Good Old Solar Cells

Here's something completely different...A collection of solar cells, starting with selenium sensors (remember the "electric eye" on automatic doors?), from around 1933.

https://solarmuseum.org/cells/

This collection from the Museum of Solar Energy is far from complete, but shows a nice bit of history, and has great high-resolution photography. 

And so you don't have to look it up, Vanguard, the first US satellite, and the first satellite to have a solar array -- six cells from Bell Labs, was launched in 1957. It had two low-power radio transmitters for tracking and for gathering data on the ionosphere. The battery-powered transmitter ran for about 2 weeks; the solar-powered transmitter ran for more than six year -- until the radiation in the Van Allen belt killed the electronics, including the solar cells...

In a previous life I made solar cells and modules, and built factories -- in the US -- to make them. Here's one of the cells, from around 1982 when we were developing Solarex's cast polycrystalline silicon wafers.

Chesapeake Bay Ice

It was -9F in Duluth, MN this morning, with Lake Superior "smoke on the water" www.duluthharborcam.com/. So winter is coming...It doesn't ice over every year, but here's the upper Chesapeake back in February, 2006.

From Crystal Beach, west toward Turkey Point light.

 From Betterton Beach. Grove Point and then Turkey Point in the background. Then Havre de Grace waaay back.

Mouth of the Sassafras River looking northwest toward Aberdeen Proving Ground.

Rock Hall "beach" (Ferry Park) with the Bay Bridge to Annapolis on the horizon.

Rock Hall harbor...some good advice.

Our Hunter 25.5 "The Spoon" (don't ask me, I didn't name her...), in hibernation mode on the Sassafras.

Old Boat Graveyards, and the Jersey Boys

Is that an Elco PT boat? Or is it from Higgins, or a Huckins?

on Worton Creek, upper Chesapeake Bay, February, 2009

Elco was located in Bayonne, NJ; the Higgins yard was in New Orleans, LA; and Huckins is in Jacksonville, FL.

from the Huckins Yacht photo archive (www.huckinsyacht.com/gallery-detail.cfm?y=12)

Based on the Huckins photo, it looks like the Worton Creek PT boat is not one of theirs...

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Thank you, Google! Mystery solved. Turns out it's PTF-19 (www.ptfnasty.com/ptf19.html), a Viet Nam-era "fast" attack boat built by Trumpy, the iconic wooden yacht builder whose yard was located on Spa Creek in Eastport, MD until 1973. John Patnovic, who owns the Worton Creek Marina, apparently is restoring the boat for historical display (or was planning to...). Recently he and his crew were highlighted in Professional Boatbuilder (No. 178, April/May 2019) for rebuilding a 74-foot Spencer sportfisherman that was run aground shortly after being commissioned. They've got more wrecks on their rebuild agenda, but PTF-19 is not listed as one of them. I found a reference to the Trumpy being sold at an old boat boneyard in Suffolk, VA in 2004, and then moved up the Bay by barge. As of 2019 it was still sitting there, and it looks a lot more weathered.

Here is some more interesting boat history to add to this "mystery." It looks like Post Yachts (www.postyacht.com), founded by Russell Post in 1957, is still producing boats in this location. During WWII, Post worked for Ventnor Boat Works in Atlantic City, which built rescue and supply boats for the government. After the war, he and Charley Leeks co-founded one of the best-known sportfisherman companies, Egg Harbor Yachts. In 1956 Post sold the company, "retired" for a year, and then built his own yacht factory in Mays Landing. He ran Post Yachts for another 20 years, then sold the business and the brand. In 2011, after the Great Recession, the Post facility declared bankruptcy, and apparently the molds and boat building operation moved to Worton Creek, where the mystery boat was sitting. Check it out on Google Earth.

Here's some more history of Russell Post and other boat builders of his post-war generation...

captkarlanderson.com/uncategorized/the-boat-builders-of-south-jersey/

And finally, the connection to Phil Bolger, whose first published design was a 32-foot sportfisherman in 1952 and designed for Egg Harbor Yachts...

www.yachtingmagazine.com/jersey-boys/

More details on Phil Bolger, his boat design apprenticeships, and his connection to the Jersey Boys is here, www.duckworksmagazine.com/03/r/vintage/nquarterly/phil/bolger.htm.

