The Traditional Sailor’s Tool Kit
Honing the skills to sail traditional gaff-rigged boats.
- Mike Erkkinen—July 31–August 6 (intermediate sailors), August 14–20 (experienced sailors)
Mike Erkkinen became addicted to classic wooden boats and cruising in a traditional style in his early 20s after reading The Compleat Cruiser by L. Francis Herreshoff. This led to years of wandering up and down the East Coast of the U.S. and the Pacific Northwest in a Herreshoff 28, a Concordia, his current schooner ELLEN C. WELLS, and a handful of other classics. Mike learned many tricks from sailing mostly singlehanded during these adventures. As a woodworker, a designer and builder of homes, and a guy who could never afford boatyard rates, he has done all of his own boat maintenance and modifications. He has also built a number of trailerable sail and rowing craft. Students describe Mike as affable and patient, and not a bad guy to spend a whole day on the water with.
Designed by naval architect William Garden, ELLEN C. WELLS was built by George Patten in Kittery, Maine, and launched in 2015. Strongly built of mahogany strips on white oak frames, she is 34′ on deck, 45′ sparred, just under 10′ of beam, and draws a little less than 6′. This beautiful schooner is her owner’s vision of a perfect boat to cruise the coast of New England: agile enough to sail into and out of tight spaces, and plenty hardy for a boisterous open ocean. With over 1,000′ of running rigging, ELLEN C. WELLS feels like a real ship, and yet she can be easily singlehanded with some “aforethought.” Set up to carry four students, she offers individuals a very unique sailing experience.
- Length: 28′ 6″
- Length on Waterline: 23′ 2″
- Beam: 9′ 6″
- Draft: 5′ 4″
- Sail area: 636 sq.ft.
- Designer: W.A. Morse and Joel White
- Construction: Carvel planked — northern white cedar on white oak frames
- Builders: WoodenBoat School students, ’87 to ’92
- Instructor: Gordon Swift
- Usual location: Mooring
Jon Wilson found smallscale drawings for this vessel in a 1907 issue of Boating magazine (no relation to the contemporary magazine). Taken with the lines, Jon published the original plans in WoodenBoat #2 and later asked Joel White to create working drawings. These were eventually given to builder Gordon Swift and WoodenBoat School for actual construction. Upon completion, the boat would become a “floating classroom” in the School’s seamanship program. Over six summers (2 weeks a summer for 5 seasons and 4 weeks for 1 season) Swifty led an assortment of dedicated students through the lofting process, set-up, framing, planking, decking, house construction, and rigging. In 1992 the BELFORD GRAY was launched at Brooklin Boat Yard before a large crowd of friends and wellwishers of the School. The sloop is named after a highly regarded boatbuilder, instructor, and friend of WoodenBoat School. After a summer of sea trials, a series of seamanship courses have been offered on her each year. With plenty of lines to handle, she has proven herself to be a wonderful teaching tool and is very capable in both light and stiff breezes. With the passing of each sailing season, this Friendship Sloop is fast becoming a familiar and friendly sight in local waters.
The BELFORD GRAY is not available to students to use on their own. She is used in sailing courses and by our staff. If interested, ask the waterfront staff when she might have room for crew.
Tuition: $950
Note: Prior sailing experience required for this course.
This course takes place aboard the schooner ELLEN C. WELLS, the Friendship sloop BELFORD GRAY, and potentially any boats in the WoodenBoat School fleet that will further the goals of the participants in this class.
Traditional gaff-rigged boats have a magic all their own, and unlocking this magic takes a decidedly different approach than sailing either modern rigged boats or small centerboard craft. Mike Erkkinen, instructor of this course and captain of ELLEN C. WELLS, has been sailing traditional boats shorthanded or singlehanded for the past 30 years, and has had to uncover many tricks and shortcuts to handle these vessels in challenging conditions. The benefit of unlocking the capabilities of these boats is to experience a sense of confidence and independence that allows one to take on cruising and day-sailing with elegance, and enjoy the details of a beautiful coastline such as we have in Maine.
These two one-week courses will be slightly different from one another. The first week is best for an intermediate sailor, and will cover all of the basics of sailing a traditional gaffer, on shore, at the mooring, and on the water. The second week is meant for experienced sailors with at least a season or two of cruising experience, and will focus more on the specific goals of the participants and less on basics.
As much as possible, we’ll practice skills in fun and engaging ways. One favorite technique is to “pick up” (really just touch) lobster buoys under sail, as fishermen would have done 100+ years ago.
There will be a series of short videos sent to all participants well in advance of each course, to learn basic skills such as rope handling, coiling, etc. Learning as many basic skills as possible prior to meeting in person will maximize sailing time.
Because of the salty nature of this course, and the unpredictable weather of coastal Maine, we’ll use “sailing-challenged” weather to dive into practical marlinespike techniques that you’ll need to rig and maintain a gaffer: splicing, whipping, sewing, sail repair, knots, crafting deck rugs, ratlines…so please bring the basic rigging tools noted in your course packet.
