G&T on capybaras/blogging, regarding some flawed economic analysis, and something you may have missed...
So, last night, a friend popped me an email with some pictures of a Bolger Lion's Paw sharpie he'd come across.
As it happens, back in the days when Loose Moose 2 was was in the "maybe we need a bigger boat?" thought process I often found myself idly perusing Lions Paw in Phil's "30 Odd Boats"...
It was a sharpie.
It was flush deck.
It had leeboards.
It was a schooner and salty as all get out.
It may not not have been a full tilt boogie love affair but I was certainly smitten.
I still really like the design but it had a couple of issues that restrained me from building it. In short, it was steel and, at the time, I perceived the general lack of headroom as problematic for someone who was 6'5".
Today, in hindsight, I've come to the conclusion that standing headroom in boats is not as advantageous as I once thought. In point of fact, I've joined the fraternity of folks who believe that excessive headroom in boats is actually a big (with a capital B) negative and one of the reasons that so many modern boats look like crap in the lines department.
As far as the whole steel thing goes... Well, I'll have to be honest and admit that dealing with rust on a daily basis is about the second least fun thing I can think of (number "1" would be working on an internal combustion engine) and, while steel has all sorts of advantages, I'm still a wood and composite kind of guy.
Sadly, I'm unaware of any Lion's Paws which actually got finished. I know of several that never got beyond the hull stage and seem to surface, from time to time, as fixer-upper projects in out-of-the-way locations. Par for the course it would seem as underlined by my friend's comments...
"It never got launched. Still sat in a farm field where he built it. He zinc sprayed it so it was surprisingly intact except for the wood deck going to total crap over the years. He'd even sewed up a Chinese junk sail for it but never put it on. He was reluctant to even talk about selling it. He also had a Bolger Black Skimmer behind his actual farm house, on a trailer.What a waste indeed.
"About a year ago I had my friend inquire if it was still there and the builder said it was "about gone now". What a waste."
Listening to a bunch of Sly & The Family Stone covers
So it goes...
