The legendary ELF
By Jean Korten Moser
Earleville, Md.
Once upon a time (back in 1888), in a land far, far away
(Boston), a little yacht fashioned from oak and longleaf yellow pine,
and reinforced with iron, came to be. Artfully designed (by George
Frederick Lawley) and strongly built (by Lawley Manufacturing), she was
among the prettiest and fastest of the sailing vessels of her kind.
Named "Elf" after the diminutive mythical creatures
with magical powers, she measured 35 feet on deck (according to Lloyd's
Register), had a 17-1/2-foot bowsprit, a high gaff topsail cutter rig,
and an incredible 2,300 square feet of sail.
Today she is thought to be the oldest small yacht in America and the
third oldest in the world (according to author and wooden boat expert
Donald M. Street Jr.). The vessel is listed on the National Register of
Historic Places as well as the Cecil County Historic Register.
First owner William H. Wilkinson campaigned the racing sloop in
the 30-footer class for two seasons before selling her to 21-year-old
crew member Henry Howard. Howard is credited with initiating offshore
cruising in small craft a few years later (in 1893) when he sailed her
360 nautical miles from Marblehead, Mass., to Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Other owners over her 117 years have included Gus and Vida Van Lennep,
founders of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, who sailed her from 1932
to 1943. It was the Van Lenneps who brought the boat to the Chesapeake
Bay.
The boat changed names (Blue Cloud, Flying High and Paz) and
underwent modifications over time. She sported a Marconi yawl rig when
19-year-old Rick Carrion purchased the leaky wooden boat from Judston
Branning in 1971 for $1,500.
Carrion put the boat up for sale a few years later but pulled her
off the market after learning of her historical significance from Donald
Street. Carrion then founded the non-profit Classic Yacht Restoration
Guild and donated the vessel to the CYRG. The CYRG plans to use the
yacht for environmental education, historic interpretives of the Bay,
and instruction in sailing (including offshore racing), boat maintenance
and meteorology.
But first she needed some repairs. After receiving a $25,000
grant from the Maryland Historical Trust and $8,500 from the Cecil
County Historic Commission, the CYRG began restoring the yacht in 1991
in a cornfield on Carrion's family farm. Before long guild members
discovered that Elf's timbers were rotten. The vessel would have to be
completely rebuilt, piece by piece.
"Boats evolve...to suit your needs," explains
boatwright Graham Ero, owner of The Wooden Boat Shop in Still Pond, who
is heading up the yacht's restoration effort.
To retain the vessel's signature shape, Ero made a plywood
pattern for each of the boat's 29 pairs of ribs before replacing them in
alternate pairs, stem to stern.
"She never lost her sheer," Ero says.
When the restoration is complete and the boat relaunched in
spring 2006, "She'll be more her original self than she has been in
a half century," he says.
To help raise $50,000 in cash or donations to finish the project,
the CYRG will sponsor a crab feast and silent auction Sept. 17.
And in 2007, Carrion would like to realize his longtime dream of
racing Elf in the Boston Yacht Club/Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron's
Marblehead to Halifax race, following the same route as Elf's historic
1893 voyage. It would be a fairy tale ending to the legendary life and
rebirth of a little yacht born to race.
IF YOU GO
WHO: The Classic Yacht Restoration Guild
WHAT: Crab Feast and Silent Auction
WHEN: 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17
WHERE: Cherry Grove Farm, Veasey's Cove, Bohemia River
WHY: Fund-raiser to continue the restoration of the yacht Elf
COST: $35 for members; $50 for non-members, free for children 15 and
under
RAIN DATE: Saturday, Sept. 24
TICKETS & DIRECTIONS: Call or e-mail Rick Carrion, 410-275-2819,
elf1888@earthlink.net
NEEDED: Silent auction items. Donations are tax deductible.
FACTS
* Total cost of restoration: Half a million dollars in cash and donated
time.
* Major benefactor: Billionaire Peter R. Kellogg, who is sponsoring
everything above deck -- sails, rigging and bowsprit -- at an estimated
cost of $135,000. Those items will be installed at the Independence
Seaport Museum in Philadelphia.
* Other supporters: Henry Howard's grandson Tom Townsend, and Gus and
Vida Van Lennep, founders of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, who
owned Elf from 1932 to 1943.
* Original parts of vessel retained: Keel, stem, ballast shoe, bronze
deck access ports, cabin table gimbals, oil running lights, cleats,
chronometer, original number board, compass, blocks and her beautiful
shape.
* Also on display: Books containing photos and information about Elf,
period deck prisms, sextant, cabin brass hardware, range finder Polaris
and the boat's original Boston Yacht Club burgee.
* Best day(s): When they drove in the last plank and closed the hull;
the day they drilled through two feet of locust for the engine shaft and
found they were precisely on target.
* Worst day: When they blew a plank. As they were putting in the fifth
strake in the stern, the wood, which had compound curves in two
different directions, exploded in Carrion's face. He was not injured.
* Where she'll be berthed: Hopefully, at the Granary docks on the
Sassafras River, where Carrion first saw her in the early 1970s.
Source: Richard Carrion and Graham Ero.
PROFILE: Richard P. Carrion
AGE: 53
OCCUPATION: Retired in 2004 after 30 years as an earth and environmental
science teacher at Elkton High School. Currently developing a
wood-milling and furniture-making business with an emphasis on free form
and artistic pieces that highlight the grain.
ELF PROJECT: President and director of Classic Yacht Restoration Guild;
former owner of Elf.
QUOTE: "You have to dream and then do whatever it takes to realize
your dream."
PROFILE: Graham Ero
AGE: 56
OCCUPATION: Boatwright with 35 years boat-building experience. Owner of
The Wooden Boat Shop in Still Pond.
ELF PROJECT: Only paid worker. Biggest project ever worked on to date.
OTHER PROJECTS: The restoration of the P.E. Pruitt, a 1925 buy boat; the
65-foot Muriel Eileen, also a buy boat; among others.
QUOTE: "It's been like a jigsaw puzzle putting it all together and
keeping it right."
The Mariner is a
Chesapeake Publishing magazine