Tuesday, September 22, 2015

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> MARY HARRIGAN <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


After viewing the new abode I don't have the money to purchase until this coming Saturday (See last post) I stopped off at my yacht club (Whangarei Cruising Club) and took a look at an interesting visitor. She is the beautiful husky schooner 'Mary Harrigan' from Pin Mill. She is an  L. F. Herreshoff 'JOANNE' design built, I think, by the famous Bud Macintosh on the east coast of the USA. Apparently (From internet information) the owner and the boat are now resident here in New Zealand.

An interesting aspect of this boat are the words 'Pin Mill' on the stern. 'Pin Mill' is both a thing:

"A pin mill is a mill that comminutes materials by the action of pins that repeatedly move past each other. Much like a kitchen blender, it breaks up substances through repeated impact. The mill is a type of vertical shaft impactor mill and consists of two rotating disks with pins embedded on one face."

........ and a place:

"Pin Mill is a hamlet on the south bank of the tidal River Orwell, located on the outskirts of the village of Chelmondiston on the Shotley peninsula, south Suffolk. It lies within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is a designated "

Maybe the owner is an Englishman with an American boat? or an American who lives at Pin Mill in the UK, or maybe there is a port in the USA called Pin Mill, who knows.... but I would be interested to find out the story between the two.


Mary Harrigan has an interesting pair of yard arms high on the forward mast. I would be interested to know how these are used. I can imagine it being easier to douse the two piece? downwind squaresail (s) by allowing the booms to go forward spilling the wind before furling them.

The building in the foreground with the rounded roof is our new club house. The sheds in the background are private boat sheds. Perhaps I should purchase one of these as a new abode instead of waiting until I win Lotto. I am told the odds of winning are greater than being personally struck on the head on Saturday by an asteroid.

Mary Harrigan is not the size of boat I would ever be able to afford to own, or really want to own ..... but I absolutely Love looking at this size and type. It would be great to have a sail on her! ........ how wonderful to prowl the decks at dusk and watch the stars appear as she sat solidly at anchor in some quiet bay - bliss.

23 comments:

ma said...

Do you have an email address where I can write to you?

ma said...

The owner of the Mary Harrigan is my brother, drop me a line, map0814@gmail.com

Alden Smith said...

Thank you for your comment Ma, I will drop you a line and maybe you can fill me in on some of the questions I have asked on this blog post?

Unknown said...

Do you need to get a hold of Len, I know where he is an get ahold of him "
Ma"

Alden Smith said...

It would be good to take a look over the boat if that opportunity was available - that is, if the boat was in Whangarei and your brother was happy with that idea. If I see the Mary Harrigan I will make an approach to your brother and mention that I have been in contact with you.

Michael fellenbaum said...

This is mike his step son it would be nice to talk to him
Fellenbaumc@gmail.com
262-366-5491

Alden Smith said...

Thanks for that Michael : > )

Dean Mendenhall said...

The Mary Harriman was built by Jeffrey Fogman in his shop in Barrington NH for original owner . Jeff was a great admirer of Bud MacIntosh and built several boats to his designs as well. Glad to see she is still sailing and looking well considering the miles she has sailed, that is a tribute to her builder and the great maintance she has received.
Dean Mendenhall

Alden Smith said...

Dean, thank you for that information - much appreciated.

Ken said...

Hi, nice to see some of my old work, this boat has been quite the secret on the internet. I was 2 years in the shop in Barrington, NH with Jeff Fogman, Mark Webby and Joe Postich. My job was the machinist. I helped with some of the bronze patterns,cleaned up, machined and installed most all of the custom cast bronze on her. Not sure if many knew the owner Len had a machine shop of his own in his home state, so he purchased a "brand new" 16" Webb lathe and a 50" bed Lagun vertical milling machine with complete new sets of all the best tooling for both. Jeff set them up right next to the starboard hull and started looking for a machinist. He found me. Changed my life from the moment I walked in that barn so far out in the woods.

Alden Smith said...

Hi Ken, nice to hear from someone who was involved with the boat. Mary Harrigan has become somewhat of an identity around Whangarei - and a good looking traditional boat identity at that. Best wishes and stay safe in these troubling times.

Martin Bennett said...

I’ve just seen the Mary Harriman anchoured and unoccupied in the Whangaroa Harbour. I was attracted to her because I used to sail with my Uncle at Pin Mill on the River Orwell in Suffolk back In The 70’s Did you ever discover Why she has Pin Mill as her port of origin? Just curious. Martin

Alden Smith said...

Hi Martin - No I never found out why Mary Harrigan has Pin Mill written on the stern - One day if I am close by when she is moored somewhere I will ask the MH's skipper. - Cheers.

Ken said...

Alden I do know why Mary Harrigan is there in NZ. The owner Len was frustrated finding good carpentry help in the states and Caribbean so sailed the Wangarei to seek out Mark Webby who I worked with during the construction. He still lives there as far as I know. He built the very last Concordia yawl nearby there at his home, but again it seems all the builders of Mary Harrigan have been very elusive on the internet, almost non existent really.

Alden Smith said...

Hi Ken. Mark Webby has launched his Concordia yawl. She is moored about 3 minutes drive from where I live. The quality of the work on his Concordia is exceptional - she is a truly beautiful example of this design. I haven't seen the Mary Harrigan for a few months but I believe she is still here in Whangarei.

Dean Mendenhall said...

The reason you don’t hear much from the builder is because Jeff Fogman passed away about 4 years ago. After he finished Mary Harrigan he built a MacIntosh 40 ft schooner named David MacIntosh after the designer. A real artist and boat builder, Jeff worked on many other projects.

Alden Smith said...

Hi Dean - Thanks for that information - Jeff Fogman certainly left a wonderful legacy of beautiful boats.

Dean Mendenhall said...

I just found out recently that Bud MacIntosh was the person primarily responsible for getting the plans for Mark Webby to build his Concordia, the only one built after the originals. There was a write up and pictures in the latest edition of the Concordia magazine. A nice tribute to Marks workmanship after 20 years.
Dean Mendenhall

Alden Smith said...

Thanks Dean - Mark Webbys Concordia was launched a couple of years ago and is moored at Kissing Point about one mile from where I am typing this. The boat is a triumph and a tribute to Marks wood working skills.

Dean Mendenhall said...

Alden, are you familiar with another take off on a Hereschoff yacht that was built there abouts named Long White Cloud? We met the original owners in the Bahamas several years ago. I heard they sailed her back, sold her and now have a B and B. Lost track of them but another beautiful schooner.
Dean

Alden Smith said...

Dean, I am not familiar with 'Long White Cloud' but I am familiar with the Herreshoff 'Mobjack' design. The 'Mobjack' hull was available in fiberglass in New Zealand in the 1970s. Many of these hulls were bought and then finished off by the owners.

I don't know whether 'Long White Cloud' is one of these fiberglass hull completions. I Googled Long White Cloud and found this site: https://www.sailblogs.com/member/lwc - which I think is the blog site of the people you are referring to. Have a good explore of their blog and let me know if these are the couple you are looking for.

Dean Mendenhall said...

Alden, thank you for researching the LWC.
That is exactly who I was looking for. It was back 10 or 12 years ago and I can’t remember if theirs was wood or glass but it was a modified Mobjack, seems they added the equivalent of one plank to the sheer which added freeboard but changed it so very little. Maybe that would mean wood construction ,and I think they mentioned a local wood for construction.
Hope she is still around and doing well
Hope the bar/ restaurant is fairing well also.
Dean

Alden Smith said...

Hi Dean, Glad to be of help. Yes if they added one plank to the sheer it probably indicates a wooden build.
Alden