Bob Cleek

I once helped a master boatbuilder friend plank a whole 35' sharpie hull with the stuff. I loved it. He used it throughout the boat. I saved a few pieces for small projects of my own, but, sad to say, we threw the rest of the offcuts into the shop woodstove. We weren't thinking of it as modeling wood at the time! It's amazing stuff. There's whole stands of it standing dead in southern Alaska. It will last for almost a hundred years like that. It's range is moving due to climate change. Counterintuitively, due to global warming, the thinning winter snowpacks expose the roots to freezing which kills the tree. For this reason, it's under consideration for threatened or endangered status.  One could probably harvest all they wanted up there, but it's not commercially viable getting it out of where it is.
 
it makes you want to cry.
 

I once helped a master boatbuilder friend plank a whole 35' sharpie hull with the stuff. I loved it. He used it throughout the boat. I saved a few pieces for small projects of my own, but, sad to say, we threw the rest of the offcuts into the shop woodstove. We weren't thinking of it as modeling wood at the time! It's amazing stuff. There's whole stands of it standing dead in southern Alaska. It will last for almost a hundred years like that. It's range is moving due to climate change. Counterintuitively, due to global warming, the thinning winter snowpacks expose the roots to freezing which kills the tree. For this reason, it's under consideration for threatened or endangered status.  One could probably harvest all they wanted up there, but it's not commercially viable getting it out of where it is.
 
it makes you want to cry.
 

Wow! That's sweet! A cast iron mini-patternmaker's vise. That one's on my Christmas-to-me list! Thanks for the tip.

Wow! That's sweet! A cast iron mini-patternmaker's vise. That one's on my Christmas-to-me list! Thanks for the tip.

Wow! That's sweet! A cast iron mini-patternmaker's vise. That one's on my Christmas-to-me list! Thanks for the tip.

Wow! That's sweet! A cast iron mini-patternmaker's vise. That one's on my Christmas-to-me list! Thanks for the tip.

You can't go too far wrong for twenty-one bucks at Lowe's or the equivalent. https://www.lowes.com/pd/IRWIN-3-in-Cast-Iron-Clamp-on-Vise/1003168304?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-tol-_-google-_-lia-_-106-_-clampsandvises-_-1003168304-_-0&placeholder=null&ds_rl=1286981&gclid=CjwKCAiArIH_BRB2EiwALfbH1CdIcRalCVC77wuXWEehSCPYcPtaMqs88v8737EcXADBIyQoZlRvhBoCRc8QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
 

 
Bessey vacuum base vise at thirty bucks: https://www.amazon.com/Bessey-BVVB-Vacuum-Base-Vise/dp/B0057PUR88/ref=asc_df_B0057PUR88/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312322422714&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1449783815818756065&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9032112&hvtargid=pla-435893379511&psc=1
 

 
Vost vacuum vise for twenty-five bucks at Home Depot: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Yost-2-75-in-Multi-Angle-Pivoting-Vacuum-Vise-V-275/205583839?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&mtc=Shopping-B-F_D25T-G-D25T-25_1_HAND_TOOLS-Multi-NA-Feed-PLA-NA-NA-HandTools_PLA&cm_mmc=Shopping-B-F_D25T-G-D25T-25_1_HAND_TOOLS-Multi-NA-Feed-PLA-NA-NA-HandTools_PLA-71700000034127224-58700003933021546-92700031755124844&gclid=CjwKCAiArIH_BRB2EiwALfbH1BvgCGn1dN3GZDH5JwUpr035zxhEBxvih7Arp1UiAVLuoxi1oVqnihoCAH4QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
 

 
 
 
Top quality Grobet Vacu Vise jeweler's vise for thiry-five bucks: https://www.penntoolco.com/grobet-usa-vacu-vise-with-swivel-base-58103/?matchtype=&network=g&device=c&keyword=&campaign=744568461&adgroup=pla-53104812259&gclid=CjwKCAiArIH_BRB2EiwALfbH1GDETTlOtNNzUF14rtxs9IEImktpr5p8qzDhKjKj83I0-lcarVGBUxoCpIYQAvD_BwE
 

 
Proxxon suction base vise at forty-five bucks at Home Depot: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Proxxon-Precision-Vise-FMS-75-28602/203459683
 

 
I fail to see what's so special about Proxxon tools. They do have things others don't and sometimes they are available in areas where other options aren't, but they seem quite overpriced in my humble opinion. This appears to often be the case with any retailer who targets the hobbyist market. 
 
