Correspondence with Manuel Campos: 1979-80

One of our goals in this blog is to relate Abrazo's distinctive history, from desire to design, through construction and launching, and on into her various voyages on this earth.  In a previous post (December, 2014), we talked about what drove Richard to seek a boat design from Manuel Campos of Buenos Aires, Argentina.  In the January, 2015 post:  Casting the Ballast Keel, we displayed the Campos drawing  Richard used to lay out his mold for Abrazo's lead keel.  As of March, 2015, we gave you the "lines" drawing from Campos ... the one Richard used to loft the boat, and then lay out the backbone of the boat, which he completed in early February of 1980.

 

Now, before proceeding in the Construction Log, let's catch up on a few details of the correspondence with Manuel Campos. 

Richard first contacted Manuel Campos in June of 1979, going thru Julio, the Argentine sailor who'd brought the Campos-designed Irupe (now S/V Vito Dumas of Port Townsend, WA) to San Diego in the 1970s.

  

In early July, Manuel Campos replied to Richard's first query for a design.  He understood, from Julio, that his Irupe II and his Gauchito were boats too large for Richard's needs.  He included a "croquis" of a 10.5 m cutter, slightly larger than the Legh II, and stated the price for plans at $500. 

August 20, 1979 Richard mailed his certified check to pay for the plans. 

September 1, Manuel sent a note announcing there would be a short delay because he had to move his office to a new location. 

Mid-October, Richard wrote again to say he was impatient for the drawings so he could get started before the weather changed. 

An endless week passed. 

Then on October 27, came this letter.  Manuel had been hit by a car.  So there was another delay in the drawings.    

Richard's impatience was hard to bear.  We went deer hunting for a week on the eastern side of the Cascade Mountains.  By November 8, a large envelope from Buenos Aires was delivered to the Bag End Trading Company shop in Bellingham, including drawings of the ballast keel, the Lines, and a Table of Offsets for the 10.5 m cutter.  Manuel's handwritten letter begins with a language lesson, but he quickly drops la gramatica, and says "let's get to your boat."  

He has included a foto of the Master Section for the Legh II, and notes that the width of the keel is the same as for the new boat.  The depths of the keels are different, however, but only because at the time Legh II was built, the 220 mm thickness of wood for the keel was to be cut down to 160 mm, when they broke the saw (se rompió la sierra).  The work could not be stopped for the sake of 60mm so Legh II has a deeper wood keel. 

Campos writes of the kinds of wood that might be used in construction, giving his approval for white oak and cedar.  He directs Richard to pay attention to the freeboard issue, referring to his formula for "obra muerte" (everything above the waterline) over "obra viva." 

He ends with a fine statement:  "To build a boat is one of the most noble tasks that a man can undertake."  

How's your Spanish?  Ours is much better now than it was in 1979, when we took this letter up to Professora Barragón in the Spanish department at Western Washington University. 

Richard wrote back, courtesy of Dr. Barragón , to ask for further detail about the freeboard formula, since the terms "dead work" and "live work" were not familiar ones in the shipyards of northwest Washington State.  He also laid out his proposed plans for building materials:  ironbark for the backbone, Douglas fir for the wood keel, and Alaska yellow cedar for the hull planking over white oak frames.  We no longer have Campos' response to those questions.  Lo siento. 

Richard wrote again in early February of 1980, shortly after we'd raised the new boat's backbone to its upright position.  His tone was urgent.   He included photos of the upright backbone.  "As you can see, I am ready for construction drawings."  He asked Manuel to telephone collect to give Richard, as soon as possible, the exact location for the mast, so he could position the remaining floor timbers. 

February 3, 1980

 Manuel's phone call came through in due time, and by April 7, his package of construction drawings had arrived.  The "General Arrangements" drawing, and the "Technical Levels" drawing  were quickly out of the envelope and in command of Richard's work bench. 

The next episode of the construction story will show Richard moving on to building the molds that are to define Abrazo's hull shape.  He'll also be questioning Campos again about maybe increasing the sail area a bit. 
 
In the meantime, while the summer sun shines here in Puerto Montt, Captain Baila has been varnishing the cabin trim and the boom gallows, cleaning out the wood stove, and preparing to show the boat to a couple of interested parties this coming week. 

We promise to continue the stories, even after the boat is sold.  So don't let that hold you back from making an offer!