Old Boat Graveyards

On the upper Sassafras River, MD...Yes, it looks like a steel version of a Jim Brown Searunner...a rather unique boat.

Old Boat Graveyards

British Twin-keeler Sunray 21 near the C&D Canal a few years ago. It's strange to see a twin-keeler so far from home, but both the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays are rather shallow (and the boat was registered in Delaware).

There is only one Sunray 21 listed in the Sailing Texas photo gallery, confirming that this is a pretty rare boat in the US. As usual, Bill's Log (bills-log.blogspot.com/2015/08/sunray-21.html) is a good source of more information on the boat and provides a key link to what looks like still active owners' group, leisureowners.org.uk/

What I miss...

 Janes Island State Park, Crisfield, MD. April 2015

What I miss...

 

Oxford Model Boat Show, 2013

Chesapeake skiffs by Ed Thieler, Easton, Md...

Eddie Somers, Crisfield, MD...

What I miss...

 

Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival, St. Michaels, MD, October 2013

Bushwack Boat -- Chesapeake Bay Skiff

A model I built for the Chesapeake Wooden Boat Builders School of the Upper Bay Museum in North East, MD (www.upperbaymuseum.org/).

These workboats were used for market gunning at the turn of the last century and were ubiquitous on the upper Chesapeake Bay, and working around the Susquehanna Flats. I built this model using plans from the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels (www.cbmm.org/2010/store/plans.htm). The primary need was for a lightweight model that would be strong enough to survive transport to and handling at the museum's numerous off-site shows. Scale is 1-inch to the foot, and the model is almost two feet long. Note the hole near the waterline in the transom for the sculling oar that is used to sneak up on the targeted waterfowl.

It was an interesting project and I achieved the weight and toughness criteria by using foamboard for the hull. I tried building using individual "planks." They were too stiff to bend to the lines. The trick was to score the board on inside of the bend, every half-inch or so. The cut lines could be faired afterwards. Individual planks were then scribed onto the board, and the assembly was considerably stronger than if it were built with planks. The rough workboat finish was easy -- light grey primer Krylon spray paint. It has taken the abuse of traveling with the museum's shows amazingly well, although the canvas didn't last more than a couple of seasons.

A full-size example of a bushwack boat in excellent condition is located in the Upper Bay Museum. And I know where a lot more of them have been squirreled away...

It's all about...

> Exploring modern boat-building techniques, alternative and low-cost materials

> Sail design, modification, and repair

> Rigging and tuning for traditional and modern designs, for both new and vintage boats

> Building boat models for use as a rapid 3-D design tool

> Antique and classic outboard motor maintenance and restoration

I utilize my experience with sailing, rowing, boat design and construction to focus on restoring, improving and maintaining small rowing and sailing craft, especially those constructed during the early days of fiberglass and epoxy. Occasionally I'm competitive: I've gotten a few ribbons in Rowing at the Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival. And a couple of decades ago I crewed on racing-cruising boats around the Upper Chesapeake Bay. Back then I was nimble enough (and crazy enough) to work the foredeck, and I learned a lot about sail trim -- and staying on the boat. A bad day on the water is still a day out on the water, and I've also delivered boats around the Bay and up the Atlantic coast. 

My new build and restoration projects, in no particular order, include: Macgregor 19 powersailer; Seaclipper 10 trimaran; West Wight Potter 15 modifications; solar electric catamaran conversion; Penguin racing sailboat; Redmond Whisp rowing boat; Sumner rowing/sailing dinghies; Force 5 sailing dinghy; Sunfish sailboats; and Hobie catamarans. 

I am a student of odd and historic sailing rigs. And I use the philosophy and designs of Phil Bolger, Jim Michalak, and Thomas Firth Jones for inspiration and guidance.

Finally, I'm a "solar geek" and electronic tinkerer from way back. I worked for three decades in solar energy research, built, and ran the earliest solar module manufacturing plants in the US.  And I expect that there will be "techy" posts -- but small craft related -- from time to time.