Built in 1997 the barn is 28' deep x 30' wide. All post and beam, pegged construction using locally sawn hemlock and oak. She is on a poured foundation. She was designed and spec'ed by  me on an inexpensive cadcam system.

The first wall looking up toward the house. Barn frames are so neat it seems a shame to cover them up with siding..

One guy, John, (his last name is classified) working by himself, built this barn. I offered to help but he politely refused saying he did not want me to hurt myself! He used a portable gin pole to hoist the 6x6 and 6x8 main timbers and all the rafters.It was really unbelievabe to watch him work. Here he is going to set a pair of scissors which with the gin pole form the tripod on which he will raise a large beam. See next photo..

This is how he did it. See the end of the gin pole in the upper left hand corner nested in the wood scissors? There is a line through the block at the top on the gin pole attached to the balance point of the beam. The vertical post at the right has a peg which will fit into the hole bored in the horizontal beam. What does this have to do with restoring and sailing our Dolphins? Everything.

This is most of the external basic framing and roof rafters. The far bay has a 'third' door opening vertically so you have 10' height clearance.

The field in which this barn is located is small which made positioning and size of the barn important. The overall length of the trailer with boat is 26'. Its snug but it works. There's enough room to sneak by on either end. It was a lot like trying to figure out the interior of a Dolphin - basically not enough room - plan carefully.

This interior shot shows the steps going up to the shop level. Its pretty neat in that the foot print is small and after the turning landing it follows the roof line. Also, the space inside the stair case allows larger items like dinghies to be lowered and raised without having to stay in the stairway.

This is deep winter and Marionette is hibernating. The inside height is 10'. - If I had to do it again it would be 12'.

The ridgepole has a lobster pot block so you can lower your 42 lb dinghy through your workshop double doors to the ground floor - One could hope a photographer would be present. Nope..

The back side  has some windows and a mast rack. Lest you worry that the top end of the mast is not properly supported, there is a special support post at the top end which likes to slip out when the photographer shows up.

This is a good angle to see that the barn has a proper wind vane. Note: Masts are now stored inside.

The Marionette dinghy section has a few good interior photos of the barn. And if you click here you can see a list and pictures of workshop tools

***************

October 5, 2008 Storage - that's what barns are all about, right?

We have been storing our masts on a rack outside because they won't fit inside across or lengthwise. So, one rainy afternoon we decided to fix this.

Two simple 3 part sets of blocks and a couple of old cam cleats were set up diagonally in the barn

After the hoist a rope loop from the joist is tied around the mast at each end

liberally sprayed with WD40, tightly wrapped - no winter worries. Booms and spinnaker poles are stored in the loft.

******************

And then we have...

This is the wall alongside the stairway up to the workshop. Very neat don't you think? Once, lying full length on that beam in back of the lines and floats, was a 5' black snake. Circulating this story is a very effective way to keep control of visiters who don't fully understand boats, barns, and stuff like that. You'll notice the fender board and its black marks - lying along a fixed dock piling with Maine's 10-12' tides will test your fenderboard. And notice two, that's 2, bosun's chairs. I haven't been up in one of those in 20 years!!

A partial view under the stairs - those blue bags are Rode Bags with a designed hole in the bottom through which you tie off the dead end. I got them for nothing somewhere. They each have 150' of 1/2' nylon line with 10' of 1/4 chain sitting on top. There's a NEW! 35lb CQR just out of sight that I got from Defender's for $75!! - just waiting for that special hurricane. When we do have a hurricane I go up the Niantic River into a hurricane hole and use my 20 lb hi tensile Danforth. It digs in so deep I can just barely get it up after the event. I am thinking I might use the CQR and some heavy chain as a mooring somewhere..

Lets talk about mice. Barns and mice love each other. Mice love nesting in sailing gear, especially sail bags. Mice in barns cannot be beaten. So, this inventory flows to the cellar, more difficult to hid stuff here from prying eyes but it can't be helped. Those are cushions stacked in back of this rack I built. I never lose anything I put on these shelves...

I like hanging sail bags - a cellar floor is a brutal way to treat these things. I've got a folding bike here I last used up in Maine in 2003. My most valuable mechanical accessory is this 12 yr old, 32lb Johnson 4hp motor - if I can keep water out of the gas she never fails.The next stop inventory location is my office - electronics, charts, books, cruising books, manuals, website files, etc. This is pretty crowded too - not as bad as Paul Ingle's sailing office (Seminole) but close.

******************