Oarlock & Sail Wooden Boat Club

A bit surprisingly, it was a very busy Saturday at the boat shed! We had around 15 people at various times, and got a lot of work done.

We’ve got only 10 more frames to rivet in place, and we’ve removed all the temporary moulds – it’s looking nice and clean in the hull now! (except for the tools left in place, ready for next weekend!)

We also got a start on some much-needed maintenance on the shed – Ken kicked it off with replacing some of the rotten studs below the windows, and we’ve got one window frame rebuilt with fresh wood. It feels great to get this much-needed and long-delayed project started! There’s just a sheet of plywood closing the window opening for now, but glass is on its way.

The boats have been seeing some action, which is always nice!

Looking forward to next weekend, when we’ll likely complete the frame fastening. Then, perhaps the inwales?

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The first annual “Heritage Harbour Classic” sailboat race was held on Sunday Sept 17, 2017 at the Vancouver Maritime Museum’s Heritage Dock Marina.

A total of five boats, four from the marina and one invited, participated in the event that saw a course run twice from the jetty point out to the gravel barge buoy and back. The winds and the weather were unpredictable, but the boats made the most of the challenging conditions.

Winsome 111, a 36 foot wooden sloop skippered by Steve Elder won handily, despite losing her halyard halfway through the race. The win was not surprising as she has won the Swiftsure three times. Watch the 1961 race: https://youtu.be/tMPlDYW7o5M

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Next was ERN, the 34 foot wooden cutter/sloop skippered by owners Rob O’Dea and Tom Arntzen followed by ODIN the 21 foot converted aluminium lifeboat rigged as a gaff sloop, skippered by owner Arnt Arntzen. Next was the 46 foot wooden cutter Aegean skippered by owner Dave Snell. Sylvester, the 16 foot wooden gaffrigged catboat skippered by owners Rob & Ellen Kondratowski did not finish due to light winds.

The race was followed with a barbecue on the dock in front of Oarlock and Sail Wooden Boat Club workshop. It was attended by 3 museum staff, OLAS members and Heritage Dock members and their families. The trophy designed and built by Arnt consisting of a traditional Lunenburg wooden block mounted on a teak stand with brass plaque was awarded to Steve of Winsome 111, whose idea the whole event was in the first place. He keeps the trophy for one year and then passes it on to the winner of next years Heritage Classic.

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