Boardmen and squelchers of the Island Bird are all in it together as they accept the inevitable. Once that big, heavy rig gets going a team of NFL linemen strung off the end of the planks is not going to stop it. Now it’s about holding onto the boards to stop them floating away and waiting for the rescue launch. That impressive bottom finish hints at the competitiveness in a ‘Corinthian’ fleet
and gear returned (cooler saved?) and the canoe is back in business. Finishing a race after a capsize has historically been done but that seems like more of a legend.
Construction The early canoes built further south on Virginia’s eastern shore were shaped by eye at full scale and symmetry was about as good as the builder’s eye and measurement could get. As canoe building spread further north the design was first carved in the form of a half model. Offsets were taken from the model but translating these to a full-scale hull originating from three huge logs that had one side flattened and joined to its neighbour must have been a challenge. Curved logs approximating the sweep
of the buttock lines were sought. Shaping was done by adze, axe and handsaw. The logs were temporarily joined together with ‘pinch dogs’ (large metal staples). One side was shaped to half model measurements at several stations and faired up between in a fair sweeping curve defined by battens. Matching the shape to the other side
was done with some care but careful mea- surement of the boats will always show some asymmetry. Visually, however, the boats are remarkably fair and appear sym- metrical. The amount of wood removed is impressive (one has to admire the tool sharpening skills of the builders). Once the exterior is shaped, holes were
drilled and dowels the length of the desired hull thickness were inserted. The logs were then separated again and the hard work of
50 SEAHORSE
shaping the interior began. Working from the log edges, no more than 1.5in or less of thickness would be left as the adze man worked the rest away until he found the end grain of the dowels that were driven in as a thickness guide. The interior bottom was shaped to form a bedlog for the centre board trunk sides and the ends were given extra thickness. The logs were finally fastened together
permanently with wrought-iron pins and occasionally elegant bow-tie shaped dove- tails. With spokeshave and hand plane the hull was then faired and finished – beauti- fully smooth, even for working canoes. These builders had the strength of a
lumberjack and an artist’s eye. Many worked alone, only calling in help to move the logs. Topsides were built up with planks and short topside frames were added to support them. The log hull interior was marvellously smooth and free of any framing so a cargo of oysters could be carried and shovelled out easily. Racing the canoes, the smooth interior enables easier, nearly constant bailing, as waves and heeling readily flood the boats. Decks were added and a washboard
coaming raised the inboard deck edges. A beautifully shaped stem and longhead were added, transforming the fine bow into a clipper profile, usually graced by a beautifully carved nameplate (trailboard) and several diagonal rails to support the headgear against the strong pull of the tapered bowsprit supporting the jib. The bows of canoes are beautiful
constructions and the structural elements of the whole assembly are as functionally effi- cient as they are graceful. One can again only admire the skills and eye of the mostly untrained builders who, although making workboats, gave each a piece of their soul. As the canoes were relegated to racing
and the gasoline engine with power to spare drove builders to more burdensome hull shapes, many of the thousands of working log canoes on the Bay were pulled ashore to rot or were put to the torch. Some had small engines added, as can be seen by the old shaft holes in some racing canoes that have since been plugged. The best and most loved canoes were
reinforced to carry larger rigs for family sailing and eventually racing. The decks were heavily reinforced to take the loads of the long springboards that crews crawled out onto to support even greater sail plans. The masts were (and still must be) solid wood and are quite heavy, originally being unsupported. A single shroud and spreader are now ‘legal’ for the racing canoes but only on the larger foremast.
Racing the artefact… a day aboard Island Blossom She is no artefact, though. Hugely sparred with two tall masts, a long, slender bowsprit, a jib-boom extending beyond and her mainsail sheeted to an extension far beyond the stern, it’s clear that she is all about going fast. Stepping aboard (‘in the middle, please’), she rolls with momentum that seems alive
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