E.V.S. boats

A journal of boating history and boats in contemporary culture, from the Curator of Watercraft

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Some of my favorite folks from dear old Seattle in their new project: A Hot Tub Boat. A colleague here in Clayton sent me this link recently, and reminded me that I heard about it a couple years ago--looks like it has grown into an actual business. The Seattle boating scene never ceases to amaze me. Lightyears ahead of the rest of the world.

This not a floating hot tub, its a real boat--electric power, joystick control from the tub, diesel hot water heater, teak decks, built in coolers, all you need.

They are available for purchase or rent at 2025 Westlake Ave, or hottubboats.com.

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I love reading quotes from NYT and hearing Charlie's voice in my head. Especially when its things like "Edwardian-Victorian Parlor vibe". Go Seattle!

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Schooner Hindu Back in the Water

After several months of dedicated effort, the Schooner Hindu was returned to the water in Key West today, very exciting news! I only post this notice because the news has not yet hit the official blog, which I told you to follow some time ago. Judging from the pictures on facebook they are either recovering or still partying, in the grand tradition of Key West and wooden shipbuilders the world over. 

The 1925 William Hand bald-headed schooner has been a mainstay in Provincetown, MA for 50 years, and is credited with starting whale-watching tours out of that port. I understand the it has been greatly missed the last couple years, and I am sure it will be warmly welcomed back this summer. It was laid up and neglected in Key West because of some financial misunderstanding or other, until some foolish friends of mine decided to step in and save it. They are remarkable folks, most of the time, and managed to turn the 59' 11 and 1/2" boat around in record time. Great praise and congratulations are due! 

I am sure soon enough you will be able to find much more info on Bonnie Rowan's blog, svrowan.wordpress.com, which chronicles her various projects and enviable lifestyle. (But if you sometimes just want to run away to the Caribbean, maybe you should not expose yourself to temptation.)

Now maybe they can get to that boat they left in my barn...

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A mix of planes, slicks, braces, calipers and other woodworking tools on display at South Street Seaport Museum, which opened for the public today for the first time in nearly a year. Artifacts from New York City's maritime past were on display, along with objects of contemporary art and design, including furniture, clothing, and photography from New York City. The exhibition was organized by staff from the Museum of the City of New York, which recently took over the flagging maritime museum. 

This mix of interpretive priorities is very exciting, from what I hear the opening last night was a collision of two communities that should be mutually inspiring but rarely intersect: salt dusted sailors and maritime historians, and glossy and bearded young creatives. I hope for more in the future. 

This display and several others were put together by Wendy Evans Joseph and Chris Cooper of Cooper Joseph studio. Very cool work.

Image stolen from coverage by WNYC. Read coverage by NYT here.

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"Whats this? It's dark, Schettino? It's dark and you want to go home?"

Image from Shipmateblog

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The New South Street Seaport - Here's What I Know

Good news! I recently received an invitation to a party for the re-opening of South Street Seaport Museum in lower Manhattan. The goings-on down there have been pretty mysterious for the last few months, but it looks like they will be opening back up after all, though there are still lots of questions. If you haven't been following this at all, the basic story is this: South Street Seaport was New York City's maritime museum and tall ship livery, located just south of the Brooklyn Bridge. It closed due to poor management last year, and then was taken over by the Museum of the City of New York. No one knew what that was going to mean for either museum or for the thousand-odd-feet of historic vessels. In November, MCNY announced that it would re-open South Street with 20,000 square feet of new exhibits in January 2012. They hired some new staff, or rather MCNY did for South Street, and presumably they didn't have much of a Christmas break. Haven't heard much from them, and I don't know anyone in the maritime heritage community that is working with MCNY. So I am very curious what this invitation-only, 800-person event will consist of.  There is now some coverage of what will be on display, such as an exhibit of photographs of the Occupy Wall Street protests. I also know they have reached out to the on-water arts community in NYC. So, it sounds like they are re-branding a bit as a museum of Lower Manhattan and also intend to show where traditional watercraft land in other cultural movements, all of which is encouraging. As for the ships, who knows. There are rumors that some may be sold, like the 377' barque Peking, but on that I have no info. A good way to keep tabs on the ship collection is the Save Our Seaport blog. 

South Street Seaport is open to the public on Thursday morning the 26th of January, and you should go. Let me know what you find out.

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Buster Keaton in "The Boat" from 1921. In which Keaton builds a motor cruiser in his basement, launches it, and sets off voyaging with his family, with many tribulations. At the time, motor cruisers were becoming popular among young families like the one portrayed in the film, and magazines such as Rudder and Power Boating were full of plans from which you could build your own. 

Keaton's boat is named "Damfino", which I imagine is from "Damn Fine". Compound words were a common way to name a boat at the time. I was reminded of this film the other day when I ran across a reference to a cruiser called Damfino in a set of race results from the late 20s; presumably that boat was named after Keaton's fanciful deathtrap. It had not finished the race, which is as to be expected. 

