Folkboat Patience

My Folkboat "Patience"

If there is one thing that I have learned while acquiring, restoring and sailing my "new" Nordic Folkboat, it is that it requires Patience. I went into this project gung-ho to blaze through all her problems, fix things quickly and be sailing in a couple of weeks. Was I foolish? Well not too foolish, but going a little bit slower might have helped things out.

My dad called me one day telling me that a new issue of WoodenBoat Magazine was out, and that there was a free Folkboat that sounded like it was in good shape. I called the number listed but got an answering machine. I decided that I was a fool for trying to get this boat, only because nobody really gets the boats that are for free. Anyway later that day I called back and left a message. I drove down to southern Vermont for my classes, and didn't think much more of it. Well Later that night Eben Whitcome left a message on my machine, and I called him back. I went down early on Sunday to look at the boat, (it was located in West Brook CT.) I wasn't really sure what to think. It was in pretty good shape, but it also had some serious issues that needed fixing. Eben was nice enough to let me think it over for the night, and I called him back on Monday to tell him that I wanted it. I did quite a bit of soul searching to reach this decision. At the time I was just finishing my Masters degree, didn't have a job (still don't) and my Girlfriend of 3 years was moving to Boston to start law school. Not really the best time to acquire a boat that needed lots of work... Being the kind of guy that likes a project I went with it though.

The next week I went down with my very good friend Tobey Coolidge and my dad in a rented Chevy 2500 6.9 liter Turbo Diesel (we named it the Heavy Chevy). It got 13 MPG on the way down unloaded, and 13 MPG on the way back towing roughly 6000lbs. It was a long ride (around 350 miles) and it turns out that the trailer didn't have any breaks. The Heavy Chevy Kicked some real butt, and we didn't have too much of the Tail Wagging the Dog.

Then next day we drove it to Point Bay Marine in Charlotte, Vt. and had her lifted off. That started a long process of work and more work. I was unemployed so apart from not having any Money, it was a good time to work on a boat. I should have done less work on the boat, and more time looking for a job, but live and learn.

I didn't detail much of the work that I did, but by looking at the pictures you can see what needed to be done. Also reading the ships log will give you some insight into what needs to still be done. Plus there are some good stories that I will try to keep updated once a week.

f you have any questions please feel free to email me and ask. I would love to hear from other Folkboaters out there!

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