 

I cannot  recommend highly enough this vice
 
https://www.bunnings.com.au/stanley-multi-angle-hobby-vice_p5860190?gclid=CjwKCAiAz4b_BRBbEiwA5XlVVtknHMycDWIEAYWkdZecVyfQxlkbbJsjcMu9fU3DjRzeMCQEKuCCqxoC7lcQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
 

You can't go too far wrong for twenty-one bucks at Lowe's or the equivalent. https://www.lowes.com/pd/IRWIN-3-in-Cast-Iron-Clamp-on-Vise/1003168304?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-tol-_-google-_-lia-_-106-_-clampsandvises-_-1003168304-_-0&placeholder=null&ds_rl=1286981&gclid=CjwKCAiArIH_BRB2EiwALfbH1CdIcRalCVC77wuXWEehSCPYcPtaMqs88v8737EcXADBIyQoZlRvhBoCRc8QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
 

 
Bessey vacuum base vise at thirty bucks: https://www.amazon.com/Bessey-BVVB-Vacuum-Base-Vise/dp/B0057PUR88/ref=asc_df_B0057PUR88/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312322422714&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1449783815818756065&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9032112&hvtargid=pla-435893379511&psc=1
 

 
Vost vacuum vise for twenty-five bucks at Home Depot: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Yost-2-75-in-Multi-Angle-Pivoting-Vacuum-Vise-V-275/205583839?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&mtc=Shopping-B-F_D25T-G-D25T-25_1_HAND_TOOLS-Multi-NA-Feed-PLA-NA-NA-HandTools_PLA&cm_mmc=Shopping-B-F_D25T-G-D25T-25_1_HAND_TOOLS-Multi-NA-Feed-PLA-NA-NA-HandTools_PLA-71700000034127224-58700003933021546-92700031755124844&gclid=CjwKCAiArIH_BRB2EiwALfbH1BvgCGn1dN3GZDH5JwUpr035zxhEBxvih7Arp1UiAVLuoxi1oVqnihoCAH4QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
 

 
 
 
Top quality Grobet Vacu Vise jeweler's vise for thiry-five bucks: https://www.penntoolco.com/grobet-usa-vacu-vise-with-swivel-base-58103/?matchtype=&network=g&device=c&keyword=&campaign=744568461&adgroup=pla-53104812259&gclid=CjwKCAiArIH_BRB2EiwALfbH1GDETTlOtNNzUF14rtxs9IEImktpr5p8qzDhKjKj83I0-lcarVGBUxoCpIYQAvD_BwE
 

 
Proxxon suction base vise at forty-five bucks at Home Depot: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Proxxon-Precision-Vise-FMS-75-28602/203459683
 

 
I fail to see what's so special about Proxxon tools. They do have things others don't and sometimes they are available in areas where other options aren't, but they seem quite overpriced in my humble opinion. This appears to often be the case with any retailer who targets the hobbyist market. 
 
 

You can't go too far wrong for twenty-one bucks at Lowe's or the equivalent. https://www.lowes.com/pd/IRWIN-3-in-Cast-Iron-Clamp-on-Vise/1003168304?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-tol-_-google-_-lia-_-106-_-clampsandvises-_-1003168304-_-0&placeholder=null&ds_rl=1286981&gclid=CjwKCAiArIH_BRB2EiwALfbH1CdIcRalCVC77wuXWEehSCPYcPtaMqs88v8737EcXADBIyQoZlRvhBoCRc8QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
 

 
Bessey vacuum base vise at thirty bucks: https://www.amazon.com/Bessey-BVVB-Vacuum-Base-Vise/dp/B0057PUR88/ref=asc_df_B0057PUR88/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312322422714&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1449783815818756065&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9032112&hvtargid=pla-435893379511&psc=1
 

