Muscongus Bay Lobster Smack by Venti - Model Shipways - 1:24

[Venti]

Just finished the Pram which was a ton of fun but I am much more excited to start this one! This style of planking seems much more enjoyable to me and is what I've seen done the most on bigger ships.

 

I think I'm going to order some black synthetic rope and some sheave blocks as a little upgrade from what the kit has. 

 

For a few days I'll probably be reading instructions and build logs again to be better prepared but I might not be able to help myself and get started 😅

[ccoyle]

1 hour ago, Venti said:

I think I'm going to order some black synthetic rope and some sheave blocks as a little upgrade from what the kit has.

 

 A nice thing about a kit like this one is that smacks are still in use as pleasure craft, so they can essentially be modified however you like.

[Venti]

19 minutes ago, ccoyle said:

modified however you like

Yeah! I've seen a few really nice modifications people have done in their logs!

I was hoping to find plans for the smack but I haven't been able to find any yet. Would have been a huge help in the Pram and I assume will be for this as well.

[Kenchington]

57 minutes ago, Venti said:

plans for the smack

Chapelle's "American Small Sailing Craft", figure 99 -- though the book-published version is very small.

 

At least, I assume that that is what all kit manufacturers have used for their Muscongus Bay centreboard sloops. How closely the Model Shipways kit follows Chapelle's version, I will not know until I catch up to your progress!

 

Trevor

[JacquesCousteau]

Looking forward to following along! 

 

If you're looking for inspiration, I'd second the recommendation to have a look at the relevant section of Chapelle. Another potential source would be to look for old photos. While I haven't found many of the Muscongus Bay centerboard sloop, there are quite a few photos of Friendship Sloops, which were deeper-hulled but otherwise quite similar vessels. There are a lot of photos of these--mostly as yachts, but a few as fishing vessels--here, for example: https://penobscotmarinemuseum.historyit.com/search-interfaces/search/digital-collection/0/1/1/1?rq[0]=8639&ip=1

 

 

[Venti]

26 minutes ago, Kenchington said:

book-published version is very small

Interesting. Unfortunately, the libraries near me don't have it 😭 I wouldn't mind buying it but I'm afraid that the small picture wouldn't be of any real use...

[Venti]

Thank you Jacques, I will check it out as well!

[JacquesCousteau]

2 minutes ago, Venti said:

Interesting. Unfortunately, the libraries near me don't have it 😭 I wouldn't mind buying it but I'm afraid that the small picture wouldn't be of any real use...

It's also available for short-term loan online through the Internet Archive (a fantastic source for books, btw).

[Kenchington]

3 hours ago, Venti said:

I'm afraid that the small picture wouldn't be of any real use...

There was a tie when the Smithsonian sold larger copies of Chapelle's many ship and boat plans. I don't know whether they still do but worth checking out.

 

For more background (though a rather later period than the centreboard sloops), courtesy of your federal government as it was in 1890:

 

https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=v98aAAAAYAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA235&dq=Maine+lobster+fishery+history+sloop+trap&ots=KQi-n948T4&sig=OFip4-NeAMJY7d3w689r3XwcPxo&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

That link will take you to the Google Books version. You can likely find others on-line.