Welcome to Cygnet's Sailing Blog Log

Cygnet is a 1968 Dickerson Ketch, Hull # 121, based in Suttons Bay, Michigan.

Cygnet in Leland, April 2007.

TWENTY YEARS BETWEEN THE MASTS
OR ADVENTURES IN CYGNET - T. M. Kelly

I first laid eyes on Cygnet in a shed at the Bay City Marina. She was freshly painted and to my eyes she was big and beautiful. She was like a castle compared to Windy Bay, my little 25’ sloop I had sold the year before. She was also in better condition than any other wooden boat I had seen so far in my yearlong search for my next boat. I stood at her teak wheel and imagined being at sea. I lay on the forward bunk and looked aft through the cabin. It seemed a long way aft to the wheel.

She was also more money than most I had seen, about five thousand dollars beyond by budget. On my way to Ann Arbor I stopped to meet with her second owner, Ross Thompson. We talked for quite a long time and I gave him my upper limit, $20,000. He said he couldn’t sell her at that price but perhaps we could talk more about it another time. He had just ordered a new Shannon 37 and needed the money for the extras he had just ordered for his boat.

Some time later Ross called me and asked if I was still interested. He said he wanted me to have his boat and would try to work on the price. We finally settled at $22,500, subject to survey and sea trial. I had the boat surveyed and Ross agreed to fix a number of small items. The sea trial was in the early spring on Saginaw Bay. We sailed down the Saginaw River and onto the Bay. On the way back we short tacked upstream with the club footed jib, main and mizzen. Tacking was a breeze with no handling of sheets needed. The little Westerbeake diesel reminded me of the London taxis. I was sold. We shook hands and she was mine.

Cygnet is a 35’ Dickerson ketch, built by Dickerson Boatbuilders on the Eastern Shore at Trappe, Maryland. She is hull No. 122 and was commissioned and launched in 1968 for Dr. Woodburne of Bay City. The launching photo shows her with light blue cabin sides. These were dark blue when I bought her, and I later painted them a yellow-cream color to reduce the heat generated by the summer sun on the cabin sides.

Cygnet on her launch day.

Cygnet’s hull form is a good example of the wholesome CCA inspired designs of her day. She has a full keel and centerboard, giving her a draft of just over 4’ with the board up and about 8’ with the board down. She is ketch rigged with a club-footed jib. This combination makes her very easy to sail, even single-handed, and very forgiving.

I often look up at her half model, now mounted above our mantle, and admire her hull form. It is easy to imagine her slicing through the water, fully competent in any seas we ever saw together.

Cygnet Specifications
LOA: 35’
LWL: 25’9”
Beam: 10’6”
Draft: 4’6” board up
Displacement: 14, 000 lbs.
Ballast: 5,500 lbs.
Sail Area: 500 sq. ft. working
Air Draft: 46’

Construction

Mahogany strip plank over oak frames, fir deadwood, external lead keel with centerboard.

Her designer was Ernest Tucker of Oxford, Maryland. I never met Ernest, but I had a very pleasant visit with his wife one afternoon when Cygnet was anchored in Town Creek near their home. I also met the builder, Tom Lucke, one time on a road visit to the Dickerson shop. Dickerson Boatbuilders is no more, having succumbed to the economic slump of the late 1980’s that did in many small yards.

First Voyage

The first thing I had to do after purchase was get Cygnet home to Suttons Bay. On June 10, 1977 I drove my crew (Mary Paden, Paul Silven, Frank Villaire, Calvin Powell) in the green VW bus to the Saginaw Bay Yacht Club. I had my first sight of the boat again since buying it and boy, did it look great. And big. My crew was impressed also. I sent Mary and one of the guys off to get groceries and a log book. The rest of us set about getting the boat ready for sea.

The next morning at 0620 we departed Bay City and headed out the Saginaw River and into Saginaw Bay. Under partly cloudy skies and a light SSE breeze we set the mizzen, main and genoa…opps the genoa was set upside down. Note in log reads “Capt. Tom says I dood it to compensate for a local inversion”. Sailed all day and motorsailed as the breeze faded away in the evening. The visibility was much reduced near Thunder Bay Island so we decided to head into Alpena for the night. Docked at the Alpena Yacht Harbor at 0114. Days run: 119 miles.

Frank and Capt. Tom (boy, does this look like the '70's or what?)

We slept in late and waited for the weather to improve, finally leaving Alpena at 2125. We motorsailed northwest after rounding Thunder Bay Island and passed the Stoneport lights at 0220 on the 13th (my birthday!) and the Presque Isle Light at 0314. The sun came up at 0600 with the new watch (George and Frank). The weather was very clear, as we sighted the Mackinaw Bridge at 0829 (just after the steamer Nicolet passes us) and did not pass under the spans until 1410.

By 1700 we had come abeam of Wobbleshanks with a dying breeze and started the engine. Here is a direct quote from the Log at 1750: “ Isle Aux Galets N-2 close aboard. CC to 240 T. Killer salad coming over the horizon. Wind light from the NE, sea calm, sparkling with the late afternoon sun, which shares its welcome warmth with the weary wanderers. It is good to have the jib boom pointing for home (plus the holding tank is full)”. At 0115 on June 14, 1977, Cygnet arrived at her new home port, Suttons Bay. Engine hours: 791, Log 331 miles.