[whalerman]

I'm sold on the 7x7 now. I need to loop the masts and splice around thimbles and don't want to try that with 1/8" diameter stands. A local supplier has Asian stuff for $.40 a ft FOB in LA. I've been warned about knowing where the stuff comes from and I can't say I do when it comes to Asian suppliers. The local supplier says that the good stuff is only on the East coast and is at a premium price. Is that what you've discovered? Any news from Brion's shop?

Russ

Oh, and Tancook Whalers hail from Tancook Island, Nova Scotia, or at least they did. They were handsome, rakish double-enders in general use there at the turn of the last century till the transomed variation, the Tancook Schooner, displaced them. Their rigs were distinguished by the use of a loose-footed foresail with a club at the clew and by the fisherman staysail.

They re-emerged for the public imagination when the Maine Maritime Museum's apprentice program researched and built the 'Vernon Langille', which served at 'The Apprentice Shop' out of Rockland Maine as one of their seamanship training vessels. Roger Taylor has owned and written of the type very favorably.

It's my experience that the type is getting more popular, most likely because of their overt salty-sexiness. The challenge involved with converting such a utilitarian 'pickup truck' into something practical for modern times is daunting, however.