In the 1860s and 1870s, the fishermen-farmers of Muscongus
Bay could catch and salt in the summer all the fish they needed for winter
provision with some to sell in Boston and the West Indies. In the late
70s the expanding railways out of Boston made fresh fish available as
far west as Albany and then farther.
The fresh fish market in Boston expanded rapidly. Massachusetts fishing
vessels were built larger and faster and began to fish on Georges Bank
only 100 miles east of Boston but dangerous in winter when gales hit the
shoal water. Because the demand was year round, they fished year round.
In the 80s, steamer service from Portland expanded in response to the
growing influx of summer people to midcoast Maine. The Boston fresh fish
market thus became available to Muscongus Bay fishermen. A dory or stout
rowboat had been sufficient in earlier days, but now a little stouter
vessel was needed. The answer was the Muscongus Bay Sloop.
She was 18-25 feet long, clinker built and shoal draft with a centerboard.
The mast setting a big mainsail, was stepped far forward so she could
be handled with mainsail alone for hauling lobster traps, and she usually
carried a jib to give her authority to windward. In such a boat, a man
could fill a barrel with fresh fish or lobsters on ice and put it on the
steamer in Friendship, Round Pond or New Harbor. It would be in Portland
in time for the night train and in the Boston market in the morning.
As railroad and steamer service continued to expand, the market demanded
that Muscongus Bay fishermen fish farther off shore, that they fish in
the winter and that they have boats to face heavy winds and rough seas
but still be fast enough in light summer weather to get a good price for
the catch.
Gloucester
schooners had responded to the stimulus. Mel McLain from Bremen Long Island
just across the river from Friendship, had fished out of Gloucester, served
as skipper for many different schooners and designed successful ones,
following the trend for deeper, faster and more seaworthy vessels. It
seems likely that he brought his ideas home with him and shared them with
his cousin Robert McLain. He built several of the early successful Friendship
sloops. To go off shore in hard weather you need a vessel 28-35 feet long.
She should have a fine high bow with a bit of hollow in the waterline.
She should broaden out to about one-third of her waterline length. Amidship,
her bilge should be quite slack, but she should flatten out aft so the
water would leave her cleanly. She must have ample sail for summer weather.
Many carried gaff and jib topsails. The mast stood well forward to make
her maneuverable under mainsail alone. For style, for boat builders have
an eye for style, she usually had a clipper bow, a quick sheer and a graceful
elliptical counter.
Many of these sloops were built in and around Friendship. Wilbur Morse,
who built more sloops than anyone else, said, “A Friendship sloop
is a sloop built in Friendship, Maine, by Wilbur Morse.” Although
this is far from literally true, the name stuck.
These sloops were efficient fishing boats. A man approached
his buoy more or less close hauled with main sheet eased. He gaffed up
his buoy on the lee side and took a turn on a bit. He headed into the
wind, and as the sloop ranged ahead, she dragged the trap to the surface.
He hauled it aboard, took out the keepers and re-baited. The jib filled.
She bore off, the mainsail filled and she gathered way. He could jibe
around and set the trap where it had been or seek more productive bottom.
In the early years of the 20th century, many sloops were fitted with gasoline
engines usually set off center with the shaft emerging under the quarter.
As motors became more reliable, almost no new sloops were built. Some
were converted to yachts, but the huge mainsail was difficult to reef
with a boom as long as the waterline and projecting well over the counter.
The sloops had open cockpits and if knocked down by a heavy puff, could
sink. Several have. Many yachtsmen in concern over ease and safety, cut
off the mainsail at the first reef band. They found the Friendship slow,
logy, and not much fun in yachting weather. The sloops were hauled up
ashore in fall, winter and spring where sun, rain and wind encouraged
rot. They didn’t last long.
A
few were built as party boats, for the same qualities that made them good
fishermen made them good party boats. They were dry. The big cockpit was
comfortable. They were fast, handy and delightfully good looking.
The quality of construction depended on what the owner was willing to
pay. Wire nails, red oak frames, spruce planking, rock ballast and a rough
finish would cost about $600 for a 25-foot sloop. Pine or cedar planking,
copper fastenings and an iron keel with a smoother finish would double
the cost. However, no one expected a sloop to last more than about ten
years. Friendship sloops became almost obsolete.
In
1960 Bernie MacKenzie in his cut-down Charles Morse Voyager won a “bang
and go back” race in Massachusetts. In this informal event, all
sailing yachts start together. When the first boat gets to Mark 1, a gun
is fired and all go for Mark 2, regardless of where on the course they
are. When the leader rounds Mark 2, again a gun is fired and all go for
the finish. Voyager was not far from the finish with a strong fair wind.
She won the race. Bernie concluded that a Friendship sloop was a marvel
of a vessel and that the form, rig and tradition must be preserved. With
the help of Friendship people, he established The Friendship Sloop Society
with an annual Homecoming Race in Friendship. 43 years later, the Society
lists 227 active Friendship sloops.
Working Friendship going
for hake.
Courtesy of Mariners Museum, Newport News, Virginia.
The name, Wilbur Morse, has been handwritten on the back of the photo.
Peapod, Friendship
Sloop, and Muscongus Bay Sloop.
Courtesy of Mariners Museum, Newport News, Virginia.
“A treasure!” (Roger F. Duncan).
Sailmaker.
“Built well before 1964. Probably around 1920”
(Roger F. Duncan).
Eastward.
Credit: Lorimer E. Brackett.
"Friendship Sloop EASTWARD,
of Newagen, Maine" (postcard back)
A postcard of Roger F. Duncan's Friendship Sloop.
Sea Duck.
“A party boat of an early date. Probably pre-WWI” (Roger
F. Duncan).
Rights of Man.
Credit: Carlton Simmons,
photographer.
“Built by Lash Brothers in 1960’s” (Roger
F. Duncan).
Back Yard Yacht Builders
A non-commercial association of amateur boat-builder enthusiasts.
All our wooden boats are Stevenson designs.