I had a chat with the owner of this Sakonnet 23, moored on the tidal flats in Wellfleet Harbor. In fact, I swam out to the mooring to see her up close and to chat with him one day last week when he was getting ready to go out for a sail. I was attracted to the classic, double-ender lines, and figured her to be a repro of an antique. Nope.
Not an old design. The Sakonnet 23 is a Joel White design, first built in 1997. Here's one for sale for around $30,000.
Here she is at low tide. That's a 1000 lb. half-keel. I think it's cool the way she stands on the keel when the tide goes out, holding the rudder out of danger.
Below the fold, pics of two of the most common Cape Cod boats -
Gaff-rigged Catboats everywhere. They can't point and they are beamy and slow, but comfortable, stable, and seaworthy. Sort of like sailing an overstuffed sofa.
Small Whalers, everywhere. Gradually being replaced by inflatables, but those Whaler hulls last forever. Kids raised on the Northeast coast learn to handle these things long before they drive cars. Basic life skill. If you grow up in the West, kids know horses; in the Midwest, tractors; on the coast, boats. I am lucky to sort-of know all of those things. Familiar with everything, expert in nothing except my day job.
