Tuesday, February 9, 2010



Were I ever put on trial for one-track-mindedness, I would conjure the ghost of E.B. White as council. He is universally remembered for "Charlotte's Web" and "Stuart Little", but was also a passionate sailor. We never met, but he voiced my feelings on the subject of living aboard better than I could.....

"If a man must be obsessed by something, I suppose a boat is as good as anything, perhaps a bit better than most. A small sailing craft is not only beautiful, it is seductive and full of strange promise and the hint of trouble. If it happens to be an auxiliary cruising boat, it is without question the most compact and ingenious arrangement for living ever devised by the restless mind of man - a home that is stable without being stationary, shaped less like a box than like a fish, or a bird, or a girl, and in which the homeowner can remove his daily affairs as far from shore as he has the nerve to take them, close hauled or running free - parlor, bedroom, and bath - suspended and alive."

E.B's son Joel combined his artistry with a deep technical understanding of Naval Architecture earned at M.I.T. to create stunning and well behaved boats. His grandson Steve carries on the art and skill at Brookline Boat Yard.