Renting a Whitehall

A couple of weeks ago we went to Connecticut on vacation. We included Mystic Seaport in the trip as well as the consignment shop that I bought my Whitehall through.

We went through Mystic Seaport on Columbus Day which was the last day of the season that they rent boats. We rented a Whitehall similar to mine. I noticed several differences.

First, my boat is much fancier than the ones for rent. Mine has nicer woodwork, better flooring, and many other details. The polyurethane finish makes it much nicer than weather, grey wood.

The mechanism for pulling up the swing keel is nicer on mine (although mine needs to have the steel cable replaced).

Rowing the Mystic Seaport boat was a little frustrating. First, the oars that they gave me were only six foot oars which is too short. Also, they use a single thwart with a looped rope that holds the oar in. This gives a oar a lot of play. Two thwart or an actual oarlock is much easier to use.

Regardless, I didn't have any trouble rowing us in a circle around the town.

I'm sure that the plans for my boat came from Mystic Seaport since the maker was associated with it. Their small-boat designer loved Whitehalls. I have his book on small boats and it devotes much more space to Whitehalls than any other type (to say nothing of having a picture of a Whitehall on the cover).

The plans would have been based on the few surviving ones and in 1980, I think that only a couple were known. One of those is on display.