Source for 7x7 galvanized?

[Bob Pingel]

I should know more about traditional craft -- does a tancook whaler imply some Nova Scotia lineage -- as in Tancook Island?

Bob

[dpincus]

Yup! Tancook island scooners have a fairly unique shape. Mine is more Downeast style but was made in extreme northern Nova Scotia. I'm trying to figure out exactly who made and where my boat was built. I'm going back and forth with the guys from the NS Schooner Assn.

BTW there is 1000' of Loos 7x7 on ebay right now, I wonder if we should go in together. Maybe he'd send me a sample.

Dave

[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.

[whalerman]

Dave,

I've been to ebay to see the spool. It looks like the real deal. I could use about a third of it, maybe more.

Ok, so here I am in CA, there you are in MA, and there it is in SC.

What now?

[Bob Pingel]

There is nothing wrong with Asian wire per se, I have used some fine Korean 1x19 SS. I'd check with Brion's shop for some pointers and references...

Bob

[whalerman]

I just purchased the material I need from this source online. The whole thing was painless and affordable. Their web site is gmesupply.com

[Brion Toss]

Hello,
I have a call in to GME, asking for info and a sample. If they have good stuff, I'll let you know. Our experience inclines me to be skeptical, but you never know. Amount of lube, quality of galvanizing, and wire metallurgy can all vary so much. But here's hoping.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss