Different perspective in news is no bad thing, a must read/watch, and real numbers don't lie...
Deep in any sailor or boatbuilders heart there is an image/dream of "the boat". For some that might be a peapod skiff, a CAL 40, or any number of designs that tug the heart strings.
I ran across mine, some years back, while reading Reuel Parker's book "The New Cold-Molded Boatbuilding" and ever since it is the boat I see in my head whenever I think about boats I most want to build and sail off to the sunset on...
For me, cargo schooners have always had a special place in my nautical dreams and when I was a kid growing up on Catalina island there were actually a couple of cargo schooners that were still working. I remember just before one Christmas that the schooner brought us a chest freezer and something that looked a lot like a bicycle wrapped in butcher paper and was indeed to be my first real bike.
In my opinion, this vaporware design by Mr Parker (he never actually finished the design) is easily the prettiest thing he has ever drawn and as he is known for some seriously good looking boats, that's saying something. The fact that he has drawn such a pretty boat and it happens to be a scow makes it all the more wonderful.
In the coming contracted economy, sailing boats that fulfill the niche once served by cargo schooners will once again be a viable commercial investment and I know more than one designer of boats working along those lines. In fact, just a couple of days ago someone was telling me about a proa design of the cargo schooner sort (hopefully we will post a LOT more on said concept in the not too distant future here at Boat Bits) so at least I'm not alone in my madness...
The future may be uncertain but I'm guessing there will be schooning...
Listening to Ten Years After
So it goes...
