Celebrating Belle Starr On the Water

At the end of a very productive week, we find the sloop-rigged cutter Belle Starr in the water for the first time in many years.

Belle Starr, as you know, is a Stone Horse, built in wood, as originally designed by Sam Crocker. This classic was designed in 1931. Less than forty were built before production was interrupted by WWII. Some of the original wood models are still sailing.
An additional 150 fiberglass Stone Horse models were built by Edey and Duff between 1969 and the early 1990s.

The defining feature of the Stone Horse 23 is her raised, flush foredeck and integral coamings. Twenty three feet on deck, the overall length of the Stone Horse is 28’-3” with a bowsprit and boomkin. The hull has a full keel with hard-chined sections and a transom-hung rudder.

After a year and a half in the shop, Belle Starr touched water this week at family-owned Zittles Marina, outside Olympia, Washington. The launch was flawless, stepping the mast went smoothly and the boat sat pretty on her lines. Its fair to say, this deserves a celebration.

With an enormous amount of help from friends and the professionals at Zittles, this project has reached a milestone. My very good friends, Doug Follet of Olympia, his brother Steve, from Vermont, and Dougs son, Ian, of Seattle, all chipped in to make two days of rigging and outfitting go smoothly. My heart-felt thanks to these generous men!



Launch Day for Belle Starr from doryman on Vimeo.

The four of us took the cutter out for a trial sail and wouldnt you know, a calm day of 3-4 knot breezes suddenly built to 15 knots. We turned around and headed back but there was enough time to see what could be done to finish the rigging.




test sail from doryman on Vimeo.

Belle Starr behaved like a thoroughbred. Look for updates, right here, in the days and weeks to come. She is bound for adventure...

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Belle Starr

Belle Starr, as you know, is a Stone Horse, built in wood, as originally designed by Sam Crocker. She spent the summer waiting patiently for Doryman to pick up where he left off last spring.

A shipwright is trained in many disciplines, in fact, must be well versed in anything involving boats of all sizes, shapes and descriptions. This includes welding metal. Doryman does not weld. But for this, he might one day become a shipwright, like his grandfather.

But today, when it comes to metal work, he must resort to his resourceful cunning. Belle Starr was delivered last winter on a flatbed trailer intended for a backhoe. If Doryman were not as resourceful as he is, a new trailer might cost more than the boat itself. So, a used tandem axle trailer was procured and upgrades engineered to make the utility fit the trade.

In the absence of welding skills, four new padded tripod stanchions were bolted to the old trailer this week. The support plates are made of 3/4" plywood with recycled rubber horse-stall pads cut to shape and screwed to the plywood. The pylons are of 2" square mild steel with 2" x 2" angle-iron braces. At some future date, this assembly might be tack-welded for added security, but that will be redundant because the design is rock solid, as-is.

The only element remaining is to investigate and update her standing rigging and Belle Starr will be ready. For what, you might ask? Please stay tuned my friends - when the winter monsoons retreat, it will be an exciting sailing season, indeed. While winter rages, the search is on for a suitable wood stove for Belle Starr. She once sported a Tiny Tot, which rusted to oblivion. For cruising in the Pacific Northwest, a stove is not a luxury.

Other planned projects include a new galley sink, forward berth cushions and a depth sounder. A shipwright must have many talents.

Last evening, Doryman made a road trip north to Port Townsend to attend a winter planning session with the Pocket Yachters. Those guys know how to party. Cold cuts, crackers, wine and beer. Now thats my kind of meeting! Despite their serious demeanor, they are a fun loving bunch.

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Progress Report Stone Horse Belle Starr

Wouldnt you know? The last work session on the Stone Horse, Belle Starr was during a snow storm. Now, you should understand, it doesnt snow very often in the lower elevations of the Pacific Northwest anymore. Yet, here it is a month later and guess what? Yes its snowing.

This makes for a challenging outdoor work situation when most of the repairs involve epoxy and the rest of the work is sanding and painting.

One huge benefit from the cool weather is, the epoxy cures very slow. This means that glue applied yesterday is still pliable today and is easy to shape, form and finish.
There are tricks to successful use of epoxy in cold weather so be warned, dont do this at home unless you are willing to accept the occasional failure of your material.

The last few days have seen some progress in the repair and rehab of Belle Starr. This is not a restoration project as we so often see in the Doryman boatyard. Belle Starr is in great shape for a 30 year old boat.

You may think differently from the photos but often, long before an owner decides to sell their boat, maintenance falls to a minimum. It is not unusual to see a fine wood boat, only a couple decades old, with serious problems. In this case a few yearly haul-outs were neglected and it is a tribute to the builder that the boat held up so well.













As noted earlier, the bowsprit and boomkin needed to be replaced. In the process of researching the development of the Stone Horse, I discovered that the original plans called for a plank bowsprit.

This is good news! Im not too fond of hanging out there, over the deep blue, on a stick.

To supplement the safety factor, Belle Starr will soon have a bow pulpit, which for some inexplicable reason, she didnt have before. A wide flush deck with no life-lines or handholds seems precarious for the single-hander, though I find the sparse, clean lines aesthetically appealing.
















This boat has a bridge deck in the cockpit. Its about the same level as the galley, down below. When rot developed in the main bulkhead from the cockpit deck, as it so often does, it traveled across into the cabinet on the other side.







This is an excellent opportunity to install a new sink where Belle Starr had a simple plastic pan. (May I mention that it is wonderful to have a project that can use some of the stuff that has accumulated in the material storage shed? Its a regular chandlery out there!)






This was a tricky repair; a puzzle. All of the pieces were glued-up at the same time and each had to be installed in the correct order. There is a piece of the deck missing from under the teak overlay that you cant see here. Talk about a challenge!

Once again, the cool weather slows the epoxy cure to a crawl, giving plenty of time to get it right.

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