Oarlock & Sail Wooden Boat Club

We tested Button Swan’s mainsail on Saturday, and considered it a great success!  We did some temporary fastening, tying the sail to our spars, and rigging some control lines.  The sail shape worked perfectly, and the boat was fast enough to pull away from Ragna quite easily most of the time – we’re very pleased with her performance!  This was in a nice light wind, perfect for a first sail.

With Ragna giving chase, we got some video of her underway.  Ragna was able to pull away on one leg, but after a bit more tuning, Button Swan took off again.

This boat is continuing to satisfy and delight us!

We had a most excellent day for the launch party for the Providence River Boat “Button Swan”, and a celebration of the 90th anniversary of the launching of the Vancouver Maritime Museum’s “St. Roch”.  We had a full dock of guests, members, and staff!

 

The celebration began with a short talk by our club president, Rob O’Dea, thanking all who have participated in the building of this fine boat, including those who contributed in our fundraising and the Vancouver Maritime Museum for the greatly appreciated place in which to build.  After a celebratory taste and splash of spirits, the boat went in the water, and went for a number of rowing excursions – the sails are still being completed, and we’ll have another celebration to come!

Before the launch could happen though, there was a frenzy of work in the preceding month.  A lot of work was achieved in a short time, thanks to many extra hours during the week by a handful of our members, much of it done by Arnt, either at the boat shed or in his own shop.  Thanks to all the others who contributed!

Sail-making is nearly completed, at least the main-sail, so we’re looking forward to adding it – thanks to Bob, Nick, and Louise for their work on that!

After the launch of the boat, a number of boats from Heritage Harbour went out for a sail-past, led by Bruce & Sheila and guests on North Star, looking splendid!  Sheila & Bruce had been busy gathering flags to outfit all the participants, adding wonderfully festive colour to the fleet.

It was an exciting day, finished off with a bbq on the dock, and continued enjoyment and admiring of the Button Swan!  Thanks to all who made the day a great success!