 
Vost vacuum vise for twenty-five bucks at Home Depot: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Yost-2-75-in-Multi-Angle-Pivoting-Vacuum-Vise-V-275/205583839?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&mtc=Shopping-B-F_D25T-G-D25T-25_1_HAND_TOOLS-Multi-NA-Feed-PLA-NA-NA-HandTools_PLA&cm_mmc=Shopping-B-F_D25T-G-D25T-25_1_HAND_TOOLS-Multi-NA-Feed-PLA-NA-NA-HandTools_PLA-71700000034127224-58700003933021546-92700031755124844&gclid=CjwKCAiArIH_BRB2EiwALfbH1BvgCGn1dN3GZDH5JwUpr035zxhEBxvih7Arp1UiAVLuoxi1oVqnihoCAH4QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
 

 
 
 
Top quality Grobet Vacu Vise jeweler's vise for thiry-five bucks: https://www.penntoolco.com/grobet-usa-vacu-vise-with-swivel-base-58103/?matchtype=&network=g&device=c&keyword=&campaign=744568461&adgroup=pla-53104812259&gclid=CjwKCAiArIH_BRB2EiwALfbH1GDETTlOtNNzUF14rtxs9IEImktpr5p8qzDhKjKj83I0-lcarVGBUxoCpIYQAvD_BwE
 

 
Proxxon suction base vise at forty-five bucks at Home Depot: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Proxxon-Precision-Vise-FMS-75-28602/203459683
 

 
I fail to see what's so special about Proxxon tools. They do have things others don't and sometimes they are available in areas where other options aren't, but they seem quite overpriced in my humble opinion. This appears to often be the case with any retailer who targets the hobbyist market. 
 
 

Great job on such a relatively small scale model!
 
One point which is worthy of mention is that you will likely find it necessary to shorten the length of your tiller. Characteristically, hookers have short tillers (which aren't helped by their notorious weather helm to which they owe their great weatherliness.) Tillers must be short to clear the mainsheet tackle which is attached to the middle, rather than the end of the boom with blocks secured to eyebolts secured to the sole framing. Commander Horner's lines published by Dixon Kemp and the earliest drawn lines I'm aware are extant, being done sometime in the late 1800's, show the characteristic bobbed tiller, although his single mainsheet tackle is not seen on many extant hookers, which predominantly extend the mainsheet purchase through separate blocks spread out on the boom and sole.
 


 
 
You may also wish to note another characteristic detail: the headstay is not fastened to an eyebolt in the stemhead, but, rather, the stemhead is drilled with a number of holes to serve as fairleads for a lanyard and set up with a bullseye or deadeye on the stay, depending on the size of the boat. Similarly, the smaller boats frequently do not employ deadeyes on their shrouds, instead using a simple lashing. Usually, a hooker with single shrouds will use a simple lashing, while those with two shrouds will opt for deadeyes and lanyards.
 

 
 
Headstay deadeye with frapped lanyards, as is common. Note the Dyneema / AmSteel / Spectra-type HMWPE rope used for the headstay. Some of the present-day hookers are using this super-strength rope for standing rigging.)

Yes, but not as much of a mix as one might think. The hookers have been relatively unchanged for as long as anyone can remember, going back at least as far as the mid-1700's. A recent archaeological find turned up a well-preserved Basque fishing boat of the mid- 1600's which exhibits construction details identical to and previously unknown other than in Irish hookers and these similarities add support to the theory that the Irish hookers may have been derived from Iberian vessels. The west coast of Ireland was, until relatively recent times, very isolated. The very few roads inland were passable only in decent weather and only with horse and donkey-drawn carts until the 20th Century. The land was poor for farming and subsistence fishing was a primary protein source. They were dependent upon seaweed as a soil supplement for subsistence farming. The absence of trees caused peat to be used as fuel and the peat had to be shipped out to the offshore islands, along with everything else, giving the hookers one of their primary reasons for existence which continued commercially until the early 1970's. There still is no rail service. The area was as rural as rural could be and it was one of the few gaeltacht (predominantly "Irish speaking") areas in Ireland when the Republic was formed and remains so, but is dwindling with projections that Irish will cease to be a daily-spoken language anywhere within another ten years or so. It was this isolation, poverty, and "backwardness" that preserved the Irish hookers in a "time warp."
 
