Other Boating-Related Topics

I come from a nautical family, and thus am very interested in boats of all types. Well, sailboats and oar/paddle powered boats. I mostly find power boats to be an annoyance and a nuisance, but that's just me. Actually, I do like a nice turn of the century steam launch.

I have an old Zip, a 16-foot wooden sloop. Mine is the keel version; I understand that there is a centerboard version out there as well. If anyone has any info about the Zip's design, history, builders, etc, please contact me cause I'd love to know more about them. My older brother Matt did a lot of restoration on her probably 15 years ago, but when last I had her in the water she was leaking a bit around the hull/deck seam. So I ripped off the old deck, but haven't gotten very far along in replacing it. Hopefully some day I'll get back to it.

JAN 1997: Late breaking news on the Imp. Mom moved out of our ancestral home this month, and "Layden Shipyard Inc" was forced to close. Matt, Todd (friend and honorary 2.5th son in our family) and I put her on a cradle, levered her onto a rental trailer and dropped her off at a local boatyard. Come July, I hope to trailer her out to MI and finally finish the restoration. With a new son around, I've got to start educating him properly!

JULY 1997: More news on Imp. I've come to realize that with a toddler around the house, 2 things are in short supply. Money, and time for projects. So its with a heavy heart that I've decided to sell the Imp. She's a real great boat, but sitting around isn't what she was meant to do. Let me know if you can fix here up and get her back where she belongs. I'm sure we can work a deal. Just to get you interested, here is a photo of Matt sailing her (off Gardner's Island, NY, around 1985, I think).

Some stats on Imp:

• Overall length: 16'
• Beam: about 5'
• Draft: about 2', mostly in a shallow keel sporting several hundred pounds of iron. Matt replaced the keel and keel bolts around 1982.
• Construction: single-chined, what looks like wide pine planks over oak frames. At some point (1970's?) she got a coating of fiberglass, which is holding up well today.
• Rig: tall mast (sitka?), huge jib-headed main and small 3/4 jib. Original spars and cotton sails.
• History: built ca. 1929 (same year as my dad!). Matt bought and refurbished her about 1982 and sailed her for several years up from Maine to Florida. I sailed her the summer of '86, but got "distracted" by a career.

Here are some connections to other boating homepages:

• Nick Schade's Kayak Page
• Messing About in Boats web site: a great little magazine for REAL boat lovers. Also links to all kinds of boating hardware, marinas, etc.
• The History of Shipbuilding, lots of little pages with blurbs about different types of boats/ships.