Home : The New Summer Haze : Sailing Silver Thread
The Art of Arthur Watts
The Story of Summer Haze & The Building of Silver Thread
Sailing Silver Thread
After three years work launching day finally arrived: the weather was fine and a small crowd gathered at high tide to see Silver Thread take the water. She floated a little higher than I expected but a crew of three brought her down almost to her waterline. In spite of the large sail area the boat didn't feel tender but quite stiff enough to sail in a moderate breeze without reefing. Silver Thread turned out to be fast, easy to handle leaving a minimal wake. The only modification needed was to cut both masts down: a foot and a half for the main and one foot for the mizzen.
Since it was 50 years since I had sailed the original Summer Haze I had to re-learn some of the techniques peculiar to this boat. I had forgotten that the boat sails herself very comfortably on a reach with only minor adjustments to the depth of centerboard. Also, a tiller extension is essential so the helmsman can sit far enough forward to trim the boat.
The only surprise was that the aluminium centerboard, being lighter than steel, can jump out of its slot when running into shallow water. Also, if lowered too far, with only the arm in the case, an aluminium plate is likely to get severely bent.even into a right angle. The solution is a stopper knot in the centerboard pennant so it can only go down so far and no further.
The only other modification I made was to add a rope traveller and a pair of light-weight blocks to the main sheet. Without these, in any kind of a blow, it becomes impossible to haul in the sail. A traveller also makes both sails self-trimming which is a great advantage for the single-handed sailor or a young crew.
We found 8-foot oars to be about right but at the forward rowing station they could be shorter. It was common to row these boats (like the gigs) in a pattern known as 'ran-dan' with rowers on alternate sides. The gigs were sometimes rowed over to Roscoff, on the French coast, on smuggling trips, evading the revenue cutters by making a night passage. Oars for that kind of trip were longer--nine feet or even ten. If a gig was caught with contraband the penalty, regardless of ownership, was swift and effective--cutting the boat in half with a handsaw.
I hope to have plans and a building manual out later this year (2008) and you can always contact me through the email address on this site: info@arthurwatts.com. This is a complicated boat, difficult to build, but well worth the effort. Apart from the family connection I took great satisfaction in following the footsteps of the Cornish boat builders of long ago.
while Silver Thread continues voyaging into the next century. Photo: Clem.
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