16' Marc Barto/John Brady Melonseed Sailing Skiff (2014) - RIVUS
Owner’s Description
While at a TSCA messabout I saw Mike Wick’s Pepita, a John Brady designed Melonseed and was wowed by her graceful lines, everything about her just looked right. Later that summer Mike invited me for a sail on a blustery day on the Delaware River and I was even more impressed with her handling. That day I bought the plans from John Brady and ordered the Barto 16′ plans from WoodenBoat.
The hull is glued lap from the Barto plans, the sail plan is from John Brady and is 120sf, unstayed, vs 90sf and stayed in the Barto plans. I ran into Marc at the CBMM and asked about using the larger rig, he said go for it. So I did, and it’s been fun.
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PEPITA is still going strong. We downsized and moved to Concord MA for grands. She and I go for one and two day solo cruises under Boomtent locally. MIKE WICK
So wonderful to see your Bart designed 16 ft Melonseed. Looks like you did a beautiful job on her.Also looks like we have similar tastes. I too have been thinking about building a small sharpie or crabbing skiff with a cuddy next!
But right now I’m still totally in love with my current 13.5 Melonseed. “La Vida e Bella”. Thought you might especially appreciate seeing her (if you haven’t already). She’s listed here.
She was actually built by Barto himself in glued lap, in only three months, almost 26 years ago, at O’Connell’s Wooden Boat Shop, in Chestertown, Maryland. And she still doesn’t leak a drop and looks nearly new!
You might also be interested in reading, and seeing more pictures of her in my “Lister’s Profile”. If you click on that I tell about how I modified her rig to give her actually a larger sail, which was so better cut than Barto’s original that she’s faster and more stable now!.
Anyway, I really love her, and if we all can break free of this horrible Covid scourge, I’m hoping to encourage other’s like you to come out for a visit, see our wonderful Annual Wooden Boat Festival, and go sailing with me. I have lived and had many boats in our festival since I moved here, nearly 30 years ago. I live in Port Townsend, WA. It’d be especially fun to swap our boats to compare how the two sizes sail. I’m fairly certain, if we could ever pull that off, my close friend here in town, Josh Colvin, of Small Craft Advisor magazine might want to be there to photo and produce an article about it too!
I attended the WBF a few years back, a really great festival. I almost retired to PT but opted for Downeast Maine instead. Similar in flavor, but a tad colder this time of year.
PEPITA is still going strong. We downsized and moved to Concord MA for grands. She and I go for one and two day solo cruises under Boomtent locally. MIKE WICK
Good! We’re still hoping that the SRR will happen this year. Hope to see you then.
So wonderful to see your Bart designed 16 ft Melonseed. Looks like you did a beautiful job on her.Also looks like we have similar tastes. I too have been thinking about building a small sharpie or crabbing skiff with a cuddy next!
But right now I’m still totally in love with my current 13.5 Melonseed. “La Vida e Bella”. Thought you might especially appreciate seeing her (if you haven’t already). She’s listed here.
She was actually built by Barto himself in glued lap, in only three months, almost 26 years ago, at O’Connell’s Wooden Boat Shop, in Chestertown, Maryland. And she still doesn’t leak a drop and looks nearly new!
You might also be interested in reading, and seeing more pictures of her in my “Lister’s Profile”. If you click on that I tell about how I modified her rig to give her actually a larger sail, which was so better cut than Barto’s original that she’s faster and more stable now!.
Anyway, I really love her, and if we all can break free of this horrible Covid scourge, I’m hoping to encourage other’s like you to come out for a visit, see our wonderful Annual Wooden Boat Festival, and go sailing with me. I have lived and had many boats in our festival since I moved here, nearly 30 years ago. I live in Port Townsend, WA. It’d be especially fun to swap our boats to compare how the two sizes sail. I’m fairly certain, if we could ever pull that off, my close friend here in town, Josh Colvin, of Small Craft Advisor magazine might want to be there to photo and produce an article about it too!
Kirk Gresham
Kirk, I have your boat posted here: http://traditionalsmallcraft.com/Melonseed.html
I attended the WBF a few years back, a really great festival. I almost retired to PT but opted for Downeast Maine instead. Similar in flavor, but a tad colder this time of year.
Really enjoyed your link. Makes me want to build again. cheers!