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It is an enduring part of our long relationship with the sea that big ships inspire complacency, and the sea asserts itself through tragedy. Peace to those lost at Giglio last night.

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Miss America VIII winning the British International Trophy in 1929 at Detroit. The Harmsworth trophy, as it is also known, was for decades the race that defined the world's fastest boat. The rules are similar to the America's Cup, in that it is a contest between nations, and all the materials, design, and equipment used in a boat must be from the country of origin. Gar Wood switched from Hoduran to Phillipine mahogany and built the first Miss America to take home the trophy in 1920. He didn't give it up until 1931.

Miss America VIII defended the trophy in 1929 against a challenge from the British tomboy of powerboat racing Marion "Joe" Carstairs and the Estelle II. Repowered, it won again in 1931, driven by Gar's brother George, so the trophy didn't have to go too far. 

Just got to have one, right? Well, You Are In Luck. Miss America VIII goes up for auction on January 28th in Kissimme, Florida. It is a shallow-vee single step boat with two historic twin-cam V-16 engines by Indy car legend Harry Miller, and probably does about 95. Turns pretty well even at speed, so long as you have a riding mechanic to ease the throttle on the inside engine in the corners. So pick a buddy and bid!

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Autoxylopyrocycloboros, the creation of artist Simon Starling during its short time on this earth. The work is named for a Greek mythical character of a snake eating its own tail, which was at the time a symbol of rebirth.

Autoxylopyrocycloboros was also self-consuming, but in our time this is an act of total destruction. The little vessel was piloted out into Loch Long, in Scotland, with the boiler fed by pieces of wood removed from the hull until it ultimately sank. The Loch is on the Clyde Estuary, home of the UK's Trident nuclear submarine base. The piece suggests that the arms of war destroy the idea of rebirth, and make innovation and consumption a one-way journey. 

This is one of many pieces I will be featuring in an exhibit of Contemporary Art at ABM next summer. Stay tuned. If you would like to learn more about the ill-fated little craft, watch Simon's talk here: dictionaryofwar.org/concepts/Autoxylopyrocycloboros

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EVSboats boatshop modern break table, $1200.

Solid bench table, for banquets or coffee breaks. Architecture is inspired by a double sawhorse spotted in the yard of R J Marine in Clayton. The table is a slab of salvaged bowling lane, which makes the best work bench tops. Learned that at the Everett Boat Works, where it all came together. Other important sources of inspiration: Ashley Helvey and Myles Pedersen, Chadhaus.

7' 6" X 38" X 29.5", can be disassembled for transport.

Adirondack Guideboat by Willard Hamner (not included).

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A recent collaborative project between myself and Aleksandra Pollner, a wood and porcelain axe. Aleks and I were introduced by gallerist and photographer Charlie Schuck, who noticed that were both making axes out of decidedly non-axe-like materials, playing with the same themes of materiality and wilderness-art intrusion. So we collaborated, and the axe went on display at Object, Charlie's gallery and retail space in Belltown, Seattle, on November 11.

It has since been featured at Blanc, a pop-up shop at Sole Repair put on by Join Design Seattle. I am proud to be featured alongside talented friends like Free Time Industries and Iacoli McAllister.  We have even had a couple commissions. 

The top pictures show my part of the process underway in the shop at The Everett Boat Works. Next, Charlie and Aleks with the axe, then the opening of Object on 11.11.11. At bottom right, the axe on display with a full porcelain and gold version at Blanc.

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Decades after John Gardner, two guys from New York have identified the northeast coast fishing dory as a craft to reconnect people to the water. Mare Liberum has come up with a set of plans and an art-based platform for construction and use of this traditional small craft. Check them out, download the PDFs, build yourself a boat over the weekend.

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Coming back into the docks at work, last month. One of the last nice boating days of the year, sunny, smooth water. This is my favorite way to get to the office...

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As a result of the Wawona project and my collaboration with John Grade last winter/spring, I was asked to sit in on a talk about the sculpture as part of the Authorship Project at PR in Seattle. It should be interesting, I will be providing background on Wawona and drawing connections between John's work and the wooden boat scene: craft, time, adventure, etc. I may also use the forum to explore the concept of contemporary art in history museum settings; after all this piece is going up at the Museum of History and Industry. Should be fun. 6pm.

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Cocktail hour at Boyden Road with my parents. It is always like this in summer. Getting a bit cold for martinis in the yard now, time to switch to red wine by the fire.

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Conceptual artist Mark Dion has put together a fascinating exhibit of contemporary art and mysterious ocean treasures for two Monaco museums. One part wunderkammer and one part art gallery, the show explores the wonders of the sea and our perceptions of its depth. For treasure, Dion draws on the collection of the Institute Oceanographique, and the art is displayed at the Nouveau Musee National de Monaco.

Because you were going to Monaco anyway...