Wednesday, June 20 – Sunday, June 24
Wednesday morning brought partly cloudy skies, but flat seas, so we left Fisher’s Island just after 8 for a 30 minute crossing. As we made our way up the Mystic River towards the Seaport, we spotted several lovely wooden boats, including GRAYLING, the motor-sailor I’ve mentioned before.
I had my first experience hailing the bridgetenders to request they open for us, and for the Amtrak bridge we had to wait for a commuter train to pass.
We arrived at Mystic Seaport by 10:00 — earliest exhibitor got the primo spot along the bulkhead. The next day, Thursday, was the official set-up day, so we were busy cleaning up the dog hair and touching up the varnish and paint, and mounted the Classic Yacht Association plaque. Before the expected rain that night, Hugh went around the exterior of the pilothouse and cabin top with more of the Captain Tolley’s Creeping Crack Cure, which works by capillary action to get into the tiniest cracks, and then hardens (worked like a charm, though more than one pass will be needed, I’m sure).
We got a lot of walking in and around the Seaport, too — over 19,000 steps for the day on my Fitbit! Chip and Scott (Six River Marine) and their wives arrived in the early afternoon. The plan was for them to do most of the talking to visitors this weekend as this was really their gig — they did the restoration, and they were looking to generate future business, especially since KATIE MACK graced the cover of the May/June WB 262 issue.
The large size of the poster which greeted visitors was my brother-in-law Stephen’s idea. He had been to the wooden boat show in Olympia, WA a few weeks earlier and took a picture of a poster that was readable for several people at a time, with good info. Imitation is the highest form of flattery.
As exhibitors, we were able to stay aboard, so we had the run of the Seaport after hours and were able to watch people as they opened up shops and exhibits. At one point I learned the basics of how to use a sextant! The MAYFLOWER II is being restored here, too, so it was fun to check that out.
When the Show opened, visitors came aboard and asked lots of questions, and made lots of gratifyingly admiring comments — after all those years of pulling things together, it was nice to hear the accolades.
Chip and Scott entered KATIE MACK in the 27th Annual Concours d’Elegance “Power — Professionally Restored” division, and won Best in Show! Congratulations to Six River Marine. It was a pleasure to show KATIE MACK to Shari and George Kirby, whose company, George Kirby Jr Paint Co. of New Bedford, MA, has been serving the marine industry since 1846. All of our interior and exterior paint is from Kirby. They enjoyed seeing how we used Sand, Reddish, Grayling Gray, Red, Maynard Bray Off-white, Gray Green, Putty, Mist, and Slate through out the boat and on the dinghy.
They in turn surprised us with their new soaps: Papa Kirby’s Pine Tar Soap is stronger than Mama Kirby’s, so I bought three of Papa’s for Hugh and one of Mama’s for me. Mmmmm.
By the time the Show ended, on a Sunday filled with drizzle, thunder, and lightning, we were exhausted but really glad that we had made the effort to bring KATIE MACK down for Chip and Scott to show off their amazing handiwork.