Many of the existing "pre-revival" hookers are over a hundred years old, some even 150 years old, having been rebuilt many times over. In the mid-1800's, one hooker building family, the Reneys, seem to have slightly sharpened the forefoot entry, while retaining the rounded "apple bows" higher up. One Reney emigrated to Boston where he eventually opened a boatyard and built Galway hookers in the "Raney style" for the Irish fishermen settling there. (Chapelle calls these "Boston hookers" and claims they were a modified evolution of the Irish hookers, but there is no indication in the history known now that would indicate there was any change in the Boston hookers from the Irish originals built by the same boatbuilder, nor any reason under the sun why there would need to be.) 

Lucky score! As you may have noticed, they aren't easy to come by and they certainly aren't inexpensive!  

You can't go too far wrong for twenty-one bucks at Lowe's or the equivalent. https://www.lowes.com/pd/IRWIN-3-in-Cast-Iron-Clamp-on-Vise/1003168304?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-tol-_-google-_-lia-_-106-_-clampsandvises-_-1003168304-_-0&placeholder=null&ds_rl=1286981&gclid=CjwKCAiArIH_BRB2EiwALfbH1CdIcRalCVC77wuXWEehSCPYcPtaMqs88v8737EcXADBIyQoZlRvhBoCRc8QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
 

 
Bessey vacuum base vise at thirty bucks: https://www.amazon.com/Bessey-BVVB-Vacuum-Base-Vise/dp/B0057PUR88/ref=asc_df_B0057PUR88/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312322422714&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1449783815818756065&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9032112&hvtargid=pla-435893379511&psc=1
 

 
Vost vacuum vise for twenty-five bucks at Home Depot: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Yost-2-75-in-Multi-Angle-Pivoting-Vacuum-Vise-V-275/205583839?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&mtc=Shopping-B-F_D25T-G-D25T-25_1_HAND_TOOLS-Multi-NA-Feed-PLA-NA-NA-HandTools_PLA&cm_mmc=Shopping-B-F_D25T-G-D25T-25_1_HAND_TOOLS-Multi-NA-Feed-PLA-NA-NA-HandTools_PLA-71700000034127224-58700003933021546-92700031755124844&gclid=CjwKCAiArIH_BRB2EiwALfbH1BvgCGn1dN3GZDH5JwUpr035zxhEBxvih7Arp1UiAVLuoxi1oVqnihoCAH4QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
 

 
 
 
Top quality Grobet Vacu Vise jeweler's vise for thiry-five bucks: https://www.penntoolco.com/grobet-usa-vacu-vise-with-swivel-base-58103/?matchtype=&network=g&device=c&keyword=&campaign=744568461&adgroup=pla-53104812259&gclid=CjwKCAiArIH_BRB2EiwALfbH1GDETTlOtNNzUF14rtxs9IEImktpr5p8qzDhKjKj83I0-lcarVGBUxoCpIYQAvD_BwE
 

 
Proxxon suction base vise at forty-five bucks at Home Depot: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Proxxon-Precision-Vise-FMS-75-28602/203459683
 

 
I fail to see what's so special about Proxxon tools. They do have things others don't and sometimes they are available in areas where other options aren't, but they seem quite overpriced in my humble opinion. This appears to often be the case with any retailer who targets the hobbyist market. 
 
 

Very tasty! 
 
One question, who's going to keep all the brass polished on this model... Or are you going to gold electroplate it all like they used to do with the metalwork on the old builders' boardroom models?
 
