YEAH! Twinkle and I traveled 2 states up the coast to be surrounded by other sweet small craft and other folks who love them too~
The festival took place on the campus of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum with access to hand-carry ramps, docks, camping and plenty of exhibition areas. We were treated to continental breakfasts each morning, an awards dinner Saturday night, live music, workshops and lectures on interesting topics about boatbuilding.
The highlight of the weekend was the racing taking place on Saturday afternoon after a massive cold-front moved through increasing the winds and lowering the temperatures. I had set up Twinkles sprits'l rig on the lawn in hopes the winds would calm and they didn't. So she was simply on display. When the heavy rains came in I retreated to the St. Michaels quaint downtown area for lunch and a special visit to their Christmas shop.
It was a wonderful experience to see so many small wooden craft so lovingly cared for and then under sail. I miss having that level of interest and involvement in sailing small craft~

TWINKLE has come a long way....to put it lightly! All the way from the Great Lakes in 1983 down through the canal system, Eastern seaboard, throughout the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and on to the shores of the southern Outer Banks of North Carolina.
She was a yacht tender workhorse for her mothership, the ARIES, a Canadian built Bayfield cutter for over 35 years. She was passed down to me, the youngest offspring of Jim and Helen Wallace, upon their passing.
As Mom explained, she was named 'Little Star' because their sailing vessel, ARIES was named after the first star in celestial navigation, so her little tender would be named little star. As I helped Mom adhere the numbers and namesake, I told her that one day when she was mine, I would name her TWINKLE Little Star!! (and so she is)

The "Conny" yacht tender was built by E.D. Stokes Associates Inc in Cleveland, Ohio. Although the brochure has her rigged as a catboat, the rig I inherited was lateen, (like a Sunfish). And so the process began to give her a proper traditional rig~
I attempted to consign local sailmakers to sew her a traditional tanbark sprits'l rig sail. After a year or so of delays and pass offs I decided to start looking elsewhere. Being in the small craft restoration field, I didn't have to go too far to find some folks who sold wooden kit boats and stock sails. Since my other boat had a sail from Duckworks, I tried there. Low and Behold, they sold a stock Neil Pryde (pram) sprits'l tanbark sail for the right price!!
This past summer has been a restoration flurry to get her toe rail replaced, painting the hull and varnishing all her wooden spars that I now re-configured to hold a sprit. Only spar change was the addition of a snodder block I screwed into the mast. As for the sail, I decided to attach to the mast with sail rings...oh so pretty and traditional.
Her maiden voyage as a sprits'l was out into the White Oak River with my pup. She handled so well and wasn't near as tender as she normally is as a rowboat. As a sprits'l, she has no boom, so I don't have to worry about bumps in the head on such a small boat.

Her journey with me began as a tender for my catboat SPARROW, but she soon found her best purpose as my plein air studio boat. (Yes, like Claude Monet). But being restored as a little sailor, a breath of fresh air fills both of our sails. She is such a pretty old girl, I'm taking her up to the Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival to let her sail amongst her brethren of small craft sailors this weekend. Now we will both be restored~

Due to the Covid19 pandemic we have not sailed much and all sailing community events have been cancelled.
BUT, we the IVORY BELLE crew were not going to allow the Summer Solstice go by without even a small voyage! So we set out from the Hammocks Beach State Park ramp early in the morning when there was not much wind and an outgoing tide. We sailed between the marsh creeks and spit island beaches.
Being that it was not only Father's Day weekend and Solstice, I decided it was a good day to introduce my crew to celestial navigation. By making sun sites throughout our trip, we were able to record the direction and inclination of the sun....our celestial body of observation. We recorded these data sets in an interesting log chart I had seen in a John Law Muir video on Nature Journaling. It was VERY COOL!!! Way to integrate our day!
I must also say the soundtrack to our day and dedication was a "Lovely Day" by Bill Whithers! It indeed was a lovely day, sketching, sailing, drinking and snacking here on the Souther Outer Banks~ _/)

Today I handed over the command of SPARROW to a new owner who absolutely fell in love with her and sealed the deal as we went out on a sea trial out of the harbor~
Her cockpit project was quite a challenge in woodworking skills and design enhancement. I explained the stern bench redesign to the new owner and he acknowledged the reasons for the design change with a high five!
SPARROW's connection, memories and stories will always be very special to me and I am a better sailor for having her command. What a salty sailor a catboat is!!!
Is has been difficult saying good-bye and letting her go~
On to the next restoration project!

SPARROW has been heavy on my mind because I've not been able to get down to work on her any this summer. It's been miserably HOT but the need to work two jobs takes me away from her restoration progress~

We've come a long way this year though, from finishing up the wainscoting around the cockpit coaming and bench seat faces. The cockpit re-fiberglassing caused some adjustments to how we attached the facing. We've been piecing together the trim from mahogany nose guard to a sweet rope-twist.

The bench seats are getting a coat of primer and then a couple coats of deck texture paint. Everything else is getting a coat of stain and finish.

The interior has had some improvements, but until the cushions are done, it just feels empty. The new green water-resistant carpet makes the green and pine wainscoting below look real cozy.

At this point, the restoration has taken so long, I've been wondering why I took on this project to begin with. But whenever I have been able to get down there and see her just waiting for me....I feel bad. She's so pretty and has such character, I'm wondering when we'll sail again...I hope before hurricane season!

(photo from 1972 onboard 51' yawl, 'Ole', Dad & I)

I realize it's been quite some time since I posted and it would be remiss to not explain the fallout.
I lost my father, Captain James Wallace in the Fall of 2017 and spent most of 2018 sailing on other folks vessels, attempting to surround myself with other sailors as I grieved the loss of my Dad.

As I traveled to far off shores, my grief heavy, it was the only thing I knew to do, to feel closer to him. So I flew off to England and sailed on an 110 year old wooden studio boat, the "Golden Vanity" along the SW coast of Devon. The crew & guests were there for one mission, and that was to paint the coast and enjoy our aesthetic voyage in good company!

I also returned to an American sailor's mecca, Mystic Seaport. Stayed aboard a tall ship and gave a small craft Watercolor workshop with a dear friend. Meeting new fellow sailors and browsing amongst all things maritime at their Wooden Boat Show improved my mood tremendously!

And my last long distance destination was to sail and carve up the coast of Maine! It was this trip that brought me full circle back to the woodworking and craftsmanship skills my Dad brought me up on. But while I was sailing their fleet of catboats in the evenings and carving Sparrow's transom board for days, the Wooden Boat School brought me full circle to the joy of boat ownership and why we sail!

These are the things my Mom & Dad taught me as I was raised sailing on old woodies. Set goals in the distance, challenge yourself to go somewhere new, go with good folks, be welcoming to new friendships you'll make along the way and always allow the experience to make you grateful for the life you have lived~ _/)

Love you Dad!