Yachtcon Chinook 34

[monkeymikey2000]

Hey everyone, My name is Mike, I just joined the group. I also just bought my 2nd sailboat, much older than my first. The boat is a 1957 Yacht Constructors (later Cascade) Chinook 34 (hull#3). This boat has a fiberglass hull but wood decks. Is there anyone out there that owns one or knows anything about them? I will send a pic if someone tells me how! My previous boat was a 1983 so i'm not to familiar with old fiberglass boats and was a little worried about the concrete/iron ballast, but everything checked out ok and seems to be in good shape, I guess if something was going to go wrong with the ballast it would have happened a long time ago, the ballst is glassed over and sealed in place unlike a Rawson 30 which I looked at buying, the concrete was all exposed at the top. I would really appreciate any info on this boat if anyone has any or any info or advice on concrete ballast. Thanks very much
Mike

[Rachel]

Hi Mike,

Good Old Boat magazine had a fairly in-depth article on Yacht Constructors in the February 2004 issue (see http://goodoldboat.no-ip.com:8080/GOBWe ... art+Search.

The article talked a bit about the Chinook, and the daughter of the builder reminisced about the first Chinook. There was a photo of her with that boat, and it may have mentioned a bit about owners of the first few hull numbers, perhaps even #3.

As you'll see, the article is not available online - if there's no way to get it through GOB, I could photocopy it for you. I think it's a great magazine, well worth subscribing to, so I don't want to take business away from them, if, say, a paper back-issue is available. I would be happy to look at the article and see just how much practical info there'd be for you, if you want to know more about what's in there.

I think they're nice looking boats!

--- Rachel

[Tim]

Mike,

Send your digital photos to me at tlackey@triton381.com and I will post them here for all to see.

Welcome aboard!

[Tim]

Concrete and iron ballast is the budget-minded boatbuilder's choice. It's cheap and easy, but it takes a much larger amount of the two materials to equal the weight of denser lead ballast.

There are plenty of boats with concrete ballast. There are lots of nightmare stories, but in the real world it basically works fine if appropriate steps were taken during building. As you said, the boat is old enough now that it seems likely you would have seen evidence of ballast-related issues by now; while this doesn't preclude them from occuring later, it does seem sort of a long shot. As long as you know about the potential problems, and watch for any early signs of something going on, you should be fine.

[Rachel]

Hi Mike,

I just dug through my Good Old Boat magazine collection (well worn :-), and found the Yacht Constructors article. First page is full-page black-and-white photo of ... Chinook #3, named "Tamara." That's pretty cool!

The photo was taken "circa 1956," on the Columbia River, and says the boat was owned by Tom Green. No leaves on the trees in the background, so perhaps it was winter-time.

The article goes on to explain how Tom Green was one of the five people who were in on the origins of the Chinook, and decided to make it out of fiberglass. They would make five boats, and each of them would get one of them. They drew straws to see who would get each hull number. Tom Green was the "floor boss" and "overseer" of the construction effort. I'll bet your boat is made well :-)

There's lots of information on layup and construction of the boats. Later, Tom and two of the other five formed Yacht Constructors, but the first five Chinooks were built for themselves before they started the company. Kind of a "five-off" deal.

There's a two-page "sidebar" article by Tom Green's daughter, Marili, including photos of her at the helm, as a wee one, on Chinook #3, "Tamara."

One interesting note (among many in the article): When they were testing the "new material" of fiberglass, to decide whether it would be strong enough, one of the things they did was fire "a .38 caliber pistol into it from a distance of 10 feet. The slug only penterated 50 percent of the hull's thickness. A 30.06 rifle cartridge fired from a distance of ten feet produced a perfect hole, but the laminate didn't fracture." They decided to go ahead with fiberglass... :-)

I can't tell you how excited I would be to buy a neat boat like the Chinook, and then have an article like this written, including my very hull #. So cool.

Again, let me know if you need help getting a copy of the article.

Happy sailing! --- Rachel

[monkeymikey2000]

Thanks Rachel for the interesting info, it's cool that the boat has some history. I would really like to look at that article, I guess you can't e-mail it to me because it is in paper form. The GOB site will mail me a copy for a small price. It's interesting to know the original name, I would like to change it back. What kind of boat do you have?
Mike

[Rachel]

Mike,

It really is neat that you have #3, which features so promptly in that article. There were even more photos of it - and the other first Chinooks - than I described. You might consider buying the whole back-issue from Good Old Boat instead of just the article. It really is a great mag for folks like (most of) us with older boats, and more elbow grease than money. (And yes, my copy is paper - in the magazine.)

The publishers are just regular boat folks, and happen to keep their C & C 30 in a slip near where I'm from. See, they must be regular folks, their boat is smaller than yours ;-)

I'm boat shopping right now, so no boat to speak of, except my faithful little Fatty Knees 7' dinghy. Hopefully more "footage" to come.

Please do send Tim photos of your boat, and keep us all updated on your new boat!

--- Rachel

[monkeymikey2000]

I'm going to take some pictures of the boat soon and I'll send them in. I think I'll order the whole back issue of that mag, sounds like it will be well worth it!
Mike

[A30_John]

Mike, congratulations on your purchase of the Chinook. It's a beautiful boat, and you own a piece of history. According to Daniel Spurr in his book, "Heart of Glass" the Chinook may have been the first fiberglass auxillary sailboat ever launched (1956). (Another manufacturer launched the Bounty II in the same year, and it's uncertain which was launched first.) With hull #3 you likely own one of the oldest fiberglass auxillary sailboats on the water. I admire the lines of the Chinook, and it would be great if you could post some current pictures for us to see.

BTW, the book "Heart of Glass" is an excellent book. I highly recommend it to any owner of a "classic plastic" boat.

[monkeymikey2000]

Hey, I sent Tim some recent pictures of the boat and even one of the original electrical panel for fun, he said he would post them. These pics were taken shortly after I bought it 3 weeks ago, I'll start working on it soon!
Mike

[Tim]

Here are the pictures. I love that electrical panel! I think I'd take that out and frame it in my living room.

If you look in the first photo, you can see a Triton at the dock across the way, just inside of that blue monstrosity. I can't make out the name.

[Rachel]

Mike,

That is one fantastic looking boat!

I'm glad she's found her way to someone who wants to keep her up.

That's quite an electrical panel, too - looks like a tiny piece of a pipe organ console with just a very few stops :-)

--- Rachel

[monkeymikey2000]

I never noticed the Triton at the marina were I picked up the boat. I have about 10 other pics I took that day, I'll look at the others and see if there is a better shot at it for you Tim then I'll send it to you.
Mike

[monkeymikey2000]

Hey Tim, I don't have any better pictures that show the Triton better but I do remember glancing accross at it and noticing the name "Tango" The name only caught my eye because I had looked at a 1965 Columbia 31 named "Tango" about 2 months ago, of course nice looking lines always catch my eye as well! The marina is the only marina in Oak Harbour, which is on Whidbey Island, Washington State.
Mike

[Rachel]

Mike,

I'd love to see what your boat's cabin looks like, if you get a chance to send in some photos. I'll bet others would like to see it as well.

--- Rachel

[Coronado23]

*That did it...

Now hunting a Chinook 34- to return to Portland,Oregon!

Doc~

[Tony]

Doc,
Where are you in Portland? I'm in Vernonia. My wife and I used to live on our old 32' Ketch at Jantzen Beach.