Lapstrake Chebacco Update by Bruce Bateau
Hello Chebaccans! I’m writing to update you about the nineteen foot lapstrake Chebacco that was constructed by Jerome McIlvanie of the high desert town of Yakima, Washington between 1996 and 2001. Apparently, Jerome, a professional machinist, wasn’t a sailor, nor was his wife. She told me that building a boat was a dream for Jerome. He had taken some classes, likely at the NW School Of Wooden Boat Building, and prior to this had built an Adirondack guideboat. After being sailed just once – from the launch ramp to the marina at the 2001 Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival – his Chebacco was sold to a man from Salem, Oregon who dreamed of sailing her up the Inside Passage in Canada. The boat was stored under a tarp in a field for the next 19 years. Strangely, neither Jerome nor the second owner named the boat.
Just as the covid pandemic swept across the US, my friend Michael Bogoger introduced me to owner #2. I contemplated buying the boat, but there was more work than I could handle. The cockpit had filled with leaves, water, and other nasty things. There was some rot and a lot of uncertainty about the hull/centerboard trunk. Michael and his friend Doug Follet, were braver than I and purchased the boat, hauled it up to Olympia, Washington and commenced work. They removed the rot and finding the hull solid, rebuilt the cockpit. They only sailed the boat a few times and didn’t work on the rigging, which was in need of some tuning. Michael named the boat Aluna, after a Columbian tribe in a documentary film of the same name.
In late 2021, I acquired Aluna from them, and started to fit her out for cruising. Andy Schmidt helped me sew cushions as well as cockpit and storage tents, while Tim Lemon led the rigging and reefing re-do and built/installed a new rudder (the original aluminum version was corroding and not built to specs). The mast is hollow, but keel stepped, so it was extremely challenging to place it through the cabin top. Tim built a set of sheer legs which allowed a more certain and elegant way to install and remove it. Tim also helped me achieve my strong desire to have a sculling oar (13 feet) so that I could minimize the need to motor on windless days or through a marina. If you want to read about the whole fitting out story, there’s a long thread at the Woodenboat Forum.
Given that after a few days of sailing, I’d logged more hours aboard than anyone in her 20 year history, I decided to rename her Luna. Since 2022, my wife and I have cruised Luna along the tidal areas of the Columbia River, around Puget Sound, through the San Juan Islands, and as far north at British Columbia’s Gulf Islands. Our longest voyage yet was three weeks. She’s a very comfortable boat and a dry sailer, though I’ve never been able to staunch a small leak at the base of the centerboard trunk in the cabin. Being a Chebacco, she’s full of quirks, but that’s a topic for another post.
Luna’s home port is along the Columbia River in Portland, Oregon, but sails to points north in the Salish Sea each summer. You can read about some of our adventures at my blog www.TerrapinTales.WordPress.com.