 

 

 
 

You can't go too far wrong for twenty-one bucks at Lowe's or the equivalent. https://www.lowes.com/pd/IRWIN-3-in-Cast-Iron-Clamp-on-Vise/1003168304?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-tol-_-google-_-lia-_-106-_-clampsandvises-_-1003168304-_-0&placeholder=null&ds_rl=1286981&gclid=CjwKCAiArIH_BRB2EiwALfbH1CdIcRalCVC77wuXWEehSCPYcPtaMqs88v8737EcXADBIyQoZlRvhBoCRc8QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
 

 
Bessey vacuum base vise at thirty bucks: https://www.amazon.com/Bessey-BVVB-Vacuum-Base-Vise/dp/B0057PUR88/ref=asc_df_B0057PUR88/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312322422714&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1449783815818756065&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9032112&hvtargid=pla-435893379511&psc=1
 

 
Vost vacuum vise for twenty-five bucks at Home Depot: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Yost-2-75-in-Multi-Angle-Pivoting-Vacuum-Vise-V-275/205583839?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&mtc=Shopping-B-F_D25T-G-D25T-25_1_HAND_TOOLS-Multi-NA-Feed-PLA-NA-NA-HandTools_PLA&cm_mmc=Shopping-B-F_D25T-G-D25T-25_1_HAND_TOOLS-Multi-NA-Feed-PLA-NA-NA-HandTools_PLA-71700000034127224-58700003933021546-92700031755124844&gclid=CjwKCAiArIH_BRB2EiwALfbH1BvgCGn1dN3GZDH5JwUpr035zxhEBxvih7Arp1UiAVLuoxi1oVqnihoCAH4QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
 

 
 
 
Top quality Grobet Vacu Vise jeweler's vise for thiry-five bucks: https://www.penntoolco.com/grobet-usa-vacu-vise-with-swivel-base-58103/?matchtype=&network=g&device=c&keyword=&campaign=744568461&adgroup=pla-53104812259&gclid=CjwKCAiArIH_BRB2EiwALfbH1GDETTlOtNNzUF14rtxs9IEImktpr5p8qzDhKjKj83I0-lcarVGBUxoCpIYQAvD_BwE
 

 
Proxxon suction base vise at forty-five bucks at Home Depot: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Proxxon-Precision-Vise-FMS-75-28602/203459683
 

 
I fail to see what's so special about Proxxon tools. They do have things others don't and sometimes they are available in areas where other options aren't, but they seem quite overpriced in my humble opinion. This appears to often be the case with any retailer who targets the hobbyist market. 
 
 

You can't go too far wrong for twenty-one bucks at Lowe's or the equivalent. https://www.lowes.com/pd/IRWIN-3-in-Cast-Iron-Clamp-on-Vise/1003168304?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-tol-_-google-_-lia-_-106-_-clampsandvises-_-1003168304-_-0&placeholder=null&ds_rl=1286981&gclid=CjwKCAiArIH_BRB2EiwALfbH1CdIcRalCVC77wuXWEehSCPYcPtaMqs88v8737EcXADBIyQoZlRvhBoCRc8QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
 

 
Bessey vacuum base vise at thirty bucks: https://www.amazon.com/Bessey-BVVB-Vacuum-Base-Vise/dp/B0057PUR88/ref=asc_df_B0057PUR88/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312322422714&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1449783815818756065&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9032112&hvtargid=pla-435893379511&psc=1
 

 
Vost vacuum vise for twenty-five bucks at Home Depot: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Yost-2-75-in-Multi-Angle-Pivoting-Vacuum-Vise-V-275/205583839?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&mtc=Shopping-B-F_D25T-G-D25T-25_1_HAND_TOOLS-Multi-NA-Feed-PLA-NA-NA-HandTools_PLA&cm_mmc=Shopping-B-F_D25T-G-D25T-25_1_HAND_TOOLS-Multi-NA-Feed-PLA-NA-NA-HandTools_PLA-71700000034127224-58700003933021546-92700031755124844&gclid=CjwKCAiArIH_BRB2EiwALfbH1BvgCGn1dN3GZDH5JwUpr035zxhEBxvih7Arp1UiAVLuoxi1oVqnihoCAH4QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
 

 
 
 
Top quality Grobet Vacu Vise jeweler's vise for thiry-five bucks: https://www.penntoolco.com/grobet-usa-vacu-vise-with-swivel-base-58103/?matchtype=&network=g&device=c&keyword=&campaign=744568461&adgroup=pla-53104812259&gclid=CjwKCAiArIH_BRB2EiwALfbH1GDETTlOtNNzUF14rtxs9IEImktpr5p8qzDhKjKj83I0-lcarVGBUxoCpIYQAvD_BwE
 

 
Proxxon suction base vise at forty-five bucks at Home Depot: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Proxxon-Precision-Vise-FMS-75-28602/203459683
 

 
I fail to see what's so special about Proxxon tools. They do have things others don't and sometimes they are available in areas where other options aren't, but they seem quite overpriced in my humble opinion. This appears to often be the case with any retailer who targets the hobbyist market. 
 
