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





Thursday, September 8, 2011

Fela Kuti Midnite Mastness....

I'm trying to wrap up all the loose ends as an eventual launch day gets closer,. One of the bigger projects still to finish is the mast. For the last couple evenings, between reading bedtime stories and tucking Maya in, I've been sneaking out to a friends barn to get some varnish on the mast/put the hardware on it etc.
The mast is on two sawhorses in a big empty barn. Theres no electricity inside but I have an extention cord to run a couple of lights attached to a ladder. The small lights arent enough to fill up the whole space but I can see the mast well enough to get some initial thin coats on. Even though the conditions are lousy, I love it. With the small lights casting huge shadows on the walls, the doors open to the darkness outside, the smell of the ocean, the sounds of owls and rain mixed with the Fela Kuti streaming off the internet makes for a great way to spend the evening (or even two or three of them).

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