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Kingston Messabout
Photo Album
by Chuck Leinweber

(Click pictures to enlarge)

A few days before the messabout, Bruce Hector and I drove over to Montreal to see Peter Lenihan's Bolger Windermere
Han Van Pelt explains some detail about his Bolger Champlain: "Mudlark"
Han sits in the elaborate and elegant interior
The under-berth storage system is ingenious and simple to use
Here is one of the clever slide out storage areas...
...and the galley. All in all this is an unbelievable boat with the finish of a piece of furniture.
Steve Bosquette unloads his Bolger Sneakeasy "Katie". He gave rides throughout the weekend - everybody wanted one.
Steve shows a model of a possible modification of his Sneakeasy. He later decided to build an AF4Grande instead
Bob Chamberland brought his flawless Bolger Hawkeye all the way from Sutton's Bay Michigan
Hawkeye at speed
Hawkeye interior - Bob did a fantastic job on this boat
John Bartlett readies his self designed "Turtle" for launching...
...then takes a minute to demonstrate his spare with hub and bearings included in cast of a flat or bearing burnout.
Turtle's interior is airy and functional
The "TIMS" sailed several times over the weekend with varying numbers of modules. This is an early run without all the units bolted in.
Several of the TIMS units were assembled at the messabout. Here, Chris Bullen works on his.
Then a group of helpers grabbed it and launched it without further ado.
A lot of maneuvering was needed to insert the additional units into the boat.
Finally, the nearly 100 ft. boat gets underway.
Nancy and Vic Koschmann brought their modified Bolger Microtrawler from Ithaca New York....
....the boat is named "Mudlark" and why not? It was built by Han Van Pelt who later built the Champlain above
The messabout host, Bruce Hector, built this Welsford Seagull
Here's Bruce with a fender (don't ask). He named the boat "Twisted Seagull" because it wasn't square. I can't see it, can you?
The sharp little boat got used a lot during the messabout...
...and suffered a bit of wear.
Frank San Miguel brought his Michalak AF3...
...and took all comers for a sail in "Creamcheese"
Steve Fisher paddling his Selway-Fisher Lil' Kate
Garth Battista (publisher of Jim Michalak's book) and Lilly Golden brought a Toto and a Piragua as well as their daughters Isabel (5) and Rose (2)
Garth (here with Isabel at the Sunday morning breakfast) is the proprietor of Breakaway books
This modified Bolger Fishcat was brought by Herb Taylor
Herb gave a lot of rides.
Jeff and Julie Blunck of Wyoming fame came, but did not bring their as yet unfinished boat.
David Spencer made a big hit with this Bolger Brick Schooner...
...and it sailed like the wind...
...he also brought this cute little Nutshell Pram.
Jack Kern built the great little scow in the background. He made the mistake of showing a teenaged boy how to sail it, and he hardly got to use the boat himself.
Chris and Julie Bullen brought this CLC 17 called "Piglet"...
...and "Sam's Smile" a 15 foot Mahogany runabout.
This is Bruce Gordon's Windsprint.
I didn't get a good picture of Jim Rankasky. He brought a nice little Piccup Pram.
Here Jim is sailing the boat with David Billsbrough as first mate.
David came all the way from Florida. Here he tries out Bruce Hector's Nymph.
Someone had to bring one of Gavin Atkin's Mouseboats. It happened to be Bryant Owen, a longtime contributor to this website
To Lincoln Ross: This is the only picture I got of you. I'm sorry it had to include your swamped Brick. As far as I know, this was the only incident of this type.
As Bruce Gordon looks on, Susan Davis shows off her Cape Cod Frosty...
...which, believe it or not, she cartopped along with this nice Bolger Gloucester Gull.
I don't remember this gentleman's name, but he came with a fine sailing model of Canada's famous Schooner Bluenose
Bill Jaine is rightly proud of his Auray Punt ("Cygnet") which he rowed around the harbor with his wife aboard.
Gavin Atkin, who had something to do with the project, is currently designing a cruiser based on this hull shape.
Particularly romantic for a Texan like me was the attendance of these three distinguished French speaking boat builders. On the left are Jean and Gaby who are building Le Cabotin, a Bolger AS29. On the right, Alain Routhier who is building Jim Michalak's Jukebox2.
Last but not least, our good friend and frequent contributor to this site, Richard Frye came with Tear Drop trailer loaded with various Yakoos and skinboats. Here he is loaded for the trip home.
I'm sure that I am forgetting a lot of the people who were there. It's just that I was taking pictures of boats, and missed several who, like myself, did not bring one. Among those are Paul Brown, Paul McLellan, Pat Whitehead, Dave Stutzman, Vic Koschmann, Lee Rust, and Mike Labossiere. I hope I did not leave anyone out.
Also of note are the spouses, first mates, crews and otherwise long suffering women friends of boat builders. Here is a partial list of those in attendance:

Juliee San Miguel, Ann Thornton-Hill (above on the left), Colleen McLellan, Eve Whitehead, Joanne Donati (pesky crew), Danielle Browne, Susan Jaine, Janet Young, Amanda Yilmaz, Nancy Koschmann, Renee Fisher, Fran McLaren (shown above playing the accordion), Sally Bosquette and Martha Anne Robson-Gordon. Finally I want to thank Elaine Hector (wife of Bruce), the real organizer of the event.