 

I bought one when I started my first build and was very disappointed with it. Unless you are attaching it to a very smooth surface, such as glass, it does not stay in place well at all. Even if you use a glass surface it can come undone at most inappropriate times, such as what you are working on ending up on the floor. Better to get a small vice that you can bolt or clamp to your work top.
 
Bob

Great job on such a relatively small scale model!
 
One point which is worthy of mention is that you will likely find it necessary to shorten the length of your tiller. Characteristically, hookers have short tillers (which aren't helped by their notorious weather helm to which they owe their great weatherliness.) Tillers must be short to clear the mainsheet tackle which is attached to the middle, rather than the end of the boom with blocks secured to eyebolts secured to the sole framing. Commander Horner's lines published by Dixon Kemp and the earliest drawn lines I'm aware are extant, being done sometime in the late 1800's, show the characteristic bobbed tiller, although his single mainsheet tackle is not seen on many extant hookers, which predominantly extend the mainsheet purchase through separate blocks spread out on the boom and sole.
 


 
 
You may also wish to note another characteristic detail: the headstay is not fastened to an eyebolt in the stemhead, but, rather, the stemhead is drilled with a number of holes to serve as fairleads for a lanyard and set up with a bullseye or deadeye on the stay, depending on the size of the boat. Similarly, the smaller boats frequently do not employ deadeyes on their shrouds, instead using a simple lashing. Usually, a hooker with single shrouds will use a simple lashing, while those with two shrouds will opt for deadeyes and lanyards.
 

 
 
Headstay deadeye with frapped lanyards, as is common. Note the Dyneema / AmSteel / Spectra-type HMWPE rope used for the headstay. Some of the present-day hookers are using this super-strength rope for standing rigging.)

Great job on such a relatively small scale model!
 
One point which is worthy of mention is that you will likely find it necessary to shorten the length of your tiller. Characteristically, hookers have short tillers (which aren't helped by their notorious weather helm to which they owe their great weatherliness.) Tillers must be short to clear the mainsheet tackle which is attached to the middle, rather than the end of the boom with blocks secured to eyebolts secured to the sole framing. Commander Horner's lines published by Dixon Kemp and the earliest drawn lines I'm aware are extant, being done sometime in the late 1800's, show the characteristic bobbed tiller, although his single mainsheet tackle is not seen on many extant hookers, which predominantly extend the mainsheet purchase through separate blocks spread out on the boom and sole.
 


 
 
You may also wish to note another characteristic detail: the headstay is not fastened to an eyebolt in the stemhead, but, rather, the stemhead is drilled with a number of holes to serve as fairleads for a lanyard and set up with a bullseye or deadeye on the stay, depending on the size of the boat. Similarly, the smaller boats frequently do not employ deadeyes on their shrouds, instead using a simple lashing. Usually, a hooker with single shrouds will use a simple lashing, while those with two shrouds will opt for deadeyes and lanyards.
 

 
 
Headstay deadeye with frapped lanyards, as is common. Note the Dyneema / AmSteel / Spectra-type HMWPE rope used for the headstay. Some of the present-day hookers are using this super-strength rope for standing rigging.)

Lucky score! As you may have noticed, they aren't easy to come by and they certainly aren't inexpensive!  

