Between 1957 and 1970 Cheoy Lee produced approximatley 133 folkboats originaly sold as the the Offshore 25, better known as the Frisco Flyer.

There were three versions of this small blue-water boat. 91 in all wood and 42 in Fiberglass with wood. There were 55 Type I's and II's and 78 of the Type III's. The Type I (aka the Pacific Clipper) was an all wood boat, had a mast that was stepped through the deck, a traditional folkboat fractional rig and a smaller cabin. The Type II's had a larger teak trunk cabin and a masthead rig. The Type III's had a larger teak dog-house cabin, some "standing" headroom and a masthead rig stepped on deck. The earlier Type III's were solid teak built onto a fiberglass hull and the later Type III’s (1966-1970) were made entirely out of fiberglass with teak paneling.

This boat, Yard # 1507 is one of approximatley only 30 Type III's left. It was out of the water for the previous 16 years when I got it and then about another 5 more while I rebuilt it. It was an empty, cracked hull when given to me and needed a complete restoration/refit. It took about five years of long nights and weekends of working outside under a tarp, in the garage or in the boat during cold winter nights, wet rainy afternoons and everything in between. The occasionally eager assistant on the project was my four (now ten) year old daughter who can have this boat as soon as I convince her mother to get another one. This blog is the record of all the work that "we" have done to the boat as well as some other somewhat related events with friends and family. Eventually, this will be put together in a book which will stay with the boat.

She still has plenty more to go but for now, Jackaroe has been in the water for a couple years now and thats all that matters...

To see past projects, use the links below.



Questions and comments to Matthewearlgarthwait@gmail.com





Saturday, February 3, 2007

Every good boat should have a good story....

On a "dark and stormy night" in January 2007, I was in a bar in Portsmouth, NH with some friends. I wasn't even thinking about boats (not much). At some point, someone I don't know, comes up to me and says, "I have a problem and was told that you would be able to help me out"( Turns out his friend who told him I was looking for a boat is a coworker of mine). Now, because I work with abused and neglected kids, a person asking if I can help them out is usually not a good thing. But, he then tells me that he has a Cheoy Lee , Frisco Flyer (Actually, I think he had been told it was a Newell Cadet which is a model that came after the Flyers) that needs to go to a good home. I of course want the boat right away (unseen, any condition etc) , but I know that my wife (beautiful, intelligent and great in every way) (yes, she will be reading this) will be 100% against the idea. In fact, its almost true that the first thing she tells me when we wake up in the morning and the last thing she says before we go to bed is "absolutely, no sailboats!".

We had a lobster boat a few years back which was tolerable for her (because there was no sails and I had named it Mariela, after her (trying to gain a little favor) and currently there is a beautiful 18 ft wooden sailing dory,
in the garage where my car should be (which she bought for me as a father's day present a couple years back, and it has since become the kid's boat,. My daughter named the dory Seamonkey) but she has been more than clear that the last thing she wants is a REAL sailboat. I think she thought this little one would be enough to settle me but I kept looking at it as a cool tender for the bigger boat to come.

She and I both spent summers sailing on boats with our parents as kids, somehow I walked away from the experience wanting to be in boats, near boats and whenever possible to own boats. She on the other hand, walked away from it thinking that boats, especially sailboats, were giant holes in the water that you fill with money.

So anyways, this guy is telling me of this small Cheoy Lee and I already know my wife doesn't want it, so of course I ask, "how much?" (I'm thinking that if the boat is 25 ft, then I could live on it after she throws me out and I'll have my daughter every other weekend for visitation down at Rye Harbor.)

Here's the part where I ordered another drink...he says the boat is free. FREE.

He says that he was given the boat by a friend and that when it was given to him it was in the middle of a restoration. Unfortunately, it has sat untouched for the last three years or so next to his house. Now he has to move and wants to see it go to a good home and restored properly. Thankfully, someone told him of my obsessive search for a boat. I get his number and the rest is a blur until the morning when I remember some guy wants to give me a boat. The very next thing I remember is who I'm married to and what she absolutely doesn't want. I then I somehow manage not to tell her about this for about a week. I wait until were on vacation, on the beach in the middle of nowhere (Yucatan Peninsula) Mexico. When I do tell her about it, I sit her down in front of the ocean facing Cuba, show her a Power Point presentation with about 50 slides of information answering the usual arguments she has against sailboats and explaining why this boat was the greatest boat in the world and why we absolutely just had to have it. She (very) reluctantly agreed. She still isn't thrilled about it but the now boat is now next to our house and I am slowly bringing it back to life. The goal is to launch Jack-A-Roe in the summer of 2009 and this blog will hopefully be the record of the work done and stay with the boat.

Did I mention how great my wife is? She is, and she'll tell you if you ask her.

And another thank you to the guy that gave me the boat. He could have easily sold this thing and made a good amount of money, but instead he was as incredibly generous as the guy who gave it to him. He wanted to know it was going to a good home and asked for nothing in return except to go for a sail when its back in the water. Glen, you have an open invitation to sail anytime.
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