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





Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Land or Sea....

For the last week or so every time I've gone out to work in the boat, Maya (aka "The Kid") has usually been on her swing in the front yard and asking to come in and see the boat. She wants to be in there with me helping (watching). It's great that she wants to be a part of the project and wants to hang out with me (it means the brainwashing* is working) but lately because I've been using so much fiberglass, I cant have her in there. I make sure that there is enough ventilation for myself when I'm mixing up epoxy etc but everything is obviously sticky and I don't think her mom would like it if she came to dinner with a piece of biaxial cloth permanently fixed to her (and of course I don't want her anywhere near the fumes, ventilated or not). So when she asks, "Hey can I come up there too?"... I say, "not today because of the chemicals and dangerous stuff". She's heard this so many times that now she finishes my sentence for me. ....When I start to say no, she says, "I know, I know, too many chemicals". The day will come, hopefully by early fall, when the inside will be mostly completed, all the glassing, sanding, painting and varnishing will be done, the furniture/cushions will be in and she can just hang out as much as she wants on the boat while I'm doing the details stuff with hardware or electrical. As much as she wants to go for a sail to look for pirate treasure, she's also really looking forward to just sleeping on the boat in the yard some night with her stuffed animals.

**Brainwashing is a daily topic of conversation in our house these days. My better half, who prefers to be hanging from a cliff somewhere or standing on a mountain as opposed to being on the water, feels that there is a real battle for the kids allegiance to one side or the other and that she is losing this battle. Its known as The Great Battle Over Land or Sea. I've been pretty successful with my sea campaign over the kid. I have the added benefit of having friends and family with boats which we either spend time on, around or talking about. In addition to her knowing different kinds of boats, she knows the names for the parts of a boat, such the boom, tiller, rudder, mast, sheets etc and can tie a bowline (with some help). She even wants to sing Jack-a-roe at night before she goes to sleep. She's such a good kid. But lately, in an effort to even the score and have a more well balanced kid, her mom has been taking Maya to the rock climbing gym, hanging from a top rope and playing with carabiners. Its been great to hear her talk about being excited to go climbing and cant wait for a good weather day to go up north with mom.

In the end, she'll probably be a pilot.
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