Yes, but not as much of a mix as one might think. The hookers have been relatively unchanged for as long as anyone can remember, going back at least as far as the mid-1700's. A recent archaeological find turned up a well-preserved Basque fishing boat of the mid- 1600's which exhibits construction details identical to and previously unknown other than in Irish hookers and these similarities add support to the theory that the Irish hookers may have been derived from Iberian vessels. The west coast of Ireland was, until relatively recent times, very isolated. The very few roads inland were passable only in decent weather and only with horse and donkey-drawn carts until the 20th Century. The land was poor for farming and subsistence fishing was a primary protein source. They were dependent upon seaweed as a soil supplement for subsistence farming. The absence of trees caused peat to be used as fuel and the peat had to be shipped out to the offshore islands, along with everything else, giving the hookers one of their primary reasons for existence which continued commercially until the early 1970's. There still is no rail service. The area was as rural as rural could be and it was one of the few gaeltacht (predominantly "Irish speaking") areas in Ireland when the Republic was formed and remains so, but is dwindling with projections that Irish will cease to be a daily-spoken language anywhere within another ten years or so. It was this isolation, poverty, and "backwardness" that preserved the Irish hookers in a "time warp."
 
Many of the existing "pre-revival" hookers are over a hundred years old, some even 150 years old, having been rebuilt many times over. In the mid-1800's, one hooker building family, the Reneys, seem to have slightly sharpened the forefoot entry, while retaining the rounded "apple bows" higher up. One Reney emigrated to Boston where he eventually opened a boatyard and built Galway hookers in the "Raney style" for the Irish fishermen settling there. (Chapelle calls these "Boston hookers" and claims they were a modified evolution of the Irish hookers, but there is no indication in the history known now that would indicate there was any change in the Boston hookers from the Irish originals built by the same boatbuilder, nor any reason under the sun why there would need to be.) 

As said, it's a matter of scale. You can get away with it, barely, at 3/4" to the foot, as below, if you use very fine thread and the closest stitch setting. but corners hand stitched with the same thread produces a bit cruder results and bolt roping is a real challenge. On this model, I didn't sew the panels together, but rather simply stitched through the single sheet of fine cloth. There's no seam overlap on the panels, but the line of stitching does produce an impression of reality.
 
I didn't have any better close-ups of machine-sewn sails, but these shots of a three-quarters inch scale catboat give some idea of as much as one might expect of a home sewing machine. Below that, I wouldn't recommend cloth sails at all. (The copper fittings were left to develop a natural "penny brown" patina on their own, thereby simulating bronze. The photos were taken before that process had taken place.)
 
 
 




 
 
 



 
 
 

Yes, but not as much of a mix as one might think. The hookers have been relatively unchanged for as long as anyone can remember, going back at least as far as the mid-1700's. A recent archaeological find turned up a well-preserved Basque fishing boat of the mid- 1600's which exhibits construction details identical to and previously unknown other than in Irish hookers and these similarities add support to the theory that the Irish hookers may have been derived from Iberian vessels. The west coast of Ireland was, until relatively recent times, very isolated. The very few roads inland were passable only in decent weather and only with horse and donkey-drawn carts until the 20th Century. The land was poor for farming and subsistence fishing was a primary protein source. They were dependent upon seaweed as a soil supplement for subsistence farming. The absence of trees caused peat to be used as fuel and the peat had to be shipped out to the offshore islands, along with everything else, giving the hookers one of their primary reasons for existence which continued commercially until the early 1970's. There still is no rail service. The area was as rural as rural could be and it was one of the few gaeltacht (predominantly "Irish speaking") areas in Ireland when the Republic was formed and remains so, but is dwindling with projections that Irish will cease to be a daily-spoken language anywhere within another ten years or so. It was this isolation, poverty, and "backwardness" that preserved the Irish hookers in a "time warp."
 
Many of the existing "pre-revival" hookers are over a hundred years old, some even 150 years old, having been rebuilt many times over. In the mid-1800's, one hooker building family, the Reneys, seem to have slightly sharpened the forefoot entry, while retaining the rounded "apple bows" higher up. One Reney emigrated to Boston where he eventually opened a boatyard and built Galway hookers in the "Raney style" for the Irish fishermen settling there. (Chapelle calls these "Boston hookers" and claims they were a modified evolution of the Irish hookers, but there is no indication in the history known now that would indicate there was any change in the Boston hookers from the Irish originals built by the same boatbuilder, nor any reason under the sun why there would need to be.) 

Lucky score! As you may have noticed, they aren't easy to come by and they certainly aren't inexpensive!