If you don’t know about Reuel Parker, the source of Mack’s plans, click here:
http://www.parker-marine.com/parker2_2.htm
Are there any other Brits out there with a liking for sharpies? If so, why not comment below and get in touch? We could form an underground movement…
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Reuel Parker rules !
He designs some real head turners.
He designed and sailed a schooner called Leopard that won the 1994 Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race .
http://www.parker-marine.com/leopardpage.htm
She is a real salty schooner.
I too have a gut that says you'll feel better if you just build a sharpie. Reuel lives an hour north of me and this summer whilst loloking at a very ratty wharram for sale Isaw Sarah in the water. Now at least my trip was not wasted. Then as I continued walking around the boatyard there was a large sharpie being built under a tarp. Short story is it turned out to be Reuel building a new 45' version of his San Juan Island sharpie. We got to be friends and have shared several visits and a few ales.He is in Maine now for the summer completing his house. I will be at the Wooden Boat show at Mystic Seaport the end of June exibiting my newly built Wharram Tiki30 and also will be selling Reuel's books and plan catalogs.Mayhap I could even get a commission to build a Parker design. Then I'm sure my gut will feel mo betta. Boatbuilding surely is the best tonic for an aching gut. Regards David
G'day!
As an Australia-based Blue Jays fan, I found your blog on google and read a few of your other Blue Jays posts.
I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.